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MUSI 4350: Hector Berlioz and
the Program Symphony
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"Berlioz was the
quintessential Romantic artist. His life featured unrequited love, dramatic
triumphs, and dismal failures - all the hallmarks of Romantic greatness. The
wild emotional turbulence of his life is reflected in what Wagner described
as his 'devilishly confused musical idiom'. He was the most innovative
symphonist of the early Romantic era, with the programs and hidden messages
woven into his music anticipating the tone-poems of Liszt and Strauss. His
revolutionary use of orchestral color inspired just about every major
symphonic composer who followed in his wake, most notably Gustav Mahler. But
at the heart of his music lies a Beethovenian strength and unity, and a
natural feel for Classically pure melodies."
- Symphonie
Fantastique
- "Fantastic Symphony"
- Some notes on the
piece are available at (click on the button)
- Berlioz'
relationship with Harriet Smithson:
- Having avidly
read Shakespeare (in a French translation), Berlioz attended a
performance of Hamlet at the Paris Odeon Theater. Among the
cast were the well-known British actors Edmund Kean and Charles Kemble,
and a young actress named Harriet Smithson.
- Berlioz fell
instantly and madly in love with Harriet. He wrote to her several
times, but they did not meet. Rumors of an affair between her and her
manager kept the composer at sufficient distance to begin the
symphony.
-
Symphonie Fantastique
premiered on
December 5, 1830.
- Two years
later, Berlioz presented a reworked version of the piece along with
its sequel Lelio. Harriet was persuaded to attend the the
December 9, 1832 performance; she apparently attended without knowing
the identity of the composer or the program of the pieces.
- Smithson and
Berlioz met the day after, and in October 1833 they were married. The
marriage was a disaster, and they separated in 1844.
- Over the years
Berlioz reworked the programs a number of times, and it has been
remarked that "the differences between them serve as a barometer of
his changing feelings for Harriet Smithson"
- Some comparisons
to Beethoven include:
- Berlioz' use of
the idee fixe resembles Beethoven's reworking of motives
throughout the Ninth Symphony.
- The
slow movement is placed third instead of second (like Beethoven's
Sixth Symphony, the Fantastic Symphony has five movements). Further,
the "Scene in the Fields" is reminiscent of Beethoven's Fifth and
Pastoral symphonies in its design. Steinberg remarks that "Berlioz'
piping shepherds are mutations of Beethoven's nightingale, quail, and
cuckoo."
- The
musicologist, Richard Crocker observes that the Finale shows the
influence of Beethoven most clearly, having several features in common
with the finale to Beethoven's Ninth. These include:
- a violent
introduction.
- presentation
of a theme.
- an abrupt
change to distant sounds (i.e., the tolling bells).
- a second,
solemn theme (the Dies irae), which is eventually combined in
counterpoint with the principal theme.
- A few innovative
features or the piece include:
- the idee
fixe, which is an even more consistent unifying feature of the
piece than Beethoven's motivic development. It "paves the way" for
Liszt's use of thematic transformation and Wagner's leitmotifs.
- The program,
which among other things helps make the extended form manageable for
the audience by explaining what the various parts of the symphony mean
and why they come in the order they do. Even so however, "the outlines
of the program symphony remained basically the same as those laid down
by Haydn and used by Beethoven . . . (Crocker, p. 436)
- Berlioz is very
likely the first European art music composer to "desecrate" a portion
of the mass through substantial alteration. For listeners of the time,
this might have made a significant impact, adding to the overall tone
of the movement.
02/18/04
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