Georges Bizet

Adagio

Composed just days after turning 17 years old, Georges Bizet wrote the Symphony in C in 1855 while studying at the Paris Conservatory under Charles Gounod. Completely unmentioned in any of his letters or correspondence, Bizet apparently had no interest in having the work performed or published during his lifetime. Following his death, many of his papers and manuscripts were handed over from his widow to composer Reynaldo Hahn, who then in turn passed the materials over to the archives of the Paris Conservatory. In 1933, the Symphony was discovered and was subsequently premiered in Basel in 1935, 80 years after it was originally written. The second movement (Adagio) is arranged here for flute orchestra by Shaul Ben-Meir.