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Contents of this page:Introduction
Scores
List of available scores
Abbreviations:
CG = Correspondance générale
Débats = Journal des Débats
This page is also available in French
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IntroductionThe title ‘Predecessors and contemporaries’ potentially covers a very large number of composers with whose music Berlioz came into contact and on which he expressed views; in practice the number of names covered in detail in this section is much more limited, perhaps too much so. Pride of place goes to the four major figures Berlioz identified as major influences on his own music. To quote from the Post-Scriptum of the Mémoires:
In music I am an unbeliever, or, to put it better, I belong to the religion of Beethoven, Weber, Gluck and Spontini, who believed, professed and proved by their own works that everything is good or that everything is bad; the effect produced by certain combinations should alone lead to them being condemned or allowed.
To these four major figures three have been added on the grounds that examples of their music are cited and discussed by Berlioz in his Treatise on Orchestration (excerpts of which are reproduced in translation on this site): Méhul among composers of the previous generation, and Halévy and Meyerbeer among his contemporaries. Two major figures have been added to these from among younger contemporaries of Berlioz who outlived him, Liszt and Wagner; neither of them is referred to in the Treatise on Orchestration, but Berlioz had extensive relations with them, Liszt in particular.
A total of nine composers thus receive detailed treatment in separate pages: Beethoven, Gluck, Halévy, Liszt, Méhul, Meyerbeer, Spontini, Wagner, and Weber.
In the course of his varied career and travels as composer, conductor, organiser of concerts, music critic and writer, Berlioz naturally came across the music of many other composers, past or present, and on many of these he had views of his own. For ease of reference a selection of these is given below in alphabetical order. For each composer links are provided to passages on this site or writings of Berlioz which give further information on his relations with them and his views on their music:
A summary history of this page is provided separately.
ScoresWhen the page Predecessors and Contemporaries was first created in December 2002 it was intended to serve as a companion section to the collection Berlioz Music Scores and its associated texts. It was designed to present a selection of orchestral and instrumental scores of a number of composers who were either predecessors of Berlioz (such as Gluck, Beethoven, and Weber), or contemporaries (such as Halévy or Meyerbeer), or indeed both at once (such as Spontini, whose major works were mostly written earlier but who lived on well into Berlioz’s lifetime). In most cases the common starting point was the citation of a score, or part of it, of composers such as these in Berlioz’s Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration. A list of the scores cited by Berlioz, arranged alphabetically by composers, is also provided here for convenience.
This section provides an almost complete collection of the purely orchestral scores cited in Berlioz’s treatise; the citations in the treatise are usually only of excerpts, but wherever possible the complete piece or movement is given. It also comprises a selection of other orchestral scores of these composers, not cited in the treatise, in so far as they may illuminate Berlioz’s relations with their music (as for example several movements from Beethoven’s symphonies). The scores were notated manually on computer using the musical notation programme Sibelius (version I.4 till April 2004, version 3 for new scores created from May 2004 onwards), and were designed to be viewed and played back online using a computer sound card or sound module, and a special plug-in named Scorch available as a free download from the Sibelius website.
But since that time events have moved. In 2006 Sibelius was sold to the California-based company Avid; Avid initially continued to develop Sibelius with the original London-based team of programmers, but in 2012 they closed down that team while continuing to use the Sibelius name, and the programme has been further developed since. Around 2014 it was decided to terminate the development of the Scorch plug-in as an integral part of the Sibelius software, and though it may still be downloaded from Avid there is no certainty that it will continue to work with browsers after that date.
The original scores in Scorch format will continue to be available on this site, but it has been decided to provide them also in pdf format, which is not likely to become obsolete. Links to these will be found below, as well as on the separate pages devoted to individual composers.
List of available scoresFurther information on each score is provided on the page dealing with the relevant composer.
Third Symphony (Eroica) (complete)
First movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSecond movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatThird movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatFourth movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatFourth Symphony
Second movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatFifth Symphony (complete)
First movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSecond movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatThird and fourth movements
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSixth Symphony (Pastoral) (complete)
First movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSecond movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatThird, fourth and fifth movements
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSeventh Symphony (complete)
First movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSecond movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatThird movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatFourth movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatPiano Concerto no. 5, second movement
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatGluck
Alceste, Act I, Ballet (Pantomime)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatArmide, Overture
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatArmide, Act III Dance of Hate (1)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatArmide, Act V Sicilienne
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatIphigénie en Tauride, Act I Scene 1 (excerpt)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatIphigénie en Tauride, Act I, Ballet
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act I, Pantomime (Funeral Rites)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act I, Ritournelle
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Dance of the Furies (1)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Dance of the Furies (2)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Ballet 1 (Dance of the Blessed Spirits)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Ballet 2 (Pantomime)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Ballet 3
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOrphée, Act II, Dance of the Heroes
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatHalévy
La Juive, Introduction to Act I
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Juive, Act IV, orchestral ritornello of Eléazar’s aria
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Juive, March from Act V
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatMéhul
Overture: La Chasse du Jeune Henri
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatMeyerbeer
Robert le Diable, Act III (excerpt 1)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatRobert le Diable, Act III (excerpt 2)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOverture and introduction: Les Huguenots
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLes Huguenots, Act III Danse Bohémienne
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLes Huguenots, Act V Entr’acte and Ballet
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLes Huguenots, Act V Trio (excerpt)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatSpontini
La Vestale, Overture
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Vestale, Act I Ballet 1
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Vestale, Act I Ballet 2
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Vestale, Act I Ballet 3
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatLa Vestale, Act II Scene 2 (ritornello)
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatWeber
Jubel Overture
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOverture Der Freischütz
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatDer Freischütz, Act I Waltz
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatDer Freischütz, Entr’acte to Act III
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOverture Euryanthe
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOverture Oberon
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOberon, Act II Ballet
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatOberon, Act III March
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatWeber: Invitation to the Dance, orch. Berlioz
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf formatWeber: Invitation to the Dance, original piano version
— Score in large format
— Score in pdf format
The Hector Berlioz Website was created by Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb on 18 July 1997
Berlioz: Predecessors and Contemporaries created on 11 December 2002. New enlarged version on 1 August 2021.© Michel Austin for all scores and text on this and related pages
Back to Berlioz Music Scores