| Series |
Eastman studies in music, 1071-9989 ; 183
Eastman studies in music ; v. 183. ^A494093
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| Contents |
Prologue: From early recognition to lasting renown -- Berlioz in the year of the Symphonie fantastique -- Berlioz and the translators: From Scott to Shakespeare -- Berlioz and Liszt in the locker room -- Berlioz's directorship of the Théâtre-Italien -- The local politics of Berlioz's Symphonie militaire -- In the shadows of Les Nuits d'été -- Berlioz, Delacroix, and La Mort d'Ophèlie -- Berlioz's "mission" to Germany: A revealing document recovered -- Berlioz and Wagner: Épisodes de la vie des artistes -- Imperialism and the ending of Les Troyens -- Berlioz's "To be or not to be" -- Berlioz, Beatrice, and Much ado about nothing -- Berlioz writing the life of Berlioz -- Epilogue: Berlioz and the B's: Boschot, Barzun, and beyond. |
| Abstract |
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'ete (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 funebre et triomphale), Les Troyens (whose epilogue is seen as a paean to Napoleon III), and Beatrice et Bendict (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 Memoires, and his major twentieth-century biographers. Of conspicuous concern are the "politics" of a man sometimes erroneously viewed as distant from the political arena. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-334) and index. |
| LCCN | 2021045209 |
| ISBN | 9781648250200 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 1648250203 |
