Hector Berlioz

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French Romantic composer, Louis Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère, between Lyon and Grenoble on December 11, 1803. Best known for his compositions Symphonie Fantastique (first performed in 1830) and Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem). Berlioz made great contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation and by utilizing huge orchestral forces for his works, sometimes calling for over 1000 performers. At the other extreme, he also composed about 50 songs for voice and piano.



Berlioz did not begin his study in music until the age of twelve, when he began writing small compositions and arrangements. Unlike other composers of the time, he was not a child prodigy, and never learned to play the piano, although he played the flute and guitar as a boy. His father was a physician and scholar. At the age of eighteen, Berlioz was sent to Paris to study medicine. He was uninterested in the field. Despite his father's disapproval, he abandoned his medical studies to pursue a career in music. He began attending the Paris Conservatoire in 1826 to study composition under Jean-François Lesueur. Only four years later, in 1830, Berlioz won the Prix de Rome.



Berlioz is said to have been innately romantic, experiencing emotions deeply. This characteristic manifested itself in his love affairs. His unrequited love for the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Constance Smithson was the inspiration for his Symphonie Fantastique composed in 1830. Smithson considered Berlioz's letters introducing himself to her so overly passionate that she initially refused his advances.

The autobiographical nature of this piece of music was also considered sensational at the time. After his return to Paris from his two years of study in Rome, he finally met (and eventually married) Smithson following her attendance at a performance of the Symphonie Fantastique, which she realized from the composer's program notes was his depiction of various developments in his love for her. They were married in 1833 with Franz Liszt signing as a witness.



They had one child, Louis Berlioz, born in 1834, a source of both initial disappointment and eventual pride to his father. (Louis, captain of a merchant marine ship, died in 1867 in Havana, Cuba, of yellow fever.) Berlioz and his wife separated in 1844 although Berlioz continued to support Harriet financially and to visit her during her remaining years, which were spent in seclusion. Following her death in 1854, he married Marie Recio, a singer who had traveled and lived with him for the previous thirteen years, though, as he admitted to Louis, he married more out of duty than love.



During his lifetime, Berlioz was as famous as a conductor as he was as a composer. He travelled to Germany, England and Russia, where he conducted operas and symphonic music, both his own and others'.

Virtuoso violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini commissioned Berlioz to compose a viola concerto, intending to premiere it as soloist. This became the symphony for viola and orchestra, Harold in Italy. However, Paganini changed his mind when he saw the first sketches for the work. Although Paganini did not premiere the piece, Berlioz's memoirs recount that, once he heard it, he knelt before Berlioz in front of the orchestra and proclaimed his genius. The next day he sent him a gift of 20,000 francs. With this money, Berlioz was able to pay off Harriet's and his own debts and suspend his work as a critic in order to focus on writing the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette for voices, chorus and orchestra. Berlioz later identified "Roméo et Juliette" as his favourite piece among his own musical compositions. (He considered his "Requiem" his best work, however.) It was a success both at home and abroad, unlike later great vocal works such as "La Damnation de Faust" and "Les Troyens," which were commercial failures.



While Berlioz is best known as a composer, he was also a prolific writer, and supported himself for many years writing musical criticism. He wrote in a bold, vigorous style, at times imperious and sarcastic. Evenings With the Orchestra (1852) is a scathing satire of provincial musical life in 19th century France. Berlioz's Memoirs (1870) paints a magisterial portrait of the Romantic era through the eyes of one of its chief protagonists.



Berlioz died on March 8th 1869 and was buried in the Cimetiere de Montmartre with his two wives, Harriet (died 1854) and Marie (died 1862).