L'Arlésienne is incidental music composed by Georges Bizet for Alphonse Daudet's drama of the same name, usually translated as The Girl from Arles. It was first performed on 30 September 1872 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris.^[1] 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.^[1] The score achieves powerful dramatic ends with the most economic of means.^[2] 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.^[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 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.^[1] Carvalho planned to relieve the bleak tragedy of this "rustic drama" by presenting the play with music and choruses.^[3] "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."^[4] However, there was some risk in this approach, as this genre ("mélodrame") was in decline.^[3]

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.^[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 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:^[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.^[4] Production was rushed as the play was staged as a last-minute replacement for another play (Robert Halt's Madame Frainex^[4]), which had been banned by the censors, and the audience was less than favourably disposed to the new play.^[5] 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.^[3] 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 precisely with that of the incidental music, but conforms rather to the character and tempo conventions of a short symphony.^[3] The Prélude and Adagietto closely resemble their original versions except for their expanded instrumentation. The Adagietto, previously scored for muted string quartet,^[3] particularly benefits from its new massed, but muted, string sonority. The main difference in the Minuetto is 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.^[3]

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.^[3] 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:^[3]

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 two numbers of the incidental music--No. 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)^[1] 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.^[3]

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,^[4] the success of this production resulted in a subsequent run of over 400 performances.^[1] 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.^[1] The remaining numbers retained their original orchestrations, and a few numbers were either omitted, duplicated, truncated, or exchanged positions.^[1]

Performance history

L'Arlésienne, incidental music

L'Arlésienne, Suite d'Orchestre

Instrumentation

The score of the original incidental music is notable not only for its light instrumentation (apparently 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,^[3] and the introduction of two instruments new to the orchestra.

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.

The specific drum to use in the percussion section is an issue of some confusion. Both Bizet's incidental music manuscript of 1872 and the score of L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2, arranged by Guiraud in 1879, specify a "tambourin",^[3] a large tabor not to be confused with the tambourine. The tambourin provençal is a low-pitched tenor drum, the length of which is typically about twice its diameter. In Provence, the tambourin is usually played in conjunction with the galoubet (a small pipe), making this combination a unique Provençal pipe and tabor. This is the effect Bizet had in mind when he set the tune "Danso dei Chivau-Frus", used in the Farandole to evoke the sound of tambourinaires playing during a festival celebrating Saint Eligius.

In the absence of a genuine tambourin, a tom drum or a snareless side drum is sometimes substituted. This was the circumstance in the premiere production, during which critic Arthur Pougin of Le Soir complained that the tambourin provençal had been replaced by an ordinary drum (tambour).^[3] Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein are two examples of prominent conductors who used a tambourine in recordings, giving the Farandole a brighter ambiance than would have been achieved with the deeper resonance of the tambourin. The score of the first number of L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, 'Prélude', specifies merely a "tambour",^[3] and although a tambourin de Provence could just as well be employed here also, many orchestras use a snare drum (caisse claire).

Incidental music (1872)

Setting

The action takes place in Camargue, on the Rhône River, near the Étang de Vaccarès. The time is unspecified. The season in which the story takes place is a point of some confusion. At the beginning of Act 1, Balthazar mentions that it is the first of May. In Act 3, he mentions that it is now June. This occurs just before the Farandole, during which the peasants are celebrating Saint Éloi (Eligius), patron saint of horses, farriers, and husbandry. However, his feast day does not occur until the first of December.

Main Characters

• Francet Mamaï (65), farmer of le Castelet, grandfather of Frédéri and L'Innocent
• Rose Mamaï (40), a widow, Francet's daughter-in-law, mother of Frédéri and L'Innocent
• Frédéri (20), the protagonist, obsessively in love with the Arlésienne
• L'Innocent (13), Frédéri's brother Janet; regarded as having a developmental disability
• Balthazar (70), chief shepherd
• La Renaude (70), Balthazar's love interest in earlier times, Vivette's grandmother
• Vivette (17), Rose's goddaughter, Frédéri's second love interest
• Patron Marc, Rose's brother, a Rhône sailor
• Mitifio (30), a horseherd ("un gardien de chevaux")

Synopsis

The Prélude (No. 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 (No. 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 a kind of 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 (No. 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 (No. 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 Francet 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 in silence, just like her grandmother did. A mélodrame (No. 5), with offstage chorus 'Grand soleil de la Provence', also introduces the theme of the gardian Mitifio, whom Balthazar notices skulking about. Mitifio reveals to Francet that the Arlésienne has been his mistress for two years, and he means to keep her. He has letters from the Arlésienne confirming his story; Francet asks to borrow them. In the final mélodrame (No. 6), Frédéri is about to go off to Arles, but Francet shows him Mitifio's letters. The chorus bursts in with a reprise of 'Grand soleil de la Provence', and Frédéri’s theme accompanies his collapse by the well.

Act 2

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

An entr'acte (No. 7: 'Pastorale', with wordless offstage chorus 'La la-la-la-la-la'), later appearing as the first movement in the Suite No. 2, sets the scene. In the following Mélodrame (№ 8) Balthazar and l’Innocent enter, and the next (№ 9) marks the exit of Rose. The 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: the shepherds's call), 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. The final mélodrame (№ 14: reprise of 'La la-la-la-la-la' chorus) evokes Rose’s desperation at Fréderi’s frame of mind.

Tableau 2: The Kitchen at Castelet

An entr'acte (No. 15: the 'Intermezzo' used in the Suite No. 2) depicts Vivette, the local girl who wants to marry Frédéri, preparing her parcels to take on the Rhône ferry. 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: Final) when Frédéri decides that Vivette can help him forget his obsession, Balthazar and Rose express their relief.

Intermezzo

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

Act 3

Tableau 1: The Castelet Farm Courtyard

An entr'acte (No. 18: 'Carillon') introduces the first scene of Act 3. In the first mélodrame (№ 19) in Scene 3, a 6/8 Andantino marks the entrance of Mère Renaude, and in the following Adagio (the 'Adagietto' of Suite No. 1) 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 (№ 21). The farandole (№ 22, 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. Mitifio tells Balthazar that he will run off with the girl from Arles.

Tableau 2: The Magnanery

A brief statement of the 'Dance of the Frisky Horses' theme is heard, then the March of the Kings is sung by the chorus, after which the two are combined (No. 23: 'Early in the morning'). Next, there is a brief reprise for chorus of the March of the Kings (№ 24: 'On a golden chariot'). In № 25, l’Innocent ‘awakens’ showing he understands his brother’s problem. In a 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 (№ 27: Final) which brings down the curtain.

Structure