Grade 5
L’Arlésienne
Suite No. 1
George Bizet, composer
Martin Tousignant, arranger
Instrumentation
Full Score Bb Trumpet 1
Flute 1 & 2 Bb Trumpet 2
Flute 3 Bb Trumpet 3
Oboe F Horn 1 & 2
Cor Anglais (Oboe) F Horn 3 & 4
Clarinet 1 Trombone 1
Clarinet 2 Trombone 2
Clarinet 3 Bass Trombone
Bass Clarinet TC Euphonium
Bassoon 1 & 2 BC Euphonium
Alto Saxophone 1 Tuba
Alto Saxophone 2 Double Bass
Tenor Saxophone Harp
Baritone Saxophone Vibraphone
Tambourine
Timpani
About&the&Composer&
!
George& Bizet! (1838! &! 1875)! ! Aimee! Delsarte! gave! birth! to! Adolphe! Bizet’s! only! son!
Georges!on!25!October!1838.! ! Both!accomplished!musicians,!they!encouraged!his!rapid!
development.! ! At! the! age! of! 9,! Bizet’s! music! theory! and! sight&singing! skills! rivaled!
even!Mozart‘s,!gaining!him!the!earliest!possible!admission!to!the!Paris!Conservatory!in!
1848! (the! minimum! age! was! 10).! ! ! He! proved! an! outstanding! theory,! counterpoint,!
composition,!and!piano!student,!winning!1st!prize!for!solfege!in!1849,!1st!prize!for!piano!
in! 1852,! then! winning! the! Prix! de! Rome! for! composition! in! 1857.! ! Besides! teaching!
solfege!at!the!Conservatory,!he!earned!extra!income!by!arranging!piano!transcriptions!
of! operas! and! orchestral! works.! ! When! Gounod! hired! him! to! transcribe! his! D&minor!
symphony! (1855)! for! piano,! Bizet! quickly! wrote! his! own! C&major! symphony! which!
owed!much!to!Gounod’s!work!yet!transcended!its!limitations.! ! Not!wanting!to!invoke!
Gounod‘s! wrath,! Bizet! forbid! the! symphony! be! performed! or! published! during! his!
lifetime.! ! Gounod!became!bitterly!jealous!anyway,!opposing!Bizet!at!every!turn,!even!
claiming! that! Carmen! was! not! really! his! work!! ! At! any! rate! it! only! gained! wider!
recognition!after!Bizet!died!of!a!heart!attack!on!3!Jun!1875.! ! ! Gounod!finally!admitted!
his! jealousy! at! the! funeral,! and! cleared! the! way! to! a! highly! successful! posthumous!
revival.!
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Bizet’s! composition! teacher! Fromental! Halevy! remained! friendly,! enough! so! that! he!
married!his!younger!daughter!Genevieve!on!3!June!1869.! ! She!gave!birth!to!their!only!
son!Jacques!on!10!July!1872.! ! Jules!Massenet!also!recognized!Bizet’s!musical!excellence,!
and! helped! obtain! the! 1874! Carmen! commission.! ! ! Massenet! also! recognized! the!
excellent! incidental! music! to! L’Arlesienne! and! convinced! the! publisher! Choudens! to!
issue!the!orchestral!suite!transcribed!here.
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About&the&Arranger&
Martin Charles Tousignant (1965- ) moved to L’Anse, Michigan USA
as a young boy and began piano lessons at age 6. He began playing
tuba and euphonium at age 12 and developed quickly enough to join the
Michigan All-State Honors Band on tuba by age 16. He married Jana
Ennis of Northport, Michigan in 1987, then began music studies at
Central Michigan University (1988-1990). Jana’s teaching job in South
Dakota led him to a magna cum laude music degree from Northern State
University (Aberdeen, South Dakota) in 1992. After two years of
teaching, he joined the US Army as a tuba player in 1994 and remained
there until 2000. In 2001 he moved to Herndon, Virginia and became a
mail carrier while playing tuba in Army National Guard and community bands. In 2009 he
returned to the US Army as a tuba player on a 3-year leave of absence from the US Postal
Service.
About&the&Music&
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L’Arlesienne&Suite&No.&1&
!
Bizet’s! incidental! music! to! L’Arlesienne! rose! from! the! ashes! of! Daudet’s! failed! play! after! he!
compiled!an!orchestral!suite!within!days!of!its!demise!in!October!1872.! ! The!opening!Prelude!
uses!the!ancient!Provencal!“March!of!the!Three!Kings”!to!set!the!scene,!then!cuts!to!a!demure!
love!song!played!by!the!alto!saxophone.! ! A!turbulent!second!love!song!interrupts!to!close!the!
movement.! ! The! light,! Gallic! Minuetto! served! as! an! interlude! between! acts! III! and! IV.! ! The!
Adagietto! depicts! a! tender! reunion! between! now&aged! young! sweethearts,! and! ! Mahler’s!
Adagietto! (Symphony! No.! 5)! owes! much! to! Bizet.! ! The! closing! Carillon! depicts! a! wedding!
celebration,! interrupted! by! the! old! woman! sweetheart’s! reminiscence! of! former! romance.! ! As!
usual!I!have!scored!the!wind!band!sparingly!except!in!climactic!passages,!in!order!to!maximize!
clarity,!and!have!not!sought!to!imitate!the!orchestral!scoring!per!se.!
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The!editor!suggests!playing!Farandole!as!an!encore!after!L’Arlésienne!Suite!No.!1.!
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Works by Martin Tousignant
In BandMusic PDF Library
1812 Overture
Alte Kameraden
Berliner Luft
Falcon March
L’Arlésienne Suite 1
Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2
Lights Out
Razzazza Mazzazza
St. Julien
Zampa Overture
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