L'Arlésienne (The woman from Arles) is incidental music composed by Georges Bizet for Alphonse Daudet's drama of the same name. It was first performed on 30 September 1872 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris. Bizet's original incidental music consists of 27 numbers for chorus and small orchestra, ranging from pieces of background music (mélodrames) only a few measures long, to entr'actes. The score achieves powerful dramatic ends with the most economic of means. Still, the work received poor reviews in the wake of the unsuccessful premiere and is not often performed now in its original form, although recordings are available. However, key pieces of the incidental music, most often heard in the form of two suites for full orchestra, have become some of Bizet's most popular compositions.
History Composition history In July 1872, Léon Carvalho, the new director of the Théâtre du Vaudeville, having previously collaborated with Bizet in producing his operas The Pearl Fishers (1863) and The Fair Maid of Perth (1867) at the Théâtre Lyrique, commissioned him to write music for his new venture—L'Arlésienne, a play by Alphonse Daudet. Although the drama was based on the author's short story of the same name, first published in the newspaper L'Événement (The Event, 1866), and later in his collection Lettres de mon moulin (Letters from My Windmill, 1869), the plot was originally inspired by a real event: the suicide of a nephew of writer Frédéric Mistral as a consequence of amour fou. Carvalho planned to relieve the bleak tragedy of this "rustic drama" by presenting the play with music and choruses.Wright, Lesley A., Scores for L'Arlésienne, Suites 1 & 2 for Orchestra, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998, 2001 "The piece is a little too sombre for my theatre", said Carvalho, "but I think the music will be a powerful attraction and it will soften somewhat the cruelty of the play." However, there was some risk in this approach, as this genre ("mélodrame") was in decline.
L'Arlésienne, incidental music, Op. 23 (1872)
Bizet composed 27 numbers for the five act play, which was presented in three acts and five scenes. Half of the numbers, mostly mélodrames, are quite short (under 20 measures) and are designed to be performed as background music for spoken drama. On the other hand, seven numbers, including the Prélude, four entr'actes (later known as the Pastorale, Intermezzo, Minuetto, and Carillon), one longer mélodrame (the Adagietto) and the Farandole, are both distinctive and lengthy enough to stand on their own outside of their stage setting.
The drama is set on the Rhône river, in Camargue, south of Arles, in southwestern Provence. To help give the composition Provençal color, Bizet used three existing tunes from a folk/traditional music collection found in the book Lou Tambourin, Istori de l'Estrumen Prouvençau (The Tambourin, Avignon, 1864) by writer and tambourinaire François Vidal:
№ 3: Danso dei Chivau-Frus (Dance of the Frisky Horses)—a brisk tune scored by Bizet for flute, piccolo, and tambourin (a Provençal drum); combined ingeniously with the March of the Kings in the Farandole in act 3 at the climax of the drama. № 7: Èr dóu Guet—an "air provençal" heard in the form of a brief berceuse in a mélodrame (No. 13) in act 2. № 31: Marcho dei Rèi (March of the Kings)—a Provençal Christmas carol from Avignon celebrating the Epiphany and the Three Kings; also identified as Marche de Turenne, supposedly composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully some 200 years earlier; quoted five times at the beginning of the Overture in different harmonizations and orchestrations; reappears in the form of a chorus in act 3.
The premiere took place on 30 September 1872 in the Théâtre du Vaudeville. Bizet's music is scored for a chorus of 24 singers and an orchestra of only 26 players. Bizet played the harmonium (alternately with his publisher, Antony Choudens, and associate, Ernest Guiraud) backstage at the theater in support of the chorus. Production was rushed as the play was staged as a last-minute replacement for another play (Robert Halt's Madame FrainexHale, Philip, Historical and Descriptive Notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 35th season (1915–1916)), which had been banned by the censors, and the audience was less than favourably disposed to the new play.Robinson, Bradford, L'Arlésienne (complete stage music) The premiere was a failure and the production closed after 19 performances. Daudet later bitterly remarked: "It was a resounding flop amid the prettiest music in the world, silk and velvet costumes, and comic opera scenery. I came out of there discouraged, still hearing the silly laughter caused by the emotional scenes." "It was clear from the beginning that a drama of passion from the Camargue would not appeal to the sophisticated tastes of the Paris boulevards."
L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, Op. 23bis (1872)
Bizet was assured that the best numbers from the incidental music, arranged for a full symphony orchestra, would be successful in the concert hall. He planned a five movement suite as follows: 1. Prélude, 2. Carillon, 3. Adagietto, 4. Minuetto, 5. Final (unidentified number). Later he exchanged the positions of the 2nd and 4th numbers and abandoned the final one, leaving a four movement orchestral suite:
The order of the movements does not correspond precisely with that of the incidental music, but conforms rather to the character and tempo conventions of a short symphony. The Prélude and Adagietto closely resemble their original versions except for their expanded instrumentation. The Adagietto, previously scored for muted string quartet, particularly benefits from its new massed, but muted, string sonority. The main difference in the Minuetto is a six bar addition to its coda. The Carillon, on the other hand, is considerably enlarged by the addition of the andantino that framed the Adagietto, followed by a shortened repeat of the opening section. Thus the movement now has an ABA form. The original title of the new work was L'Arlésienne, Suite d'Orchestre, but after the appearance of a second suite, it would be known as L'Arlésienne, 1re Suite d'Orchestre (L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1).Macdonald, Hugh, The Bizet Catalog It was first performed on 10 November 1872 under Jules Pasdeloup of the Concerts populaires in the Cirque d'hiver with great success. The Minuetto had to be encored, and the Adagietto was almost accorded the same honor.
L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (1879)
L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1 became so popular that the publisher Choudens commissioned a second set, L'Arlésienne, 2me Suite d'Orchestre, in 1879, four years after Bizet's death. His friend Ernest Guiraud is claimed to have arranged the other three large scale movements and, adding an extraneous number (the Minuet), assembled a second four movement suite as follows:
The choral parts of the Pastorale were arranged for orchestra. This two part movement takes an ABA form, like the Carillon movement, by a repeat of the opening (Andante sostenuto assai) music. The Intermezzo has a 12 measure addition based on the central (Allegro moderato) theme inserted 4 bars before the end. The Minuet was taken from Scènes bohémiennes, a suite of material originally composed for Bizet's 1866 opera La jolie fille de Perth, where it "accompanies the duke's wooing of the false Catherine in Act III". The Farandole (the name of a Provençal dance) is a condensation of two numbers of the incidental music – № 22: Final, and № 23: Entr'acte and Chorus. The choruses in these numbers were either omitted (the former) or arranged for orchestra (the latter). Although the arrangements in L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 are assumed to be Guiraud's work (his name is not mentioned in any scores) and the composition is clearly not as unified as the first suite, it contains a large proportion of inspired Bizet material, and is therefore generally credited to Bizet. The first performance of L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 took place on 21 March 1880 when Jules Pasdeloup again led the orchestra of the Concerts populaires.
L'Arlésienne, incidental music (1885/86)
The popularity of Bizet's music for L'Arlésienne was undoubtedly one of the factors prompting a later reappraisal of the original drama, and on 5 May 1885, a revival took place at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris. Although the play was again received coldly initially, the success of this production resulted in a subsequent run of over 400 performances. A new version of the score for full orchestra was used, in which numbers from the suites, now expanded both in content and instrumentation, replaced the original small ensemble orchestrations of the 1872 version. The remaining numbers retained their original orchestrations, and a few numbers were either omitted, duplicated, truncated, or exchanged positions.
Performance history L'Arlésienne, incidental music PersonnelRole1872 premiere1885 revivalProductionDirectorLéon CarvalhoPaul PorelDesignerCharles-Antoine CambonPhilippe ChaperonJean-Louis ChéretAuguste Alfred RubéPhilippe ChaperonMarcel JambonAlfred LemeunierAuguste Alfred RubéConductorMarc ConstantinÉdouard ColonneCastPersonnages – Georges Bizet L'Arlésienne Trois actes et cinq tableaux – texte d'Alphonse Daudet – avec symphonies et choeurs. Librairie Théatrale, [no year] p. 4.Francet MamaïErnest CornagliaErnest CornagliaFrédériAbelAlbert LambertBalthazarJean-Auguste ParadePaul MounetLe Patron MarcColsonSujolMitifioRégnierArthur RebelL'équipagePierre LacroixFrévilleUn valetMoissonDalierRose MamaïAnaïs FargueilAimée TessandierRenaudeClémence AlexisIrma CrosnierL'InnocentMorandLéonie YahneVivetteJulia BartetZélie HadamardUne servanteLeroyNoémie L'Arlésienne, Suite d'Orchestre DateLocationConductorOrchestra1872 November 10ParisJules PasdeloupConcerts populaires1873 November 9ParisÉdouard ColonneConcert National1875 February 21ParisÉdouard DeldevezConcerts du Conservatoire1876 October 6New YorkTheodore ThomasTheodore Thomas Orchestra
Instrumentation The score of the original incidental music is notable not only for its light instrumentation (due to the budget constraints of the Théâtre du Vaudeville), but also for its unusual composition—particularly the small number of violas and brass instruments, and the introduction of two instruments new to the orchestra. SectionIncidental musicSuite No. 1Suite No. 2• 4 violins I• 3 violins II• 1 viola• 5 cellos• 2 double basses• violins I• violins II• violas• cellos• double basses• violins I• violins II• violas• cellos• double basses• 2 flutes (second doubling piccolo)• 1 oboe (also cor anglais)• 1 clarinet• 2 bassoons• 1 alto saxophone• 2 flutes• 2 oboes (second doubling cor anglais)• 2 clarinets• 2 bassoons• 1 alto saxophone• 2 flutes (second doubling piccolo)• 2 oboes (second doubling cor anglais)• 2 clarinets• 2 bassoons• 1 alto saxophone2 horns, one natural, one valved• 4 horns• 2 trumpets• 2 cornets• 3 trombones• 4 horns• 2 trumpets• 2 cornets• 3 trombonestimpani (also tambourin provençal)• timpani• drum• timpani • tambourin provençal• bass drum• cymbalspiano (also harmonium)harp or pianoharp or piano The score makes novel use of the saxophone, at this time just being introduced after its invention in the 1840s. Some have associated the instrument with the character l'Innocent. However, only the first of the eight appearances of his theme is scored for the saxophone; the remaining seven are played by strings. Furthermore, the saxophone appears prominently in the entr'acte before act 2, tableau 2, which may be said to be associated with the character Vivette.