Note 15 — BERLIOZ
Reading edition
Mr. W. F. Apthorp finds in the initial phrase of this introduction a reminder of Lear's speech to Gloster before the latter's castle (act ii., scene iv.):
"Go tell the duke and 's wife I'd speak with them, Now, presently; bid them come forth and hear me, Or at their chamber door I'll beat the drum Till it cry sleep to death."
"It is quite as likely, however," observes Mr. Apthorp, "that Berlioz may have associated this violent, recitative-like passage with Lear's casting-away Cordelia in the first act of the tragedy."