ABOUT THE BOOK
The Memoirs
of Hector Berlioz has long been considered to be among the best
of
musical autobiographies.
Like
his massive compositions, Berlioz was colourful, eloquent,
larger than life. His book is both an account of his important place in
the rise of the Romantic movement and a personal testament.
He tells
the story of his liaison with Harriet Smithson, and his even more
passionate affairs of the mind with Shakespeare, Scott, and Byron.
Familiar with all the great figures of the age, Berlioz paints
brilliant portraits of Liszt, Wagner, Balzac, Weber, and Rossini, among
others.
And through Berlioz's intimate and detailed self-revelation,
there emerges a profoundly sympathetic and attractive man, driven,
finally, by his overwhelming creative urges to a position of lonely
eminence.
For this new Everyman's edition of The Memoirs,
the translator - the composer's most admired biographer - has
completely
revised the text and the extensive notes to take into account the
latest research.
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DAVID CAIRNS
His two-volume biography of Hector Berlioz:
Berlioz: The Making of an Artist 1803-1832 won the
Royal
Philharmonic Society's Music Award, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year
and the British Academy's Derek Allen Prize.
Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness 1832-1869
won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction, the Whitbread Biography
of the Year and the Royal Philharmonic Society's Music Award.
David Cairns has
been music critic of
The Spectator,
The Evening Standard,
The New Statesman, and
The Sunday Times (London).
Recording projects he worked on as classical programme
co-ordinator for Philips
Records during 1967-72 included operas by Mozart (Idomeneo,
Le Nozze di Figaro);
Berlioz (Benvenuto Cellini,
The Trojans); and Tippett
(The Midsummer Marriage).
He was co-founder of the Chelsea Opera Group and is now
conductor of the Thorington Players.
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