This book contains nine essays by leading Berlioz scholars on various aspects of the great nineteenth-century musician's life and work. Among the pieces studied closely are Romeo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust and Les Nuits d' été. An essay on newly discovered documents gives us a revealing portrait of the artist as a young man; another essay which examines little studied manuscripts shows us how precisely Berlioz arranged Gluck's celebrated opera Orphée. The practical question of Berlioz's metronome marks are studied thoroughly for the first time, and the volume closes with a novel piece in dialogue form by the elder statesman of Berlioz scholars, Jacques Barzun, who treats with exceptional grace the profound issues raised by Berlioz the man and the musician.

Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. The Reboul-Berlioz collection David Cairns; 2. Berlioz and the metronome Hugh MacDonald; 3. Romeo and Juliet and Roméo et Juliette Ian Kemp; 4. In the shadows of Les Nuits d'été Peter Bloom; 5. Les Nuits d'ete: cycle or collection? Julian Rushton; 6. 'Ritter Berlioz' in Germany David B. Levy; 7. The Damnation of Faust: the perils of heroism in Music Katherine Reeve; 8. Berlioz's version of Gluck's Orphée Joël-Marie Fauquet; 9. Overheard at Glimmerglass ('famous last words') Jacques Barzun; Index.