14

Clarisse Harlowe

opéra-comique en trois actes

sketches

    • Acte I
    • 1 Introduction, 'Dans huit jours' – 261 bars
    • 2 Air (Lovelace), 'Qu’un fou sanglotte et pleure' – 101 bars
    • 3 Scène, 'Pour complèter la fête' – 121 bars
    • 4 Duo (Clarisse, Lovelace), 'Malgré la défense d’un père' – 186 bars
    • 5 Scène, 'Loin de notre vie' – 129 bars
    • Acte II
    • 6 Duo (Clarisse, Harlowe),'Vous avez pu, ma fille' – 147 bars
    • 7 Duo (Clarisse, Arabelle), 'Ma chérie' – 106 bars
    • 8 Scène (Clarisse), 'Elle m’abandonne' – 65 bars
    • 9 Scène, 'Il est pris' – 113 bars
    • 10 Duo (Clarisse, Lovelace), 'Toute' – 85+? bars
    • Acte III
    • 11 Danse – 128 bars
    • ?
  • Clarisse Harlowe – soprano
  • Arabelle Harlowe, sa sœur – mezzo-soprano
  • Harlowe, leur père – basse
  • Robert Lovelace – ténor
  • Patrick – basse

  • chœurs

Libretto: Philippe Gille (1830–1901) and Adolphe Jaime (1824–1901), after the novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), first published in 1747-48. Gille wrote a regular column called 'Echos' in Le Figaro under the pen-name ‘Masque de Fer’. Louis-Adolphe Gem, dit Jaime, the son of the dramatist Ernest Jaime, collaborated with Gille on La Cour du roi Pétaud, opéra-bouffe by Delibes, in 1869. He contributed to a number of Offenbach’s librettos and was an immensely prolific writer for the theatre.

With the exception of no. 2 and no. 4 in Act I the libretto has not been traced. A different libretto on the novel by Jules Barbier and Paul Choudens, written in the 1890s and apparently never set, is found at F-Po (Fonds Barbier MS 147 Carton 16). In a note written after 1896 Barbier remarks that he was aware of an earlier libretto on Clarissa Harlowe, which 'erre dans les limbes des théâtres lyriques et barre le passage à la nôtre'.

In the novel, Clarissa, a young lady of good family, is wooed by the unscrupulous Robert Lovelace. She eventually yields to him, and later dies of shame. This was to be an opéra-comique with a tragic ending, evidently, and perhaps a precedent for Carmen.

Composition: 1869–72. Bizet was reported to be working on the opera (in three acts and five tableaux) in February 1870, but it appears that work on Grisélidis had priority. Expecting to finish the latter opera in the summer of 1870, Bizet planned to work next on Clarisse Harlowe, also intended for the Opéra-Comique. During 1871 he worked simultaneously on both, but he abandoned Grisélidis when the Opéra-Comique decided to commission Bizet to write Djamileh instead. Some further work was done on Clarisse Harlowe in 1872, but although the sketches suggest that the first two acts were fully drafted, little survives of the third.

Clarisse and her sister were cast as soprano and mezzo-soprano, and Lovelace as a tenor.

Four sections of the opera were adapted by Bizet as songs and duets, but published only posthumously. Two scenes, nos. 7 and 9, were adapted as vocal duets with piano and published as Les Nymphes des bois and Le Retour in about 1885. As with La Coupe du roi de Thulé and Grisélidis, Bizet himself prepared fair copies for this purpose. The solo songs Aubade, La Nuit, Voyage and Si vous aimez all have their origins in Clarisse Harlowe.

Self-borrowing (to): The sketch of No. 6 includes the two-bar chromatic descending figure found at bar 47 of no. 19 at the opening of Act III of Carmen.
Posthumous adaptations: Four songs were fashioned from the music for Clarisse Harlowe and published in the 1880s: nos 2, 7, 9 and the song Si vous l’aimez! appeared as Aubade, La Nuit, Voyage and Si vous aimez! in Seize Mélodies in 1883; no. 7 was also used for Les Nymphes des bois and no. 9 was adapted as the duet Le Retour.
Autograph sketches:
1

F-Pn MS 445B. 26-stave paper, 6 f. (11 p. of sketches numbered 1–6, 1–2, 1–2, 1 p. unnumbered, blank). Three numbers and one fragment (which follows on from the sketch of no. 10 in the other collection). Leaves 3–6 are also foliated 22–25.

pages folios
[Acte] I, No. 1 1–6 1r–3v
No. 3 1–2 4r–v
Acte 2, No. 6 1–2 5r–v
Acte 2, No. 10 3 6r
blank 6v
2

Private collection. 26-stave paper. 7 folios of continuous sketches on two staves. Eight separate numbers:


  • 1er acte no. 2
  • 1er acte no. 4
  • 1er acte no. 5, with at the end: Fin du 1er acte
  • acte 2e no 7
  • acte 2e no 8
  • acte 2e no 9
  • acte 2e no 10 (p. 1-2 only)
  • acte 3e no 11
Autograph scores:
Manuscript libretto (no. 2):

Private collection. 1 f., 2 p., headed Air de Lovelace. With the name Lovelace annotated as 'Ténor', it seems likely that this was intended for preparing the song for separate publication. In the event the text was replaced by a text by Paul Ferrier and the song published after Bizet's death as Aubade.

Manuscript libretto (no. 4):

Private collection. 3 p. on Choudens letterhead, perhaps in the hand of Philippe Gille, giving most of the text of no. 4, a scene for Clarisse and Lovelace. The singers are identified as Soprano and Tenor, suggesting that Bizet planned to issue this scene as a duet with piano, along with the duets fashioned from no. 7 (as Les Nymphes des bois) and no. 9 (as Le Retour).

Letters:
25-4-1869 Bizet to Gille:
'Pétaud hier, Clarisse aujourd'hui, je pars dimanche ; il faut que je travaille ; il faut que je sache si je dois me lancer sur Clarisse dès à présent ou attendre pour être prêt au 1er 7bre, pour courir l'heureux chance d'être représenté cet hiver.'
F-Pmlm 98
6-1870 Bizet to Galabert:
'Je vais à Barbizon passer quatre mois. J’emporte [...] Clarisse Harlowe, etc.'
Galabert, p. 191
26-2-1871 Bizet to Galabert:
'Je voudrais cet été terminer Clarisse Harlowe et Grisélidis. Grisélidis est très avancée. [...] Quant à Clarisse, c’est à peine commencé.'
Galabert, p. 194
3-1871 Bizet to Lacombe:
'J’ai en ce moment un ouvrage à terminer et un autre à faire presque complètement. [...] Je veux avoir mes deux opéras prêts pour l’hiver prochain.'
Imbert, p. 186
12-5-1871 Bizet to Mme Halévy:
'Je me suis remis au travail et j’aurai deux opéras achevés à la fin de l’été.'
Ganderax, p. 301
20-6-1871 Bizet to Lacombe:
'Ma Clarissa Harlowe avance aussi.'
Imbert, p. 189
6-1871 Bizet to Galabert:
'Je finis mes deux opéras.'
Galabert, p. 196
1-1872 Bizet to Lacombe:
'Je travaille à Clarissa Harlowe.'
Imbert, p. 195
[1872] Bizet to Gille:
'[Le Gaulois] annonce que la direction de l'Opéra prépare une Clarisse Harlowe pour Faure et Madame Carvalho. Vous avez été en pourparlers avec M. Perrin au sujet de Clarisse Harlowe, vous avez donc tous les droits de lui demander un éclaircissement – inutile de vous dire que cette nouvelle m'a fait rater une phrase très importante de Clarisse. J'ai été et je suis encore fort ému.'
F-Pmlm 97
No date. Bizet to Guiraud:
'Ma femme dit que c’est bon, moi je n’en sais absolument rien. J’attends ton avis pour m’en faire un. Je suis toujours le même ! Hier, mon acte m’a paru mauvais, médiocre ce matin, et excellent tout à l’heure. Je le lâche et reste sur cette dernière impression qu’un nouvel examen modifierait évidemment.'
V. Wilder in Le Ménestrel, 18-7-1875
Document:
'D'une investigation officieuse que le journal le Télégraphe vient de commencer dans les porfeteuilles des compositeurs de musique française, résultent les renseignements très-intéressants que l'on va lire. [...] M. Georges Bizet: Calendal, quatre actes ; Clarisse Harlowe, trois actes et cinq tableaux de Ph. Gille et Jaime fils ; Rama, quatre actes.'
Revue et gazette musicale , 20-2-1870
Bibliography: