Berlioz: Scenes from the Life and Work

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Introduction: Berlioz in the Aftermath of the Bicentenary - Peter Bloom
The Music in the Music of Berlioz - Jacques Barzun
Artistic Religiosity: Berlioz Between the Te Deum and L'Enfance du Christ - Frank Heidlberger
Euphonia and the Utopia of the Orchestra as Society - Joel-Marie Fauquet
Berlioz and the Mezzo-Soprano - Julian Rushton
Berlioz as Composer-Critic - Gerard Conde
A Certain Hector Berlioz: News in Germany of Berlioz in France - Gunther Braam
Berlioz's Lost Romeo et Juliette - Hugh Macdonald
Beethoven, Shakespeare, and Berlioz's Scene d'amour - Jean-Pierre Bartoli
Germany at First - Pepijn van Doesburg
England and Berlioz - Alastair Bruce
Berlioz Writing the Life of Berlioz - Peter Bloom
Berlioz: Autobiography, Biography - David Cairns

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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).

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[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]. -- Andrew Thomson

A valuable addition to Berlioz scholarship

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

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. -- James McCalla

Music and Letters

A splendid-looking, meticulously edited and presented book, with a characteristically stylish introduction by Peter Bloom. -- Kerry Murphy

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