Roma
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

THE STORY

While several Italian coastal towns on a leisurely return journey to Paris in 1860, Georges Bizet began to conceive of a work that would preoccupy him on and off for most of his remaining years. He wrote to his mother, “I have in mind a symphony which I should like to call Rome, Venice, Florence, and Naples. That works out wonderfully: Venice will be my andante, Rome my first movement, Florence my scherzo and Naples my finale. It’s a new idea, I think.”

Completed in 1866 and revised over the next three years, the work finally received a premiere in 1869—but only three of the four movements were performed under the title Fantasie symphonique, Souvenirs de Rome. The full premiere did not occur until 1880, five years after the young composer’s death. 

While Bizet is best known for his opera Carmen (1875), Roma is an example of his theatrical abilities transferring to the realm of abstract concert music. His skill for melodic invention results in a delightful, and at times profound, collection of musical ideas.

LISTEN FOR

• The involved role of the horn section, which begins the work with a four-part chorale and is featured extensively throughout the first movement
• The bustling imitation and rapid woodwind passages in the scherzo second movement, hailed by the work’s initial critics as exquisitely crafted
• The heroic second theme of the third movement (accompanied by the harp), which also serves as the second theme of the fourth movement—helping to bind the work together as a cohesive whole

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, two harps, strings

Notes on the music by Andrew Moenning