Georges Bizet was born in Paris on October 25, 1838. Revealing a
pronounced gift for music in early childhood he was entered into the
Paris Conservatory when he was only nine. There—as a pupil of Marmontel,
Halévy, and Benoist—he won numerous prizes, including the Prix de Rome
in 1857. In that year he also had his first stage work produced, a
one-act opera, _Le Docteur miracle_. After his return from Rome to Paris
he started to write operas. _Les Pêcheurs de perles_ (_Pearl Fishers_)
and _La jolie fille de Perth_ were produced in Paris in 1863 and 1867
respectively. Success came in 1872 with his first Suite from the
incidental music to Daudet’s _L’Arlésienne_. After that came his
masterwork, the opera by which he has earned immortality: _Carmen_,
introduced in Paris two months before his death. Bizet died in Bougival,
France, on June 3, 1875.
His gift for rich, well-sounding melodies, and his feeling for inviting
harmonies and tasteful orchestration make many of his compositions ideal
for programs of light music, even salient portions of _Carmen_.
_Agnus Dei_ is a vocal adaptation (to a liturgical Latin text) of the
intermezzo from Bizet’s incidental music to _L’Arlésienne_. It is also
found as the second movement of the _L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2_. A
dramatic dialogue between forceful strings and serene woodwinds leads
into a spiritual religious song.
The _Arlésienne Suite No. 1_ is made up of parts from the incidental
music, which Bizet wrote for the Provençal drama of Alphonse Daudet,
_The Woman of Arles_ (_L’Arlésienne_). The play, with Bizet’s music
consisting of twenty-seven pieces, was given at the Théâtre du
Vaudeville in Paris in 1872. Out of this score the composer selected
four excerpts and assembled them into an orchestral suite, which has
become his most celebrated instrumental composition, and his first
success as a composer. A knowledge of the plot and characters of the
Daudet play is by no means essential to a full appreciation of Bizet’s
tuneful suite.
The first movement, “Prelude,” begins with a march melody based on an
old French Christmas song. This is subjected to a series of variations.
After the march tune has been repeated vigorously by the full orchestra
there appears a pastoral interlude, scored originally for saxophones,
but now usually heard in clarinets. This, in turn, is succeeded by a
passionate song for strings, with brass and woodwind accompaniment. The
second movement is a “Minuet,” whose principal theme is a brisk and
strongly accented subject. In the trio section, the clarinet appears
with a flowing lyrical episode. As the violins take this material over
they become rapturous; the harp and woodwind provide intriguing
accompanying figures. A brief “_Adagietto_” comes as the third movement.
This is a sensitive romance for muted strings. In the finale,
“Carillon,” we get a picture of a peasant celebration of the Feast of
St. Eloi. The horns simulate a three-note chime of bells which
accompanies a lively dance tune, first in strings, then in other
sections of the orchestra. A soft interlude is interposed by the
woodwind. Then the lively dance reappears, once again to be accompanied
by vigorous tolling bells simulated by the horns.
There exists a second suite made up of four more numbers from the
incidental music to _L’Arlésienne_. This was prepared after Bizet’s
death by his friend, Ernest Guiraud. This second suite is rarely played,
but its second movement, “Intermezzo,” is celebrated in its liturgical
version as “_Agnus Dei_” (which see above). The other movements are
Pastorale, Minuet and Farandole.
If the name of Bizet has survived in musical history and will continue
to do so for a long time to come, it is surely because of a single
masterwork—his opera _Carmen_. This stirring music drama—based on the
famous novel of Prosper Mérimée, adapted for Bizet by Meilhac and
Halévy—never fails in its emotional and dramatic impact. Carmen is the
seductive gypsy girl who enmeshes two lovers: the bull fighter
Escamillo, and the sergeant, Don José. Both she and Don José meet a
tragic end on the day of Escamillo’s triumph in the bull ring. The
background to this fatal story of love and death is provided by the
Spanish city of Seville—its streets, bull ring, taverns, and nearby
mountain retreat of smugglers.
_Carmen_ was introduced at the Opéra-Comique on March 3, 1875. Legend
would have us believe it was a fiasco, and further that heartbreak over
this failure brought about Bizet’s premature death two months after the
opera was first heard. As a matter of historic truth, while there were
some critics at that first performance who considered the text too stark
and realistic for their tastes, _Carmen_ did very well, indeed. By June
18th it enjoyed thirty-seven performances. At the start of the new
season of the Opéra-Comique it returned to the repertory to receive its
fiftieth presentation by February 15, 1876. It was hailed in Vienna in
1875, Brussels in 1876, and London and New York in 1878. Many critics
everywhere were as enthusiastic as the general public, and with good
reason. For all the vivid color of Spanish life and backgrounds, and all
the flaming passions aroused by the sensual Carmen, were caught in
Bizet’s luminous, dramatic score.
The Prelude to _Carmen_ represents a kind of resumé of what takes place
in the opera, and with some of its musical material. It opens with
lively music for full orchestra describing the festive preparations in
Seville just before a bull fight. After a sudden change of key, and
several chords, the popular second-act song of Escamillo, the
bullfighter, is first given quietly in strings, then repeated more
loudly. Then there is heard an ominous passage against quivering strings
which, in the opera, suggests the fatal fascination exerted by Carmen on
men. This is repeated in a higher register and somewhat amplified until
a dramatic chord for full orchestra brings this episode, and the
overture itself, to a conclusion.
The Prelude to Act II is constructed from a motive of an off-stage
unaccompanied little song by Don José in the same act praising the
dragoons of Alcala. The Prelude to Act III is actually an entr’acte, a
gentle little intermezzo which Bizet originally wrote for
_L’Arlésienne_. The Prelude to Act IV is also an entr’acte, this time of
dramatic personality. The brilliant and forceful music is based upon an
actual Andalusian folk song and dance; it sets the mood for the gay
festivities in a public square on the day of a gala bull-fight with
which the fourth act opens.
It is sometimes a practice at concerts of semi-classical or pop music to
present not merely one of the four orchestral Preludes but also at other
times salient musical episodes from the opera, arranged and assembled
into fantasias or suites. These potpourris or suites are generally made
up of varied combinations of the following excerpts. From Act I: the
“Changing of the Guard”; Carmen’s seductive and extremely popular aria,
the Habanera (“_L’amour est un oiseau rebelle_”), which was not by Bizet
but borrowed by him from a song by Sebastian Yradier (see Yradier); the
duet of Micaëla and Don José, “_Qui sait de quel démon_”; and Carmen’s
Séguidille, “_Près des ramparts de Séville_.” From Act II: “The March of
the Smugglers,”; Carmen’s “_Chanson bohème_”; the rousing Toreador Song
of Escamillo; and Don José’s poignant “Flower Song” to Carmen, “_La
fleur que tu m’avais jetée_.” From Act III: Carmen’s Card Song, “_En
vain pour éviter_”; and Micaëla’s celebrated Air, “_Je dis que rien ne
m’épouvante_”. From Act IV: the Chorus, March, and Finale.
Utilizing many of these selections, Ferruccio Busoni and Vladimir
Horowitz each prepared striking concert fantasias for solo piano; Pablo
de Sarasate, for violin and piano; and Franz Waxman for violin and
orchestra for the motion picture, _Humoresque_, starring John Garfield.
_Children’s Games_ (_Jeux d’enfants_) is a delightful suite of twelve
pieces for piano (four hands) for and about children. Bizet wrote it in
1871, but shortly afterwards orchestrated five of these numbers and
assembled them into a suite, op. 22. The first movement is a march
entitled “Trumpeter and Drummer” (“_Trompette et tambour_”) music
punctuated by trumpet calls and drum rolls, accompanying a troop of
soldiers as it approaches and then disappears into the distance. This is
followed by a tender berceuse for muted strings, “The Doll” (“_La
Poupée_”). The third movement is “The Top” (“_La Toupie_”), an impromptu
in which the violins simulate the whirr of a spinning top while the
woodwinds introduce a jolly dance tune. The fourth movement, “Little
Husband, Little Wife” (_“Petit mari, petite femme”_) is a quiet little
dialogue between husband and wife, the former represented by first
violins, and the latter by the cellos. The suite ends with “The Ball”
(“Le Bal”), a galop for full orchestra.
The _Danse bohèmienne_ is a popular orchestral episode that comes from a
comparatively unknown (and early) Bizet opera, _La jolie fille de
Perth_, introduced in Paris in 1867. This vital dance music appears in
the second act, but it is also often borrowed by many opera companies
for the fourth act ballet of _Carmen_. The harp leads into, and then
accompanies, a soft, sinuous dance melody for the flute. The tempo
rapidly quickens, and the mood grows febrile; the strings take over the
dance melody in quick time, and other sections of the orchestra
participate vigorously.
_La Patrie_ Overture, op. 19 (1873) is music in a martial manner. A
robust, strongly rhythmed march tune is immediately presented by the
full orchestra. After some amplification it is repeated softly by the
orchestra. The second main theme is a stately folk melody first given by
the violins, clarinets and bassoons, accompanied by the double basses.
This new subject receives resounding treatment in full orchestra and is
carried to a powerful climax. After a momentary pause, a third tune is
heard, this time in violas and cellos accompanied by brasses and double
basses, and a fourth, in violas, clarinets and English horn with the
muted violins providing an arpeggio accompaniment. Then the stirring
opening march music is recalled and dramatized. The overture ends in a
blaze of color after some of the other themes are brought back with
enriched harmonies and orchestration.
This music was written for a play of the same name by Sardou.