MUSICIANS OF TO-DAY

BERLIOZ

I


It may seem a paradox to say that no musician is so little known as
Berlioz. The world thinks it knows him. A noisy fame surrounds his
person and his work. Musical Europe has celebrated his centenary.
Germany disputes with France the glory of having nurtured and shaped his
genius. Russia, whose triumphal reception consoled him for the
indifference and enmity of Paris,[1] has said, through the voice of
Balakirew, that he was "the only musician France possessed." His chief
compositions are often played at concerts; and some of them have the
rare quality of appealing both to the cultured and the crowd; a few have
even reached great popularity. Works have been dedicated to him, and he
himself has been described and criticised by many writers. He is popular
even to his face; for his face, like his music, was so striking and
singular that it seemed to show you his character at a glance. No clouds
hide his mind and its creations, which, unlike Wagner's, need no
initiation to be understood; they seem to have no hidden meaning, no
subtle mystery; one is instantly their friend or their enemy, for the
first impression is a lasting one.

[Footnote 1: "And you, Russia, who have saved me...." (Berlioz,
_Mémoires_, II, 353, Calmann-Lévy's edition, 1897).]