The Life Of Georges Bizet

The life of Georges Bizet Born in Paris on October 25, 1838 by the

name of Alexander-Cesar Leopold

Was born to a Singing-master for a father

(Adolph-Armand Bizet), and a pianist of a mother (Aimée Delsarte).

Was considered a musical prodigy, and was

admitted to the Paris Conservatoire before he was of age due to his abilities to distinguish the degrees of a scale without flaw.

Early Accomplishments 

At the conservatoire, Bizet won a Premiere Prix once in 1849, then again in 1852 in addition to winning the second Prix in 1851 in Piano.

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Bizet also won second Prix for organ and fugue in in 1855, winning the premier prix for these the next year as well.

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Bizet went on to win the Prix de Rome in 1857 which led to his studies at the conservatoire being “capped” due to Bizet obtaining enough money to subsist on for three years while he pursued his music.

Bizet’s Influences 

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Georges Bizet took to his composition teacher at the conservatoire, Fromental Halevy, who along with teaching had a career in other musical areas such as opera and opera comique stagings. Francois DelSarte (Bizet’s Uncle) was a singing teacher (of apparently greater popularity than Bizet’s father) and had a great influence on Georges. Another person of great influence in Bizet’s life was Charles Gounod

 Gounod was a teacher figure to Bizet, acting in

place of the ailing Zimmerman.  Bizet said to Gounod years after his lessons at the Conservatoire “You were the beginning of my life as an artist. I spring from you.”

Years in Rome  Bizet spent nearly 3 years in Rome,

straying from the music of his home at that time.  It was in Rome that Bizet picked up the terrible habit of starting a new composition or opera of some kind, only to abandon the effort shortly thereafter.  it is said that Georges was frustrated with what he deemed a lack of notable music to be found in Rome.

Rome Cont’d  While Bizet loved the landscape in Italy

and the South of France, and especially the people residing in the Italian countryside , at this time Napoleon III had his hand in Italian affairs to the point of making the presence of Frenchman in Italy a politically awkward situation.

 Only four out of very few pieces Bizet did

during his time in Rome have survived up to the present time.  Three of these titles were Don Procopio,

Les pecheurs de perles, and La jolie fille de perth.  Another habit Bizet picked up at this time

was that of using old works and compositions in his new pieces.

Back in France   

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Bizet left Rome at the end of nearly three years, learning that his mother was terribly ill. She dies in September of 1861 The year following her death saw a scandal involving the birth of a son, Jean, to the Bizet family maid, Marie Reiter. In March of 1862 Bizet’s mentor from the Conservatoire, Fromental Helevy died and affected Bizet greatly.

 For sometime

Bizet had been seen as such a notable pianist that he was able to make a living by accompanying vocal performers or by doing arrangements and transcriptions for other artists.  He hated this, saying once “Be assured that it is aggravating to interrupt my cherished work for two days to write solos for the cornet-a-pistons. One must live.”

Bizet in Love    

Bizet was in love by 1867 with his deceased mentor Halevy’s daughter, Genevieve. Her mother’s family disapproved of her marrying an unsuccessful composer. The engagement was called off due to opposition from Genevieve’s family. They finally married in June of 1869 in a civil ceremony due to Bizet’s distaste for organized religion.

Bizet in War 

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The outbreak of the Franco-Russian war in 1870 had Bizet enlisting in the National Guard, supporting the idea of the Third Republic enthusiastically. The Armistice in January of 1871 allowed Bizet and Genevieve to visit her mother, who was borderline insane, which led to the discovery that genetics had not been kind to Genevieve, as she was also prone to hysterics.

A downward Spiral  Bizet’s marriage was suffering during this

time, despite the birth of their son Jacques in 1872, and was thought to never regain it’s early luster.  Genevieve needed constant care for her unstable mental situation.  They were separated for a period of two months

Bizet’s Greatest Triumph???  

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Bizet suggested taking Carmen, a novel by Merimee, and making it an opera. At the time this was happening, Parisian theatre, music and opera were being geared toward families and morals. Bizet’s Carmen had the effect of creating elements of Spanish style music, even though he never actually set foot in Spain. There were repeated postponements and hold ups in producing Carmen. The first performance was given on March 3 of 1875.

Final Months 

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Carmen ran for 45 showings, despite harsh criticisms for going against family ideals and for having a graphic death scene. The criticism it received so saddened Bizet that his health began to slip, and less than three months after Carmen’s debut, he suffered a flair of Rheumatism and two heart attacks, dying at the age of 36 the night of the 33rd performance of Carmen. Ironically, Carmen was brought to Parisian stages five years later as a great success and is to this day one of the most popular Operas going! Of Bizet’s death, Saint-Saens said he was “Loyal and sincere, he never hid either his friendships or antipathies…”

Resources 

"Composers: Georges Bizet." Essentials of Music. 2001. SONY music Entertainment. 7 Mar 2009 .

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Wagner, Paul. "Life of Georges Bizet." Music With Ease. 2009. Music with Ease. 9 Mar 2009 .

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MacDonald, Hugh. "Bizet, Georges (Alexandre-CésarLéopold)." Oxford Music Online. 2009. Oxford university Press. 9 Mar 2009 .