Hector Berlioz Flashcards

1
Q

Information About Him (15)

A
  • (1803-1869)
  • born near Lyon, France
  • father was a doctor
  • took music lessons as a child
  • sent to Paris to study medicine, but didn’t like it
  • switched to Paris Conservatory
  • won the Prix de Rome
  • in 1830, his career was launched with Symphonie fantastique
  • became friends with Liszt
  • met actress Harriet Smithson and later married her
  • had a son named Louis
  • traveled as a conductor
  • was a composer and writer
  • received the Légion d’honneur
  • in 1844, left his wife and met singer Marie Recio but didn’t marry her until Harriet died
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

His Style and Contributions (9)

A
  • was an innovative orchestrator by expanding the orchestra and adding new effects
  • wrote program music
  • chromatic harmony
  • program symphonies: Symphonie fantastique, Harold in Italy, Romeo and Juliet
  • concert overtures: Waverley, Rob Roy, Le Corsair, King Lear
  • song cycle: Les nuits d’été
  • operas: Les Troyens, Béatrice et Bénédict, Benvenuto Cellini
  • choral works: La damnation de Faust, Te Deum, Requiem
  • oratorio: L’enfance du Christ
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Important Work: Symphonie Fantastique (3)

A
  • subtitled (in English): “Episode in the Life of an Artist”
  • program is a lovesick artist who takes opium and has hallucinations
  • five movements
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

First Movement of Symphonie Fantastique (4)

A
  • “Reveries, Passions”
  • in C minor and C major
  • slow and then fast
  • introduces idée fixe which represents the artist’s beloved
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Second Movement of Symphonie Fantastique (5)

A
  • “A Ball”
  • in A major
  • allegro
  • in 3/8 time
  • artist sees his beloved at a dance
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Third Movement of Symphonie Fantastique (5)

A
  • “Scene in the Fields”
  • in F major
  • slow
  • in 6/8 time
  • artist is in the countryside and is thinking of his beloved, hears shepherds
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Fourth Movement of Symphonie Fantastique (5)

A
  • “March to the Scaffold”
  • in G minor
  • allegretto
  • in 4/4 time
  • artist dreams he killed his beloved and is being executed
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Fifth Movement of Symphonie Fantastique (16)

A
  • “Dream of a Witch’s Sabbath”
  • in C minor
  • slow and then fast
  • in 4/4 time but then in 6/8
  • at a witch’s Sabbath, monsters and witches around (Halloween)
  • new key: E-flat major
  • idée fixe is played by clarinet in 6/8 time with trills and grace notes to represent his beloved as a witch
  • example of thematic transformation
  • bells
  • melody from Dies irae is heard by the bassoons and ophicléide
  • “Dance of the Witches”:
  • in C major
  • in 6/8 time
  • has fugal texture
  • combines the Dies irae theme and the witches’ dance
  • col legno effect used
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly