The Other Worlds of Hector Berlioz

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Cambridge University Press, Feb 19, 2015 - Literary Criticism - 357 pages
Berlioz frequently explored other worlds in his writings, from the imagined exotic enchantments of New Zealand to the rings of Saturn where Beethoven's spirit was said to reside. The settings for his musical works are more conservative, and his adventurousness has instead been located in his mastery of the orchestra, as both orchestrator and conductor. Inge van Rij's book takes a new approach to Berlioz's treatment of the orchestra by exploring the relationship between these two forms of control - the orchestra as abstract sound, and the orchestra as collective labour and instrumental technology. Van Rij reveals that the negotiation between worlds characteristic of Berlioz's writings also plays out in his music: orchestral technology may be concealed or ostentatiously displayed; musical instruments might be industrialised or exoticised; and the orchestral musicians themselves move between being a society of distinctive individuals and being a machine played by Berlioz himself.
 

Contents

All works are by Berlioz unless otherwise stated
35
Military metaphors virtuosity
70
after Cajetan 95
95
Sensing the supernatural in Episode de
127
10b La nonne sanglante Légende Climax and continuation of second
180
Aesthetics of technology
193
orchestra which will have members in every region of
203
Les Troyens museum culture
245
Martinet No 1223 of 1637 estampes coloriees representant
301
Epilogue 320
320
viii
322
Select bibliography 339
339
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About the author (2015)

Inge van Rij is a Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the New Zealand School of Music. Her first book, Brahms's Song Collections, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2006, having received substantial funding from a Marsden Grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand. She is a regular presenter at international conferences, including both the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology.