Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz is a French Romantic composer from La Côte-Saint-André, France. He is known for works including Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and the Requiem (Grande messe des morts) of 1837, which uses very large forces, including four antiphonal brass choirs.

Early life and training

Born Louis Hector Berlioz in 1803, he grows up in the Isère region of France, between Lyon and Grenoble. His father is a physician, and Berlioz is initially sent to Paris at eighteen to study medicine. He turns away from medicine after finding dissection distressing and instead studies music. He then attends the Paris Conservatoire, where he studies opera and composition.

Romanticism and personal life

Berlioz becomes closely associated with the French Romantic movement early in his career. His circle includes writers such as Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Honoré de Balzac, and Théophile Gautier later groups him with Hugo and Delacroix as part of the “Trinity of Romantic Art.” He is described as deeply emotional from childhood, with this reflected in his later relationships and love affairs. His unrequited love for the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Constance Smithson inspires Symphonie fantastique, and he later marries her after returning to Paris from two years of study in Rome. The marriage does not last.

Career and recognition

In 1830, the year of Symphonie fantastique's premiere, Berlioz wins the Prix de Rome. During his lifetime he is better known as a conductor than as a composer. He tours regularly in Germany and England, conducting opera and symphonic music by himself and by other composers. He also meets the violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini, who is said to offer him 20,000 francs after hearing Harold in Italy, as payment for writing a viola work for him to perform.

Death and burial

Berlioz dies in 1869 and is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre alongside his two wives, Harriet Smithson and Marie Recio.