Hector Berlioz 1803 – 1869
Now, I thought it was time to write about a composer from the Romantic period again. The person we are going to talk about today is a Frenchman. Interestingly enough, during his childhood, Hector Berlioz was not considered to be a very talented musician, better said, he was talented but not the typical child prodigy composer. He tried playing the piano and the flute, but to no avail. Yet, he started playing guitar, and found a passion for the instrument and became quite good on it. It is interesting that although he learned the guitar and flute, he never learned to play the piano, which is quite a rarity for a composer.
Born in Grenoble in the French Alps, he was know to be an intensive reader. He read all the classics; among them Virgil, Shakespeare and Goethe. As time went by during his childhood, he had had a growing desire to play music and become a musician. His parents, of course, wanted him to take up medicine and sent him to study in Paris. And yet, his will to become a musician had been much too strong. Thusly, he ended up leaving the school against his parents wishes and going to study music at the Paris Conservatoire. Berlioz was financially cut off by his parents on account of this and he was forced to take up a job singing in a choir.
At the Paris Conservatoire, he was noted to be a difficult student. He had conceptions of music that were so grand, most of the things that he conceived were thought to be very difficult if not nearly impossible to perform. This did not stop him from eventually being awarded the Prix de Rome in 1830, a prize which had been coveted by many to a great extent. This had been something he really wanted. He had actually competed four times before finally winning. It was because of this prize that his father finally gave in and recognised his son as a composer. This also gave him the opportunity to go to Rome, an experience which had influenced not only his life a great deal, but also his music.
Around this time, Berlioz became obsessed with a woman, Harriet Smithson, who had been a well-known actress in Paris. Berlioz had seen her perform Shakespeare and became quite infatuated with her. Even though they had never formally met, he wrote letters to her all time proclaiming his love for her. Unfortunately, she was not very interested in him and would not give him the time of day. Berlioz did not just give up… He wrote a piece named Symphonie fantastique. It was program music. - During the Romantic Era, the type of music known as ‘program music’ was quite popular. This is music that is meant to evoke images or memories of past events within the listener. - The second movement of Symphonie fantastique for example describes a ball; the third movement is a portrayal of nature. The main idea of the entire piece was unrequited love; Harriet Smithson being the principle musical idea and the source of his inspiration. When Harriet finally heard the symphony, she fell in love with the composer and married him. They had a son together named Louis.
His compositions at the time included at work commissioned by Paganini, Harold in Italy, and a requiem commissioned by the French government. As mentioned before, Berlioz had a great ability think up and compose for incredibly large-scaled instrumentation. The piece that he wrote for the French government required 220 players and 200 voices. An interesting fact is that Harold In Italy, a piece for viola and orchestra, was actually rejected by Paganini on the grounds that it did not give him enough to play. In spite of this, he remained friends with Berlioz and fancied his musical ability, actually awarding him a great deal of money, which gave him much more time to concentrate on composing.
His marriage to Harriet Smithson ended up being a failure due to Harriet’s failing career and the drinking problem that she developed as a result of it. He got a divorce in 1844, only to shortly after marry a woman by the name of Marie Recio. During the same year, he composed Les Nuits d’Été(Summer Nights) as well as writing an essay on the subject of orchestration that is still used as an important source of information for today’s composers. It is known as the ‘Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et d’Orchestration Modernes’(Treatise on Instrumentation).
It was not until 1856 that Berlioz wrote his masterpiece, Les Troyens(The Trojans), one of the grandest works he had ever written. Taking an entire three years to complete, it was actually divided up into two parts on account of its length. The two parts, each one divided into a further two acts were named La Prise de Troie(The capture of Troy) and Les Troyens á Carthage(The Trojans in Carthage).
Berlioz has long since his death in 1869 been recognised as one of the most important composers in the Romantic period, having made advances in symphonic form and orchestration in general. Yet, although he had been successful throughout Europe during his lifetime, it took a long while for his homeland France to recognise his ability. This did not happen until long after his death. Having experienced a life full of both great successes and failures, he carried all the attributes the typical romantic composer was known to have. Above all, his music is a prime exemplar of French music during the Romantic period; a master of orchestration.
To listen to music by this great composer, click here
