RARE Autograph and Book Auction October 17th
"Scarce musical quote from Berlioz's opera comique Béatrice et Bénédict, inspired by William Shakespeare"
AMQS on an off-white 9.5 x 6.5 sheet, signed and inscribed in ink, "A Madame Damcke, (Duo de Beatrice et Benedict), H. Berlioz, Paris, 30 Juin 1862." Berlioz neatly pens nine bars of music from his opera comique Béatrice et Bénédict, adding the lyrics below: "Nuit pai-sible et se-rei-ne, La lune douce rei-ne qui plane en souri-ant." Matted to an overall size of 12.5 x 10; reverse bears a musical quotation in another hand. In fine condition.
Berlioz wrote the French libretto for Béatrice et Bénédict himself, based generally on a subplot from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. It was first performed at the opening of the Theater Baden-Baden on August 9, 1862, some three months after he penned the quote offered here.
Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette and the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust.
With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA
Hector Berlioz Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
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