Greetings, one and all,
Please pardon this lengthy discursus... I'm new here
I have lately been obsessing about the piano works of Georges Bizet. In particular, I am determined to reassemble his "Chansons-melodies romances sans paroles," WD 46. It seems to be a peculiar collection, with material that Bizet drew from others of his own works.
The original set seems to have been as follows:
1. Chanson d'avril
2. Extase
3. Chanson Provençale
4. Meditation
5. Chanson Arabe
A search on WorldCat reveals 2 libraries that seem to possess the original edition of all five pieces:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/chansons ... /844052167
* British Library, St. Pancras, London
* Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France
I suppose I could stop here and simply ask: Does anyone in the forum have access to either of these libraries, and would you consider looking up this edition and providing scans?
I have, at this point, exhausted the limit of my own online resources. The first two pieces of the set are easily acquired. But tracking down the other three has proven far more maddening. All five of the original set are transcriptions of Bizet's own works; 3 for voice, 1 for mixed voices, and 1 that was always solely instrumental. Being unfamiliar with much of Bizet's other works, piano or otherwise, I was able to discover the ultimate sources of each piece here:
http://digital.wustl.edu/bizet/collecti ... odies.html
3. Chanson Provençale = L'Arlesienne, No. 5
This one derives from a chorus in L'Arlsienne-- not the two orchrstral suites, but the original incidental music for the play. It is given as #5 in the piano/vocal score that is available online. However, this edition is not a piano solo, it is for choir, with piano accompaniment.
4. Meditation = L'Arlesienne, No. 15
This one also derives from L'Arlesienne, but for orchestra alone, with no voices. It is an Entr'acte, #15 in the piano/vocal score.
5. Chanson Arabe = Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe
This comes from a song for voice and piano by Bizet, with words by Victor Hugo. As with the Chanson Provençale, this is accessible as a piano/vocal score, but, again, not as a piano solo.
So, to summarize thus far: I know that all 5 pieces were transcribed for piano solo by Bizet and published together as "Chansons-melodies," two of which are available as PDFs online, whereas the other three I have only been able to track down from their original vocal/orchestral counterparts. (I also found #4, the Meditation based on the Entr'acte from L'Arlesienne, as a version transcribed for harp.)
It turns out there are 3 CD recordings of Bizet's piano works that contain piano solo versions of one or more of the missing pieces:
Riccardo Zadra, Bizet : Oeuvres pianistiques, Gallo
https://vdegallo.com/en/produit/bizet-o ... o-zadra-2/
* Chanson Provençale (noted as "First World Recording")
Adriano Paolini, Georges Bizet, Complete Piano Works, WellMusic Classics
http://adrianopaolini.altervista.org/in ... 2/cd/bizet
* Chanson Provençale (apparently the second world recording)
* Chanson Arabe
Peter Vanhove, George Bizet Piano Works, Pavane Records
https://laboiteamusique.eu/?s=Vanhove&post_type=product
* Meditation, Souvenir de l'Arlesienne
Listening to the tracks on these CDs, it is easily determined that they are not simply readings of the piano/vocal scores I was able to acquire on my own; they contain passages (and arrangements) that are simply absent from the originals.
The original vocal/orchestral versions of these works could, I suppose, stand on their own as solo piano works, simply by incorporating the vocal line into the accompaniment (or, in the case of the Meditation, simply using the piano reduction). But for my purposes, these are not acceptable, or would only be acceptable if all else fails (and in some cases would require someone with better arranging skills than I). I have considered contacting these artists to see whether they might indulge me and offer up a copy of the score. I am not hopeful that my inquiries will be considered or even well received, but I will probably try nonetheless.
Meanwhile, any advice, suggestions, or assistance from the forum would be most deeply appreciated!