Ian Deterling

Habanera Flexible Instrumentation

Habanera (Georges Bizet)

  • flexible instrumentation

    • Grade 3

  • ca. 2:00

Score/Parts PDF Preview

Program Notes

Composed by Georges Bizet. Arranged by Ian Deterling.

  • Habanera (L’amour set un oiseau rebelle) is an aria from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opéra comique Carmen. Bizet, a French composer (1838-1875), took the now famous melody from what he believed to be a folk song. The melody was actually written by Sebastián Iradier (1809-1865), a Spanish musicians and composer. Carmen was first performed in Paris in 1875 - shortly before Bizet’s death. Sadly, he was unaware that his work would quickly achieve international acclaim.  

  • Habanera begins in minor and changes to major in measure 20 (from Dm to D Major in the original; from Cm to C Major in this arrangement). Although the melody was borrowed, Bizet’s harmonic style, with the addition of the habanera rhythm, has made this aria incredibly popular and instantly recognizable to many. 

This adaptation is arranged into five parts plus percussion:

  • Part 1: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Trumpet, Violin

  • Part 2: Clarinet, Trumpet, Alto Sax., Violin

  • Part 3: Tenor Sax., Clarinet, Alto Sax., Horn, Viola

  • Part 4: Tenor Sax., Euphonium (T.C.), Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Bassoon, Cello

  • Part 5: Euphonium (T.C.), Bass Clarinet, Bari Sax., Trombone, Euphonium, Bassoon, Cello, Contrabass, Tuba

  • Bass Drum

  • Tambourine

  • Triangle

  • Mallet Percussion

  • Timpani (2 drums)

  • Piano

  • All instrument ranges stay within Grade 3 literature.

  • Score and complete set of parts

    • Note - this arrangement has been transposed from the keys of D Minor and D Major to C Minor and C Major.

What do I get when I order Habanera?

  • You will receive the score and parts in the form of three PDFs:

    • Score formatted to Tabloid paper, 11” x 17” (279mm x 432mm)

    • Score formatted to US Letter-size paper, 8.5” x 11” (216mm x 279mm)

    • Complete set of parts

  • Once your order has been processed, you’ll be emailed a link where you can download the sheet music.

  • When you click on the link to download your music, you’ll be brought to the download page (see image)

  • Note that the score and parts are separated into different PDF files.

  • You can download everything (‘Download All’ button at the bottom), save the files to Dropbox, or download selected score/parts individually.

  • My website is set to three download attempts (see ‘3 downloads remaining’ in the image). If an error occurs or if you need additional download attempts, contact me here and I’ll reset the limit for you.