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» BIZET

Georges BIZET (1838-1875)


Georges BIZETBIZET was born in Paris in 1838. He was registered with the legal name Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, but he was baptised on 16 March 1840 with the first name Georges, and he was always known thereafter as Georges Bizet. His father Adolphe Armand Bizet (1810-86) was an amateur singer and composer, and his mother, Aimée Léopoldine Joséphine née Delsarte (1814-61), was the sister of the famous singing teacher François Delsarte.

He entered the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1848, a fortnight before his tenth birthday. He won first prizes for organ and fugue in 1855 and completed his earliest compositions.

His first symphony, the Symphony in C, was written in November 1855, when he was seventeen, evidently as a student assignment. It was unknown to the world until 1933, when it was discovered in the archives of the Paris Conservatory library. Upon its first performance in 1935, it was immediately hailed as a junior masterwork and a welcome addition to the early Romantic period repertoire. The symphony bears a stylistic resemblance to the first symphony of Charles GOUNOD first played earlier in the same year, and which BIZET had arranged for two pianos although present-day listeners may discern a similarity to music of Franz SSCHUBERT, whose work was little known in France at the time the symphony was written.

In 1857, a setting of the one-act operetta Le docteur Miracle won him a share in a prize offered by Jacques Offenbach. He also won the music composition scholarship of the Prix de Rome, the conditions of which required him to study in Rome for three years. There, his talent developed as he wrote such works as the opera buffa Don Procopio (1858-59). There he also composed his only major sacred work, Te Deum (1858), which he submitted to the Prix Rodrigues competition, a contest for Prix de Rome winners only. Bizet failed to win the Prix Rodrigues, and the Te Deum score remained unpublished until 1971. He made two attempts to write another symphony in 1859, but destroyed the manuscripts in December of that year. Apart from this period in Rome, BIZET lived in the Paris area all his life.

He composed the opera Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) for the Théâtre Lyrique in 1863, which was initially a failure. In 1866 he was contracted to arrange two of Ambroise Thomas's operas for both solo and duo piano. Then came La jolie fille de Perth (premiered also in the Théâtre Lyrique, in 1867), and a symphony titled Roma (1868).

BIZET wrote Jeux d'enfants (Children's games) for piano duet in 1871. The following year (22 May 1872) saw the production of the one-act opéra comique Djamileh, which is often seen as a precursor to Carmen. He wrote incidental music for a play L'Arlésienne by Alphonse Daudet, first performed on 1 October 1872. BIZET derived a L'Arlésienne Suite from the music (first performed 10 November 1872), and Ernest Guiraud later arranged a second suite; both contain considerable rewriting of the original score (many performances of the second suite omit any mention of Guiraud's contribution). His overture Patrie was written in 1873;

Carmen (1875) is BIZET's best-known work and is based on a novella of the same title written in 1846 by Prosper Mérimée. BIZET composed the title role for a mezzo-soprano. It was substantially composed during the summer of 1873, but not finished until the end of 1874, during which time his marriage came under severe strain and he separated from his wife for two months. Carmen premiered on 3 March 1875, and was not initially well-received, although it ran for 48 performances; it was BIZET's greatest success so far. Praise for it eventually came from well-known contemporaries including DEBUSSY, Saint-Saëns and
TCHAIKOVSKY. BRAHMS attended over twenty performances of it, and considered it the greatest opera produced in Europe since the Franco-Prussian War. The views of these composers proved to be prophetic, as Carmen has since become one of the most popular works in the entire operatic repertoire. Bizet's most famous songs are the "Habanera" and "The Toreador's Song", both from Carmen.

[Biography extract from Wikipedia]

Please find below Arrangements of Georges BIZET's Pieces
solely published by FLEX Editions.

 

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5 Airs from Carmen - G. BIZET - Trombone Quartet

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A very nice arrangement of 5 airs by Carmen : 1. Entr'acte 3ème acte - 2. Habanera - 3. Seguidilla - 4. La Garde Montante - 5. Air du Toréador

5 Airs from Carmen - G. BIZET - Trombone Quintet

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A perfect A very nice arrangement of 5 airs by Carmen : 1. Entr'acte 3ème acte - 2. Habanera - 3. Seguidilla - 4. Les dragons d'Alcala - 5. Air du Toréador

Carmen Overture - G. BIZET - Bassoon Quartet

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Recorder

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Recorder

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Escamillo from Carmen - G. BIZET - Bassoon Trio

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Bassoon Trio

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Carmen - Prelude - G. BIZET - String Quartet

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Carmen - Intermezzo - G. BIZET - String Quartet

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Bassoon

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Bassoon

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Flute

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Oboe

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Oboe

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Flute

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Alto Saxophone

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Alto Saxophone

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Cello

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Clarinet

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Clarinet

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Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Solo Cello

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Nadir's Romance from The Pearl Fishers - G. BIZET - Flute, Clarinet and Piano

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Habanera from Carmen - G. BIZET - Solo Horn

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