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This page presents a selection of major books written on Berlioz from Berlioz’s time to the present. A comprehensive list of Berlioz’s own literary publications, including his Memoirs, is given elsewhere on this site (Berlioz Literary and Musical Works).
The books listed here are grouped in the following categories:
Pedagogical books and resources for children
Biographies and general books*
Special studies
Bibliographies
Books related to Berlioz
Novels and plays inspired by the life of Berlioz*
Audiovisual
This page is also available in French
Acknowledgement
We are also grateful to John Ahouse, Ruth Akers, Kristin Catt, Jean-Michel Desai, Pepijn van Doesburg, Henri Gonnard, Georg Günther, Gene Halaburt, Frank Heidlberger, Klaus Heinrich Kohrs, Alixane de Lassus, Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, Carolyn Oesterle, Giulia Pavarini and Christine Tauber for their advice and recommendations.
Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.
Last update: 1 April 2008
A red asterisk (*) in front of an item indicates an addition or change since the previous update.
Pedagogical
books and resources for children
Hector Berlioz, book with a CD (Gallimard Jeunesse Musique/Erato,
Paris,1998).
Illustrations by Charlotte de Voake; text by Christian Wasselin, narration by Benoît Allemane and Judith
Levasseur.
The English translation of the book (under the title "Berlioz – First
Discovery Music") has also been published (ABRSM Publishing,
2003).
This charming 30-page book is aimed at children between 6 and 10 years old. It not only introduces young readers to Berlioz and his music but attempts to interest them in music ("By listening to this disc, you can perhaps become a very great musician too") and encourages them to experiment with music-making. Illustrations depict scenes from Berlioz’s early life mentioned in his Memoirs, such as his uncle dancing with Estelle. The main part of the book starts with a scene in a room in Dr Berlioz’s home on a December day in 1803, showing the newly born Hector in his mother’s arms. The book continues charting Berlioz’s life and the creation of his major works through illustrations and short accessible texts, such as : "Did you know that Hector Berlioz’s father wanted his son to become a doctor, like himself? That music made its mark on Berlioz from the day of his first communion?"
Berlioz Raconté aux Enfants (CD Accord 476 6093, Berlioz is narrated to children by Jean-Louis Barrault, with extracts from the Symphonie Fantastique. (Recorded in 1957 and 1969, reissued on CD in 2003, Paris)
Andriot, Philippe, Berlioz. les combats d’un romantique (Paris:Albert guillot, 1987)
Ayrton, Michael, 1969, Berlioz, A Singular Obsession. A Personal Portrait of Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) on the Centenary of His Death (London: British Broadcasting Corporation).
Ballif, Claude, Berlioz (Paris, 1968)
Barraud, Henry, Hector Berlioz (Paris, 1955; 2nd edition 1966; Fayard edition, Paris, 1979)
Barraud, Henry et al., Berlioz (Librairie Hachette, Paris, 1973), a collection of essays by Henry Barraud, Maurice Fleuret, Bernard Gavoty, Antoine Goléa, Harry Halbreich, Maurice Le Roux, Francçis-Bernard Mâche, Claude Samuel, and Marcel Schneider.
Barzun, Jacques, Berlioz and the Romantic Century (two volumes, Boston, 1950, rev. New York, 1969)
Barzun, Jacques, Berlioz and his Century (abridged version of the above 2-volume set, New York, 1956)
Bennet, Joseph, Hector Berlioz (London, 1883)
Bloom, Peter, The Life of Berlioz (Cambridge, 1998)
Boschot, Adolphe, L’Histoire d’un romantique
Vol. 1: La Jeunesse d’un
romantique: Hector Berlioz, 1803-1831 (Paris, 1906; subsequent reprints)
Vol. 2: Un Romantique sous
Louis-Philippe: Hector Berlioz, 1831-1842 (Paris, 1908; subsequent reprints)
Vol. 3: Le Crépuscule d’un
romantique: Hector Berlioz, 1842-1869 (Paris, 1913; subsequent reprints)
Boschot, Adolphe, Hector Berlioz: une vie romantique, édition définitive (Paris, 1951; 2nd edition, 1965)
Brenet, Michel, Deux Pages de la Vie de Berlioz (Paris,1889)
Cairns, David, two-volume set biography of Berlioz:
Volume One, Berlioz: The Making of
an Artist (London, 1989; rev. 1999; paperback 2000)
Volume Two, Berlioz: Servitude and
Greatness (London, 1999, paperback 2000)
Citron, Pierre (in collaboration with Alain Reynaud), Calendrier Berlioz. Cahiers Berlioz No. 4 (Association Nationale Hector Berlioz., 2000) [Note: not always reliable in detail; to be used with care]
Citron, Pierre (with Cécile Reynaud, Jean-Pierre Bartoli, Peter Bloom), Dictionnaire Berlioz (Fayard, Paris, 2003)
Clarson-Leach, Robert, Berlioz (Midas Books, Kent, 1983)
Crabbe, John, Hector Berlioz, Rational Romantic (London, 1980)
Demarquez, S, Hector Berlioz: l’homme et son œuvre (Paris, 1969)
Hippeau, Edmond, Berlioz et son temps (Paris, 1890)
Holoman, D Kern, Berlioz (Cambridge, Mass., 1989)
Jullien, Adolphe, Hector Berlioz, sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1888)
Khokhlovkina, A A, Berlioz (Moscow, 1960)
Kühner, H, Hector Berlioz: Charakter und Schöpfertum (Olten, 1952)
Macdonald, Hugh, "Hector Berlioz", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music (London, 1980; new ed. 2001)
Macdonald, Hugh, Berlioz (London, 1982; paperback, Oxford, 2001)
Massip, Catherine and Reynaud, Cécile (eds.), Berlioz, la voix du romantisme (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, 2003)
Masson, P-M, Berlioz (Paris, 1923)
Prod’homme, J-G, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1904)
de Pourtalès, Guy, Berlioz et l’Europe Romantique (Paris, NRF Gallimard, 1939)
Ramaut, Alban, Hector Berlioz: compositeur romantique français (Paris, 1993)
Rémy, Pierre-Jean, Berlioz, le roman du romantisme (Paris, 2002)
Reynaud, Cécile, Berlioz (Paris, 2000)
Reynaud, Cécile, (ed.) Hector Berlioz; "Où la musique finit la barbarie commence" (Éditions de la Martinière/Éditions Xavier Barral, 2004)
Richard, Albert, Hector Berlioz 1803 - 1869 (La Revue Musicale, Paris 1956)
Rolland, Romain, Berlioz (Paris, Complexe, 2003)
Rudent, Catherine and Pistone, Danièle, Berlioz, Hier et Aujourd’hui (L’Harmattan, Paris, 2003)
Serna, Pierre-René, Berlioz de B à Z (Éditions Van de Velde, 2006).
Spillemaecker, Chantal (ed.), H Berlioz, épisodes de la vie d’un artiste (Grenoble, Glénat / Musée Hector Berlioz, 2003)
Tiénot, T, Hector Berlioz: esquisse biographique (Paris, 1951)
Tiersot, Julien, Hector Berlioz et la société de son temps (Paris, 1904)
Turner, W J, Berlioz, the man and his work (London, 1934; reprint 1939)
Wasselin, Christian, Berlioz, les Deux Ailes de l’âme (Paris, 1989; new ed. December 2002)
Wotton, T S, Hector Berlioz (London, 1935; reprint 1970)
Albright, Daniel, Berlioz’s Semi-Operas – Roméo et Juliette and La Damnation de Faust (Suffolk, 2001)
Bailbé, J-M, Berlioz: artiste et écrivain dans les Mémoires (Paris, 1972)
Berlioz : Béatrice et Bénédict. L’Avant-Scène Opéra, May-June 2003, No. 214. With literary and musical commentary by Gérard Condé.
Berlioz : Benvenuto Cellini. L’Avant-Scène Opéra, November-December 1991, No 142.
Berlioz : La Damnation de Faust. L’Avant-Scène Opéra, 1979, No 22; 1995, No 22 (new edition).
Berlioz : Les Troyens. L’Avant-Scène Opéra, February-March 1990, No 128/129.
Blocker, Robert (ed.), The Robert Shaw Reader (Yale University
Press, 2004).
The book is a collection of the late conductor’s hitherto unpublished letters
and notes about music and
contains 10-12 pages on conducting Berlioz’s Requiem.
Bloom, Peter (ed.), Berlioz Studies (Cambridge, 1992)
Bloom, Peter (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Berlioz (Cambridge, 2000)
Bloom, Peter (ed.), Berlioz: Past, Present, Future (Rochester University Press, 2003)
Bloom, Peter (ed.), Berlioz: Scenes from the Life and Work (Rochester University Press, 2008 ), with Lord Aberdare (Alastair Bruce), Jean-Pierre Bartoli, Jacques Barzun, Peter Bloom, David Cairns, Gunther Braam, Gérard Condé, Pepijn van Doesburg, Joël-Marie Fauquet, Frank Heidlberger, Hugh Macdonald and Julian Rushton.
Braam, Gunther and Jacobshagen, Arnold (eds.) Hector
Berlioz in Deutschland: Texte und Dokumente zur
deutschen Berlioz-Rezeption 1829-1843 (Göttingen, 2002)
Brzoska, Matthias, Hofer, Hermann, and Strohmann,
Nicole (eds) Hector Berlioz: ein Franzose in Deutschland (Laaber:
Laaber-Verlag, 2005).
The book contains a selection of papers presented at the Berlioz
Convention, entitled
"Berlioz in Germany", held in Essen from 16 to 18 June 2003, to mark the bicentenary
of the composer’s birth.
Carse, Adam, The Orchestra from Beethoven to Berlioz (Cambridge, 1948)
Catteau, Dominique, Nietzsche et Berlioz, une amitié stellaire (Paris, 2001)
Catteau, Dominique, Hector Berlioz ou la philosophie artiste
(Paris, 2001, 2 volumes)
(See also on this site a bibliography
of Dominique Catteau’s books)
Charlton, David and Ellis, Katharine (eds.), The Musical Voyager: Berlioz in Europe (Peter Lang Press, 2007), with Christina Bashford, George Biddlecombe, Gabriella Dideriksen, Sarah Hibberd, Mark Pottinge, Linda Edmondson, Elena Dolenko, Ian Rumbold, Michael Fend, Vera Micznik, Peter Raby, Rainer Schmusch, Katherine Kolb, Fiona Cormack and John Ahouse. (This book contains papers presented at the Interpreting Berlioz conference held in London on 15-17 November 2002.)
Condé, Gérard (ed.), Hector Berlioz: cauchemars et passions (Paris, 1981)
Del Mar, Norman, Conducting Berlioz (Oxford University Press, 1997)
Didier, Béatrice, et al., Berlioz Écrivain (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2000)
Döhring, Sieghart et al (eds.) Berlioz, Wagner und die Deutschen (Verlag Dohr, 2003)
Farga, F, Der späte Ruhm: Hector Berlioz und seine Zeit (Zurich, 1939, 2nd edition 1952)
Faul, Michel, Louis Jullien : musique,
spectacle et folie au XIXe siècle (Éditions Atlantica, 2006). This book
has a chapter on Berlioz.
See also Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Fouque, Octave, Les Révolutionnaires de la musique (Paris, 1882)
Ganz, A W, Berlioz in London (London, 1950)
Gonnard, Henri, La musique modale en France de Berlioz à Debussy (Paris, Champion, 2000)
Griepenkerl, W R, Ritter Berlioz in Braunschweig (Brunswick, 1843)
Günther, Georg, ‘"Berlioz gebietet gewaltigen Tonmassen" – Die Stuttgarter Berlioz-Tradition bis 1918 und die Stuttgarter Oper’, in Musik in Baden-Württemberg – Jahrbuch 2003 (Stuttgart: Metzler, 2003, pp. 53-106)
Haraszti, Emile, Berlioz et la Marche Hongroise (Paris,1946)
Hartnoll, Phyllis (ed.), Shakespeare in Music (London, 1964)
Heidlberger, Frank (ed.), Hector Berlioz: Schriften – Bekenntnisse eines musikalischen Enthusiasten (Kassel etc.: Bärenreiter 2002).
Heidlberger, Frank (ed.), Dossier de presse parisienne. Hector Berlioz: Les Troyens à Carthage (Heilbronn: Edition Galland 1995; volume IV in the "Critiques de l’opéra français du XIXème siècle" series).
Heidlberger, Frank, Carl Maria von Weber und Hector Berlioz. Studien zur französischen Weber-Rezeption (Tutzing: Schneider 1994 [Würzburger Musikhistorische Beiträge; 14, PhD, Universität Würzburg 1993]).
Holoman, D Kern, The Creative Process in the Autograph Musical Documents of Hector Berlioz c. 1818-1840 (Ann Arbor, 1980)
Johnson, April Dawn Harriff, An Exploration of Unity in Berlioz’s
Les nuits d’été Through Analysis of Structural and Stylistic Elements.
D.M.A., Performance, University of Texas at Austin, 1991.
Kelly, Thomas Forrest, First Nights – Five Musical Premières (Yale University Press, 2000). Chapter 4 is on the Symphonie fantastique.
Kelly, Barbara L. and Murphy, Kerry (eds), Berlioz and Debussy: Sources, Contexts and Legacies: Essays in Honour of François Lesure (Ashgate, 2007), with David Charlton, Benjamin Perl, Julian Rushton, Kerry Murphy, Richard Langham Smith, Mike Strasser, Marie Rolf, Jann Pasler and Barbara L. Kelly.
Kemp, Ian (ed.), Berlioz: Les Troyens (Cambridge, 1988)
Kohrs, Klaus Heinrich, Hector Berlioz: Autobiographie als Kunstentwurf (Frankfurt/Main and Basel: Stroemfeld Verlag, 2003)
Le Livre d’Or du Centenaire d’Hector Berlioz (Paris, 1906 or 1907, a collection of articles written in 1903)
Macdonald, Hugh, Berlioz Orchestral Music (London, 1969)
Maassakker, Jean-Pierre, Berlioz à Paris (Association Nationale Hector Berlioz, Paris, 1992)
de Massougnes, G, Berlioz: son œuvre (Paris, 1870)
Maubon, R, Hector Berlioz (Paris, Essais et Documents, 2003)
Monde Musical, Centenaire de Berlioz (Paris, 1903, special centenary issue)
Morabito, Fulvia and Niccolai, Michela (eds), Hector Berlioz. Miscellaneous Studies (Ut Orpheus, 2005), with Julian Rushton, Guillaume Bordry, Katharine Ellis, Claudio Bolzan, Diana Bickley, Laura Cosso, Ark A. Pottinger, Alban Ramaut, Cécile Reynaud, Michela Niccolai, Roberto Illiano, and Lesley A. Wright
Noufflard, G, Berlioz et le mouvement de l’art contemporain (Florence, 1884; 2nd edition 1885)
d’Ortigue, J, de l’Ecole Musicale Italienne et de l’Administration de l’Académie Royale de Musique, à l’occasion de l’Opéra de M. H. Berlioz (Paris,1839)
Payzant, Geoffrey Eduard Hanslick and Ritter Berlioz in Prague (University of Calgary Press, 1991)
Pohl, Richard, Hector Berlioz: Studien und Erinnerungen (Leipzig, 1884; reprint 1974)
Primmer, Brian, The Berlioz Style (London, 1973)
Ramault, Alban, Hector Berlioz, Compositeur romantique français (Actes Sud, 1993)
Ramault, Alban (ed.), Hector Berlioz, Regards sur un dauphinois fantastique (St-Etienne, 2005). The book contains a selection of papers presented at the International conference on Berlioz at Grenoble in October 2003.
Reynaud, Alain, et al. Hector Berlioz – Humber Ferrand: Une amitié énigmatique. Cahiers Berlioz No. 5 (Association nationale Hector Berlioz, 2005)
Rushton, Julian, The Musical Language of Berlioz (Cambridge, 1983)
Rushton, Julian, Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette (Cambridge, 1994)
Rushton, Julian, The Music of Berlioz (Oxford, 2001)
Sabbadini, Francesco, Invito all’ascolto di Berlioz (Milano, ed. Mursia, 1989)
Schmusch, Rainer, Hector Berlioz – Autopsie des Künstlers (Kritik München, 2000)
Stricker, Rémy, Berlioz dramaturge (Paris, Gallimard, 2003)
Vogel, Oliver, Der romantische Weg im Frühwerk von Hector Berlioz. Beiheft zum Archiv für Musikwissenschaft Vol LIII (Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003)
Wasselin, Christian and Serna, Pierre-Rene (eds.), Berlioz (L’Herne, Paris, 2003)
Wasselin, Christian, Berlioz ou le Voyage d’Orphée (Édition du Rocher, Paris, 2003)
Ahouse, J B, The Centenary Years: a Bibliography of Articles in the Periodical Literature, 1967-71 (El Paso, 1974)
Holoman, D Kern, Catalogue of the Works of Hector Berlioz (Kassel, 1987; volume 25 of the New Berlioz Edition and the most complete catalogue of the works and writings of Berlioz)
Hopkinson, Cecil, A Bibliography of the Musical and Literary Works of Hector Berlioz, 1803-1869 (Edinburgh, 1951; rev. R Macnutt, Tunbridge Wells, 1980)
Macdonald, Hugh, "Hector Berlioz", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music (London, 1980; new edition 2001) has an extensive bibliography of Berlioz’s works and of books and articles about him.
Wright, Michael, A Bibliography of Critical Writings on Hector Berlioz from 1825 to 1986 (Farnborough, 1987)
Cairns, David (ed.), The Berlioz Society Bulletin, No 175, December 2007 (with contributions from Peter Bloom, Richard Macnutt, Hugh Macdonald, Katherine Kolb, Elizabeth Csicsery-Rónay, Brian Chenley, Alastair Aberdare and David Cairns). This issue of the Bulletin is devoted to Jacques Barzun to mark the centenary of his birth.
Barbier, A, Souvenirs personnels et silhouettes contemporaines (Paris, 1883)
Beyls, Pascal, Estelle Fornier, premier et dernier amour de Berlioz (Copy Meylan, 2003; ISBN : 2-9516187-3-5)
Beyls, Pascal, Nicolas Marmion, sa vie, ses poèmes
(Copy Meylan, 2003; ISBN :
2-9516187-2-7).
[Nicholas Marmion was Hector Berlioz’s maternal
grandfather.]
Carraz-Billat, Jean, La Côte-Saint-André – des origines à nos jours (La Côte-Saint-André, 1997; edited posthumously by Madame Monique Carraz-Billat)
Clerc-Jacquier, l’Abbé L, La Côte-Saint-André ancienne et moderne (La Côte-Saint-André, 1868)
Davison, J W, From Mendelssohn to Wagner (edited by H Davison, London 1912)
Escudier, L, Mes souvenirs (Paris, 1866)
Everist, Mark, Music Drama at the Paris Odeon, 1824-1828 (University of California Press, 2003)
Fliedner, Hans-Jürgen, Euphonia – Die Musikalische Stadt (in German, French and English; Cobourg, 1998)
Gounod, C, Mémoires d’un artiste (Paris, 1896)
Hippeau, Edmond, Berlioz Intime (Paris,1883)
Holoman, D Kern, The Société des Concerts du Conservatoire 1828-1967 (University of California Press, 2004)
Imbert, Jean, Histoire de La Côte-Saint-André (La Côte-Saint-André, 1944)
Legouvé, Ernest, Soixante ans de souvenirs (in two volumes:
Première Partie: Ma Jeunsess, Paris 1886 and
Deuxième et Dernière Partie, Paris 1887). See also the chapter
on Berlioz.
(In English as Sixty Years of Recollections, trans. Albert D. Vanda.
London, 1893)
Magic Christian, NON PLUS ULTRA, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, Der Zauber des 19. Jahrhunderts. Volume 1. (Volker Huber, Offenbach am Main, 1998). Berlioz met Hofzinser in Paris in 1844 and quite likely during his visit to Austria in 1845-6. They knew each other very well. Hofzinser wrote reviews of Berlioz’s concerts in Viennese newspapers and also wrote a poem about him, which you will find on page 38 of the book.
Moulin, Alexandre, Emptoz, François, Civet, André, and Fonvieille, Patrick, La Côte Saint André en Isère (Gillonnay: Alexandre Moulin, 2005)
d’Ortigue, J, La Musique à l’église (Paris, 1861)
Raby, Peter, ‘Fair Ophelia’: A Life of Harriet Smithson Berlioz (Cambridge, 1982)
Reibel, Emmanuel, L’écriture de la critique musicale au temps de Berlioz (Champion, 2005)
Reyer, E, Notes de musique (Paris, 1875)
Reyer, E, Quarante ans de musique (Paris, 1909)
Rose, Michael, Berlioz Remembered (London, 2001)
Schmusch, Rainer, Der Tod des Orpheus – Entstehungsgeschichte der Programmmusik (Rombach Verlag, Freiburg 1998)
Wright, Michael, Mosaic of the air : a setting to words of music by Hector Berlioz (University of Salzburg Press, 1997)
Novels
and plays inspired by the life of Berlioz
Balint, Christine, Ophelia’s Fan (New York: W W Norton & Company, August 2004)
Boyer, François and Lucien, Berlioz, biographical novel, after a television series on TF1 (Paris: Éditions Mengès, 1982)
Kenyon, F. W., Passionate Rebel: The Story of Hector Berlioz (New York, 1972)
Mérlé, Charles, Berlioz, a play in four acts and nineteen tableaux. It was performed at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Paris in 1972 and published in la Petite Illustration, No. 331, 7 May 1972.
Morgan, Jude, Symphony (London, 2006)
Rey, Étienne, La vie amoureuse de Berlioz (Ernest Flammarion, 1929)
Teitgen, Olivier, l’Entente cordiale, a play in 3 acts. It was published on this site in May 2000 (Entente Cordiale). The play takes as its starting point one evening in June 1855 at Sainton’s home in London, where Berlioz and Wagner had been invited to dinner. See also Entente Cordiale – Berlioz dines with Wagner.
Wasselin, Christian, Les Orages désirés, libretto of Gérard Condé’s opera, which depicts the life of Berlioz as a young teenager. It was premiered on 22 November 2003 in Paris.
Giuliani, Élizabeth and Sébald, Bruno (eds.), Hector Berlioz : phonographie (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2003)
Autour des Nuits d’été de Hector Berlioz, audio CD, CD-ROM, libretto (Paris, Éditions Hyptique.net, 2003)
Le Monde est un théâtre, audio CD (Mons, Belgium: Autrement dit, 2003) [a monologue by Alain Carré as part of celebrations of Berlioz’s bicentenary]
The Hector Berlioz Website was created by Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin on 18
July 1997;
The Berlioz Bibliography page was created on 15 September 2002;
substantial additions made since.
© 2002-2008 Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction are reserved.
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