 Hugh Macdonald, EditorSelected Letters of BerliozTranslated by Roger NicholsAn 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 débats. 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. 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 Générale. 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. In the words of poet W. H. Auden, "In order to understand the nineteenth century, it is essential to understand Berlioz." 1997 / hardcover / ISBN 0-393-04062-3 / 496 pages / music/classical | |||||
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