Carmen Suite

Georges Bizet

General Info

Year: 1875 / 1983
Duration: c. 14:10
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Alfred Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $89.00; (digital) - $89.00 | Score Only (print) - $9.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Castanets
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The story of Carmen is set in Seville, Spain, in 1820. It is the story of a passionate, fickle gypsy girl, Carmen, who is one of six major roles in the opera. The story, in four acts, is action-packed, animated, flowing, and never dragging or uninteresting.

Bizet was well acquainted with Spanish folklore and folk music through his many visits to Spain. For Carmen, he composed a score that was rhythmical, tuneful, and characteristic of the gypsy lifestyle. This adaptation for concert band, a suite in four movements, retains the spirit of the original production.

- Program Note from publisher

Carmen is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a eponymous novella by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences. Carmen has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon; the Habanera from act 1 and the Toreador Song from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias.

The opera is written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue. It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen's love to the glamorous torero Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life, immorality, and lawlessness, and the tragic death of the main character on stage, broke new ground in French opera and were highly controversial.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

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State Ratings

North Carolina: V
Virginia: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Juniata College (Huntingdon, Penn.) Wind Symphony (James Latten, conductor) - 19 November 2023
University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Wind Ensemble (Rachel Friez and Grace Trautman, conductor) - 7 May 2021
Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Schwalbe, conductor) – 4 March 2018
Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Keith Waibel, conductor) – 28 February 2016
Lystharmonikerne (Oslo, Norway) - 2015
Mid America Freedom Band (Kansas City, Mo.) (Ian Bradt, conductor) – 19 October 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Carmen Fantasy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Park) (1875/2017)
Children's Chorus from "Carmen Suite" (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1875/2017)
Farandole from L'Arlésienne Suite No.2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kataoka) (1872/2014)
Habañera (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (19875/2016)

All Wind Works

Adagietto (Brass Quintet) (arr. Hautvast)
Adagietto (Clarinet Quartet) (arr. Hautvast)
Adagietto (Saxophone Quartet) (arr. Hautvast)
Adagietto (Woodwind Quartet) (arr. Hautvast)
Adagio from Bizet Symphony (arr. Brand)
Andante (arr. Van Der Beek)
Au fond du temple saint (arr. Johnson) (1863/2017)
Carmen (tr. McAlister; ed. Reed) (1875/2000)
A Carmen Celebration (arr. Cacavas) (1875/2010)
Carmen Fantasia (arr. Hunsberger) (1875/2004)
Carmen Fantasy (arr. Ito) (1875/2009)
Carmen Fantasy (arr. Sostac) (1875/2011)
Carmen Fantasy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Park) (1875/2017)
Carmen Fantasy (arr. Suzuki) (1875/2001)
Carmen Fantasy (arr. Tobani and Kent) (1875/1947)
Carmen: Habanera (arr. Zugrov) (1875/2015)
Carmen Highlights (arr. Williams) (1875)
Carmen Suite (arr. Bullock) (1875/1983)
Carmen Suite (arr. Guirard; tr. Buckley) (1875/2018)
Carmen Suite (arr. Holcombe and Holcombe Jr.) (1875/1998)
Carmen Suite (arr. Sheen) (1875/1991)
Carment Suite I (arr. Laughlin) (1875/2020)
Carmen Suite II (arr. Laughlin) (1875/2020)
Carmen Symphony (tr. Serebrier; ed. Patterson) (1875)
Children's Chorus from "Carmen Suite" (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1875/2017)
Duet from "The Pearl Fishers" (arr. de Meij) (1875/2016)
Farandole (arr. Bocook) (1872/2002)
Farandole (1872/1988)
Farandole (arr. Daehn) (1872)
Farandole (arr. Iasilli) (1872/1936)
Farandole from L'Arlésienne Suite No.2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kataoka) (1872/2014)
Farandole (arr. Schaefer) (1872)
Farandole (arr. Longfield) (1872/1993)
Flower Song from “Carmen” (arr. Harding) (1875)
Gypsy Dance (arr. Reed) (1872/1997)
Habañera (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (19875/2016)
Habañera from "Carmen" (trans. Odom) (1875)
Jeux d'enfants (arr. Di Scala)
Intermezzo (arr. Sharp) (1875/2002)
L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 (arr. Finck) (1932)
L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 (arr. Laurendeau) (1905)
L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (arr. Finck; tr. Duthoit) (1872/1932)
L’Arlésienne Suite No 2 (tr. C. Godfrey; ed. McAlister and Reed) (1872/2002)
L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (arr. Sorlin) (1872/2005)
Minisuite from Carmen (arr. Marlatt) (1875)
Minuet from "L’Arlésienne Suite" (arr. Walko) (1872/)
Music from Carmen (arr. Saucedo) (1875)
Open Thy Heart (arr. Glover) (1859/2014)
Overture to "The Pearl Fishers" (arr. Cailliet) (1863/1956)
Pastorale and Intermezzo (arr. Lake) (1924)
Petite Suite: Jeux d'Enfants (arr. Brand) (1871/1999)
Selections from Bizet’s Carmen
Selections from "Carmen" (arr. Dunnigan) (1875/2021)
Selections from "Carmen" (arr. Musser) (1875/1941)
Selections from "Carmen" (arr. Safranek) (1875/1912)
Selections from "Carmen" (arr. Sharp) (1875)
Selections from "The Pearl Fishers" (arr. Lake) (1875/1921)
Suite: Jeux d'Enfants (arr. Brand). See: Petite Suite: Jeux d'Enfants
Suite from "Carmen" (arr. Curnow) (1875)
Suite from "Carmen" (arr. D. Godfrey) (1875/1915)
Toreador Song (arr. Barnes) (1875/1988)
Toreador Song (arr. Barrow) (1875/1976)
Two Bizet Pieces (arr. Frackenpohl)
Votre Toast (arr. Cray) (1875)

Resources

Bizet, G.; Bullock, J. (1983). Carmen Suite: Symphonic Band [score]. Belwin-Mills: [s.l.]
Carmen, Wikipedia Accessed 16 September 2020
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Georges Bizet." Accessed 28 January 2016
Perusal score