Master Musicians
2 total works
In this comprehensive life-and-works study, Hugh Macdonald draws on Berlioz's numerous writings - his Memoires, his critical articles, and his extensive correspondence, including many unpublished documents. Berlioz's provincial upbringing, his enthusiasm for Parisian opera and theatre, his marriage to the actress Harriet Smithson, his activities as composer, critic, and conductor, are covered in a biographical section which concludes with a chapter on his
character. Discussion of the music is chronological, from the time when Berlioz arrived in Paris in 1821 to study medicine, through the peak of French Romanticism in the 1830's, to the compositions of his later years. In a final chapter Hugh Macdonald traces influences on Berlioz's style and examines his
treatment of melody, harmony, and rhythm, and his distinctive orchestral technique.
character. Discussion of the music is chronological, from the time when Berlioz arrived in Paris in 1821 to study medicine, through the peak of French Romanticism in the 1830's, to the compositions of his later years. In a final chapter Hugh Macdonald traces influences on Berlioz's style and examines his
treatment of melody, harmony, and rhythm, and his distinctive orchestral technique.
Today Georges Bizet is most immediately recognized as the composer of the acclaimed opera Carmen. One of the most frequently performed operas for over a century, Carmen explores concepts such as the femme fatale and murderous jealousy with vivacity, color, and a wealth of melody. Yet it is only one act in Bizet's story. In Bizet, renowned musicologist Hugh Macdonald goes beyond the composer's most famous opera to take an in-depth look at
his entire life and oeuvre. In so doing, Macdonald identifies a number of previously unknown pieces by Bizet, assembling the first comprehensive catalogue of the composer's work.
Incorporating these little-known pieces with a thorough reading of primary sources, Macdonald considers the latest in Bizet scholarship to create a complete biography of the composer. Revealing the true extent of Bizet's work as arranger and transcriber, Macdonald sheds light on the composer's complex relationships with his contemporaries, and traces the strange misrepresentation of Bizet's work by French publishers and opera houses in the 1880s, when Carmen rose to worldwide popularity ten
years after the composer's early death. The first biography of Bizet in the Master Musicians series in nearly four decades, Bizet will be essential reading for students and scholars of nineteenth-century opera, as well as for Carmen devotees and opera fans.
his entire life and oeuvre. In so doing, Macdonald identifies a number of previously unknown pieces by Bizet, assembling the first comprehensive catalogue of the composer's work.
Incorporating these little-known pieces with a thorough reading of primary sources, Macdonald considers the latest in Bizet scholarship to create a complete biography of the composer. Revealing the true extent of Bizet's work as arranger and transcriber, Macdonald sheds light on the composer's complex relationships with his contemporaries, and traces the strange misrepresentation of Bizet's work by French publishers and opera houses in the 1880s, when Carmen rose to worldwide popularity ten
years after the composer's early death. The first biography of Bizet in the Master Musicians series in nearly four decades, Bizet will be essential reading for students and scholars of nineteenth-century opera, as well as for Carmen devotees and opera fans.