Research Catalog

Title

Hector Berlioz papers, 1825-1994

Author

Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Barzun, Jacques, 1907-2012
• Barzun, 1881-1973

Description

27

Summary

Correspondence, manuscripts, papers, essays, etc. relating to Berlioz, and 19th century arts and literature. The correspondence includes original Berlioz letters and over 200 copies of letters relating to Berlioz and the romantic era, written by musicians, critics, historians, and literateurs of the past century. There are many photostats of letters and manuscripts obtained from the principal libraries of the world which hold original Berlioz material. The collection includes much printed material in the form of music scores, published letters, essays, clippings, biographies, music and book catalogues, program notes, and playbills.

Subject

• Auden, W. H., 1907-1973
• Baillet, Gaston
• Bentley, Eric, 1916-
• Berlioz, Harriet Smithson, 1800-1854
• Bizet, Georges, 1838-1875
• Boucher, Anthony, 1911-1968
• Cousins, Norman
• Indy, Vincent d', 1851-1931
• Kahn, Otto H., 1867-1934
• Leinsdorf, Erich, 1912-1993
• Malherbe, Charles
• Marlowe, Julia, 1865-1950
• Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809-1847
• Meyerbeer, Giacomo, 1791-1864
• Parry, C. Hubert H, 1848-1918
• Prod'homme, J.-G, 1871-1956
• Rolland, Romain, 1866-1944
• Saint-Saëns, Camille, 1835-1921
• Searle, Humphrey
• Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950
• Starkie, Enid
• Strauss, Richard, 1864-1949
• Trilling, Lionel, 1905-1975
• Verdi, Giuseppe, 1813-1901
• Viardot-García, Pauline, 1821-1910
• Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883
• Weeks, Edward, 1898-1989
• Music > France > 19th century
• Arts, French
• Composers > France
• Musicians
• Music critics
• Musicologists
• Catalogs
• Composers

Genre/Form

• Announcements
• Audiotapes
• Biographies (literary works)
• Brochures
• Essays
• Invitations
• Lists (document genres)
• Lithographs
• Manuscripts (documents)
• Scores (documents for music)
• Notes (documents)
• Phonograph records
• Photographic prints
• Pictures (object genre)
• Playbills
• Posters
• Programs (documents)
• Proofs (printed matter)
• Record covers

Access (note)

• This collection is located on-site.
• This collection has no restrictions.

Cite As (note)

• Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hector Berlioz papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Original Location (note)

• W.H. Auden letters are on: microfilm.
• LE SONGE D'HʹERODE is on: microfilm.
• ROMEO ET JULIETTE is on: microfilm.
• Type of reproduction--Photostatic copies in part

Terms of Use (note)

• Readers must use microfilm of materials specified above.
• Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Source (note)

• Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Accession number--M76-04.
• Printed misc: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1991. Accession number--M-1991.
• Papers: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/20/93. Accession number--M-93-12-20.
• Papers: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/15/94. Accession number--M-94-12-15.

Biography (note)

• Louis Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), French composer conductor and writer on music, was born at La Cote Saint Andre near Grenoble. As a boy he learnt the flute, guitar, and, from treatises alone, harmony. He never studied the piano, his first compositions were romances and small chamber pieces. In 1821 he left La Cote Saint Andre to study medicine in Paris - the career chosen for him by his father. However, after two years he abandoned medicine and devoted the rest of his life to the composition of music and writing on the subject. Berlioz was a major force in the development of musical form during the Romantic era. He established program music as the romantic musical form, and started the genre of the symphonic poem. Berlioz stands out for his innovative approach in almost all areas of composition. He played a decisive role in the development of program music and modern orchestration, emancipating the procedure of orchestration for generations of later composers. As a musical critic he admired above all Gluck and Beethoven, expressed doubt about Wagner, and fought endlessly against the second-rate. Among the most powerful influences on him were Shakespeare, whose plays were to inspire three major works, and the Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, whom he idolized, pursued and, after a bizarre courtship, eventually married in 1833. Beethoven's symphonies too made a strong impact along with Goethe's Faust and the works of the English Romantics such as Moore, Scott and Byron.

Provenance (note)

• This collection was assembled by Professor Jacques Barzun of Columbia University and by his father, Professor Henri-Martin Barzun. Gift of Jacques Barzun, 1953-1994. In addition to materials assembled by Barzun, the collection also includes Berlioz original manuscripts and correspondence donated by friends of the library in memory of Ronald Baughman.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 04/04/89.
• Printed misc Processed BRC 12/30/91.
• Papers Processed HR 01/18/94.
• Papers Processed HR 01/18/95.
• Additions processed by HR-4/76, 1/80, 4/81, 1/94 and 1/95; by TS-6/82; by KD-7/87; by BRC-12/91, by JG 02/02.

OCLC

• 609578256
• ocn609578256
• SCSB-4797869

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries