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 Theatre 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.
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:
- Prélude
- Minuetto
- Adagietto
- 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. 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). It was first performed on 10 November 1872 under Jules Pasdeloup of the Concert populaires in the Cirque d’Hiver with great success. The Minuetto had to be encored, and the Adagietto was almost accorded the same honour.
