Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink
I – Allegro vivo: 0:00
II – Adagio: 7:46
III – Scherzo. Allegro vivace: 17:21
IV – Finale. Allegro vivace: 22:53
The first symphony by Georges Bizet was composed in 1855 while he was studying at the Conservatory. He took as a model the Symphony No.1 in D major of Gounod, of which he had made a transcription for piano to four hands. He used the same instrumentation: strings, double wood, four horns, two trumpets and timpani.
The work remained unpublished until 1935. Taken by its author as a whim of youth, he removed it from its catalog. The work was found by Jean Chantavoine in 1933, in a pile of manuscripts given to the Conservatory of Paris by the composer Reynaldo Hahn. Soon it was premiered in Basel under the direction of Felix Weingartner in the year 1935. The symphony, with a fresh air but already marked by its peculiar style, has become Bizet’s most popular symphonic piece.
The first movement, allegro vivo, begins with a rhythmic figure of three notes, which he uses in a similar way to that used by Beethoven in his fifth. The second theme, which is more relaxed and melodious, is performed with the help of oboes and flutes. The development is preferably based on this theme, but with repeated intrusions of the first.
The adagio is a piece of pastoral flavor. It begins with an introductory phrase before the oboe participates with a sinuous oriental air melody in the form of a cantilena. The strings responds with a serene theme of operatic lyrical air. This warm lyric part is interrupted by a section in the form of a fugue, based on the motive that accompanies the introduction. After a few bars of transition, the theme of the cantilena in the oboe returns, with which the movement ends.
The third movement is a scherzo which begins with a rhythmic theme with flavor of Scottish gigue, that connects with an ample lyrical subject in the style of Mendelssohn. The trio consists of the use of the gigue with an instrumentation of peasant rustic flavor. It ends up repeating, as usual, the scherzo.
The finale is a jubilant allegro vivace, a lush page full of youthful strength. It begins with a rapid oscillating motive on the strings, which stops a few bars during which the wind plays a cheerful march. A third lyric theme is played by the strings. The work ends brilliantly and elegantly.
Picture: Portrait of Georges Bizet by the French painter Félix-Henri Giacomotti.
Sources from this spanish website on Bizet symphonies: http://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/naciones/la-sinfonia-en-francia/la-sinfonia-en-la-segunda-mitad-del-siglo-xix/bizet/