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Introduction

    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, Daniel Jacobi, Klaus Heinrich Kohrs, Alixane de Lassus, Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, Carolyn Oesterle, Giulia Pavarini, Bob Salvi, Christine Tauber and C. B. Wilson 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.

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)

Berlioz & Hugo – Notre-Dame de Paris (Paris, Bleu Nuit Éditeur, 2010).
Text by Pascal Fardet, illustration by Christophe Ronus. This book includes an audio CD.

See also: Memorabilia: Berlioz for children: books and CDs.

Biographies and general books

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, François-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)

Bloom, Peter, New edition of Berliozs Mémoires (Vrin, 2019)

Boschot, Adolphe, L’Histoire d’un romantique
       Vol. 1: La Jeunesse d’un romantique: Hector Berlioz, 1803-1831 (Paris, 1906; revised edition, 1948)
        Vol. 2: Un Romantique sous Louis-Philippe: Hector Berlioz, 1831-1842 (Paris, 1908; revised edition, 1948)
        Vol. 3: Le Crépuscule d’un romantique: Hector Berlioz, 1842-1869 (Paris, 1913; revised edition, 1948)

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)

Clément, Félix, Les Musiciens Célèbres (Paris, 1868). This book has a chapter on Berlioz.

Coquard, Arthur, Berlioz (Librairie Renouard,1909)

Crabbe, John, Hector Berlioz, Rational Romantic (London, 1980)

Crosso, Laura, Hector Berlioz. (Palermo, 2008)

Delaye-Didier-Delorme, Henriette, Hector Berlioz ou le chant désespéré (Lyon, 1956)

Demarquez, S, Hector Berlioz: l’homme et son œuvre (Paris, 1969)

Dole, Nathan H, Famous Composers (London, 1905). This book has a chapter on Berlioz.

Dömling, Wolfgang, Hector Berlioz in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten (Rowohlt, 1977)

Dömling, Wolfgang, Hector Berlioz und seine Zeit (Laaber-Verlag, 1986)

Dufresne, Claude, Hector Berlioz (Tallandier Éditions, 2002)

Elliot, J H, Berlioz (London, 1938)

Ernst, Alfred, L’oeuvre dramatique de H. Berlioz (Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1884)

Hippeau, Edmond, Berlioz Intime (Paris,1883, new edition 1890)

Hippeau, Edmond, Berlioz et son temps (Paris, 1890)

Holoman, D Kern, Berlioz (Cambridge, Mass., 1989)

Jullien, Adolphe, Hector Berlioz, la vie et le combat, les œuvres (Paris, 1882)

Jullien, Adolphe, Hector Berlioz, sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1888)

Jullien, Adolphe, Musique: Melanges d’histoire et de critique musicale et dramatique, (Paris, 1896). The book includes a chapter on Berlioz, “La critique et Berlioz”.

Kapp, Julius, Berlioz: eine Biographie (Schuster & Loeffler, 1917)

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, Paul-Marie, Berlioz (Paris, 1923)

Maubon, René, Berlioz ou la passion de la musique (Paris, 2003)

Messina, Bruno, Berlioz (Actes Sud, 2018)

de Mirecourt, Eugène, Berlioz (Paris, 1856)

Pohl, Louise, Hector Berlioz: Leben und Werke (Leipzig, 1900)

de Pourtalès, Guy, Berlioz et l’Europe Romantique (Paris, NRF Gallimard, 1939)

Prod’homme, Jacques-Gabriel, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris, 1904)

Ramaut, Alban, Hector Berlioz: compositeur romantique français (Paris, 1993)

Rémy, Pierre-Jean, Berlioz, le roman du romantisme (Paris, 2002)

Reyer, Ernest, “Hector Berlioz”, in The International Library of Music for Home and Studio (The University Society, 1925)

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, Musiciens d’aujourd’hui (Paris, 1908). This book has a chapter on Berlioz (see also below).

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).

Serna, Pierre-René, Café Berlioz (Bleu Nuit éditeur, 2018)

Spillemaecker, Chantal (ed.), H Berlioz, épisodes de la vie d’un artiste (Grenoble, Glénat / Musée Hector Berlioz, 2003)

Théodore-Valensi, Le Chevalier “Quand-Même” Berlioz (Nice, 1955)

Théodore-Valensi, Fin et Gloire de Berlioz (Nice, 1956)

Tiénot, Yvonne, Hector Berlioz: Esquisse biographique (Henry Lemoine & Cie, 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, Hector Berlioz, Musique en Dauphiné (Musée Dauphinois and éditions le dophine, 2001)

Wasselin, Christian, Berlioz, les Deux Ailes de l’âme (Paris, 1989; new ed. December 2002)

Wotton, Tom S, Hector Berlioz (London, 1935)

Special studies

Abromont, Claude, La Symphonie fantastique- Enquête autour d’une Idée Fixe (Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris, 2016)

Albright, Daniel, Berlioz’s Semi-Operas – Roméo et Juliette and La Damnation de Faust (University of Rochester Press, 2001)

Albright, Daniel (ed.), Berlioz, Verdi, Wagner, and Britten. Great Shakespeareans series, Volume XI (Bloomsbury Academic, 2012)

Anger, Violaine, Berlioz et la scène – Penser le fait théâtral (Paris, Édition Vrin, 2016)

Bailbé, J-M, Berlioz: artiste et écrivain dans les Mémoires (Paris, 1972)

Barbier, Auguste, Études dramatiques (Paris, 1874)

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.

Berlioz’ Troyens und Halévys Juive im Spiegel der Grand Opera (Franz Steiner Verlag and Staatsoper Stuttgart, 2011). Authors: Sergio Morabito, Isabelle Moindrot, Hugh Macdonald, Pierre-René Serna, Gerard Condé, David Charlton, Peter Bloom, Joachim Kremer, Alain Patrick Olivier, and Xavier Zuber. The book contains papers presented at a symposium held at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 2007. See also the Archive of Concerts for the presentation of this book at the Staatsoper Stuttgart on 14 April 2011.

Berlioz, encore et pour toujours: Actes du cycle Hector Berlioz, Arras 2015 (Books on Demand, 2016)
Authors: Anne Bongrain, Marc-Mathieu Münch, Patrick Barbier, Marie-Hélène Coudroy-Saghaï ,, Hermann Hofer,, Katherine Kolb,, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Matthias Brzoska The book is a collection of articles based on a conference held in Arras in 2015.

Biddle, Ian and Gibson, Kirsten, Masculinity and Western Musical Practice. (Aldershot, 2009)

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.

Bloom, Peter, Berlioz in Time. Early Recognition to Lasting Renown (University of Rochester Press, 2022; xxii + 352pp.)

Bockholdt, Rudolf, Berlioz-Studien (Hans Scheider, Tutzing: 1979); ISBN 3795202728. Volume 29 of Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte, edited by Theodor Göllner.

Boschot, Adolphe, Le Faust de Berlioz (Costallat& Cie, 1910; Librairie de France, 1927; Librairie Plon, 1945)

Bouteille, Jacques, Hector Berlioz le romantique (Édition Glyphe, 2012)

Braam, Gunther and Jacobshagen, Arnold (eds.), Hector Berlioz in Deutschland: Texte und Dokumente zur deutschen Berlioz-Rezeption 1829-1843 (Göttingen, 2002)

Branger, Jean-Christophe and Giroud, Vincent (eds.), Figures de l’Antiquité dans l’opéra français : des Troyens de Berlioz à Œdipe d’Enesco (Saint-Etienne, 2008). A collection of papers presented at the IXe festival Massenet conference, held at the Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, 9 and 10 November 2007.

Brzoska, Matthias, et al. (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)

Catteau, Dominique, Les Troyens d’Hector Berlioz ou La tragédie de l’Absence (Société des écrivains, 2013)

Catteau, Dominique, La Portée philosophique de l’œuvre d’Hector Berlioz (Paris: Publibook, 2015)

Champeaux, Georges, La Grande Messe des Morts de Hector Berlioz (Columbia Pathé-Marconi, 1944)

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)

Dickinson, Alan E F, The Music of Berlioz (London, Faber and Faber, 1972)

Didier, Béatrice, et al. (eds.), Berlioz Écrivain (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2001)

Döhring, Sieghart, et al (eds.), Berlioz, Wagner und die Deutschen (Verlag Dohr, 2003)

Dumesnil, René, La Musique romantique francaise (Lille, 1944). This book has 3 chapters on Berlioz.

Reibel, Emmanuel and Didier, Béatrice(eds.), Berlioz poète et théoricien de l’orchestre (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2019, « Dialogue des arts » Collection)

Ernst, Alfred, L’œuvre dramatique de Berlioz (Calmann Lévy, Éditeur, 1884)

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.

Fauquet, Joël-Marie, et al. (eds), Berlioz, textes et contextes (Lyon, Symétrie, 2011). The book contains a selection of papers presented at an international conference in Paris in 2003. See also “Berlioz, Texts and Contexts” Conference.

Favre-Tissot-Bonvoisin, Patrick, Hector Berlioz (Bleu nuit éditeur, 2019)

Follett, Christopher, Berlioz - The Danish Connection - The Danish composer Asger Hamerik and Berlioz - Paris 1864-69 (Copenhagen, 2006)

Fouque, Octave, Les Révolutionnaires de la musique (Paris, 1882)

Gall, Dorothee and Wolkenhauer, Anja (eds.), Laokoon in Literatur und Kunst (Berlin, de Gruyter, 2009). This book contains a selection of papers presented at the Symposium ‘Laokoon in Literatur und Kunst’, held on 30 November 2006 at Bonn University. The book has a chapter entitled “Chatiment effroyable. Laokoon in Berlioz’ Les Troyens”.

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)

Grindea, Miron [editor], Adam International Review, No. 331 - 333. Baudelaire and Berlioz Issue (Rochester University Press, 1969)

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)

Hadow, W H, Studies in Modern Music: Hector Berlioz, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner (London, 1st edition 1892, 7th edition 1908)

Haraszti, Emile, Berlioz et la Marche Hongroise (Paris,1946)

Hartnoll, Phyllis (ed.), Shakespeare in Music (London, 1964)

Heidlberger, Frank (ed.), Hector Berlioz: Schriften – Betrachtungen 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)

Jäger, Lukas, Berlioz und seine Harold-Symphonie. Studientarbeit. (Grin: 2014)

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.

Jullien, Adolphe, Musiciens d’Aujourd’hui (Première Série) (Paris, 1892). This book has a chapter on Berlioz.

Jullien, Adolphe, Musiciens d’Aujourd’hui (Deuxième Série) (Paris, 1894). This book has a chapter on Berlioz.

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 am Main and Basel: Stroemfeld Verlag, 2003)

Kohrs, Klaus Heinrich, Hector Berlioz’ “Les Troyens”. Ein Dialog mit Vergil (Frankfurt am Main and Basel: Stroemfeld Verlag, 2011)

Kohrs, Klaus Heinrich, Und alles wandelt sich ins Gegenteil. Hector Berlioz’ Kontrafaktische Szenen (Frankfurt am Main and Basel: Stroemfeld Verlag, 2014) [to appear in September]

Kolb, Katherine (ed.), Berlioz on Music: Selected Criticism 1824-1837, translated by Samuel N. Rosenberg. (Oxford University Press, 2015)

Lasserre, Pierre, Faust en France et autres études (Calmann-Levy, 1929). This book includes a chapter on Berlioz.

Le Toquin, Jean-Christophe, Berlioz et Paris. Sous la direction de Cécile Reynaud (Actes Sud/Palazetto Bru Zane, 2023)

Loisel, Gaëlle, La Musique au défi du drame. Berlioz et Shakespeare (Classiques Garnier, 2016)

Macdonald, Hugh, Berlioz Orchestral Music (London, 1969)

Macdonald, Hugh, Beethoven’s Century: Essays on Composers and Themes. (Rochester University Press, 2008). The book has a chapter on “Berlioz and Schumann”.

Macdonald, Hugh, Music in 1853: The Biography of a Year (Boydell Press, 2012)

Maassakker, Jean-Pierre, Berlioz à Paris (Association Nationale Hector Berlioz, Paris, 1992)

de Massougnes, G, Berlioz: son œuvre (Paris, 1870)

Maubon, René, Hector Berlioz ou la passion de la musique (Paris, 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

Newman, Ernest, Musical Studies (London: The Bodley Head, 1905). The book has a chapter entitled “Berlioz, Romantic and Classic”

Newman, Ernest, Opera Nights (London, 1943). The book has a chapter on Les Troyens.

Newman, Ernest (Writings by), Berlioz: Romantic and Classic. Selected and edited by Peter Heyworth (London, 1972)

Noufflard, Georges, Berlioz et le mouvement de l’art contemporain (Florence, 1883; 2nd edition 1885)

O’Neal, Melinda P., Experiencing Berlioz: A Listener’s Companion (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Maryland, 2018)

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)

Pavans, Jean, Le Christ selon Berlioz (Bayard Culture, 2018)

Payzant, Geoffrey, Eduard Hanslick and Ritter Berlioz in Prague (University of Calgary Press, 1991)

Piatier, François, Benvenuto Cellini de Berlioz (Édition Aubier Montaigne, Paris, 1979)

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.

Reibel, Emmanuel and Ramault, Alban, HECTOR BERLIOZ 1869-2019 (150 ans de passions) (Coll. Musiques-XIX-XXe siècles, Éditions Aedam Musicae, April 2019)

Reibel, Emmanuel, Faust. La musique au défi du mythe (Paris, 2008)

Revilla, Enrique García, La estetica musical de Hector Berlioz a través de sus textos, preface by Pierre-René Serna (PUV, Universitat de València, 2013)

Reynaud, Alain, et al. Hector Berlioz – Humbert Ferrand: Une amitié énigmatique. Cahiers Berlioz No. 5 (Association nationale Hector Berlioz, 2005)

Reynaud, Cécile and Schneider, Herbert (ed), Noter, annoter, éditer la musique. Mélanges offerts à Catherine Massip. Prefaced by Jacqueline Sanson (Librairie Droz, 2012).This volume brings together 44 contributions, of which one is by Peter Bloom: ‘Le « être ou ne pas être » de Berlioz’
[In homage to Catherine Massip, former director of the department of music at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and emeritus director of studies in musicology in the fourth section of the École pratique des Hautes Études.]

Rij, Inge van, The Other world of Hector Berlioz: Travels with the Orchestra (Cambridge University Press, to appear in February 2015)

Robert, Frédéric, La Musique française dans l’Europe musicale entre Berlioz et Debussy 1863-1894 (L’Harmattan, Collection Univers musical, 2017)

Rodgers, Stephen, Form, Program, and Metaphor in the Music of Berlioz (Cambridge University Press, 2009)

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)

Rushton, Julian (ed.), The Cambridge Berlioz Encyclopaedia (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017)

Rushton, Julian, Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Cambridge University Press, 2023; Hardback 978-1-316-51383-5; Paperback 978-1-00-907488-9)

Sabbadini, Francesco, Invito all’ascolto di Berlioz (Milano, ed. Mursia, 1989)

Saloman, Ora Frishberg, Listening Well: On Beethoven, Berlioz, and Other Music Criticism in Paris, Boston, and New York, 1764-1890 (Peter Lang Publishing; 2009)

Schmusch, Rainer, Hector Berlioz – Autopsie des Künstlers (Kritik München, 2000)

Schmusch, Rainer and Draheim, Joachim, Hector Berlioz in Baden-Baden (Stadt Baden-Baden, 2003)

Simpson, Robert, The Symphony, 1: Haydn to Dvořák (Pelican, 1966). Chapter 6, ‘Hector Berlioz’ by David Carins, is on the Symphonie fantastique.

Stasov, Vladimir, Selected Essays on Music. Translated by Florence Jonas (London, Barrie & Rockliff, The Creset Press, 1968). The book contains two chapters on “The Letters of Berlioz” and “Liszt, Schumann and Berlioz in Russia”.

Stricker, Rémy, Berlioz dramaturge (Paris, Gallimard, 2003)

Tiersot, Julien, La Damnation de Faust de Berlioz: Étude historique et Critique. Analyse Musicale Paris, 1922).

Tiersot, Julien, La Musique aux temps romantiques (Paris, 1930). The book includes a chapter on Berlioz.

Tiersot, Julien, La Chanson Populaire et les écrivains romantiques (Paris, 1931). The book  includes a chapter on Berlioz.

Tissot, Robert H (ed.), Hector Berlioz et John Martin: Deux artistes du Sublime et de l’Insolite (Grenoble, CRHIPA, 2009) [coll. “Les Cahiers du CRHIPA”]

Visentini, Olga, Berlioz e il suo tempo (L.I.M. Musica ragionata, 2010)

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-René (eds.), Berlioz (L’Herne, Paris, 2003)

Wasselin, Christian, Berlioz ou le Voyage d’Orphée (Édition du Rocher, Paris, 2003)

Wasselin, Christian, Le Paris de Berlioz (Éditions Alexandrines, Paris, 2023)

Wotton, Tom S, Four Works (London, 1929) [the Symphonie fantastique, La Captive, the overtures Benvenuto Cellini and Le Corsaire]

Bibliographies

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)

Books related to Berlioz

Francesca Brittan, Music and fantasy in the age of Berlioz (Cambridge University Press, 2020. Collection. « New perspectives in music history and criticism » 27)

Inje van Rij, The Other Worlds of Hector Berlioz. Travels with the Orchestra (Cambridge University Press, 2020)

Acadèmia Nissarda, Voyage pittoresque dans le Comté de Nice et les Alpes-Maritimes du XVIIe au XIXe siècle (Acadèmia Nissarda, 2005)

Alsace, terre de musique et de musiciens. Volume 1 (Fédération des Sociétés de musique d’Alsace, 2014). This volume has a chapter on Berlioz in Strasbourg in 1863.

Barbier, A, Souvenirs personnels et silhouettes contemporaines (Paris, 1883)

Bashford, Christina, The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London (Boydell Press, 2007)

Bergeret, René, La Révolution francaise à La Côte-Saint-André - l’An I de la Liberté (Édition Bellier, 1989)

Berlioz, encore et pour toujours (Paris, Books on Demand, 2016). Bongrain, Anne; Münch, Marc-Mathieu; Barbier, Patrick; Coudroy-Saghaï, Marie-Hélène; Hofer, Hermann; Kolb, Katherine; Malgoire, Jean-Claude; Brzoska, Matthias. This book is based on a cycle of 8 conferences in Arras in October 2015 on the occasion of the international week of Hector Berlioz, organised by the Université pour Tous de l’Artois .

Beyls, Pascal, Estelle Fornier, premier et dernier amour de Berlioz (Grenoble, 2003)

Beyls, Pascal, Nicolas Marmion, grand père maternel de Berlioz, sa vie, ses poèmes (Grenoble, 2003).

Beyls, Pascal, Nancy Clappier, amie des Berlioz: Sa correspondance, sa famille (Grenoble, 2006)

Beyls, Pascal, Louis Berlioz : fils de Berlioz (Grenoble, 2014)

Beyls, Pascal, Marie Recio 1814-1862 (Grenoble, 2015)

Birkin, Kenneth, Hans von Bulow (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

Blais, Jean-Charles, Nice 1863-1900: de Charles Nègre à Jean Giletta (Giletta.nice-matin, 2002)

Blyth, Alan, Colin Davis (London: Ian Allan, 1972)

Boulard, Josiane and Lucien Chamard-Bois, Clémentine, la petite fille secrète d’Hector Berlioz (BOD, Books on Demand, 2015)

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.

Cairns, David, biographie de Berlioz en deux tomes:
        Tome 1, Berlioz: The Making of an Artist 1803-1832, Fayard, 1995)
        Tome 2, Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness, 1832-1869, Fayard, 2000).

Cairns, David (ed.), Discovering Berlioz (Toccata Press, 2019)

Carraz-Billat, Jean, La Côte-Saint-André – des origines à nos jours (La Côte-Saint-André, 1997; edited posthumously by Madame Monique Carraz-Billat)

Centenaire de la S.A.C.E.M. 1850-1950 (Société des Autheurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique, 1950)

Clerc-Jacquier, l’Abbé L, Recherches Historique sur La Côte Saint-André (La Côte Saint-André, 1853)

Clerc-Jacquier, l’Abbé L, La Côte-Saint-André ancienne et moderne (La Côte-Saint-André, 1868)

Dandelot, A, La Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de 1828 à 1897 (Paris, 1898) Sixth edition.

Davis, John R, The Great Exhibition (Sutton Publishing, 1999)

Davison, J W, From Mendelssohn to Wagner (compiled by his son Henry Davison, London 1912)

Diehl, A M (Alice Mangold), Musical Memories (London, 1897)

Elkin, Robert, The Old Concert Rooms of London (London, 1955)

Ella, John, Musical Sketches Abroad & at Home (London, 1869)

Ella, Raymond, E O, Four Anglian Kings of Northumbria (Or Four Yorkshire Anglo-Saxon Crowns) (Northern Line Design, 2002). This book traces the ancestors of the Ella family-name back to the Angles who came from the continent of Europe in the 5th century A.D. and settled in what is now Northumberland, in the northeast of England. See also John Ella and Musical Union in Berlioz in London pages.

Elwart, A, Histoire de la Société des Concerts (Paris, 1860)

Escudier, L, Mes souvenirs (Paris, 1866)

Everist, Mark, Music Drama at the Paris Odeon, 1824-1828 (University of California Press, 2003)

Fabre, Dominique, La Côte-Saint-André, promenades de charme à travers la ville (Livres-Patrimoine, 2013)

Fliedner, Hans-Jürgen, Euphonia – Die Musikalische Stadt( in German, French and English; Cobourg, 1998)

Fonkenell, Guillaume, Le Palais des Tuileries (Éditions Honoré Clair, 2010)

Ganz, Wilhelm, Memories of a Musician (London, 1913)

Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich, Memoirs. Translated from the Russian by Richard B. Mudge (University of Oklahoma Press, 1963)

Gosling, Nigel, Nadar (London, 1976)

Gounod, C, Mémoires d’un artiste (Paris, 1896)

Hallé, Sir Charles, Life and Letters of Sir Charles Hallé, edited by his son C E Hallé and his daughter Marie Hallé (London, 1896)

Haas, Frithjof, Der Magier am Dirigentenpult: Felix Mottl (Karlsruhe, Info-Verlag, 2006)

Hagedorn, Volker, Der Klang von Paris. Eine Reise in die musikalsiche Metropole des 19. Jahrhunderts (Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, 2019)

Hillairet, Jacques, Dictionnaire Historique de Rues de Paris (Les Éditions de Minuit, 1997, 10th edition). Two volumes.

Holoman, D Kern, The Société des Concerts du Conservatoire 1828-1967 (University of California Press, 2004)

Holoman, D Kern, Charles Munch (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Imbert, Jean, Histoire de La Côte-Saint-André (La Côte-Saint-André, 1944)

In memoriam Thérèse Husson, special issue of Lélio, La Lettre de l’ANHB (Association nationale Hector Berlioz, 2005). This issue is a collection of articles on Thérèse Husson and her work to promote the cause of Berlioz in France.

Italie Pittoresque (Paris, 1834). This book has a chapter by Berlioz.

Jacobson, Bernard, Conductors on Conducting (London, 1979). The book contains a chapter entitled: ‘Colin Davis on Berlioz’.

La France Pittoresque de l’Est (Tours, 1898)

Legouvé, Ernest, Soixante ans de souvenirs (in two volumes: Première Partie: Ma Jeunesse, 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)

Le Livre d’Or du Centenaire d’Hector Berlioz, a commemorative book to mark the centenary of Berlioz’s birth, published simultaneously in Grenoble by Allier Frères and in Paris by Georges Petit – the Preface is dated June 1906. It includes a collection of articles written in 1903.

Les Églises de Paris (Paris, 1843)

Les Grands Maîtres de la Photo, 5 : Nadar (Paris, 1983)

Livre du Centenaire du Journal des Débats (Paris, 1889)

Lu, Julia and Dratwicki, Alexandre (eds.), Le Concours du prix de Rome de musique (1803-1968) (Symétrie, 2012)

Macqueen-Pope, W, Haymarket: Theatre of Perfection (London, 1948)

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.

Maréchal, Henri, Paris: Souvenirs d’un musicien (Paris, 1907). The book includes a chapter on Berlioz.

Maretzek, Max, Crotchets and Quavers: Revelations of an Opera Manager in America (New York, 1855, 1st edition)

Matheopoulos, Helena, Maestro: Encounters with Conductors of Today (Hutchinson, London, 1982)

Mellot, Philippe, Le Nouveau Paris : Sens Dessus-Dessous (Photographies 1864-1877) (Éditions Michèlle Trinckvel, 1995)

Mellot, Philippe, Paris disparu (Photographies 1845-1930) (Éditions Michèlle Trinckvel, 1996)

Mellot, Philippe, Paris : Sens Dessus-Dessous (Photographies 1852-1877) (Éditions de LODI, 2001)

Morinière, Christian, Louis Berlioz - Capitaine au long cours - Saint-Nazaire 1862-1867 (Édition La Basilique, 2019)

Moulin, Alexandre, et al., La Côte Saint André en Isère (Gillonnay: Alexandre Moulin, 2005)

Munch, Charles, Je suis Chef d’Orchestre (1954)

Musée Hector Berlioz, Jongkind, des Pays-Bas au Dauphiné (Éditions Libel, 2009)

d’Ortigue, Joseph, La Sainte Baume (1834). Introduction et notes par Henri Lavagne d’Ortigue, Membre de l’Institut. Honoré Champion, Paris 2019 (ISBN 9782745350282)

[Note: Joseph d’Ortigue (1802-1866) was a close friend of Berlioz and his colleague at the Journal des Débats, where he often deputised for him and was his successor in 1864 when Berlioz resigned from the journal. In 1834 d’Ortigue published a novel entitled La Sainte Baume; this work has now been republished with an introduction and notes by Henri Lavagne. M. Lavagne is actually the great-great-great grandson of Joseph d’Ortigue. We are most grateful to him for sending us this information.]

d’Ortigue, Joseph, La Musique à l’église (Paris, 1861)

Pairault, Louis-Gilles, Nice d’Antan (HC Éditions, 2005)

Paris: Autrefois – Aujourd’hui (Rédaction: Anne Cauquetoux) (Sélection du Reader’s Digest SA, 2001)

Paris: Histoire d’une ville (sous la direction de Jean-Robert Pitte) (Paris, 1993)

Poisson, Georges, Paris au temps de la Révolution 1789-1989 (Firenze, Italie, 1989)

Pugin, A and Heath, C, Paris and its Environs (London, 1831)

Raby, Peter, ‘Fair Ophelia’: A Life of Harriet Smithson Berlioz (Cambridge, 1982)

Reid, Charles, The Music Monster: A biography of James William Davison (London, 1984)

Reibel, Emmanuel, L’écriture de la critique musicale au temps de Berlioz (Champion, 2005)

Reibel, Emmanuel, Comment la musique est devenue “romantique”. De Rousseau à Berlioz (Éditions Fayard, 2013)

Revilla, Enrique García, Los cafés de la orquesta (Édition Junta de Castilla y León, Espagne, 2016). This book is inspired by Berlioz.

Reyer, E, Notes de musique (Paris, 1875)

Reyer, E, Quarante ans de musique (Paris, 1909)

Rose, Michael, Berlioz Remembered (London, 2001)

Rosenthal, Harold, Covent Garden, Memories and Traditions (London, 1976)

Rostand, Alexis, La Musique à Marseille (Paris, 1874)

Saint, Andrew et al., A History of the Royal Opera House (London, 1982)

Saint-Saëns, Camille, Portraits et Souvenirs (Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1898). The book has a chapter on Berlioz.

Saint-Saëns, Camille, On Music and Musicians. Edited and translated by Roger Nichols (Oxford University Press, 2008). The book has two chapters on Berlioz.

Schmusch, Rainer, Der Tod des Orpheus – Entstehungsgeschichte der Programmmusik (Rombach Verlag, Freiburg 1998)

Scholes, Percy, A, The Mirror of Music 1844-1944. A Century of Musical Life in Britain as reflected in the pages of the Musical Times (London, 1947) Two volumes.

Serna, Pierre-René, L’Anti-Wagner sans peine (Presses Universitaires de France, 2012)

Serna, Pierre-René, Guide de la Zarzuela (Bleu Nuit éditeur, 2012)

Simond, Charles, Paris de 1800 à 1900 D’après les estampes et les mémoires du temps (Paris, 1900-1901) Three volumes.

Spencer, Stewart, Wagner Remembered (Faber and Faber, 2000)

Stoddard, John A, John L. Stoddard’s Lectures, vol. 5: Paris (Boston,1898)

Stoddard, John A, John L. Stoddard’s Lectures, vol. 8: Florence, Naples, Rome (Boston,1898

Stoddard, John A, John L. Stoddard’s Lectures, vol. 6: Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow (Boston,1898)

Strasbourg: Urbanisme et Architecture-des origines à nos jours (general editor: Jean-Louis Gyss) (Oberlin-Gérard Klopp-Difal, 1996)

Véron, L, Paris en 1860. Les théâtres de Paris depuis 1806 (Paris, 1860). Berlioz recommends this book in his feuilleton of 24 November 1860.

Voyage en Dauphiné (Édition Pimientos, Urrugne, 2010)

Wagner, Richard, Vues sur la France, preface and commentary by Gustave Samazeuilh (Paris, 1943)

Walker, Alan, Hans von Bülow (Oxford University Press, 2010)

Wasselin, Christian, Mahler, La Symphonie-monde (Gallimard, 2011)

Weingartner, Felix, On Conducting, translated by Ernest Newman (London, 1906)

Weingartner, Felix, Akkorde (Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1912))

Weingartner, Felix, Lebens Erinnerungen [Memories of my Life] (Orell Füsseli Verlag, Zürich und Leipzig, 1928) Two volumes.

Weingartner, FelixWeingartner on Music & Conducting; Three Essays by Felix Wingartner (Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1969):
     On Conducting, translated by Ernest Newman;
     On the Peformance of Beethoven’s Symphonies, translated by Jessie Crosland;
     The Symphony Since Beethoven, translated by H. M. Schott

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)

Rousselet, Thierry, Épisode ultime de la vie d’un artiste (Éditions Le Solitaire, 2012)

Rousselet, Thierry, Le Concierge, in Collection Théatrâle, Volume 21: Artistes, poètes et autres marginaux... (Écritures Théatrâles Grand Sud Ouest, 2013)

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.

Audiovisual

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]

See also on this site:

The centenary of Berlioz’s birth in 1903 – a bibliography, by Michael Wright

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.

© Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction are reserved.

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