Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/899

BERLINER. He also invented other teleplmnic' devices and the musical meeliauisni known as the gramophone.

BERLIN PHIL'HARMON'IC. See PhiliiARMO.MC Societies.

BERLIN SPIR'IT. A coarse wliisky made chiefly from hcet-root, potatoes, etc. Because of its cheapness it is sometimes used in the making of hrandy, but is considered very unwliolesome. See DisTiLL.TiON ; and Distilled Liquors.

BERLIOZ, bfir'le-fis', Hector (1803-69). A French composer. He was born at La COte- Saint-Andrc, December 11, 1S03. His father, a physician, sent him to Paris to study medicine; but he entered the Conservatoire, which he soon left, finding the teaching too pedantic. He gave himself up heart and .soul to the romantic niove- nicnt, and became the champion of 'programme music' — which endeavors to tell a story in music. Of his earlier attempts in this line, the Sympho- nic faiitaslique, episode de la vie d'un artiste (1828), a page of musical autobiography, is the most remarkable. Coveting the Prix de Rome, he resumed study in the Conservatoire under Le- sueur (q.v. ), and gained the prize with the can- tata Sardaiiapale (1830). Life in Italy fur- nished inspiration for a new unfolding of his gifts, and he wrote the overture to King Lear. He now took up journalistic work in the Corre- spondant, then in the Courrier de I'Europe, in the Rcrtie Europeenxc. and finally in the Gazette mtisicale de Paris and the Journal des Di^bats. His brilliant and powerful style, iconoclastic ten- dencies, and unswerving honesty and candor, made him the principal figure in French musical life. Though made conservator in 1839, and librarian in 1852, he never became professor at the Conservatory. His sTOiphony, Harold en Italic (1834), h'is If esse dcs marts (1837), his Carnaral romain (overture), and the dramatic symphony, Romeo et Juliette (1839), all elicited high praise from the critics; but his first opera in two acts, licnrenuto Cellini (1838), was a fail- ure. Early in the forties, encouraged by Liszt's jiropagation of his music, Berlioz undertook a tour of Germany, which was so successful that for some ten years he traveled through Austria, Hungary. Bohemia, Russia, and England, every- where meeting with enthusiastic receptions. In Hungary, the "Rakoczy March." from his Dam- nation de Faust (1846), is said to have aroused the people to a patriotic frenzy. In London he conducted the New Philharmonic Concerts, and in 1853 his own Beni?cnuto Cellini at Cov- ent Garden. He was elected to the Academy in 18.56. His masterpiece, Les Troyens, consist- ing of La Prise de Troie (three acts) and Les Troyens a Carthage (five acts), proved a fail- ure (Paris, 1863), which broke down the com- poser, and he- was feeble throughout the rest of his life. In ISDO Les Troyens was produced in Karlsruhe, in 1899 in Moscow, and in 1900 in Paris, with signal success. His writings on mu- sical matters and the art of music are among the most treasured works in this line. His Traite d'instrumentation was the theoretical exposition of his views on instrumentation, which he ap- plied in practice, and until the last years of the century was the best work of its kind. In France he was appreciated more fully for his literary compositions, which moulded musical tastes and created a field for the great masters of music. Only after his death his compatriots came to lliink that he had not received his due honor, and tlu'v tried to make amends, which brought ujion them the accusation of desiring to form a Bi^rlioz cult. Berlioz lacked one essen- tial — melodic invention — and all his ingenuity and art could not conceal the poverty of his musical ideas. But he was a great master in all else. His grandiose fancy conceived images tliat are often sublime. He possessed an accu- rate knowledge of the possibilities of every in- strument, which enabled him to produce new and wonderful combinations, enchanting, dazzling, weird, bizarre, or elf-like (as e.g. the "Queen Mab Scherzo" in Romeo ct •Juliette, or in the Danse des Sylphcs), and he is now the acknowledged father of modern orchestration. Without Ber- lioz, Wagner would have been an impossibility, although Berlioz turned away from Wagner. He died in Paris, Jlarch 8, 1869. His collected writ- ings appeared in (ierman translation, liy R. Pohl, in 4 vols. (186t). Consult: .Julien, H. Berlioz (Paris, 1888), very good; Hippeau, Berlioz, riiomme et I'artiste (Paris, 1883-85) and Berlioz ct son temps (Paris, 1892); Pohl, B. Berlioz: Studien und Erinnerwiigen (Leipzig, 1884) ; and the autobiography, J/ f'fHoires (Paris, 1870; Eng- lish translation, Rachel and Eleanor Holmes, London, 1884).

BERM, berm (Fr. hemic, probably of Ger- manic origin: cf. Gcr. Brume, border, Engl. brim). In fortification, a ledge or pathway con- structed at the bottom of the exterior of the out- work or lamjiart, where it joins the scarp or inner aide of the ditch. It is from 3 to 8 feet in width, and is almost on a level with the natural surface of the ground. Besides serving as a passageway for troops manning the defenses, it serves in part to prevent the filling up of the ditch with earth and debri.s, when the rampart is batt<>red l)y the besiegers. See Fortification.

BERMEJO, bfu-ma'Hi',. A river of South America which ri.ses in the south of Bolivia and flows through Argentina toward the Paragua5% which it joins a short distance above its junc- tion with the Parana (Jlap: Argentina, E 9). Its total length, including windings, is nearly 1300 miles, and it is navigable in its middle course for over half this distance for small steamers at all seasons, and for heavier craft for only about six months of the year. Since the middle of the last century the waters of the Ber- mejo have in their middle course mainly flowed through the parallel channel — the Rio Tenco — al'iout 10 miles south of the old channel.

BERMONDSEY, ber'mond-zi (AS. Beor- mond^ig. Bcormond's island). A district of Greater London.

BERMONDSEY SPA (spii) GAR'DENS. A fashionable resort near London in Gieorge II. 's reign. The whole district is now crowded with the poor, chiefly tanners.

BERMU'DA (named after their discoverer), or SOMERS (sQm'erz) ISLANDS. A group of small islands and reefs in the Atlantic belonging to Great Britain, and situated in latitude 32° 14' N. and longitude 64° 40' W., about 750 miles southeast of New York, and about 600 miles east-southeast of Cape Hattcras, North Carolina (Map: America, North, M 6). It lies on the route from Europe to the West Indies, and derives additional importance from its position midway between the West Indies and the British