Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Movement 1 Flashcards
Whalen was Berlioz alive?
1803-69
Romantic
What key element is used in symphonie fantastique?
Idée fixe (reoccurring motif, appears in different guises, acts as a unifying thread)
How is the score layed out?
Woodwind
Brass
Percussion
Strings
Each section highest sounding to lowest
This is a transposing score. What does that mean?
Notes written as players would see them
Not as they sound at concert pitch
So different key signatures
How many mivements are there?
How many was it usual to have at the time for symphonies?
5
4
What does the idée fixe represent?
His beloved
The idée fixe is heard in every movement, each time in a different form with variations in…
Harmony
Rhythm
Tempo
Instrumental colour
What was the idée fixe an early version of?
Leitmotiv
What form usually used for symphonies did Berlioz use?
Sonata
Describe the sonata form
Exposition (repeated)
Development
Recapitulation (revisit exposition with variations)
How is Berlioz’s use of the sonata form different?
Used more freely
When is the idée fixe first heard?
Start of the allegro (bar 72)
How is the idée fixe first played?
Legato
Violins and solo flute
Sometimes unaccompanied
How is the idée fixe played in bar 410?
Ff
Woodwind and cornets
Hectic quaver accompaniment in strings
What moments alternate with each other?
Passionate frenzy
Tenderness
