Fourteen revealing essays by a prominent Berlioz authority on some of
the composer's acclaimed compositions (the Symphonie fantastique, Les
Nuits d'été, Les Troyens) and writings (the celebrated Mémoires).
Written for both music lovers and scholars, these essays probe some of
Berlioz's major works, including the Symphonie fantastique (the period
of whose genesis is newly explored), Les Nuits d'été (whose origins are
newly clarified by a revelation regarding Berlioz's possible muse), the
Symphonie militaire (whose existence is examined in the period before it
became the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale), Les Troyens (whose epilogue
is seen as a paean to Napoléon III), and Béatrice et Bénédict (whose
text reveals extraordinary understanding of the original play).
The essays consider anew Berlioz's relationships with Franz Liszt (with
whom the composer shared intimate details of his marriage to Harriet
Smithson) and Richard Wagner (by whom the Frenchman was both charmed and
alarmed), his travels in Germany (revealed as having had a specifically
administrative purpose), his appreciation of English literature and
Shakespeare (on whose work he was considered an expert), his modus
operandi in composing the Mémoires, and his major twentieth-century
biographers. Of conspicuous concern are the "politics" of a man
sometimes erroneously viewed as distant from the political arena.
This book is openly available in digital format thanks to generous
funding from The New Berlioz Edition Trust.
