Carmen Suites (Bizet/Guiraud)

The Carmen Suites are two suites of orchestral music drawn from the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera "Carmen" and compiled posthumously by his friend Ernest Guiraud. They adhere very closely to Bizet's orchestration.
Guiraud also wrote the recitatives for "Carmen", and compiled the second of the two suites from Bizet's "L'Arlésienne" incidental music.
Each of the "Carmen Suites" contains six numbers. Both suites have been performed and recorded many times.
Carmen Suite No. 1.
Suite No. 1 was published c. 1882.
The Aragonaise was also used by Pablo de Sarasate in his "Carmen Fantasy" for violin and orchestra and by Franz Waxman in his own "Carmen Fantasie".
Carmen Suite No. 2.
Suite No. 2 is longer than the first suite. It was published in 1887.