New Berlioz Edition

The trust is delighted to have been able to support the following projects:

Emma Kavanagh research trip to Paris to study archives relating to Louise Bertin and her opera La Esmeralda

Peter Bloom – Nouvelle édition scientifique et numérique de la correspondance d’Hector Berlioz – website hosting the correspondence of Berlioz

[The digital platform is one that is called OpenLetter, a platform supervised by a Consortium known as Musica2, with partners at the university of Rouen, the university in Tours, and at the École Pratique des Hautes Études]

Aurora Classroom: Stories in Sound ; music workshops in the classroom. https://www.auroraorchestra.com

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Symposium on Timbre and Colour in French music, February 2025. https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/french-music

Aurora Orchestra: Harold in Italy performances at the South Bank, June 2025. https://www.auroraorchestra.com

A full list of awards is available here

Information on how to apply for a grant is here

It was with immense sadness that the Trustees learned of the death of Richard Macnutt on 30 April 2024. Richard paid a pivotal role in establishing, running and supporting the New Berlioz Edition Trust and was a Trustee for over 30 years. An obituary by Richard’s son Alex was published in the Guardian. The obituary below is by friend and fellow Trustee Hugh Macdonald and was originally published in the Bulletin of the Berlioz Society. It is reproduced here with permission.

Richard Macnutt was one of the most important figures in the great revival of Berlioz’s fortunes that took off in the wake of Barzun’s biography of 1950. At school he played the oboe and sang, and after service in the army he was articled to a firm of chartered accountants in London, a life which he did not enjoy since his passion for music drew him in a different direction. He and I met in 1958 in the gods at Covent Garden, standing next to each other against the back rail, having seen Les Troyens the week before and being both of us compelled to see it again. I recognised him, with considerable awe, as captain of cricket at our school, Winchester, and he recognised me, with rather less awe, as leader of the school orchestra.

We joined the Berlioz Society, then led by Ron Bernheim and Brian Chenley, attended all its meetings, and eagerly listened to the Munch recordings of Roméo et Juliette and La Damnation de Faust. In 1960 we made a trip to Paris to scoop up whatever Berlioziana we could find. We had little money, so while I was buying whatever I could afford, he was buying things that he couldn’t afford, an early glimpse of his brilliant flair as a collector of, and dealer in, antiquarian music, the career to which he then turned by taking over the Hampstead shop of Leonard Hyman. In due course this was renamed Richard Macnutt Ltd, and he soon became known in the international sphere as a leading expert.  

In 1961 we went to the Edinburgh Festival and spent some time with the Hopkinson Collection at the National Library of Scotland. Cecil Hopkinson, as a bibliographer and dealer, was a generous mentor for Richard, and his Berlioz Bibliography, published in 1951 and later republished by Richard himself, guided him in his collection of early editions of Berlioz scores and books, a collection that eventually far surpassed Hopkinson’s, especially in autograph documents. It is now a crucial element of the Berlioz holdings at the Bibliothèque de France in Paris. 

At an early stage he and I conceived a plan to publish full scores of Benvenuto Cellini and Les Troyens, since these works were notably missing from the Breitkopf edition of Berlioz’s works. It was not clear how this was to be done, but the plan by Russell Brown, at the Royal College of Dramatic Art, to form a committee to organise the celebration of the coming Berlioz centenary in 1969 led to the better idea of a new complete edition of Berlioz’s works to replace, rather than just complement, the Breitkopf series.

Richard was absolutely central to this ambitious project. He threw himself into the tasks of finding a publisher, a board or directors, and a source of funds. The chair was Gerald Abraham, the publisher was Oxford University Press, and the money came from the Gulbenkian Foundation. With characteristic modesty Richard never cast himself in any central role but took on the duties of secretary to the Board and steered the New Berlioz Edition (as it was rather plainly called) to a new publisher and, over forty years, a series of new Chairmen. Our first volume appeared in 1967 with a performance of the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Groves, and the final volume came out in 2006.

Richard was a devoted member of the Berlioz Society. He was always reluctant to write for the Bulletin, being maddeningly modest about his knowledge and understanding of music. He wrote an article “A Storm over the Royal Hunt” about the misplacing in Choudens scores of the Chasse royale after, rather than before, Act IV of Les Troyens. But he could never be persuaded to publish it, and today I am not sure if it ever appeared anywhere. An important article that he did agree to publish was the definitive exposure of the Berlioz forgeries that appeared on the market in the late 1960s.

Richard was a good friend to many of us in the Society. A visit to his farmhouse and library in Sussex was always a profound pleasure, even though the visitor would have to survive the snooker table and the scourge of Richard’s vicious leg breaks on the lawn.

Hugh Macdonald

Update 2025

We are delighted to welcome Lord Alastair Aberdare as our Chair of the New Berlioz Edition Trust. Lord Aberdare succeeds Humphrey Norrington.

Original advert:

The New Berlioz Edition Trust is seeking to appoint a new Chair of Trustees to replace our current Chair, Humphrey Norrington, who is stepping down.

Role and person spec

What will you be doing?

The Chair will join an established small board of trustees and must be experienced as a charitable trustee in terms of strategy, risk and planning, key policies and processes, financial and general  governance, building positive relationships, and developing the board to grow the charity’s impact.  The Trust is now a grant-giving body and details of the Trust’s activities can be found here.

What are we looking for?

The Chair should possess  leadership skills, financial acumen and experience in governance, strategic development and planning and the Third Sector. We are seeking someone with experience as a trustee who can put their knowledge and expertise into supporting the charity.

Successful candidates will:

• Have experience of being a charity trustee, and a clear understanding of charity governance.
• Have a proactive approach to being a trustee and supporting the development of the charity.
• Be able to commit time and skills to support the work of the charity.
• Have an interest in the music of Berlioz and French music in the nineteenth century

The Chair of Trustees role also includes:

• Helping plan and run trustee meetings
• Taking the lead on ensuring that meetings are properly run and recorded
• Taking the lead on ensuring that trustees comply with their duties and the charity is well-governed
• Acting as a figurehead for the charity
• Leading the development of the board and ensuring its decisions are implemented.
• Taking urgent action (but not decision-making unless authorised) between board meetings when it isn’t possible or practical to hold a meeting
• As a point of contact regarding a Safeguarding or Whistle-blowing concern in the charity

Time commitment:

The Board meets approximately four times a year. Board meetings take place in person, normally in London, and online via Zoom. Between meetings there will be communication via email regarding board-level decisions.

The role is unremunerated. Reasonable expenses are payable. We encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds.

What difference will you make?

The Chair will have a wide-ranging impact, shaping the charity’s work and strategic direction and helping it achieve the charity’s mission to promote research into the music of Berlioz, and the dissemination of knowledge about his life and works. 

To apply

Please submit a CV and covering letter to newberliozedition@gmail.com by 17:00 on Friday 25th October 2024 detailing why you are interested in this role and highlighting relevant experience. Shortlisted candidates may have an initial Zoom chat and progress to a face-to-face meeting with trustees. 

Update 2025: The New Berlioz Edition Trust recently welcomed four new Trustees : Dr Andrew Frampton, Professor Sarah Hibberd, Professor Barbara Kelly and Professor Julian Rushton. A full list of current Trustees can be found here.

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The New Berlioz Edition Trust is seeking to expand the number of Trustees, and invites applicants to send expressions of interest to its Administrator, at newberliozedition@gmail.com, by 31 August 2023.

Having completed the publication of the edition, the Trust is in the fortunate position of being able to consider submissions for funding for other projects.  The grant criteria, and other information about the Trust’s activities, can be found here. 

In your application to become a Trustee, the Trust would like to receive a personal statement of no more than 500 words, which should address the following:

• Your motivation in applying to become a Trustee
• Any experience, including board experience, you can bring to the work of the Trust
• Any skills/expertise you would bring to the work of the Trust
• What you see as the top challenges and opportunities for the Trust in the next few years

The news of the sudden death on 2nd March 2023 of our fellow Trustee, Nicholas Snowman, was received with great sadness by the Trustees. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues. Barry Millington’s obituary can be found in The Guardian.

Welcome to the New Berlioz Edition website. Here you will find information about the history and activities of the New Berlioz Edition Trust – the group behind the New Berlioz Edition, published by Barenreiter Verlag – as well as information about applying for grants from the Trust.