berlioz Flashcards
dates
1803-1869
family background
- father was a physician
education
- began music studies at age twelve-guitar and flute
- studied medicine in Paris, lost interest. parents were disappointed.
- began. formal studies at the Paris conservatoire
- admirer of Beethoven
- after three failed attempts, won the Prix de Rome, highest honour awarded to composition students. Required to live and study in Rome
career launched with the premiere of _________
symphonie fantastique
met ________ and began an important friendship that would last for decades
franz liszt
married shakespearean actress +_________ the inspiration for symphonie fantastique. They had a son
harriet smithson
successful career as a _______
conductor
prolific_____, ______, and ______
writer, critic and author
awarded the ______
legion d’honneur, highest decoration in france
separated with Harriet and got with
Marie Recio
Died ___________ buried with both wives in Montmartre cemetery
march 8 1869
Musical style and contributions
- individual and iconoclastic, non pianist, freely explored orchestral writing on his own terms
- reader
- influenced by Beethoven
- original approach to orchestration
- expanded size and configuration of the orchestra
- preferred large scale forms, wrote few small works
- embraced programmatic writing
- with Wagner and Liszt, advocated music of the future, modern aesthetic embracing progressive chromatic harmony, thematic transformation and cyclical forms.
genres
program symphonies, concert overtures, orchestral with voice, operas, choral, oratorio