ABSTRACT
Hector Berlioz is one of the most difficult of all musicians to discuss fairly. He appeals to us on many counts—as a musician pure and simple, as a revolutionary and as a man of letters. The incidents of Berlioz's career and the various influences with which he came into contact affected his music profoundly, and in considering his works it is necessary to bear in mind his environment more than in the case of any other great musician. Berlioz's music was not popular, and in order to keep the wolf from the door he was forced to take to musical journalism, a task which his soul abhorred. He used to complain that feuilleton-writing left him no time for composition, but as a matter of fact his journalistic period was singularly fruitful in music. The secret at once of Berlioz's weakness and of his strength lies in the essence of his own genius.
