Georges Bizet

Carmen Suite

This is a suite of 4 of the most popular and well-known sections from Carmen, arranged for clarinet quartet. All of the instruments get a fair go at playing the tunes, even the toreador bass clarinet. This arrangement will get the quartet practising breathing and dynamics, partly because the Prelude at the end of the Overture is scored so that the accompanying instruments have to play dramatic hairpins, to recreate the sound of accordion bellows. This would also be a great end to a concert, as the last movement (Gyspy Song) starts off fairly slow, but builds to a romping finish.