Sammartini was a talented musician, an excellent organist who became the most active church composer in Milan, and eventually became one of the most influential composers of early eighteenth-century Italy.

Memet was the first of Sammartini's three operas (the other two are L'ambizione superata dalla virtù [1734] and L'agrippina [1743]). All three follow the conventions of opera seria; for example, the arias are almost always in da capo form, and have a barely restrained and compelling emotional intensity. The recitatives are kept in reserve to unfold dramatic action.

The first performance of Memet took place in Lodi in 1732 and was possibly performed in Vienna that same year when the composer was just over 30 years old. Like all of the vocal and instrumental music of Sammartini's first period (roughly 1724 to 1739), Memet exhibits a mixture of Baroque and early Classical styles, perhaps leaning more toward the former. The piece is structured as a tragedy in three acts for five characters—Memet, Solimano, Irene, Zaide, and Demetrio—only, without the support of the typical choirs.

The music is influenced by Vivaldi and other composers of the early Venetian school, especially in its characteristic rhythmic drive and the inventiveness of the melodies. The plot is centered around European ideas of the middle east, and the orchestration for two string orchestras and two trumpets employed in the more strident, warlike scenes enhances this atmosphere. Especially effective arias are Demetrio's Venite o furie and Irene's aria in the second act. Changing tempi offer another form of dramatic contrast, from cantabile to driving passages to complex, virtuosic sections.

Sammartini employed movements from two of his own symphonies, written in the north Italian concerto tradition, as the introductions to Acts II and III.

© "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide