Activities of the Friends
 

N THE evening of December 8 a group of the Friends
met in the Social Room of Butler Library to hear an in¬
formal address by Professor Jacques Barzun, Professor
of History at Columbia University, dealing with Hector Berlioz,
the 150th anniversary of whose birth is being celebrated this year.
Professor Barzun, who has contributed greatly to modern under¬
standing and recognition of the composer, spoke engagingly of
the vast transformation which Berlioz made in European music
in the period between 1830 and i860. It was during that period
that the industrial techniques which brought the railroads into
being made possible the brass instruments which form such an
important part of the modern orchestra. In his composing Berlioz
utilized fully the sonorous possibilities of this expanded orchestra.
In addition to his composing, Berlioz was a critic and an extensive
writer on musical topics with his collected writings filling many
volumes. Following the death of Berlioz in 1869 there was a
marked decline in interest in his compositions, but since the 1920's
there has been a re-awakening in which Professor Barzun has
played an active role, partly through his letters and personal con¬
tact with composers and others of influence in musical circles,
and partly through his book Berlioz and the Romantic Century
which was published in 1950. His New Letters of Berlioz, 18^0-
1868, has just been published by the Columbia University Press
as part of its Columbia Bicentennial series.

Professor Barzun's gift of Berlioz memorabilia laid the founda¬
tion of the Libraries' collection which includes books by and
about Berlioz, many of his musical scores, and hundreds of pic¬
tures and letters. Professor Barzun selected a few of the items
from the collecticm for display and special comment at the meet¬
ing of the Friends. He has also selected a much larger group of
items which the Libraries will have on display until iMarch 31 in
the exhibit area on the third floor of Butler Library.

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