The Music of Berlioz offers an overall assessment of Berlioz's musical achievement as we approach the bicentary of his birth in 2003. This is the first full-length musical study of the composer to take into account the rediscovered Messe solennelle, and discusses all aspects of his work, without undue emphasis on a few more popular pieces. The first section consists of a comprehensive biography of his musical works, tracing shifting patterns of productivity, approaches to genre, and the contrast between works which are aesthetically progressive or retrospective. The second section considers aspects of Berlioz's musical style, building upon earlier studies by the author and other recent scholarship; topics include Berlioz's practice of self-borrowing, his use of programmes and texts, characteristic rhetorical devices, and an emotional language. The third section takes four categories of works - song-forms, sacred music, symphonic works, and dramatic works - for more substantial analysis of selected passages and an overall critical assessment.

...magnificent study... * Andrew Thomson, Musical Times *
Rushton shows his true vocation as pedagogue, for the musical detail contained within these sections forms a fine analytical study for Berlioz's major works which every university library should have on its shelves. * Clair Rowden, Nineteenth-Century Music Review *
... carefully researched, often provocative ... interesting new views. * Music and Letters *
Julian Rushton is well known and highly regarded as a leading Berlioz scholar ... whose detailed knowledge of Berlioz's oeuvre is astonishing. * Music and Letters *
... carefully written. * Musical Times *
Rushton's generous humanity and emotional maturity constantly shine through the constant stream of marvellous insights. * Musical Times *
A most distinguished and penetrating study. * Musical Times *
Fascinating ... Rushton has superbly perceptive pages on works he particularly admires. * BBC Music Magazine *