Of all the dark visions to haunt the cultural imagination, few have proven so pervasive as the witches' Sabbath or Sabbat – an idea born in the fifteenth century. The Sabbath, however, did not remain there, and this Element explores some of the ways in which the witches' Sabbath has been reimagined since 1900. It considers how early twentieth-century scholars, most notably Margaret Murray and Montague Summers, took it as evidence of a real witches' religion, and how later historians like Carlo Ginzburg drew upon it in their search for ancient shamanisms. It examines how occultists such as Gerald Gardner, Austin Osman Spare and Andrew Chumbley integrated sabbaths as key elements of their own new religions. Finally, it outlines the role of the Sabbath in literature, film and television, where it has continued to terrify and titillate. This Element thus expands upon an oft-overlooked area in the cultural history of witchcraft.

Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique is a key work in the understanding of romanticism, programme music, and the development of the orchestra, post-Beethoven. It is noted for having a title and a detailed programme, and for its connection with the composer's personal life and loves. This handbook situates the symphony within its time, and considers influences, literary as well as musical, that shaped its conception. Providing a close analysis of the symphony, its formal properties and melodic and textural elements (including harmony and counterpoint), it is a rich but accessible study which will appeal to music lovers, scholars, and students. It contains a translation of the programme, which sheds light on the form and character of each movement, and the unusual use of a melodic idée fixe representing a beloved woman. The unusual five-movement design permits a range of musical topics to be discussed and related to traditional symphonic elements: sonata form, a long Adagio, dance-type movements, and thematic development.