Please Dont Go

After four measures, the orchestra enters the mezzo forte (“half volume”). This is an amazing dynamic, because it implies a certain orientation. It is not quiet, not loud. This is potential energy. Eight steps further, Verdi points out “crescendo e stringendo poco a poco” - “increasing the volume and squeezing” - for the next twelve bars, leading to the first exit of the people of Egypt, who sings “Gloria all'Egitto” (“Glory to Egypt”). It was at that moment that the music suddenly returned to the first tempo - the majestic allegro given by trumpets on the stage.