"Menuet" from the play "L'Arlésienne"

George Bizet (1838–1875) was a French Romantic composer, best known as the creator of "Carmen", he is recognized today as a master of melody and orchestration.
Born in Paris to a musical family, he was recognized as a prodigy and admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at age nine, where he studied piano with Antoine Marmontel and composition with Fromental Halévy.
At age 17, he composed his Symphony in C, a work of remarkable maturity that remained unperformed until its rediscovery in 1935.
In 1857, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome, allowing him to spend three years studying in Italy.
Despite his talent, all his life Bizet struggled to find critical success in the competitive Parisian opera scene.
His two operas, "Les pêcheurs de perles" (The Pearl Fishers, 1863) and "La jolie fille de Perth" (The Fair Maid of Perth, 1867), received lukewarm reception. A bit more success he achieved with the incidental music for the play L'Arlésienne (1872), particularly the orchestral suite he derived from it. Gritty realism and an amoral heroine of his final opera, "Carmen," shocked contemporary audiences and critics, leading Bizet to believe it was a failure. Bizet died of a heart attack at the age of 36 in Bougival on June 3, 1875. Exactly three months after the premiere of Carmen and on his sixth wedding anniversary. He passed away unaware that Carmen would soon become one of the most frequently performed and beloved operas in history.