Agency and Change

Berlioz in Britain, 1870-1920

Bibliographic Data

ID4408912
AuthorsLeanne Langley (corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume132
Issue2
Pages306-348
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Royal Musical Association (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-0403 • E-ISSN: 1471-6933
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1093/jrma/fkm008
OpenAlexW2052432889
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

Far from being always unjustly neglected until the late twentieth century, as a recent view would have it, Berlioz's music enjoyed dedicated attention and considerable admiration a century earlier. His orchestral works, in particular, were taken up by a range of skilful players and conductors in Britain from the 1870s, yielding performances in the English regions, the London suburbs and in Scotland that impressed ordinary listeners much more than many experienced ones. I argue that structural change and professional competition within the British concert industry to 1920 assisted this remarkable reception - largely ignored in the historiography of Berlioz's reputation as well as in that of British musical culture - while imaginative musicians, astute promoters, writers and thousands of listeners continued to benefit from contact with his work. Berlioz's challenging music indeed became an agent of aesthetic change in Britain - a benchmark, and a calling-card, of modern orchestral presentation that was both standard and commonly accessible before the First World War

Admiration · Historiography · Presentation (obstetrics · Diverse Music Education Insights · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Neuroscience and Music Perception

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