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Back to Subjects - Music

Carmen

Carmen Georges Bizet (1838-1875) composed the opera Carmen, it opened on March 3, 1875 at the Opera Comique in Paris. It was not a success, initially. Then again, Carmen would soon become the most popular opera of all time. The entire work however, was disapproved of for its harsh libretto, and the music was criticized. The reception of Carmen left Bizet acutely depressed and on June 3, 1875 he suffered from two heart attacks and died. Carmen opens with a Prelude in ternary form (ABACA) in which it opens the stage action with a faint motif. Act I starts off in a square in Seville which contains a cigarette factory and a guard station. The square is filled of people and the soldiers watch with interest as the peasant girl Micaela enters the square. Micaela is introduced by a light accompaniment and chromatic scales. She is looking for Corporal Don Jose which she has a letter from his mother. Here Micaela meets Sergeant Morales who tells her that Don Jose was in another company. Morales offers to keep her company while she waits for the other company to arrive but she declines and runs away. A trumpet sounds, which signals the changing of the guards. During the changing of the company a chorus of street boys sing. The boys go into formation like the soldiers that they are pretending to be. The boys add to the reality of the times at which the boys would pick pocket and cause mischief. Don Jose enters. He meets with Lieutenant Zuniga and hints to Jose that the girls who work in the cigarette factory will be arriving after lunch. Jose proclaims that the only one he loves is Micaela. Hereafter, a bell rings and the factory girls arrive in the square, Jose is not interested in their seductive song. It is after the girls’ song that the crowd asks for “La Carmencita”. Carmen enters with the same music that is in the Prelude. The vitality of Carmen herself is remarkable, the music involves the use of the harmonic, rhythmic instrumental measures of Spanish dance music. Also the death theme of the chromatic scales and augmented 2nds enhance to Carmen’s later fate. She sings the Habanera, which is a mixture of sensual music, an oral warning to all. “Beware of me if I give you my heart” and she sings about the fickleness of love. Don Jose is very uninterested in Carmen’s song. Carmen becomes quite fascinated and throws a flower at Jose. Carmen then leaves to go into the cigarette factory. Jose decides to pick up the flower and Micaela returns with money and a letter from his mother. The letter urges that Jose marry Micaela. In this scene between Don Jose and Micaela there is an interruption in the mood and music. Here a chromatic downward scale in the music starts and where Jose starts singing of an “evil spirit” which is we assume represents Carmen. Micaela leaves Jose and there is a sudden accident at the cigarette factory. Zuniga sends Jose to oversee what had happened. Jose comes out with Carmen, she apparently she had attacked and ended up stabbing another girl. Zuniga questions her but Carmen mocks him with ridiculous humming. Carmen is revealed to be violent and mocking. Zuniga orders Jose to tie Carmen’s hands for she is to be arrested. Carmen now knows that Jose is in love with her and she persuades him to untie her. As they walk off to jail she pushes Jose and makes a run for it. Zuniga has no choice but to arrest Jose for his insolent behavior. This begins the characterization of José and his gradual decline from a simple soldier's honesty through insubordination and desertion. The finale of Act I replays the same music as in the Habanera. The Entr’acte music has a very slow military feel and there is some of the same music as in the Prelude. The music features solo bassoons, clarinet, flute; all sharing the same theme. The second act takes place in Lillas Pastia’s Tavern. Here Carmen with her gypsy friends, Frasquita and Mercedes, sing of how good it is to be a gypsy. Many of the soldiers are at the tavern and Zuniga tells Carmen that Jose’s sentence is up today. Escamillo the matador enters the tavern with his entourage and sings of his victory in the bullring and in love with the Toreador Song. Here, Escamillo makes advances to Carmen who says she is not currently available. The tavern is now closing so Escamillo leaves and Zuniga wants to know if Carmen would like to keep his company and she refuses. Carmen tells Zuniga that she is waiting for Don Jose and he leaves. Here alone, Carmen is faced with her smuggler friends Dancairo and Remendado so a quintet is being sung here. They want Carmen and her gypsy friends to help them smuggle contraband into the country. Carmen says she cannot join them for the reason that she is waiting for her lover, Don Jose, which his voice is heard in the distance. Dancairo and Remendado leave urging Carmen to bring Jose along. Jose enters the tavern and declares his love for Carmen. She then does a seductive dance for him and during this Jose hears the trumpet calling a retreat and he tells she that he must return for formation. Carmen is furious and is hushed when he sings about the flower she threw at him in the square. Jose recounts his sufferings in prison and the possibility of her love. Jose is so obsessed with Carmen he would do anything for her. Carmen tells Jose if he really loved her, he would desert the army to be with her. Zuniga bursts into the tavern and orders Don Jose back to the barracks. It is here, Jose refuses and the two begin to fight when the smugglers appear. Zuniga is unarmed and forced out of the tavern. Jose has no choice now but to lead the life of an outcast and deserter. The Entr’acte music in the opening to the third act was very different from the opening Prelude. There is a harp introduction with the flute joining. The music is solemn, with a great deal of harmony and having a very romantic character. Act III takes place in a mountain pass. The gypsies appear and begin to set up their camp for a little rest before continuing their journey. The entrance music of the gypsies is sly and mischievous with provided with sequences. Don Jose is struggling with his insubordination to the law but still is infatuated with Carmen. Carmen hints to Jose that she is growing tired of him. Mercedes and Frasquita spread out their cards and Carmen joins them to read their fortunes. The music for Frasquita and Mercedes’ card scene is rather bubbly and happy for the two gypsies. Frasquita finds love and Mercedes finds wealth. However when Carmen joins in the prediction of the cards the music behind her gets very solemn and chromatic. Her cards see only death. In Carmen’s aria, she realizes all is hopeless and that the fates are sealed for her and Don Jose. After hearing Carmen’s fate, Mercedes and Frasquita continue to revel in their own good fortunes of what the cards have in store for them. Then the smugglers and the girls exit leaving Jose to watch over the camp. Micaela emerges from the mountains looking for Jose, he hides when he sees her. It is here that she sings an aria in rounded binary form (Je dis que rien ne m’epouvante) about how afraid she is. However, the music is hopeful that she will succeed in her endeavors. Micaela sings about how Carmen is “Dangerous but beautiful”. Micaela hides after she hears somebody enter. Escamillo has come looking for Carmen. He sings of how he is in love with her and is sure she loves him too. Escamillo now knows that Jose is the one obsessed with Carmen and they start to fight. When Jose is about to conquer, the smugglers appear and stop the fight. Before Escamillo makes his leave he invites the entire group to his next bullfight in Seville, with a special glance at Carmen who seems already dumbstruck with love for him. As Escamillo leaves, Micaela is discovered and begs Jose to return with her to see his dying mother. He fights with his conscience whether to stay with Carmen or go to his beloved mother. Carmen mocks to him that he should go, and Jose swears that they will meet again. He and Micaela make their trip down the mountain. Act IV starts outside the bullring in Seville. The opening music relates to the some of the Prelude music as well as the Toreador music with an oboe solo with the piccolo and tambourine giving the charm of the Spanish influence. The crowd has gathered to watch the procession of the matadors and cheers Escamillo. He appears along with Carmen on his arm. Carmen sees Frasquita and Mercedes. They warn her that Jose was seen in the crowd and had been looking for her. As the bullfight begins, Carmen remains outside the ring only to be confronted by Jose. The scene with Carmen and Jose leaves a lot of tension here more so than in Act II where it was more sexual. Jose still is infatuated with Carmen and he realizes that she no longer loves him. Carmen knows this is her final hour and proclaims that she will always be free. Jose begs and pleads for her love and is furious that she still will not return his love. As she hears sounds from the bullring suggesting Escamillo’s victory, Carmen throws the ring Jose had given her. In a violent rage he stabs her. He couldn’t see anyone loving her except himself. This opera tells the story of a man’s infatuation with a woman that throws her heart away to any man that picks her fancy. Jose in general is a confused man torn between his mother, Micaela, and Carmen. Being a “momma’s boy” does not help his situation in the least. Jose starts caring for Micaela because his mother wished it so. Carmen comes into his life and he is dumbstruck with lust and that eventually turns into infatuation. By the end of the opera Jose becomes wild with crazy obsession for Carmen. However, Carmen is also looking for a love that will be hers forever. This is why she is continually juxtaposing love and lust. Carmen makes a statement early in Act I that “I will die for the one I love”. By the end of Act IV she loves Escamillo and ends up dying for him. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1931