Le bal is from the collection of 12 piano duets Jeux d’enfants by G. Bizet published in 1871 as his Opus 22. The playback tempo in the realisation is 184 eighth note (quaver) beats to the minute which is a very challenging tempo to say the least! There are no tempo changes indicated in the score. The full range of the piano is explored in the arrangement in terms of pitch, articulation & dynamics. This is a fast & furious piece of music full of fun, energy and joy that needs to be played confidently and as close to the suggested tempo as possible. Accompaniments are in place featuring both the primo & secondo parts sounding separately. They play at 136, 148, 160, 172, and 184 eighth note or quaver beats to the minute. Le bal is described as a galop which is a spirited and quick round dance with two quarter note or crotchet beats to the bar. Whilst it’s origins were German it became popular as a 19th century ballroom and orchestral dance particularly in Paris and Vienna. It is named after the galloping gait of a horse and as a round dance repeating sections alternate with contrasting ones. They are usually short pieces short especially when danced because of their high energy requirements and are performed as the final item of an evening Georges Bizet was a French romantic composer whose life was tragically short. He died before being able to enjoy the success of his most successful & famous composition the opera Carmen. His musical talents were deserving of a much more successful career. Whilst a brilliant student from a very early age with ambitions & gifts suggesting that he should become an opera composer he found it difficult to pursue a career as a composer having to work as a rehearsal pianist and arranger of music that wasn’t his own. One of the ironies of his life is that whilst a gifted pianist he rarely performed in public and chose not to pursue it as a career option. Even Liszt rated him very highly possibly considering him close to being an equal Winning the Prix de Rome in 1857 enabled Bizet to live and work in Italy for 3 years although when he returned to Paris he found that works by newcomers like himself were not readily welcomed by audiences that favoured the established classical repertoire of the past Most of Bizet’s compositions were largely ignored in his lifetime & it was only after his death that his music was rediscovered, published, recorded & played with first performances of works taking place well into the 20th century
