of a large body of admirers.[227] In an eloquent
passage the conductor and critic Weingartner sums up the case:
"Berlioz will always represent a milestone in the development of
music, for he is the real founder of the modern school. He did not
approach that ethical depth, that ideal purity which surround
Beethoven's name with such unspeakable glory, but no composer since
Beethoven, except Wagner, has enriched music with so many new means of
expression as this great Frenchman. Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner are the
heroes of the last half of the 19th century, just as Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Weber and Schubert were of the first."

[Footnote 227: It is understood that this is merely a personal opinion
of the writer and might well have been prefaced by the Socratic "it
seems to me." Too much criticism reminds us of wine-tasting--Mr.
So-and-So likes port, Mr. So-and-So sherry. The object of fair-minded
appreciation is to understand clearly just what each composer set out
to do, _i.e._, what was the natural tendency of his individual genius;
then the only question is: did or did he not do this well? It is
futile to blame him because he was not someone else or did not achieve
what he never set out to do.]

As Berlioz is, if possible, even more idiomatic for the orchestra than
Chopin for the pianoforte, no conception of the real quality of his
message can be gained from transcriptions, however good. His
works[228] must be studied at first hand in the orchestral score and
then heard in performance by an excellent orchestra. Some preliminary
acquaintance and appreciation, however, of characteristic features in
his style is possible from arrangements and so we select for comment
the following works and movements: The _Fantastic Symphony_, the
_Carnaval Romain_ Overture, the _Ballet des Sylphes_ and the _Feux
Follets_ from the _Damnation of Faust_, the _Pilgrim's March_ from the
_Childe Harold_ Symphony and the Slow Movement from the _Romeo and
Juliet_ Symphony.[229] There is much valuable and stimulating
reading[230] about Berlioz and his influence; for, as Theophile
Gautier acutely remarks, "S'il fut un grand genie, on peut le discuter
encore, le monde est livre aux controverses; mais nul ne penserait a
nier qu'il fut un grand caractere." The _Symphonie_[231]
_fantastique_, op. 14, _episode de la vie d'un artiste_, in five
movements is significant for being the first manifestation of
Berlioz's conviction that music should be yet m