Berlioz Flashcards
Where and when was Berlioz born?
He was born in 1803 in Cote Sainte Andre, France
What was Berlioz’s first musical trainings?
His father, a physician taught him the flute and the guitar at the age of 12 and after abandoning his medical studies in 1824, he studied music full time
Who were Berlioz’s romantic interests?
He was obsessed with English actress Harriet Smithson and was briefly engaged to pianist Camille Marie Moke
What was Berlioz’s involvement with the Prix de Rome?
He won it and escaped the French Revolution, but not before he met Franz Liszt
What did Berlioz do after Rome?
After he preformed Symphonie Fantastique to a lot of famous people, including Frederic Chopin, George Sand, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Franz Liszt, and Paganini, his love Harriet Smithson, his inspiration for Symphonie Fantastique showed up and they finally began a relationship. They then married in 1833 but since they didn’t even speak the same language, they divorced and Berlioz married his mistress, the singer Marie Recio in 1854. During this time, he also became a famous conductor
What did Berlioz do in his later years?
He became a music critic and writer , but being a composer, he was also a target of critics, even faking his name to conduct an experiment on whether or not the critics were only judging him on his personality, an experiment in which he was correct
Where and when did Berlioz die?
Berlioz died in Paris in 1869
What was Berlioz’s musical style?
Berlioz’s musical style was a unique one untied to the conventions of piano and included cyclical and programmatic elements, as well as utilizing instruments in new ways
What did Berlioz contribute to music?
He used instruments in new ways and displayed what music could be like without the piano
