Bizet: Keyboard Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Keyboard compositions by Bizet. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
3 Esquisses musicales

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

4 Preludes

The Carmen Suites are two suites of orchestral music drawn from the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen and compiled posthumously by his friend Ernest Guiraud. They adhere very closely to Bizet's orchestration. However the order of the musical allusions are in reversed chronological order, and do not adhere to the operatic versions entirely, although the Suite is directly inspired by Bizet's opera. Guiraud also wrote the recitatives for Carmen, and compiled the second of the two suites from Bizet's L'Arlésienne incidental music. Each of the Carmen Suites contains six numbers. Both suites have been performed and recorded many times.

Caprice no. 1 in C sharp minor

Major/minor compositions are musical compositions that begin in a major key and end in a minor key (generally the parallel minor), specifying the keynote (as C major/minor). This is a very unusual form in tonal music, although examples became more common in the nineteenth century. There are far fewer major/minor compositions than minor/major ones (the latter category of which includes, but is not limited to, all minor-key works that end with a Picardy third, as well as many Classical- and Romantic-period symphonies, concertos, sonatas and chamber works, and individual movements thereof.) The major/minor compositions in the following lists do not necessarily end with a minor chord; a final passage in minor ending with a sonority that fails to re-establish the major mode (for example, an open octave or fifth) is sufficient. Works falling into the following categories are excluded: Compositions that would be major/minor but for a final Picardy third stipulated by the composer, such as Bach's Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, Francis Poulenc's Vinea mea electa from Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (FP 97), or Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Sextet, Op. 110; Compositions that would be major/minor, but end inconclusively on the major dominant of the final minor key, e.g. Nos. 2 and 9 of Robert Schumann's Kerner cycle, Op. 35, or Schumann's Die Nonne, Op. 49 No. 3; Compositions in which the beginning only hints at a possible reading of a major key without really establishing it, such as the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Haydn's two string quartets, Op. 33 No. 1 and Op. 64 No. 2, C. P. E. Bach's Piano Sonata, Wq. 55/3, or the first movement of Alkan's Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' (all of which are in B minor, but start with the possibility of D major); Compositions in which the opening major chord merely serves a function (e.g. dominant or Neapolitan) in the ensuing minor key, without being tonicized in its own right, such as Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre or Chopin's first Ballade; Compositions that are only incidentally major/minor due to being unfinished, without any indication that the composer intended them to be major/minor, such as Schubert's Piano Sonata in C, D. 840 or Haydn's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 103; Frequently performed portions of a larger work consisting of what is technically two separate movements, if the first of these finishes clearly on the tonic (and thus doesn't require continuation), such as the opening pair of movements in Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 109 (connected by an attacca); Entire extended works as song cycles, ballets, operas and oratorios that finish in a different tonic than the starting one, unless the two keys carry clear extramusical or programmatic connotions within the work (an explanation of which must accompany any such listings below).

Caprice no. 2 in C

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

Chants du Rhin

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

Chasse fantastique

Georges Bizet (né Alexandre César Léopold Bizet; 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s, most of which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time—Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during which Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne was instantly popular. The production of his final opera, Carmen, was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on 3 March 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure; he died of a heart attack three months later, unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success. Bizet's marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son. After his death, his work, apart from Carmen, was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre.

Grande valse de concert

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

Jeux d'enfants, for 4 hands, op. 22, "Children's Games"

Jeux d'enfants ("Children's Games") Op. 22, is a suite of twelve miniatures composed by Georges Bizet for piano four hands in 1871. The entire piece has a duration of about 20 to 23 minutes.

Magasin des familles

"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published anonymously in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales). Villeneuve's original story was abridged, revised, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants (Children's Collection) which became the most commonly retold version. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in Blue Fairy Book, a part of the Fairy Book series, in 1889. The fairy-tale was influenced by the story of Petrus Gonsalvus as well as Ancient Latin stories such as "Cupid and Psyche" from The Golden Ass, written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis in the second century AD, and "The Pig King", an Italian fairy-tale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola around 1550. Variants of the tale are known across Europe. In France, for example, Zémire and Azor is an operatic version of the story, written by Jean-François Marmontel and composed by André Grétry in 1771, which had enormous success into the 19th century. Zémire and Azor is based on the second version of the tale. Amour pour amour (Love for Love) by Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée is a 1742 play based on de Villeneuve's version. According to researchers at a university in Lisbon, the story originated about 4,000 years ago.

Marine

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

Nocturne in D

A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.

Nocturne in F

A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.

Nocturne no. 1 in F

A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.

Romance sans paroles in C

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).

Theme brillant

In music, Op. 22 stands for Opus number 22. Compositions that are assigned this number include: Arnold – Symphony No. 1 Barber – Cello Concerto Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 11 Bizet – Jeux d'enfants Chopin – Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante Clara Schumann – Three Romances for Violin and Piano Dvořák – Serenade for Strings Enescu – String Quartet No. 1 Enescu – String Quartet No. 2 Goria – Fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de V. Bellini Hindemith – String Quartet No. 4 Mendelssohn – Capriccio Brillant Prokofiev – Visions fugitives Rachmaninoff – Variations on a Theme of Chopin Rode – 24 Caprices for Violin Saint-Saëns – Piano Concerto No. 2 Sarasate – Spanish Dances, Book II Schoenberg – Four Orchestral Songs Schumann – Piano Sonata No. 2 Shostakovich – The Golden Age Sibelius – Lemminkäinen Suite, cycle of four tone poems for orchestra (1895, revised 1897, 1900, 1939) This multi-movement work includes The Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen), Op. 22/2 Tchaikovsky – String Quartet No. 2 Turina – Danzas fantásticas Wieniawski – Violin Concerto No. 2

Valse in C

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.

Variations chromatiques de concert

Georges Bizet (né Alexandre César Léopold Bizet; 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s, most of which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time—Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during which Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne was instantly popular. The production of his final opera, Carmen, was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on 3 March 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure; he died of a heart attack three months later, unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success. Bizet's marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son. After his death, his work, apart from Carmen, was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre.

Venise

This is a list of musical works by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875).