Guet (Air of the Watch?)—heard in the form of a brief berceuse in a mélodrame (No. 13) in Act 2. № 31: Marcho dei Rèi (March of the Kings)—a Provençal Christmas carol from Avignon celebrating the Epiphany and the Three Kings; also identified as Marche de Turenne, supposedly composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully some 200 years earlier; quoted five times at the beginning of the Overture in different harmonizations and orchestrations; reappears in the form of a chorus in Act 3. The premiere took place on 30 September 1872 in the Théâtre du Vaudeville. Bizet's music is scored for a chorus of 24 singers and an orchestra of only 26 players. Bizet played the harmonium (alternately with his publisher, Antony Choudens, and associate, Ernest Guiraud) backstage at the theater in support of the chorus. The play was staged as a last-minute replacement for another play, which had been banned by the censors, and the audience was less than favourably disposed to the new play. The premiere was a failure and the production closed after 19 performances. Daudet later bitterly remarked: "It was a resounding flop amid the prettiest music in the world, silk and velvet costumes, and comic opera scenery. I came out of there discouraged, still hearing the silly laughter caused by the emotional scenes." "It was clear from the beginning that a drama of passion from the Camargue would not appeal to the sophisticated tastes of the Paris boulevards." L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, Op. 23bis (1872) Bizet was confident that the best numbers from the incidental music, arranged for a full symphony orchestra, would be successful in the concert hall, for he planned a five movement suite as follows: 1. Prélude, 2. Carillon, 3. Adagietto, 4. Minuetto, 5. Final (unidentified number). Later he exchanged the positions of the 2nd and 4th numbers and jettisoned the final one, leaving a four movement orchestral suite: Prélude Minuetto Adagietto Carillon The order of the movements does not correspond to that of the incidental music version in either the original or final scenario, but conforms rather to the character and tempo conventions of a short symphony. The Prélude and Adagietto closely resemble their original versions except for their expanded instrumentation, which particularly benefits the Adagietto with its new massed strings sonority. The Minuetto structurally gains only a six bar addition to its coda. The Carillon (originally No. 18), on the other hand, is