Among his other operas are _Philemon and Baucis_, _La Reine de Saba_ (_The Queen of Sheba_) both inferior to _Faust_. During the Franco-Prussian war he lived in London where he produced his oratorios _The Redemption_ and _Mors et Vita_ (_Death and Life_) with his Gounod Choir, and held in England a somewhat similar place to Handel and Mendelssohn, for he, too, had many disciples. He was a master of beautiful melody and instrumentation. There is a new school in Paris whose slogan is, “Back to Gounod” in order to recapture his way of writing melody! EVERYBODY LOVES “CARMEN” In Georges Bizet we see a man of genius who produced but one great work. To be sure he lived only thirty-seven years, two years longer than Mozart with his hundreds of pieces, yet Bizet is of great importance in French opera and is looked upon by musicians as a man of rare power, and he is loved by everyone for his marvelous _Carmen_. Louis Gruenberg, the American composer, said, “I have looked in vain for a flaw in _Carmen_ but it is perfection throughout. It is the one opera in the world that wins both musicians and the masses alike, and it disarms criticism.” Emma Calvé will always be remembered as Carmen, for she not only sang the part with its intense melody and Spanish color, but she lived it on the stage. Bizet is an amazing orchestral tone painter, and one of the greatest of all opera writers. The story of _Carmen_ is taken from a novel of Prosper Mérimée and is full of the sun, the shadows, the fascinating dances, the bull fight and the romance which belong particularly to Spain. _Carmen_ is an _opéra comique_, for in the original version as played in Paris it has spoken dialogue. His other things full of charm are _Jeux d’enfants_, four-hand pieces, the _Arlesienne Suite_ (dances) so pictureful and emotional. It is used as ballet sometimes for _Carmen_. Bizet was not appreciated and at first _Carmen_ was a failure, but many geniuses ahead of their time have shared the same fate. [Illustration: _After a painting by Giacometti._ _Georges Bizet._ ] [Illustration: _Vincent d’Indy._ ] [Illustration: _Camille Saint-Saëns._ ] [Illustration: _Jules Massenet._ ] [Illustration: _Gustave Charpentier._ ] _French Composers of the 19th Century._ It seems quite reasonable that after all the experiences France has been through in the early and middle 19th century she should now blossom out, not with remodelled Italian opera, but with her own opera and her own ways of writing music.