Hector Berlioz
Born: 11th December 1803, La Cote Saint Andre, France
Died: 8th March 1869, Paris
Nationality: French
Louis-Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette and the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust.
The elder son of a provincial doctor, Berlioz was expected to follow his father into medicine, and he attended a Parisian medical college before defying his family by taking up music as a profession. His independence of mind and refusal to follow traditional rules and formulas put him at odds with the conservative musical establishment of Paris. He briefly moderated his style sufficiently to win France's premier music prize – the Prix de Rome – in 1830, but he learned little from the academics of the Paris Conservatoire.
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Berlioz
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Further Reading: Berlioz
Recording of the Week,
Berlioz's Les nuits d'été & Harold en Italie from John Nelson in Strasbourg
Vocal shape-shifter Michael Spyres tackles the song-cycle in the original orchestral keys, whilst viola-player Timothy Ridout is a warmly collegiate soloist in Harold on this clear-eyed, affectionate recording from Strasbourg.
Video Interview,
John Nelson on Berlioz
Ahead of his performance and recording of the Grande Messe des Morts at St Paul's Cathedral tomorrow evening to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's death, the American conductor talks to Katherine about his fifty-year relationship with music which 'lit something up in me that's remained all my life'.
Popular Genres: Berlioz
Popular Works: Berlioz
- Ballet des Sylphes (from La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24) (28)
- Béatrice et Bénédict, Op. 27: Overture (46)
- Benvenuto Cellini (14)
- Benvenuto Cellini Overture (56)
- Chasse royale et Orage (from Les Troyens) (26)
- Cléopâtre - Scène lyrique, H36 (37)
- D'amour l'ardente flamme (from La Damnation de Faust) (22)
- Devant la maison (from La Damnation de Faust) (13)
- Grande Messe des Morts, Op. 5 (Requiem) (75)
- Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, Op. 15 (15)
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (80)
- Herminie - Scène lyrique, H29 (13)
- King Lear Overture, Op. 4 (35)
- L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (22)
- L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 - L'Adieu des bergers (41)
- La belle voyageuse (11)
- La captive, Op. 12 (22)
- La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24 (34)
- La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24: Nature immense, impénétrable et fière (12)
- La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24: Rákóczi March (67)
- La Mort d’Ophélie (19)
- Le carnaval romain Overture, Op. 9 (170)
- Le Corsaire Overture, Op. 21 (80)
- Le Jeune Pâtre Breton, Op. 13 No. 4 (16)
- Lélio, ou Le Retour a la vie (19)
- Les Francs-juges Overture, Op. 3 (42)
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7 (87)
- Les Troyens (18)
- Menuet des Follets (from La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24) (17)
- Reverie et Caprice, Op. 8 (26)
- Rob Roy Overture (16)
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17 (37)
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17 (excerpts) (13)
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Love Scene (19)
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (327)
- Te Deum, Op. 22 (18)
- Tristia, Op. 18 (14)
- Villanelle (from Les nuits d'été, Op. 7) (13)
- Waverley Overture Op. 1 (21)
- Zaïde Op. 19 No. 1 (12)
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