Symphonie fantastique (Hector Berlioz) Flashcards
date
1830
genre
program symphony
performing forces
expanded symphony orchestra
structure
5 movements
plot summary
a lovesick artist takes opium in an attempt to commit suicide; the drug, too weak to kill him, puts him into a deep sleep. We glimpse his reams and nightmares which are haunted by visions of his beloved
inspiration
longstanding infatuation with actress Harriet Smithson; revolutionary climate of the time, including public executions; controversial literary works
idée fixe
“the beloved”
1: name
Rêveries, Passions
1: key
C minor, shifts to C major
1: tempo
Largo, later becoming Allegro agitato e appassionato assai (at the idée fixe)
1: time signature
C
1: program
in his drugged stupor, the weary musician recalls the yearning and passion that his beloved ignited in him.
1: idée fixe
introduced by the 1st violins and oboes
2: name
Un bal
2: key
A major
2: tempo
Allegro non troppo
2: time signature
3/8 (waltz)
2: program
he dreams that he is attending a glittering ball, and glimpses his beloved
2: instrumentation
oboe, english horn, and at least 4 harps?
3: name
Scène aux champs
3: key
F major
3: tempo
adagio
3: time signature
6/8
3: program
he escapes to the countryside in search of tranquility. While he listens to the lonely piping of shepherds his thoughts return to the beloved and his soul is filled with foreboding
3: instrumentation
oboe and english horn portray the shepherd’s lament
4: name
March au supplice
4: key
G minor
4: tempo
allegretto non troppo
4: time signature
C
4: program
in a fit of passion he has killed his beloved and been sentenced to death. He is marched to the scaffold for his execution. As his head is laid on the chopping block, his last thought is of his beloved. That thought is interrupted by the fall of the blade, and his severed head tumbles to the ground
4: intrumentation
pizzicatto strings (2 descending notes) to represent the head
5: name
Songe d’une nuit de sabbat
5: key
C minor, then E flat major (idée fixe), C minor (Dies irae), C major (dance)
5: tempo
begins Larghetto but later changes to Allegro
5: time signature
begins in 4/4
5: program
he sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a horrible gathering for his funeral. His beloved arrives, and she joins the diabolical orgy. The funeral knell tolls, a burlesque parody of the Dies irae, combining with the dance of the witches.
5: introduction mood
a strange and sinister setting: dissonance, tremolo strings, strange rhythms, ornaments (glissando flutes and oboe)
5: transformation
thematic transformation: idée fixe sounds vulgar and grotesque
5: foreshadowing
foreshadowing of the “dance of the witches” by cloches on tonic and dominant notes
5: dance of the witches
fugal texture, mocking tone heightened by syncopated chords, jarring dissonance, col legno
Characteristics of romanticism
- Programmatic writing
- chromatic harmonies and dissonance
- Recurring themes (idée fixe)
- Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch
- Expanded orchestra?
Review and Reflection
cyclical structure, expanded dynamic range (more specific markings), expanded orchestra
