Hector Berlioz
Louis-Hector Berlioz ; ; .|group=n}} (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold in Italy'', choral pieces including the Requiem and ''L'Enfance du Christ'', his three operas ''Benvenuto Cellini'', ''Les Troyens'' and ''Béatrice et Bénédict'', and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" ''Roméo et Juliette'' and the "dramatic legend" ''La Damnation de Faust''.
The elder son of a provincial physician, Berlioz was expected to follow his father into medicine, and he attended a Parisian medical college before defying his family by taking up music as a profession. His independence of mind and refusal to follow traditional rules and formulas put him at odds with the conservative musical establishment of Paris. He briefly moderated his style sufficiently to win France's premier music prize – the Prix de Rome – in 1830, but he learned little from the academics of the Paris Conservatoire. Opinion was divided for many years between those who thought him an original genius and those who viewed his music as lacking in form and coherence.
At the age of twenty-four Berlioz fell in love with the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, and he pursued her obsessively until she finally accepted him seven years later. Their marriage was happy at first but eventually foundered. Harriet inspired his first major success, the ''Symphonie fantastique'', in which an idealised depiction of her occurs throughout.
Berlioz completed three operas, the first of which, ''Benvenuto Cellini'', was an outright failure. The second, the epic ''Les Troyens'' (The Trojans), was so large in scale that it was never staged in its entirety during his lifetime. His last opera, ''Béatrice et Bénédict''based on Shakespeare's comedy ''Much Ado About Nothing''was a success at its premiere but did not enter the regular operatic repertoire. Meeting only occasional success in France as a composer, Berlioz increasingly turned to conducting, in which he gained an international reputation. He was highly regarded in Germany, Britain and Russia both as a composer and as a conductor. To supplement his earnings he wrote musical journalism throughout much of his career; some of it has been preserved in book form, including his ''Treatise on Instrumentation'' (1844), which was influential in the 19th and 20th centuries. Berlioz died in Paris at the age of 65. Provided by Wikipedia
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1964
Published 1964
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1956
Published 1956
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1960
Published 1960
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1973
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“...Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869...”Published 1973
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1955
Published 1955
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1954
Published 1954
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1971
Published 1971
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1972
Published 1972
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1962
Published 1962
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1971
Published 1971
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1961
Published 1961
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1978
Published 1978
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1969
Published 1969
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1962
Published 1962
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1954
Published 1954
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1970
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1963
Published 1963
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1984
Published 1984
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1958
Published 1958
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by Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869
Published 1970
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“...Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869...”Published 1970
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