1803 1869 Born December 11 th 1803 at
1803 -1869: • Born December 11 th 1803 at cote saint Andre. • His father was physician. • 1821: hector join the medical school but it did not last long before he give up on 1823 • Hector spend most of his time at the opera • His first played instrument were flute and guitar. • His romantic period composer.
Romantic period composer: • Huge orchestra • Long melody with unusual modulation • Texture : change quickly • Was known for his very expressive melodies • Would often combine main themes together. • His first composition as teenager.
HIS major works: • such as Richard Strauss. • Symphonie Fantastique - a huge symphony in 5 movements • Harold in Italy - essentially a concerto for Viola and Orchestra commissioned by Paginini and inspired by a poem by Byron • Romeo and Juliet - a choral symphony based on Shakespeare's play with a libretto by Émile Deschamps • Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale (Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony) commissioned by the French Government and first performed during a parade to commemmorate the 1830 French Revolution • Opera: Benvenuto Cellini - inspired by his stay in Italy • Opera: Les Troyens (The Trojans) - a full performance lasts 4 to 5 hours, though the "Royal Hunt and Storm" is sometimes performed as a concert piece • Opera: Beatrice and Benedict - based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" with some spoken scenes • Concert Overtures: Waverley, King Lear, Rob Roy, Le Carnaval Romain, Le Corsaire, and The Flight into Egypt • Funeral March - composed for the final scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet but not expanded into a larger work
(continuous) major works: • A large scale arrangement of La Marseillaise • Cantatas: The Death of Orpheus, Herminie, The Death of Cleopatra, and The Death of Sardanapale - all written as entries for the Prixe de Rome with Sardanapale finally winning the prize, and the composer • reused some of his cantata music in later works • Requiem (Grande Messe des Morts) - requiring huge orchestral forces, which certainly confirmed the composer's reputation for orchestral extravagance long before Wagner and Mahler • Te Deum - for large orchestra and organ • The Damnation of Faust - can be staged as an opera or as a oratorio for orchestra, large chorus and 4 solo voices based on Goethe's dramatic poem Faust, and includes an arrangement of the Hungarian Folk-Song "Rákóczi March"; a recent production for ENO was directed by Terry Gilliam • The Childhood of Christ - another choral work (Berlioz wasn't particularly religious, but looked to the dramatic elements of the story) • The Death of Ophelia - for voice and orchestra based on the Shakespearean character • Les Nuits d'été (Summer Nights) - song cycle • Many other choral works and individual songs
As conductor • He was more appreciated as conductor than composer. • He was conductor in Germany and Russia and England in the 1840
SYMPHONY FANTASTIQUE: Five movement. Recurring them idea fixe Too hard to understand at his time. (avid the journalist)
The component of his symphony: • The text was written by Berlioz himself, and is very specific in its description of events. Again, the entire story is based on his obsession with the actress Harriet Smithson, who he once upon a time, saw playing the role of Ophelia in Hamlet. She is the “beloved” embodied by the idee fixe. The idee fixe was a new concept Berlioz employed to create continuity through the work. The idee fixe, or fixed idea, is a musical motif create to portray a specific character or idea within a piece of music. As the piece progresses, we hear theme transform as the events happening to them effect their being. In the case, the “beloved” starts out as a beautiful melody and morphs into a grotesque hag by the end of the piece.
This painting reflects the symphony fantastique. • Hector Berlioz was one of the most original voices of the Romantic Era. Inspired by his teacher, he explored the over-the-top, bombastic timbral effects available within the voices of the symphony. In so doing, he expanded the definition of orchestration to include special effects that allowed each instrument to create sounds not heard before. A characteristic composers to this day still explore. In creating these effects, Berlioz had a specific story in mind that he wanted to portray in music, in sound. Without this, his sporadic changing in tempo, mood, and melody would being most perplexing to the listener. This story is what we refer to as the program. The type of music composed with a program attached to it is know as programmatic music
References • https: //www. britannica. com/biography/Hector-Berlioz • www. classicfm. com/composers/berlioz • Music appreciation books • www. naxos. com/person/Hector_Berlioz_25992/25992. htm
MEMBERS: Lexi blagburn : slide show Hannah Bozeman : research Savanah Madison : research Ihssane Fouad : Research , slide show , presentation Mercedes MCHeard: research Joel Matson: Research and presentation Jersian Miranda: Research
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