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

Louis Catoir (1792 - 1841)
Louis Catoir
1792 - 1841
Karl Wilhelm von Heideck (1788 - 1861)
Karl Wilhelm von Heideck
1788 - 1861
Louis Victor Legentile (1815 - 1889)
Louis Victor Legentile
1815 - 1889
Sidney Richard Percy (1822 - 1886)
Sidney Richard Percy
1822 - 1886
Viktor Weishaupt (1848 - 1905)
Viktor Weishaupt
1848 - 1905
Louis Rémy Mignot (1831 - 1870)
Louis Rémy Mignot
1831 - 1870
William Daniell (1769 - 1837)
William Daniell
1769 - 1837
Albert Kindler (1833 - 1876)
Albert Kindler
1833 - 1876
Philip Reinagle (1749 - 1833)
Philip Reinagle
1749 - 1833
Samuel Palmer (1805 - 1881)
Samuel Palmer
1805 - 1881
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814 - 1841)
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov
1814 - 1841
Georg Perlberg (1807 - 1884)
Georg Perlberg
1807 - 1884
Louis Gurlitt (1812 - 1897)
Louis Gurlitt
1812 - 1897
Yaroslav Chermak (1831 - 1878)
Yaroslav Chermak
1831 - 1878
James Holland (1799 - 1870)
James Holland
1799 - 1870
Rebecca Rush (1779 - 1850)
Rebecca Rush
1779 - 1850
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