Review (PDF)

Berlioz Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies)

This book contains nine essays by leading Berlioz scholars on various aspects of the great nineteenth-century musician's life and work. Among the pieces studied closely are Romeo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust and Les Nuits d' été. An essay on newly discovered documents gives us a revealing portrait of the artist as a young man; another essay which examines little studied manuscripts shows us how precisely Berlioz arranged Gluck's celebrated opera Orphée. The practical question of Berlioz's metronome marks are studied thoroughly for the first time, and the volume closes with a novel piece in dialogue form by the elder statesman of Berlioz scholars, Jacques Barzun, who treats with exceptional grace the profound issues raised by Berlioz the man and the musician.

Series: Cambridge Composer Studies

Hardcover: 300 pages

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 25, 1992)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0521412862

ISBN-13: 978-0521412865

Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.8 x 9.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Best Sellers Rank: #7,190,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #82 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Berlioz #17986 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > History & Criticism

I found myself skipping page after page of over self-indulgent stuffy analysis. One example is Rushton's chapter, "Les Nuits d'ete: cycle or collection?" First of all, who cares? This is achingly beautiful music based on beautiful French poetry. In discussing movement number one, "Villanelle" the author completely overlooks a charming added four bar orchestral phrase in c-minor (measures 83-86) which interestingly breaks up the strophic form we found up to that point.. Did he not see that the following text, "far, very far, wandering from our path..." was a short, clever musical insertion by the composer to heighten the text setting? Further, the inclusion of the Schenkerian attempts at analysis makes this chapter a yawner for those interested in learning more about the beauty in the music rather than the erudition of the author.

Berlioz Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies) The New Grove Early Romantic Masters 2: Weber, Berlioz, Mendelssohn (Composer Biography Series) Berlioz on Bands: A Compilation of Berlioz's Writings on Bands and Wind Instruments BERLIOZ messe solennelle (Vocal Score Based on the Urtext of the New Berlioz Edition) Berlioz - La damnation de Faust - Vocal Score based on the Urtext of the New Berlioz Edition The Cambridge Companion to Berlioz (Cambridge Companions to Music) Bruckner Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies) Elgar Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies) Mahler Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies) Shostakovich Studies 2 (Cambridge Composer Studies) Shostakovich Studies (Cambridge Composer Studies) Berlioz's Orchestration Treatise: A Translation and Commentary (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs) Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Berlioz's Semi-Operas (Eastman Studies in Music) Berlioz: Scenes from the Life and Work (Eastman Studies in Music) The Musical Madhouse: An English Translation of Berlioz's Les Grotesques de la musique (Eastman Studies in Music) Writing Interactive Music for Video Games: A Composer's Guide (Game Design) Embedded Image Processing on the TMS320C6000TM DSP: Examples in Code Composer StudioTM and MATLAB Isaac Albeniz : A Guide to Research (Composer Resource Manuals) The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera: Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini (New Grove Composer Biographies)