Saturday 4 December 2010
Tune of the Day: Avec la garde montante
from “Carmen” by Georges Bizet, arranged for solo flute
This number is taken from the beginning of Act I of Bizet's famous opera Carmen. The act is set in a square in the Spanish city of Seville. From a distance is heard a military march, followed by a band of urchins for the changing of the guard, singing:
With the mounting guard, we arrive; here we are!
Sound, dazzling trumpet! Ta ra ta ta ta ra ta ta.
We march, heads high, like little soldiers,
Marking, without making a mistake,
One, two, marking the step.