Harold en Italie. Symphonie pour Orchestre avec un Alto principal ... Op: 16. Réduction pour le Piano à quatre Mains par M. Balakirew. Prix net: 15f.
Paris: Brandus et Cie [PN B. et Cie. 12311], 1878.
Oblong folio. Original publisher's dark green cloth boards with decorative blindstamping black and lettering gilt to upper; brown endpapers. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [1] (blank), 2-99 pp. Lithographed throughout.
Small musical bookplate to front pastedown.
Binding slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped, partially split at spine; text block separated. Minor internal wear and foxing; corners slightly creased.
First Edition of this arrangement. Hopkinson 42C(f).
"Harold en Italie was composed in the summer of 1834 in response to a request from Paganini for a work in which he might display a fine Stradivari viola. Berlioz used the opportunity to devise an unusual symphony with concerto elements in which echoes of his Italian journey are presented in the cloak of Byron’s Childe Harold. As in the Symphonie fantastique, a recurrent theme again serves to unify the four movements, but the modest role of the viola solo deterred Paganini from ever playing it." Hugh Macdonald in Grove Music Online.
Item #39251
Price: $500.00 other currencies