Tra-la-la Coupe-moi, brûle-moi, from Carmen (string quartet)

Title: Tra-la-la Coupe-moi, brûle-moi, from the opera Carmen

Composer: Georges Bizet, arr. David Gable

Instrumentation: Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola and Cello

Printout: 4 pages

Note: Carmen is without doubt one of, if not the most, complex operatic heroine prior to the twentieth century, and the music in this scene does much to establish her character. Sultry, brooding, tragic and coquettish by turns, the scene is rightly dubbed a “mélodrame” in the score. In this setting, the purely recitative portions of the scene have been cut, keeping the focus on Carmen’s memorable “Tra-la-la” theme. The vocal solos of Carmen and Zuniga (the captain of the guard) are given to the viola in this arrangement.

Other string quartet arrangements of selections from Carmen are available:

Aragonaise

Choeur des Gamins (Chorus of the Street Children)

Habañera

Intermezzo

Les Dragons d’Alcala

Marche des Contrebandiers (March of the Smugglers)

Prelude to Act I (Entrance of the Toreadors)

Séguedille

The Toreador’s Song