Overview
New studies of the great French composer by Jacques Barzun, David Cairns, Joël-Marie Fauquet, Hugh Macdonald, Julian Rushton, and other prominent experts. These twelve essays bring new breadth and depth to our knowledge of the life and work of the composer of the Symphonie fantastique. A distinguished international array of scholars here treat such matters as Berlioz's ""aesthetics"" and what it means to write about the meaning of his music; the political implications of his fiction and the affinities of his projects as composer and as critic; what the Germans thought of his work before his travels in Germany and what the English made of him when he visited their capital city; what he seems to have written immediately after encountering Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (a surprise), and where he profited from Beethoven in what later became Roméo et Juliette. The volume closes with two reflective essays on Berlioz's literary masterpiece, the Mémoires. Contributors: Lord Aberdare (Alastair Bruce), Jean-Pierre Bartoli, JacquesBarzun, Peter Bloom, David Cairns, Gunther Braam, Gérard Condé, Pepijn van Doesburg, Joël-Marie Fauquet, Frank Heidlberger, Hugh Macdonald, and Julian Rushton Peter Bloom (Smith College) is author of The Life of Berlioz (1998) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Berlioz (2000).
Full Product Details
Author: Professor Peter Bloom (Royalty Account) ,
Alastair Bruce ,
David Cairns ,
Frank Heidlberger (Contributor)
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Imprint: University of Rochester Press
Volume: v. 52
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.542kg
ISBN: 9781580462099
ISBN 10: 158046209
Pages: 267
Publication Date: 20 March 2008
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
A splendid-looking, meticulously edited and presented book, with a characteristically stylish introduction by Peter Bloom.MUSIC AND LETTERS (Kerry Murphy) A diverse collection of twelve essays by outstanding Berlioz scholars. . . . The range of topics covered could scarcely be wider. . . . Barzun examines . . . music's ability to express -- and arouse -- emotions. . . . Gerard Conde's excellently written essay Berlioz as Composer-Critic shows the great value of Berlioz's journalism. . . . Hugh Macdonald convincingly speculates that much of Berlioz's initial excitement with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . . . became absorbed into the Fantastic Symphony. . . . David Cairns adds wisdom and discernment. . . Readers with a special passion for Berlioz will derive great enjoyment from this admirably produced collection. CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (Philip Borg-Wheeler) (This volume was produced) under the distinguished editorship of Peter Bloom. . . . Highly explorative articles on the dramatic symphony Romeo et Juliette form the core of the volume. Hugh Macdonald argues speculatively and most persuasively for the existence of a lost or destroyed early work on that same Shakespearean subject. . . . His inspired speculations add further fascinating resonances to these achieved masterworks (Romeo and the Symphonie fantastique). MUSICAL TIMES (Andrew Thomson) Keen, provocative, and methodologically innovative work....(Hugh Macdonald offers) a model for more sophisticated textual analysis of the Fantastique....The essays touching on questions of autobiography...present a wealth of new facts about Berlioz and a series of new ways of reading his life...The (book's) individual contributions...coalesc(e) into a remarkably cogent whole. MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES (Francesca Brittan) Each of the twelve essays gives the reader informative and intelligent insight into Berlioz, and each is very much worth reading. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty and professionals. CHOICE (James McCalla) A valuable addition to Berlioz scholarship. AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE For all lovers of Berlioz, a splendid book from the leading experts on his life and music: detailed analysis of the music, large scraps of small histories, and an essay from Jacques Barzun on the possibility of the meaning of music. Go out and buy it! --Sir Colin Davis
This book is not for the Berlioz beginner. It presumes some knowledge of the composer, then delves deeply into the topics, the fruit of bicentenary research. The essays are a valuable addition to Berlioz scholarship. --AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE July/August 2008 A diverse collection of twelve essays by outstanding Berlioz scholars... The range of topics covered could scarcely be wider... Barzun examines ... music's ability to express -- and arouse -- emotions... Gerard Conde's excellently written essay Berlioz as Composer-Critic shows the great value of Berlioz's journalism... Hugh Macdonald convincingly speculates that much of Berlioz's initial excitement with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ... became absorbed into the Fantastic Symphony... David Cairns adds wisdom and discernment... Readers with a special passion for Berlioz will derive great enjoyment from this admirably produced collection. Philip Borg-Wheeler, CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE For all lovers of Berlioz, a splendid book from the leading experts on his life and music: detailed analysis of the music, large scraps of small histories, and an essay from Jacques Barzun on the possibility of the meaning of music. Go out and buy it! -- Sir Colin Davis These dozen pieces of vibrant scholarship and analysis, from familiar voices and new ones, kick off Berlioz's third century splendidly. Berlioz here receives his due place (to borrow Jacques Barzun's phrase) as the focus of serious thought and passionate response about topics as varied as the origins of Romeo et Juliette and responses to Berlioz's music during his concert tours of Germany and England. --D. Kern Holoman, author of Berlioz and The Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1828-1967 This volume is entertainingly and expertly written by leading scholars. It sums up recent thinking about Hector Berlioz and his world, and it points the way for future work. Indispensable for those who love Berlioz's music. --Thomas Forrest Kelly, author of First Nights: Five Musical Premieres, and First Nights at the Opera
Author Information
PETER BLOOM is the Grace Jarcho Ross Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Smith College. HUGH MACDONALD was the Avis Blewett Professor of Music, Washington University, St Louis from 1987 to 2011. He is the author of many important books, including Beethoven's Century: Essays on Composers and Themes (URP, 2008), Music in 1853: the Biography of a Year (Boydell Press, 2012), and Saint-Saëns and the Stage (CUP, 2019). JULIAN RUSHTON is Emeritus Professor of Music, University of Leeds, UK. PETER BLOOM is the Grace Jarcho Ross Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Smith College.
