Biography of Bizet

Introduction (born Paris, 25 October 1838; died Bougival, 3 June 1875). He was trained by his parents, who were musical, and admitted to the Paris Conservatoire just before his tenth birthday. There he studied counterpoint with Zimmerman and Gounod and composition with Halevy, and under Marmontel's tuition he became a brilliant pianist. Bizet's exceptional powers as a composer are already apparent in the products of his Conservatoire years, notably the Symphony in C, a work of precocious genius dating …

…'58'') His melodrama "L'Arlèsienne", a collaboration with the writer Alphonse Daudet, was coolly received in the theatre. The two suites from the work are well known, the second arranged by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud. - MIDI FILE - from "L'Arlesienne": Prelude (3'30'') Bizet's only surviving symphony, written when he was 17, was rediscovered and performed for the first time in 1935. Popular piano works include the two-piano "Jeux d'enfants" (Children's Games).