Selected Letters of Berlioz - Hardcover

Berlioz, Hector

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393040623 ISBN 13: 9780393040623

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1997

Synopsis

An entrancing, firsthand portrait of one of the nineteenth century's most prolific composers and men of letters. One of the foremost composers of his generation, Hector Berlioz was even more influential as an arbiter of musical taste and a writer of critical essays, published in the Parisian Journal des debats. But professional journalism was a sometimes unwelcome task for this supreme intellectual, who felt hindered by considerations of diplomacy and censorship. Letter writing, on the other hand, provided him a freer outlet for creative expression, and his surviving correspondences number over several thousand. From that extraordinary output Hugh Macdonald has gathered some 500 letters that span Berlioz's life and chart the course of his artistic career. Dipped into or read straight through, Selected Letters of Berlioz is highly entertaining and informative reading for any music lover. In the words of poet W. H. Auden, "In order to understand the nineteenth century, it is essential to understand Berlioz."

About this title

About the Author:

Hugh Macdonald is professor of music at Washington University in St. Louis. He edits the Complete Edition of Berlioz's music and is joint editor of the composer's Correspondence Gnrale. Roger Nichols, a writer and broadcaster, specializes in French music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is the author of Debussy Remembered and Ravel Remembered.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0393040623
• ISBN 13: 9780393040623
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 479
• Editor: MacDonald Hugh