Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet,
(1838 – 1875) was a French composer, mainly of
operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he
achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen,
became one of the most popular and frequently performed
works in the entire opera repertory.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in which
Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little
success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an
orchestral suite derived from h...(+)
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet,
(1838 – 1875) was a French composer, mainly of
operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he
achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen,
became one of the most popular and frequently performed
works in the entire opera repertory.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in which
Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little
success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an
orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to
Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne was instantly
popular.
The incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play
L'Arlésienne (usually translated as 'The Girl from
Arles') was composed by Georges Bizet for the first
performance of the play on 1 October 1872 at the
Vaudeville Theatre (now known as the Paramount
Theatre). It consists of 27 numbers (some only a few
bars) for voice, chorus, and small orchestra, ranging
from short solos to longer entr'actes. Bizet himself
played the harmonium backstage at the premiere
performance. The incidental music has survived and
flourished, however, in the form of two suites for
orchestra.
Although this piece was originally written for
Orchestra, I created this arrangement for Woodwind
Quintet (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn & Bassoon).
PARTITION