The Musical Language of Berlioz

The Musical Language of Berlioz PDF Author: Julian Rushton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521242790
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Musical Language of Berlioz

The Musical Language of Berlioz PDF Author: Julian Rushton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521242790
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

French Music Since Berlioz

French Music Since Berlioz PDF Author: Caroline Potter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351566474
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Get Book Here

Book Description
French Music Since Berlioz explores key developments in French classical music during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This volume draws on the expertise of a range of French music scholars who provide their own perspectives on particular aspects of the subject. D dre Donnellon's introduction discusses important issues and debates in French classical music of the period, highlights key figures and institutions, and provides a context for the chapters that follow. The first two of these are concerned with opera in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries respectively, addressed by Thomas Cooper for the nineteenth century and Richard Langham Smith for the twentieth. Timothy Jones's chapter follows, which assesses the French contribution to those most Germanic of genres, nineteenth-century chamber music and symphonies. The quintessentially French tradition of the nineteenth-century salon is the subject of James Ross's chapter, while the more sacred setting of Paris's most musically significant churches and the contribution of their organists is the focus of Nigel Simeone's essay. The transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century is explored by Roy Howat through a detailed look at four leading figures of this time: Faur Chabrier, Debussy and Ravel. Robert Orledge follows with a later group of composers, Satie & Les Six, and examines the role of the media in promoting French music. The 1930s, and in particular the composers associated with Jeune France, are discussed by Deborah Mawer, while Caroline Potter investigates Parisian musical life during the Second World War. The book closes with two chapters that bring us to the present day. Peter O'Hagan surveys the enormous contribution to French music of Pierre Boulez, and Caroline Potter examines trends since 1945. Aimed at teachers and students of French music history, as well as performers and the inquisitive concert- and opera-goer, French Music Since Berlioz is an essential companion for an

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique PDF Author: Julian Rushton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316513831
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Get Book Here

Book Description
Situates Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique within French Romanticism and considers influences, literary as well as musical, that shaped its conception.

French Song from Berlioz to Duparc

French Song from Berlioz to Duparc PDF Author: Frits Noske
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : French poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Musical Language of Italian Opera, 1813-1859

The Musical Language of Italian Opera, 1813-1859 PDF Author: William Rothstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197609686
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 601

Get Book Here

Book Description
Though studying opera often requires attention to aesthetics, libretti, staging, singers, compositional history, and performance history, the music itself is central. This book examines operatic music by five Italian composers--Rossini, Bellini, Mercadante, Donizetti, and Verdi--and one non-Italian, Meyerbeer, during the period from Rossini's first international successes to Italian unification. Detailed analyses of form, rhythm, melody, and harmony reveal concepts of musical structure different from those usually discussed by music theorists, calling into question the notion of a common practice. Taking an eclectic analytical approach, author William Rothstein uses ideas originating in several centuries, from the sixteenth to the twenty-first, to argue that operatic music can be heard not only as passionate vocality but also in terms of musical forms, pitch structures, and rhythmic patterns--that is, as carefully crafted music worth theoretical attention. Although no single theory accounts for everything, Rothstein's analysis shows how certain recurring principles define a distinctively Italian practice, one that left its mark on the German repertoire more familiar to music theorists.

The Life of Berlioz

The Life of Berlioz PDF Author: Peter Bloom
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521485487
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Life of Berlioz situates the celebrated French musician in the vibrant and highly politicized musical culture of the periods of the Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy, Second Republic, and Second Empire in which he lived and worked as composer, conductor, concert manager, and writer. The author of the Symphonie fantastique was indeed possessed of a fertile and fantastical imagination; but the common image of Berlioz as a misunderstood and mistreated genius obscures both the solidity of his work as a musical architect and the reality of his position as one sometimes favored by those in power. Berlioz is the quintessential romantic composer by dint of the conspicuous intermingling of art and life that marks his musical and literary output. Studying this away from the subjective sentimentality that can still mar studies of the composer in France, serves only to enhance the uncommon radiance of his music and uncommon esprit of his art.

The Art of Music and Other Essays

The Art of Music and Other Essays PDF Author: Hector Berlioz
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253311641
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 302

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Travers Chants is the collection of writings selected from his thirty-odd years of musical journalism. These essays cover a wide spectrum of intellectual inquiry: Beethoven's nine symphonies and his opera, Fidelio; Wagner and the partisans of the "Music of the Future"; Berlioz's idols - Gluck, Weber, and Mozart. There is an eloquent plea to stop the constant rise in concert pitch (an issue still discussed today), a serious piece on the place of music in church, and a humorous and imaginative account of musical customs in China.

Berlioz on Music

Berlioz on Music PDF Author: Katherine Kolb
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199391963
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Get Book Here

Book Description
The quintessential Romantic artist of his century, Hector Berlioz impressed Paganini and Liszt as "Beethoven's only heir" and dazzled the young Wagner as a composer, orchestra conductor, and critic. To Paris and all Europe, Berlioz was known as much for his writings as for his music, yet there has been no English-language anthology of his criticism available until now. Berlioz on Music plunges us into the Parisian music world during one of its most vibrant periods, the revolutionary years surrounding 1830, still resonant with memories of Napoleon and the French Revolution of only a few decades before. We follow Berlioz as he confronts the transition to a modern, commerce-driven society where music as high art has yet to find a place, using his pen to praise or scold, rouse or cajole performers, composers, managers, and the general public. The articles presented here-given in chronological order and, with a few exceptions, in their entirety-are accompanied by an introductory paragraph and notes that explain Berlioz's references to persons, musical and literary works, historical events, and more. The result is an engaging collection of Berlioz's lively prose, presented with scholarly rigor and rendered in accessible, graceful English. Scholars, lovers of Berlioz's music, history enthusiasts, and Francophiles will delight in this compelling introduction to one of the richest periods of French culture.

The Cambridge Berlioz Encyclopedia

The Cambridge Berlioz Encyclopedia PDF Author: Julian Rushton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781107104433
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
With over forty international specialist authors, this Encyclopedia covers all aspects of the life and work of Hector Berlioz. One of the most original composers of the nineteenth century, he was also internationally known as a pioneer of modern conducting, and as an entertaining author of memoirs, fiction, and criticism. His musical reputation has fluctuated, partly because his works rarely fit into conventional categories. As this Encyclopedia demonstrates, however, his influence on other composers, through his music and his orchestration treatise, was considerable, and extended into the twentieth century. The volume also covers Berlioz's connections with government officials and Paris concert societies and theatres, and contains information on his wide social circle including important literary figures. The Encyclopedia explores his fascination with foreign authors such as Shakespeare, Moore, and Goethe, and treats fully his promotion of his own and others' music, often at his own financial risk.

Evenings with the Orchestra

Evenings with the Orchestra PDF Author: Hector Berlioz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226043746
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 407

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this delightful and now classic narrative, written by the brilliant composer and critic Hector Berlioz, readers are made privy to 25 highly entertaining evenings with a fascinating group of distracted performers.