Symphonie Fantastique is a significant work of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz, written in 1830. Berlioz (b. December 1803) was no child prodigy, not studying music until age 12, however in 1924 he abandoned his Parisian medical studies to pursue his compositional career. Symphonie Fantastique differs from his previous symphonies, as this follows a narrative through the music, making it an early example of a program symphony. It follows the story of an artist (Berlioz), struggling through an opium haze and visions of his “beloved” – Harriet Smithson, a Shakespearean actress. The beloved always presents herself to the artist in musical form, through Symphonie Fantastique she is presented as the “idée fixe”. Berlioz, as a Romantic composer, was more interested in expressionism rather then the typical classical form.
Movement four, titled “Marche au Supplice”, begins with the …show more content…
A prolonged unsettling diminished chord is played as the artist sees himself at a witches’ Sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of goblins, sorcerers and monsters. Of the entire symphony, this movement is the most revolutionary in terms of sound design. Berlioz orchestrates strange noises, groans and outbursts of laughter. The world presented is the opposite of rationality and contains the influences of Goethe and Byron. The high woodwinds play triplets and the sighing falls of the idée fixe are mocked with a sneering glissando. The opening bars are repeated now a semi-tone higher and the diminished chord return. Berlioz is creating a scene through music – one of a hellish underworld. Through this passage, triplets are tossed from the woodwinds to trumpets, alternating and ending in the glissando. The drumrolls become gradually louder and the movement has now moved into the second prelude and into
Movement four, titled “Marche au Supplice”, begins with the …show more content…
A prolonged unsettling diminished chord is played as the artist sees himself at a witches’ Sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of goblins, sorcerers and monsters. Of the entire symphony, this movement is the most revolutionary in terms of sound design. Berlioz orchestrates strange noises, groans and outbursts of laughter. The world presented is the opposite of rationality and contains the influences of Goethe and Byron. The high woodwinds play triplets and the sighing falls of the idée fixe are mocked with a sneering glissando. The opening bars are repeated now a semi-tone higher and the diminished chord return. Berlioz is creating a scene through music – one of a hellish underworld. Through this passage, triplets are tossed from the woodwinds to trumpets, alternating and ending in the glissando. The drumrolls become gradually louder and the movement has now moved into the second prelude and into