Hector Berlioz

Short biography Louis Hector Berlioz was born on 11 December 1803 in La Côte-Saint-André (département of Isère, France). At his father's behest, he initially studied medicine in Paris, but soon devoted himself entirely to music and became a student at the Paris Conservatoire. After several unsuccessful attempts, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1830, which afforded him a period of study in Italy. Throughout his life he worked principally in Paris as a composer, conductor and influential music critic, whilst undertaking extensive tours across Europe, including to Germany, Russia and England. Berlioz died on 8 March 1869 in Paris.

Historical placement Berlioz ranks among the central figures of musical Romanticism in France and is regarded as one of the most significant innovators in orchestral music of the 19th century. He developed the concept of the idée fixe as a programmatic leitmotif and expanded the orchestral forces to a scale and richness of sound hitherto unknown. His Traité de l'instrumentation et d'orchestration modernes (1843/44) became a foundational treatise on orchestration whose influence extended far beyond his own era. With his programme-symphonic works he set the standards for the later symphonic poem.

Personal connections Antoine Reicha was Berlioz's teacher in counterpoint and fugue at the Paris Conservatoire. Jean-François Le Sueur taught Berlioz composition at the Conservatoire and exercised a lasting influence upon him. Franz Liszt was a close friend and admirer of Berlioz and championed his works with great conviction as a conductor. Niccolò Paganini, whose personal acquaintance with Berlioz is well documented, publicly expressed his admiration for the composer following a performance of Harold en Italie. Richard Wagner met Berlioz on several occasions in person; both followed each other's work with interest, albeit with a degree of mutual ambivalence.

Important works

Symphonie fantastique – programme symphony (op. 14, 1830)
Harold en Italie – symphony with solo viola (op. 16, 1834)
Roméo et Juliette – dramatic symphony (op. 17, 1839)
Grande Messe des morts (Requiem) – choral work (op. 5, 1837)
La Damnation de Faust – dramatic legend (op. 24, 1846)
L'Enfance du Christ – oratorio (op. 25, 1854)
Les Troyens – opera (H. 133, 1856–1858)
Béatrice et Bénédict – opera (op. 27, 1862)
Le Carnaval romain – overture (op. 9, 1844)
Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale – symphony for wind band (op. 15, 1840)