Experiencing Berlioz: A Listener's Companion

by Melinda P. O'Neal

Overview

Experiencing Berlioz: A Listener’s Companion is an in-depth entrée into the sound world of Hector Berlioz, recognized today as one of the most profoundly original and engaging composers in 19th-century Europe.

Melinda O’Neal offers the non-specialist a pathway into the underlying allure of Berlioz's music. His views on rehearsing and conducting, bumpy career ride and failures, the journey of a work through revisions and editions, and historical performance practices provide a backdrop to discussions of his most significant works.

As O’Neal addresses the motivation and conception, sonic atmosphere, and compositional strategies of key works, she provides a new multifaceted experience not only to music historians and performers but also to any amateur music lover who has ever been entranced by Berlioz’s undeniable musical veracity. As the listener interacts with Berlioz's music, the ear's curiosity and imagination will take flight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810886063
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/23/2018
Series:	Listener's Companion
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Melinda P. O'Neal is a choral-orchestral conductor and professor of music at Dartmouth College. Her fascination with the music of Berlioz began when rehearsing the final mystical chorus of L’enfance du Christ in graduate school. Berlioz has been the subject of O’Neal’s teaching and writing, and she has prepared choruses and conducted in performance most of his vocal-instrumental works. Learn more about O'Neal and explore selected texts and translations referred to in Experiencing Berlioz at www.melindaoneal.net.

Table of Contents

Opening Your Imagination: Introduction and Guide Chapter 1: Songs Neuf mélodies: La belle voyageuse and Élégie en prose Les nuits d’étés La mort d’Ophélie Le trébuchet: scherzo La belle Isabeau: conte pendant l’orage Chapter 2: Music for Chorus Neuf mélodies: Chant guerrier and Chanson à boire Sara la baigneuse Scène héroïque: la révolution grecque Le cinq mai Hymne à la France Chapter 3: Orchestral Music Symphonie fantastique Roméo et Juliette Chapter 4: Extended Choral-Orchestral Works Messe solennelle Grande messe des morts (Requiem) La damnation de Faust L’enfance du Christ Chapter 5: Operas Benvenuto Cellini Les Troyens Appendices A. Song Inventory B. Choral Music C. Program of Symphonie fantastique D. Selected References in Berlioz’s Mémoires

Editorial Reviews

An engaging and informative exploration of the life, compositional style, and catalog of Hector Berlioz. Elegantly written with refreshing clarity, it is a wonderful resource and will be appreciated by lovers of music, lay and professional. I highly recommend this book!

Marietta Simpson

This guide to Berlioz’s music by an eminent choral conductor puts his vocal work front and center where it belongs, despite his fame as a composer of symphonies. O’Neal’s entertaining, infectiously enthusiastic, perceptive, knowledgeable descriptions will serve listeners and performers alike.

Katherine Kolb

Beautifully written, clearly organized, creatively detailed, and full of information and insight concerning the works of Berlioz being discussed. This volume will be both a helpful guide for the passionate listener and a valuable resource for the performing musician. Highly recommended.

Joseph Flummerfelt

On first hearing Berlioz’s music, many people report the experience as if they had been seized by the collar and shaken to the roots. If that happens to you, the perfect guide will be Melinda O’Neal’s thoughtful tour through his entire output. For singers especially, this is essential reading.

Hugh Macdonald

O'Neal's reader-friendly volume is written for the average listener and contains excellent comments on how to prepare for and how to listen to a live concert. She obviously revels in the stunning sonic brilliance of Berlioz' writing and her love is contagious.

John Nelson

Melinda P. O'Neal is an ideal companion in our discovery of these seductive but sometimes bewildering repertoires. From the simplest mélodie through chorus-and-orchestra masterpieces to the great operas, she clarifies, amplifies, and offers tactical advice—with a congenial wonder and you-are-there vignettes that invite us into the heart of Berlioz's conceptual world.

D. Kern Holoman

Melinda P. O'Neal is an ideal companion in our discovery of these seductive but sometimes bewildering repertoires. From the simplest mélodie through chorus-and-orchestra masterpieces to the great operas, she clarifies, amplifies, and offers tactical advice—with a congenial wonder and you-are-there vignettes that invite us into the heart of Berlioz's conceptual world.

Kern Holoman