This book contains essays by leading Berlioz scholars on various aspects of the great musician's life and work.

This book is an analytical and critical study of Berlioz's unique musical style. It does not undertake to analyse all his works, but rather to separate characteristic elements and observe them in action. Berlioz's writings and those of his critics are called upon to help focus the discussion. Part I includes material on the sources of Berlioz's idiosyncrasy and a discussion of fundamental pitch elements. Part II pursues this discussion into textural, contrapuntal and orchestral features, and considers melody and rhythm. Part III deals with whole musical forms, vocal and instrumental. The book includes copious musical illustration, much of it analytical reduction, and the expressive purpose of the features analysed is fully considered. The conclusion is that Berlioz's musical language is inescapably peculiar, though not necessarily inept; features which seem inexplicable in the light of compositional theory nearly always contribute to the musical and expressive exactness of communication.

Still chiefly known as the extravagant composer of the Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz was an artist caught in the crossfire between the academic classicism of the French musical establishment and the romantic modernism of the Parisian musical scene. He was a thinker in an age that invented both the religion of art and the notion of the 'genius' who preached and practised it. This Companion contains essays by eminent scholars on Berlioz's place in nineteenth-century French cultural life, on his principal compositions (symphonies, overtures, operas, sacred works, songs), on his major writings (a delightful volume of memoires, a number of short stories, large quantities of music criticism, an orchestration treatise), on his direct and indirect encounters with other famous musicians (Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner), and on his legacy in France. The volume is framed by a detailed chronology of his life and a usefully annotated bibliography.

Berlioz's 'dramatic symphony' Roméo et Juliette is regarded by many as his finest work; it is certainly among the most original. It is played less often than his earlier symphonies, because it requires solo voices and chorus; yet at its heart is some of the most inspired orchestral music of the nineteenth century. This book summarises the complex genesis of the work before examining the music closely and always with a view to understanding its dramatic implications. The early and later critical reception is quoted and discussed and Julian Rushton concludes by suggesting a way of hearing the work which recognises the value of its mixed genre. The complete libretto is provided in both English and French.

A captivating and sumptuously illustrated biography, Berlioz is not only a complete account of the Romantic era composer, but also an acute analysis of his compositions and a description of his work as a conductor and critic. 139 halftones, 3 maps, 160 musical examples.

Presented in six contrasting and complementary pairs, the essays 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. We learn in explicit detail how Berlioz deployed the mezzo-soprano voice, what he seems to have written immediately after encountering Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (a surprise), and where he benefited from Beethoven in what later became Romeo et Juliette.

An exploration of fantastic soundworlds in nineteenth-century France, providing a fresh aesthetic and compositional context for Berlioz and others.

This book examines how Berlioz used musical forms to represent a narrative, and to depict emotions such as madness or love.

Ths text ffers an overall assessment of Berlioz's musical achievement as we approach the bicentary of his birth in 2003. This is a full-length musical study of the composer taking into account the rediscovered Messe solennelle.