Magnificent unsigned handwritten musical manuscript by Georges Bizet, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 10.5 x 13.75, no date. Bizet pens 35 bars in two staves, with text in Italian, corresponding to act four, scene two, of Charles Gounod's opera Faust. At the head, Bizet writes (translated): "To replace page 316." Below, a note in the hand of publisher Antoine de Choudens reads: "New Romance of Siebel." An accompanying note in Choudens' hand reads (translated): "Two copies of the orchestral parts and the score from the andante in A to the end…put the French words to take in Marguerite." In very good to fine condition, with chips and tears to the edges.
After his return from Rome to Paris, Georges Bizet found additional income in the work of arrangements, in particular reductions for piano and songs, as well as copies. He worked especially for the music publisher Antoine de Choudens, who became his friend, and for Charles Gounod, with whom he was close.
