Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Source: Opiods

Born near Grenoble, France, on 11 December 1803, Hector Berlioz is the first French composer to enter these histories since Louis-Claude Daquin a century earlier. Despite the dominance of German and Italian composers in European music, the Paris of Berlioz was yet the key deciding arbiter of the directions which music would take, even in Moscow about 1500 nautical miles remote, that despite the contentious status of France in Europe what with the French Revolution followed by Napoleon. What New York City was to modern recording Paris was to Europe, albeit perhaps less so to Czech composers who were demanding attention by Berlioz' time, though not so much for the major genre which was opera. Paris is where the future of music happened whether by authority or popularity, and in which zeitgeist Berlioz wrote several books in addition to operas, songs and music for chamber, chorus and orchestra. He would be much more popular in Russia than in France, and though he experienced difficulties getting his music performed during his lifetime, he would be nigh as influential posthumously as Beethoven was to him. Death became him, so to speak.

Berlioz' father, Louis, was a physician and scholar, thought to have been the first European to examine Chinese acupuncture. Berlioz didn't begin to study music until age twelve, though writing compositions from the start (chamber pieces and romances), and was nigh completely self-taught. He never learned to play piano (not the easiest instrument to come by), though he did learn the flageolet, flute and guitar. After high school Berlioz studied medicine for which had small taste.

Berlioz' first compositions appeared in 1818/19 with H 1 assigned to his 'Potpourri concertant on Italian themes'. He published his first article as a music critic in 1823, quit medicine the next year, then saw the first public performance of his Solemn Mass, 'Messe solennelle', H 20, on 10 July 1825. Though Berlioz later destroyed this work a copy was discovered in 1991. "H" numbers in Berlioz are chronological by date of composition per Keith Holoman's directory titled 'New Berlioz Edition' Volume 25 of 1987. Titles featured herein with extensive references are listed further below at Compositions: Individual: Chronological. They descend less by date of composition than date of first performance, which can be a difference of several years.

'Messe Solennelle'   H 20   Hector Berlioz

Premiere 10 July 1825 at Saint-Roch Catholic Church in Paris

Scored for 3 soloists / chorus / orchestra

Terry Cook / Rosa Lamoreaux / Gene Tucker

Washington National Cathedral Choral Society / J. Reilly Lewis

Berlioz completed his initial opera in 1826, though it went unperformed. Not until that year did he seek instruction at the Paris Conservatoire, the degree to which composition had developed since long before his time making that fairly requisite. His Op 1 was an overture called 'Waverley' which premiered at the Paris Conservatoire on 26 May 1828. That was inspired by Sir Walter Scott's 'Waverly' of 1814. Berlioz' opuses are numbered by himself and range to Op 28 of 1861 titled 'Le Temple Universel' revised in 1868. Regardless of assigning opus numbers himself (rather than by publishers) Berlioz has not escaped the confusion that commonly attends them throughout classical music. His Op 27 once questionably ascribed to the 1843-44 literary work, 'Grand traité d'instrumentation et d'orchestration modernes', may have been intended for his last major work, 'Les Troyens', but has ended up assigned to his 1862 'Béatrice et Bénédict' while 'Les Troyens' has been assigned Op 29 per Richard Pohl's 1884 'Hektor Berlioz: Studien und Erinnerungen' ('Studies and Memories') published in Leipzig. That is, Op 27 and Op 29 were properly missing from Berlioz and added by Pohl.

'Waverley'   H 26 Op 1   Overture grande by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 26 May 1828 at the Paris Conservatoire

San Francisco Symphony / Charles Dutoit

Symphony Hall in San Francisco   17 March 2016

IMSLP   Wikipedia

After several attempts to claim the Prix de Rome scholarship Berlioz finally won it with 'La Mort de Sardanapale' in 1830. It was also 1830 when Berlioz put the French national anthem that had arrived in 1795 by Rouget de Lisle, ''La Marseillaise', to a new arrangement as Op 51A.

'La Marseillaise'   H 51A   French national anthem arranged by Hector Berlioz

Published 1830

London Choral Society / London Oriana Choir

New Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Charles Groves

Royal Albert Hall in London   10 Oct 1976

IMSLP

Berlioz gained some traction in latter 1830 upon premiering 'Symphonie Fantastique' Op 14 on 5 December 1830, probably composed before 'La Marsellaise' above. Though conducted at the Paris Conservatoire by François Habeneck, it was dedicated to the ruler of a far-off land, Nicholas I of Russia. Franz Liszt applied the theme of 'Symphonie Fantastique' to solo piano in 1833 per 'L'Idée Fixe' S 470a/1.

'Symphonie Fantastique'   H 48 Op 14   Hector Berlioz

Premiere 5 Dec 1830 in Paris

DuPage Symphony Orchestra / Barbara Schubert

In December 1831 Berlioz left for Rome to study at the Paris Academy, the Conservatoire requiring three years of study in Italy. (All Music has that as five years at the time, of which Berlioz was deemed to have satisfied the requirement in a year and a half.) Berlioz wasn't long in Rome before receiving a correspondence from the mother of his fiancée, informing him that she was to marry a piano merchant instead. Suiting the romantic spirit of the times, he returned to Paris with intent to murder all three, but changed his mind and headed back to Rome. After traveling a bit in Italy Berlioz returned to Paris in 1832 where he premiered 'Lélio, ou le retour à la vie' ('Lelio, or the return to life') H 55 intended as a sequel to 'Symphonie Fantastique' on 9 December that year at the Conservatoire. Berlioz revised 'Lelio' to appear in Weimar on 21 Feb 1855.

'Lélio, ou le retour à la vie'   H 55 Op 14   Symphony by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 9 Dec 1832 at the Paris Conservatoire

Jeunes Symphonistes Mosellans

Coro & Orquesta Sinfónica Javeriana

Ana Paulina Alvarez / Santiago Zuleta / Luis Guillermo Vicaría

Lelio: Juan Pablo Herrera

Norman Bailey   IMSLP   Wikipedia

It was 1833 that Berlioz' presentation of his overture to Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' at the Paris Opera got rained out. The heaviest storm in half a century prevented most of the audience from showing up, though Liszt was in attendance, resulting in a long friendship. It was 3 October 1833 when Berlioz married Harriet Smithson at the British Embassy, a woman with whom he didn't seem to get along in general.

Berlioz composed 'Harold en Italie', commissioned by composer and virtuosic violinist, Niccolò Paganini, in 1834. Inspiration drawn from Lord Byron's 'Childe Harold', Berlioz' 'Harold' premiered on 23 November without Paganini in attendance. Though successful enough, Berlioz began to conduct his own works after what he felt was a wanting performance by the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire with Narcisse Girard conducting. Paganini didn't like the score and rejected it until hearing it conducted by Berlioz four years later on 16 December 1838, an occasion Berlioz notes in one of his autobiographies, as after its performance (not by Paganini) Paganini brought Berlioz on stage, had his son speak a few nice words, then knelt himself to kiss Berlioz' hands, overwhelmed by what Berlioz had put into the piece. He then paid Berlioz 20,000 francs for a work that he himself never performed, broadly in the vicinity of $260,000 today. Berlioz found Paganini's generosity shocking, though not fatally so. He paid off his debts, ceased writing music criticism as his bread and butter through the years and dove into composing. A little later Liszt put 'Harold in Italy' to piano and viola in 1836 per S 472.

'Harold en Italie'   H 68 Op 16   G major   Symphony by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 23 Nov 1834 in Paris

L'Orchestre National de France / Emmanuel Krivine

Maison de la Radio in Paris   6 June 2019

Berlioz premiered his 'Grande Messe des morts' Op 5 H 75 in Paris on 5 November or December 1837. His opera, 'Benvenuto Cellini' H 76, was performed at the Salle Le Peletier on 10 September 1838 with a libretto by Léon de Wailly and Henri Auguste Barbier inspired by the life of the pseudonymous Italian Renaissance sculptor (1500-71).

'Grande Messe des Morts'   H 75 Op 5   Requiem by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 5 Nov or Dec 1837 in Paris

Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno

WDR Radio Choir / WDR Symphony Orchestra / Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Cologne Cathedral   18 May 2017

IMSLP   Wikipedia

'Benvenuto Cellini'   H 76   Opera by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 10 Sep 1838 in Paris   Libretto: Léon de Wailly / Henri Auguste Barbier

Direction: Philipp Stölzl   Choreography: Mara Kurotschka   Costumes: Kathi Maurer

Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus

Vienna Philharmonic / Valery Gergiev

Salzburg Opera Festival   2007

Come another work after Shakespeare, Berlioz' highly favored dramatic symphony, 'Roméo et Juliette', first performed on 24 November 1839. As Berlioz didn't play piano there is relatively little of such in his work. In 1841 he composed some rare pieces for piano and voice among his lesser-known works titled 'Les Nuits d'Eté' ('Summer Nights') Op 7 H 81. That was a song cycle of six poems by Théophile Gautier which Berlioz dedicated to composer, Louise Bertin, whose opera, 'La Esmeralda' premiered in Paris in 1836. I here highlight Bertin, as she is the first female composer to emerge in these histories since Hildegard of Bingen seven centuries prior in Germany [see references for female composers below]. Berlioz later orchestrated 'Summer Nights' in 1856.

'Roméo et Juliette'   H 79   Symphony dramatic by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 24 Nov 1839 at the Salle du Conservatoire in Paris

Libretto: Jules Barbier / Michel Carré

Orchestre National de France / Daniele Gatti

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris   18 Sep 2014

'Les Nuits d’Eté'   H 81 Op 7   Song cycle by Hector Berlioz

Published 1841   Six poems by Théophile Gautier

Sopran: Véronique Gens

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Lionel Bringuier

 Alte Oper Frankfurt   15 Nov 2013

In 1842 Berlioz decided to tour Germany. His 'Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration' then appeared in 1843-44 in which he addressed the use of numerous instruments from piano to timpani to viola. Of special note are his remarks on the saxhorn and saxophone, the former developed by  Belgian, Adolphe Sax, the latter patented by him in 1846 (well after showing his invention to Berlioz). Berlioz never wrote for the new saxophone, but saxhorn appears in the eighth movement of his 'Te Deum' H 118 [score] as well as 'Royal Hunt and Storm' [score] from 'Les Troyans' H 133.

Berlioz composed and published three further works little known since for keyboard in November of 1844, those for the melodium-organ (melodeon) as manufactured by Édouard Alexandre (1824-1888). Édouard inherited the organ building business from his father, Jacob, and employed some six hundred workers. The three pieces which Berlioz authored for him were 'Rustic Serenade' H 98 [Corleonis], 'Toccate' H 99 and 'Hymne for the Elevation' H 100 [HBW English / HBW French].

The first performance of Berlioz' 'La Damnation de Faust' in reference to Goethe arrived at the Opéra-Comique on 6 December 1846. Unfortunately its failure left him in debt to the tune of five to six thousand francs, which he solved by his first visit to Russia in 1847, he considerably more popular there than in France. Berlioz visited London the same year.

'La Damnation de Faust'   H 111 Op 24   Oratorio by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 6 Dec 1846   Libretto: Berlioz / Almire Gandonnière / Gérard de Nerval

 Warsaw National Choir & Philharmonic / Kazimierz Kord

Faust: Nicolai Gedda   Méphistophélès: Leonard Andrzej Mróz

 June 1979

IMSLP   Wikipedia

Berlioz accepted the position of a librarian at the Paris Conservatoire in 1850, the same year he wrote a piece for organ called 'Shepherd's Farewell' [score] which he revised into a choral work to experiment with music critics: He gave one performance in his own name and another under an assumed name. Upon critics preferring the performance of the assumed to the actual he proved that they owned a prejudice against him. Berlioz gradually expanded 'Shepard's Farewell' into his oratorio of 1854, 'L'Enfance du Christ' Op 25 H 130, which addresses the flight of the holy family of Jesus into Egypt to elude a threatening King Herod as related in the second chapter of the Gospel, 'Matthew'.

'L'Enfance du Christ'   H 130 Op 25   Oratorio by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 10 Dec 1854 at the Salle Herz in Pariz   Libretto: Berlioz

C & O of the French National Radio / Jean Gitton / Jean Martinon

Berlioz' heavyweight setting to the 'Te Deum' arrived in Paris on 30 April 1855, having composed it earlier in 1849. Originally begun as a tribute to Napoleon, it was completed as the Christian hymn in dedication to Prince Consort Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.

'Te Deum'   H 118 Op 22   Traditional hymn by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 30 April 1855 at Saint-Eustache in Paris

Wandsworth School Boys Choir / London Symphony C & O / Sir Colin Davis   1975

The first form of Berlioz' final Opus, 'Le Temple Universel' Op 28 H 137, arrived in 1861, revised in 1868. His 'Béatrice et Bénédict' is an opera comique which saw performance in Baden-Baden, Germany, on 29 August 1862. Berlioz who wrote the libretto based this on Shakespeare's 1598/99 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

Overture to 'Béatrice et Bénédict'   H 138 Op 27   Opera comique by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 29 Aug 1862 at the Stadttheater in Baden-Baden, Germany   Libretto: Berlioz

Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra / Mikko Franck

Paris   27 Jan 2018

The version of Berlioz' 'Les Troyens' ('The Trojans') that appeared at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris on 4 November 1863 had to be performed minus its first two parts. Not until 1890 would Felix Mottl perform the complete opera of all five acts. This is another work for which Berlioz wrote the libretto.

'Les Troyens'   H 133 Op 29   Opera grand by Hector Berlioz

Premiere 4 Nov 1863 at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris   Libretto: Berlioz

Direction: Carlos Padrissa   2009

Cor de la Generalitat Valencian

Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana / Valery Gergiev

Though Berlioz' last article since 1834 for the newspaper, 'Journal des Débats' had appeared on 8 October 1863, he continued to contribute to his 'Memoires' until 1865, having begun them in 1848. The next year he visited Vienna to stage 'La Damnation de Faust' again. In 1867 Berlioz toured Russia to much fanfare a second time, the trip so profitable that he rejected an offer of 100,000 francs to take his music across the ocean to New York. As well, New York was about twice the distance and would take about a month to sail. By comparison, his 1847 trip from Paris to Moscow took a couple of weeks, first to Berlin by rail, then with greater difficulty by stagecoach, the last four days through snow by sledge [Hector Berlioz Website]. Be as may, Berlioz' health had begun to become severely troublesome by the time of his last trip to Russia. He revised 'Le Temple Universal' in 1868 before dying in Paris not long later on 8 March of 1869. "At last, they are going to play my music" were reportedly his last words.

'Le Temple Universal'   H 137 Op 28   Melody by Hector Berlioz

1861   Revised 1868

Schütz Choir of London / Sir Roger Norrington   1969

Bru Zane Mediabase   IMSLP   Wikipedia

Les Troyens (H 138 / Op 22 / premiere 4 Nov 1863):

Hector Berlioz Website (English)

Hector Berlioz Website (French)