This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Correspondence, manuscripts, papers, essays, etc. relating to Berlioz, and 19th century arts and literature. The correspondence includes original Berlioz letters and over 200 copies of letters relating to Berlioz and the romantic era, written by musicians, critics, historians, and literateurs of the past century. There are many photostats of letters and manuscripts obtained from the principal libraries of the world which hold original Berlioz material. The collection includes much printed material in the form of music scores, published letters, essays, clippings, biographies, music and book catalogues, program notes, and playbills.
Series II: Cataloged Manuscripts
Arranged alphabetically by title. Oversized materials stored in flat box (Box 48).
Series III: Materials Commemorating Berlioz
This series contains cataloged early (1880 - 1922) writings and images commemorating Berlioz from the collection of Jacques Barzu. Arranged alphabetically by author.
Series V: Berlioz Societies Records
Correspondence, drafts, minutes of meetings, and printed materials relating to operations of Berlioz Societies in France, UK and US
Series VI: Barzun Notes and Drafts
Series consists of handwritten and typed notes, notebooks, index cards, drafts of various works by Barzun, including spiral notebooks and proofs for Berlioz and Romantic Century
Series VII: Research Materials
Series consists of reference photostats of Berlioz manuscripts, typescripts of articles, proofs of dissertations related to Berlioz, and other research materials accumulated by Barzun for his works on Berlioz and music history.
Series VIII: Printed Materials
Barzun collected flyers, pamphlets, programs, ads, catalogs, conference information, music education information, articles, and clippings--anything that pertained to Berlioz in particular and music in general. He considers the gathered material a history of criticism and taste. The assortment spans the 20th century. No complete runs.
This collection is arranged into 10 series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Readers must use microfilm of materials specified above.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hector Berlioz papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
W.H. Auden letters are on: microfilm.
LE SONGE D'HʹERODE is on: microfilm.
ROMEO ET JULIETTE is on: microfilm.
Type of reproduction--Photostatic copies in part
This collection was assembled by Professor Jacques Barzun of Columbia University and by his father, Professor Henri-Martin Barzun. Gift of Jacques Barzun, 1953-1994. In addition to materials assembled by Barzun, the collection also includes Berlioz original manuscripts and correspondence donated by friends of the library in memory of Ronald Baughman.
Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Accession number--M76-04.
Printed misc: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1991. Accession number--M-1991.
Papers: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/20/93. Accession number--M-93-12-20.
Papers: Source of acquisition--Barzun, Jacques. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/15/94. Accession number--M-94-12-15.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 04/04/89.
Printed misc Processed BRC 12/30/91.
Papers Processed HR 01/18/94.
Papers Processed HR 01/18/95.
Additions processed by HR-4/76, 1/80, 4/81, 1/94 and 1/95; by TS-6/82; by KD-7/87; by BRC-12/91, by JG 02/02.
2010-01-21 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Louis Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), French composer conductor and writer on music, was born at La Cote Saint Andre near Grenoble. As a boy he learnt the flute, guitar, and, from treatises alone, harmony. He never studied the piano, his first compositions were romances and small chamber pieces. In 1821 he left La Cote Saint Andre to study medicine in Paris - the career chosen for him by his father. However, after two years he abandoned medicine and devoted the rest of his life to the composition of music and writing on the subject. Berlioz was a major force in the development of musical form during the Romantic era. He established program music as the romantic musical form, and started the genre of the symphonic poem. Berlioz stands out for his innovative approach in almost all areas of composition. He played a decisive role in the development of program music and modern orchestration, emancipating the procedure of orchestration for generations of later composers. As a musical critic he admired above all Gluck and Beethoven, expressed doubt about Wagner, and fought endlessly against the second-rate. Among the most powerful influences on him were Shakespeare, whose plays were to inspire three major works, and the Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, whom he idolized, pursued and, after a bizarre courtship, eventually married in 1833. Beethoven's symphonies too made a strong impact along with Goethe's Faust and the works of the English Romantics such as Moore, Scott and Byron.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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