Hector Berlioz

Symphonie Fantastique (1830) – Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique is said to be the most significant work of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz, written in 1830. Berlioz, born December 1803, was no child prodigy, not studying music until age 12, however in 1924 he abandoned his Parisian medical studies to peruse his compositional career. Symphonie Fantastique differs from the previous symphonies of Berlioz, as this follows a narrative through the music, therefore making it an early example of a program symphony. The programme follows the story of an artist (thought ot be Berlioz), struggling through an opium induced haze and visions of his beloved – Harriet Smithson, a shakesperean actress. In his mind, Berlioz imagines the ideal girl,…

Hector Berlioz was born near the French town of Grenoble on December 11th, 1803. Berlioz started music at the much later age of 12, meaning he was never a ‘child prodigy’. After learning enough theory, he began writing small arrangements and compositions.Due to his father’s discouragement, Berlioz never learnt how to play the piano, instead Berlioz became proficient at playing the guitar and flute. The first performance was at the Paris Conservatoire in 1830. This symphony is the perfect example…

Romanticism influenced the literature world, but by 1820s musicians started to adopt the style in their music as well. Hector Berlioz was a French composer during the Early Romantics period in the 1830s. He is most famously known for his piece “Symphony Fantastique” 5th Movement composed in 1830, where he tells about his own personal love for an Irish Actress, Harriet Smithson. Hector Berlioz was born on December 11th, 1803 in La Côte-Saint-André, to a dad named Louis-Joseph Berlioz and mother…

sense of Escape from Modern City Life, where the focus is on a legendary, spiritual, and fantasy type of lifestyle. The poem reads “Drunk with fire now we enter… Your magic powers join again…The kiss is for the whole wide world” which shows romantic themes of the supernatural fantasy, and overwhelming emotion. The 4th / final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is the longest. This movement used the entire orchestra, four vocal soloists, and a choir that sings “Ode to Joy.” Hector Berlioz…

of music creates the view of a frightening underworld for the listener. As the piece continues, a version of the ideé fixe plays on the clarinet, sounding very mocking and leering. Abruptly, the tempo and dynamic of the piece changes, full of loud chords repeating, which is very hard to listen to. The ideé fixe returns but is shriller and continues to rise in pitch. Then swirling music appears, interrupted by a loud chord, followed by triples that create the sound of terror. Often in the piece,…

he has had it with Harriet and says if he cannot have her, then one can. So he decides to kill himself by poisoning himself, but did not quite take enough to kill him. As he is “dying,” he begins to have visions that he killed Harriet and is soon beheaded. Lastly for the fifth movement, he is in the underground world, lost and confused. Once again, he sees Harriet, but this time she is a witch and is mocking him, once more, the idée fixe is played. The idée fixe pretty much untied the whole…

as he/she listens. (Ref 1.Program Music, 2. Symphonic Poem, 5. Listen) Hector Berlioz’s composition “Fantastic Symphony, fifth movement” is a good example of Program Music and the marriage of the written program and musical composition”. In this movement the scene described in the program is called “dream of Witches’ Sabbath” where the character finds himself face to face at a witches Sabbath as the witches make obscene noises and sounds. The introduction starts off with mysteriously…

The Romantic Movement lasted from the second half of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century. The Romantic Era has a great effect on people in all aspects, such as art, literature, and music. Romanticism began in Germany and France, and after that it spread through Europe, and finally America. However, romanticism is not about love and romance; it is about all the emotions and feelings a person feels throughout his or her whole life. People used it as a way of escapism…

The Romantic period was one of important periods, Romantic poems have amazing view for the nature and landscape, we also can use term Romanticism to describe particular period, Romantic or Romanticism start in late 1700s to 1820s , the France revolution and the great Napoleonic wars help to forming the Romantic, the most famous and important poets of Romanticism are Percy Bysshe Shelley( the young poet), Thomas DE Quincey and William Wordsworth , according to Ross, he sees that the Romantic…

THE MORNING RAGA (VARIOUS THEMES) - BY DHANANJAY ARORA “The Morning Raga” is a film based on the play written by Mahesh Datani. This story basically revolves around music. In this story there are two best friends Swarnlata who is a Carnatic singer and Vaishnavi is shown as a violinist. On getting an opportunity of singing in the concert Swarnlata dominates Vaishnavi on accompanying her with their children. On the way their bus met with an accident with the car on the bridge of their village and…