Les Dragons d’Alcala (The Dragoons of Alcala), from Carmen (string quartet)

Title: Les Dragons d’Alcala (The Dragoons of Alcala), from the opera Carmen

Composer: Georges Bizet, arr. David Gable

Instrumentation: Violin 1; Violin 2; Viola; Cello

Printout: 8 pages

Note: This stately march is played as an entr’acte to Act II of Carmen. The tune is sung by Don José later in the act, just before his entrance. Musically it juxtaposes and contrasts the characters of Don José and Escamillo, the toreador, who are rivals for Carmen’s affections. A dragoon, by the way, was a lightly armed soldier who fought both on horseback and on foot, sort of a halfway point between cavalry and infantry.

Other string quartet arrangements of selections from Carmen are available:

Aragonaise

Choeur des Gamins (Chorus of the Street Children)

Habañera

Intermezzo

Marche des Contrebandiers (March of the Smugglers)

Prelude to Act I (Entrance of the Toreadors)

Séguedille

The Toreador’s Song

Tra-la-la Coupe-moi, brûle-moi