33

Chœur d’étudiants

[musical score]
194 bars
tén. I-II, basses I-II

2 flûtes, 2 hautbois, 2 clarinettes, 2 bassons, 4 cors, 2 trompettes, timbales, triangle, cordes (parts for trombones and ophicleide have been colletted over in the autograph)

Poem: Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) or Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier, dit Mélesville, (1787–1865), both prolific writers for the theatre. They wrote the libretto of Auber’s Le Lac des fées, first played at the Opéra on 1-4-1839, but never revived. Bizet slightly modified the text of the chorus as given in the opera. His alterations are here shown in square brackets:

Chœur
Vive la jeunesse [femelle], vivent [vive] les amours!
Fi de la sagesse et de ses discours.
Amitié, franchise, et jamais d’argent,
Telle est [Voilà] la devise de l’étudiant.
Zéila
La belle vie, point de chagrin,
Gaité, folie, joyeux refrain,
Douce existence, destin heureux,
Là-haut je pense on n’est pas mieux.

Composition: Like the Valse avec chœur, this was probably an exercise given by Halévy as preparation for the Prix de Rome in the period 1853-57.

Autograph score: F-Pn MS 427, gift of Reynaldo Hahn. 20-stave paper, 355 x 270 mm., 16 f. (title page, 31 p. of music).
Bibliography: