JULLIEN'S BERLIOZ.
ENCOURAGED by the reception of his Life of Wagner, and incited by the desire to obtain justice, even though tardily, for one who has been attacked even more than Wagner has been, M. Adolphe Jullien has recently published Berlios, Sa Vie el Ses Qiuvres. The beautiful typography and the copious illustrations combine to make a most attractive volume. Twelve fanciful and very suggestive designs by M. Fantin- Latour, apparently lithographed from chalk drawings, offer a charming variety in thewayof illustration. Those entitled ' Un Bal," ' Lelio/ ' Harold en Italia/ and ' Bea- trice et Benedict,' are the best where all are good. The excellence of these, and of the carica- tures scattered throughout the text, is in striking- contrast to the hard 'theatre-bill' style of some of the other designs. The cari- catures are parti- cularly interesting. They have been selected from the work of well-known pens in contempo- rary pages of Chari- vari, Journal A7nu- sant, etc.; and the story of opposition — sometimes good- natured, oftener ill- n a t u r e d — can easily be read by the light of these amusing jeiix-cV esprit. The usual butt for their satire is the large orchestra and unusual effects Berlioz was so fond of using. The example which we are enabled by the kindness of the publishers to reproduce represents Berlioz in France con- ducting a world-wide orchestra by means of an electric baton. In addition, we have Berlioz's splendid face presented to us as it appeared at successive periods of his life. But after all, it is the subject and matter of the book which is of greatest importance, and it is difficult not to feel that the only excuse for such a monument is to be sought for in artistic friendship, patriotism, and the avowed and laudable desire to obtain justice for a much-maligned musician.
M. Jullien tells the story of Berlioz's life in thirteen long chapters, and with great circumstantiality of detail. There is little of exciting interest in the narrative, except where the strong bias towards music in the medical student broke from all restraint, and forced him into open disobedience to his parents, and where the romantic episode in his life, which led to mar riage and unhappi- ness, is related. The whole story is not familiar enough to Scottish readers to make a short resume superfluous. Born near Lyons in 1803, young Berlioz was destined by his father to follow him in the practice of medicine. His early predilection for music caused the good physician such anxiety that he would not allow him to study the pianoforte, a cir- cumstance which sadly hampered him in after-life. His acquaintance with Rameau's theoreti- cal works early turned his thoughts
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to composition, and at twelve years old he had finished his second Quintette, which so far foreshadowed his future work that it was at once pronounced too diffi- cult by his performers.
He went to Paris in 1821 to study medicine, and there the impression made on him by Gluck's operas won the battle for music. An avowal of his intention to throw up his medical -studies brought down on him the wrath of his father, who disowned hnn. Henceforth he was thrown on his own resources. For four years he studied at the Conservatorium, and at last, in
