Berlioz's Orchestration Treatise: A Translation and Commentary

by Hector Berlioz, Hugh Macdonald (Editor)

Berlioz's Orchestration Treatise (1843) is a classic textbook by a master of the orchestra, which has not been available in English translation for over a century. This is a book by and about Berlioz, since it provides not only a new translation but also an extensive commentary on his text, dealing with the instruments of Berlioz's time and comparing his instruction with his practice. It is thus a study of the high craft of the most distinctive orchestrator of the nineteenth century.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Humanities, Classical Music, Reference

430 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1902

About the author

Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer, conductor, music critic and author, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation (1844). He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians. He also composed around 50 songs.

Between 1830 and 1840, Berlioz wrote many of his most popular and enduring works. The foremost of these are the Symphonie fantastique (1830), Harold en Italie (1834), the Grande messe des morts (Requiem) (1837) and Roméo et Juliette (1839). Later operatic works include Benvenuto Cellini and Les Troyens (The Trojans). His autobiography, Memoirs, was completed in 1865.

(Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_B.... Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License:)

Reviews

[Daniel Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly informative, but not something for those unfamiliar with music theory. Quite humorous in the approach to certain instruments, could use some more info on brass.