Bizet’s incidental music for L'Arlésienne was initially composed to accompany Daudet’s play by the same name. While Bizet’s work was stunning by all accounts, even the playwright admitted that the music outshone the play itself, which closed to poor reviews. In order to salvage his music, Bizet compiled Suite No. 1. Shortly before his tragically early death, he had shown interest in working on a second suite, which was eventually posthumously compiled by Ernest Guiraud, a colleague of Bizet’s.