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

Fritzi Löw (1892 - 1975)
Fritzi Löw
1892 - 1975
Carl Morgenstern (1811 - 1893)
Carl Morgenstern
1811 - 1893
Jakob Grünenwald (1821 - 1896)
Jakob Grünenwald
1821 - 1896
Edmund John Niemann (1813 - 1876)
Edmund John Niemann
1813 - 1876
Robert Willoughby (1768 - 1843)
Robert Willoughby
1768 - 1843
Tomas Aceves (XIX century - ?)
Tomas Aceves
XIX century - ?
Jean Louis van Kuyck (1821 - 1871)
Jean Louis van Kuyck
1821 - 1871
Auguste Frédéric Dufaux II (1852 - 1943)
Auguste Frédéric Dufaux II
1852 - 1943
Jacques Étienne Victor Arago (1790 - 1855)
Jacques Étienne Victor Arago
1790 - 1855
Karl Roux (1826 - 1894)
Karl Roux
1826 - 1894
Leopold Kupelwizer (1796 - 1862)
Leopold Kupelwizer
1796 - 1862
Salomon Corrodi (1810 - 1892)
Salomon Corrodi
1810 - 1892
Alois Bubak (1824 - 1870)
Alois Bubak
1824 - 1870
Eugène François Devéria (1805 - 1865)
Eugène François Devéria
1805 - 1865
Carl Wilhelm Hübner (1814 - 1879)
Carl Wilhelm Hübner
1814 - 1879
Rudolf Karl Gottfried Geißler (1834 - 1906)
Rudolf Karl Gottfried Geißler
1834 - 1906
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