School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Hector Berlioz

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Hector Berlioz was a French composer, conductor and critic of the Romantic era. He was born on 11 December 1803 as the eldest son of a physician. He was meant to become a doctor himself and studied medicine in Paris, but chose music against his family's wishes. His independence of mind brought him into conflict with the conservative musical world of Paris. In 1830 he nevertheless won the Prix de Rome.

Music and breakthrough

At twenty-four he fell in love with the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, whom he pursued for seven years until she accepted him. She inspired the Symphonie fantastique, his first great success, in which an idealised image of her keeps returning as an idée fixe. He also wrote Harold en Italie, a Requiem, Roméo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust and the operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, among others. Les Troyens was so large that it was never performed in full in his lifetime. Because he had only occasional success in France, he increasingly became a conductor, with an international reputation. His Treatise on Instrumentation of 1844 later influenced many composers.

Influence

Berlioz died in Paris in 1869. He wrote programmatic music for a large orchestra with new colours, and that makes him a forerunner of later film music and of the idea that an orchestra can tell a story.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to the Symphonie fantastique. Notice the idée fixe, the melody that you keep hearing again in different forms, and how the orchestra colours it differently each time.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists