Symphony in C Major - Orchestre Métropolitain

Georges BIZET

1838-1875

Long before composing the operatic masterpieces that would grant him posthumous fame (Les Pêcheurs de perles, Carmen), Georges Bizet, then a brilliant young student at the Paris Conservatoire, explored symphonic writing.

Studying piano, organ, harmony, and composition, he developed a strong bond with Charles Gounod. After arranging Gounod’s Symphony No. 1 in D major for piano four-hands in 1855, the 17-year-old Bizet drew inspiration from it to compose his own Symphony in C major. Considering the score a student exercise, he set it aside while preparing for the Prix de Rome, which he won two years later. The symphony resurfaced only in 1932 and received its first performance in February 1935 in Basel under Felix Weingartner.

Brimming with verve, freshness, and optimism, it shows the influence of Gounod, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. The symphony’s lyricism, energy, and spontaneity foreshadow later works such as L’Arlésienne. Bizet’s premature death at 36 deprived France of one of its most gifted composers.