L'Arlésienne (Bizet)

In July 1872, Léon Carvalho, director of the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, commissioned Bizet to compose incidental music for his production of Daudet's play L'Arlésienne.[1] 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 du 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.[1]

L'Arlésienne, incidental music, Op. 23 (1872)

The first page of Bizet's manuscript of L'Arlésienne in the Bibliothèque nationale de France . The column on the left lists the 26 instrumentalists of the premiere production.

Bizet composed 27 numbers for the five act play, which was presented in three acts and five scenes.[1] 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 overture, an intermezzo (the "Minuetto"), three entr'actes, one longer mélodrame (the "Adagietto"), and the Farandole, are either distinctive or 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:[1]

• № 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 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.[1] Bizet's music is scored for a chorus of 24 singers and an orchestra of only 26 players.[1] Bizet played the harmonium (alternately with his publisher, Antony Choudens, and associate, Ernest Guiraud) backstage at the theater in support of the chorus.[3] The play was staged as a last-minute replacement for another play, which had been banned by the censors, and the audience was less than favourably disposed to the new play.[4] The premiere was a failure and the production closed after 19 performances.[1] 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. 23^bis (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).[1] Later he exchanged the positions of the 2nd and 4th numbers and abandoned the final one, leaving a four movement orchestral suite:[1]

1. Prélude
2. Minuetto
3. Adagietto
4. Carillon

The order of the movements does not correspond to that of the incidental music, but conforms rather to the character and tempo conventions of a short symphony.[5] The Prélude and Adagietto closely resemble their original versions except for their expanded instrumentation. The Adagietto, previously scored for muted string quartet,[5] particularly benefits from its new massed strings sonority. The Minuetto structurally gains a six bar addition to its coda.[1] 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, 1^re Suite d'Orchestre (L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1).[1] It was first performed on 10 November 1872 under Jules Pasdeloup of the Concerts populaires[1] in the Cirque d'Hiver with great success. The Minuetto had to be encored, and the Adagietto was almost accorded the same honor.[5]

L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (1879)

L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1 became so popular that the publisher Choudens commissioned a second set, L'Arlésienne, 2^me Suite d'Orchestre, in 1879, four years after Bizet's untimely death.[5] 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:[5]

1. Pastorale
2. Intermezzo
3. Minuet
4. Farandole

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.[1] The Minuet was taken from Scènes bohémiennes, a suite of material originally composed for Bizet's 1866 opera La jolie fille de Perth.[1] The Farandole (the name of a Provençal dance) is a condensation of several numbers of the incidental music--the Farandole and Chorus, № 22, and the following two numbers in Act 3 that feature choruses set to the March of the Kings theme heard in the Prélude. The chorus in the Farandole is omitted, and the choruses based on March of the Kings are arranged for orchestra. Although the arrangements in L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 are assumed to be Guiraud's work (his name is not mentioned in any scores)[1] and the work 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.[5]

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. The success of this production resulted in a subsequent run of some 200 performances. In 1886, a new version of the score for full orchestra was used, in which 6 numbers from the suites, now expanded both in content and instrumentation, replaced the original small ensemble orchestrations of the 1872 version.[1] The remaining numbers (including the 'Adagietto') retained their original orchestrations, and a few numbers were omitted, duplicated, truncated, or exchanged positions.[1]

L'Arlésienne, incidental music

Julia Bartet costumed as Vivette, the first role in her long career (1872-1920). From the Musée Lambinet, Versailles.

L'Arlésienne, Suite d'Orchestre

The Overture (№ 1) begins with five different orchestrations of the March of the Kings, and concludes with the first of several quotations in the score of L’Innocent’s theme, and Frédéri’s theme.

Act 1

Tableau 1: The farm of Castelet

In Scene 1, Francet Mamaï tells Balthazar of Frédéri’s passion for a girl from Arles. L’Innocent, whose theme dominates the first mélodrame (№ 2) and the next two numbers, wants Balthazar to finish his story about Mr. Seguin's goat, who was attacked by a wolf (another short story from Letters from My Windmill). Balthazar assures the boy he will continue the story shortly. Francet reports that Frédéri doesn't eat or sleep and is in the grip of some love fever. Francet and Balthazar agree that Frédéri would be better off marrying an industrious local girl, such as Vivette Renaude, rather than a "town hussy". Rose's brother Marc, who lives in Arles, and is due to arrive soon, has been tasked with investigating the Arlésienne and her family to be sure they are respectable.

The next mélodrame (№ 3) links the first scene to the second, in which Balthazar continues telling the goat story to l’Innocent. Vivette enters in Scene 3, and asks Balthazar if l'Innocent can be cured. Balthazar repeats the superstitious belief that an Innocent in the household protects the others from evil and harm. The third mélodrame (№ 4) accompanies the exchange between Vivette and Balthazar, in which the shepherd says he thinks something is stirring in l’Innocent’s mind: "That child is waking up... and if he does wake up, everybody about the place must be on their guard." Rose enters in Scene 4, and eventually reports Frédéri’s engagement. When l'Innocent climbs high up into the hayloft in the turret, Rose, annoyed, expresses her dread that someone might fall from there onto the flagstones in the courtyard. In Scene 5, Frédéri enters, greets his mother, but takes no notice of Vivette, who is crushed.

Patron Marc enters in Scene 6 with nothing negative to report about the Arlésienne--she and her family are all fine people. He tells Frédéri he is expected to go to Arles to make a marriage offer. In Scene 8 Balthazar, alone, notes Vivette's grief--she loves Frédéri secretly and suffers, just like her grandmother did. Balthazar notices Mitifio skulking about. Mitifio wants to speak with Francet.

After a gay offstage chorus, a mélodrame (№ 5), introduces the theme of Mitifio, who reveals that the Arlésienne has been his mistress for two years. In the mélodrame and final chorus (№ 6), Frédéri is about to go off to Arles, but Francet tells him what Mitifio said. The chorus bursts in with a reprise of "Grand soleil de la Provence", and Frédéri’s theme accompanies his collapse by the well.

An illustration in the Bibliothèque nationale de France for the revival of L'Arlésienne at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in 1885. Vivette, Frédéri, and l'Innocent are shown in Act 2, Tableau 1, Scene 6, just after Mélodrame № 13.

Act 2

Tableau 1: The shore of the Étang de Vaccarès in Camargue

The Pastorale (№ 7), the first movement in the second suite, with offstage chorus and accompaniment, sets the scene. In the following Mélodrame (№ 8) Balthazar and l’Innocent enter (using the latter’s theme), and the next (№ 9) marks the exit of Rose. Mélodrame № 10 accompanies the discovery of Fréderi in the shepherd’s hut, angry because everyone is spying on him. As wordless offstage chorus sing (№ 11), Balthazar leaves, having failed to make Frédéri destroy the letters from the Arlésienne which he reads night and day. The following mélodrame (№ 12) is only six bars; l’Innocent cannot recall the story he wants to tell his brother. In the next mélodrame (№ 13, Èr dóu Guet) described as a berceuse, l’Innocent falls asleep while telling his story. A nine-bar mélodrame (№ 14) evokes Rose’s desperation at Fréderi’s frame of mind.

Tableau 2: The kitchen at Castelet

The next music (the Intermezzo used in the second suite) depicts Vivette, the local girl who wants to marry Frédéri, preparing her parcels to take on the Rhône ferry (№ 15). After men prepare to go out shooting game Rose and the others fear that Frédéri might kill himself. At the end of the act (№ 16) when Frédéri decides that Vivette can help him forget his obsession, Balthazar and Rose express their relief.

Intermezzo

The Valse-Menuet (the 'Minuetto', № 17) is performed between Acts 2 and 3.

Act 3

Tableau 1: The Castelet farm courtyard

The Carillon (№ 18) introduces the first scene of Act 3. A 6/8 Andantino Mélodrame (№ 19) marks the entrance of Mère Renaude in Scene 3, and in the following Adagio (the 'Adagietto' in the first Suite) Balthazar and Renaude reminisce about old times. As all move off to eat, there is a reprise of the Andantino. Another Andantino follows the exit of Frédéri and Vivette as they declare their love (№ 20). The farandole (№ 21, Danso dei Chivau-Frus) which begins quietly and builds to a climax sees Frédéri respond with fury to Mitifio who has come to recover his letters, telling Balthazar that he will run off with the girl from Arles (№ 22).

Tableau 2: The magnanery

The farandole is heard, then the March of the Kings is sung by the chorus, after which the two are combined (№ 23); there is reprise for chorus of the March of the Kings (№ 24). In (№ 25) l’Innocent ‘awakens’ showing he understands his brother’s problem. In mélodrame (№ 26) Rose is momentarily reassured as the clock strikes three. After Frédéri has leapt from the hayloft to his death on the courtyard pavement, the orchestra plays a powerful tutti version of his theme (Final, № 27) which brings down the curtain.

Incidental Music

Suites

Films and television adaptations that use Bizet's music