Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) - photo 1

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz, full name Louis-Hector Berlioz, was a French composer, conductor, and music critic of the Romantic era.

Berlioz received his primary education from his father, an enlightened physician, who gave him his first lessons in music and Latin. By the age of 12, he was already composing music for local chamber ensembles and learning to play the guitar and flute with virtuosity. In 1821 his father sent him to Paris to study medicine, and he received his first scientific degree. But in parallel, he often visited the Paris Opera, where he studied the entire repertoire on the score.

Against the will of his parents, Berlioz took a compulsory course of study at the Conservatory of Paris and in 1830 received the Prix de Rome. In Italy he met the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka and became lifelong friends with Mendelssohn. From 1832 Berlioz worked for 30 years as a music critic for periodicals. He was acquainted with many of the leading writers and musicians of his time, including Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Niccolò Paganini, and George Sand.

Berlioz adored the works of Weber and Beethoven, as well as Gluck, and tirelessly introduced audiences to their works. As a result of his many trips as a conductor to Germany, Belgium, England, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, he taught the leading orchestras of Europe a new style.

Berlioz during these years wrote, among other things, the "Symphonie Fantastique" (1830) that made him famous, and the symphony "Harold in Italy" (1834). After a concert in 1838, where he conducted their performance, the famous violin virtuoso Paganini declared Hector Berlioz a continuator of Beethoven's musical traditions and presented him with 20,000 francs. A grateful Berlioz wrote a choral symphony, Romeo and Juliet, dedicated to Paganini.

In 1844, Berlioz created "Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration", which is not just a technical manual, it served as an introduction to the aesthetics of expression in music for generations to come. Among Berlioz's dramatic works, The Damnation of Faust (1846) and The Nativity (1854) are world-famous.

Date and place of birt:11 december 1803, La Côte-Saint-André, France
Date and place of death:8 march 1869, Paris, France
Period of activity: XIX century
Specialization:Composer, Critic, Writer
Art style:Romanticism

Creators Romanticism

Henry Carre Tucker (1812 - 1875)
Henry Carre Tucker
1812 - 1875
Charles-Nicolas Odiot (1789 - 1868)
Charles-Nicolas Odiot
1789 - 1868
Charles Jacques (1879 - 1959)
Charles Jacques
1879 - 1959
Giuseppe Bisi (1787 - 1869)
Giuseppe Bisi
1787 - 1869
Benjamin Marshall (1768 - 1835)
Benjamin Marshall
1768 - 1835
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
Felix Mendelssohn
1809 - 1847
Robert Barker (1739 - 1806)
Robert Barker
1739 - 1806
Julius Uschner (1805 - 1885)
Julius Uschner
1805 - 1885
Pietro Metastasio (1698 - 1782)
Pietro Metastasio
1698 - 1782
Selina Bracebridge (1800 - 1874)
Selina Bracebridge
1800 - 1874
Martha Darley Mutrie (1824 - 1885)
Martha Darley Mutrie
1824 - 1885
George Francklin Atkinson (1822 - 1859)
George Francklin Atkinson
1822 - 1859
Fritz Georg Sigfried Melbye (1826 - 1869)
Fritz Georg Sigfried Melbye
1826 - 1869
Augustus Wijnantz (1795 - 1848)
Augustus Wijnantz
1795 - 1848
Antoine Joseph Wiertz (1806 - 1865)
Antoine Joseph Wiertz
1806 - 1865
Frederick Nash (1782 - 1856)
Frederick Nash
1782 - 1856
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