Berlioz

Question 1

Context of Berlioz

Answer 1

• 1803-1869 was born near Grenoble
• He is regarded as the leading French Romantic composer of the first part of the 19th century associating with leading composers such as Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt (who made a piano transcription of of Symphonie fantastique )
• Unusually for his time he had no keyboard skills and just played guitar and flute which could have had an influence on his harmonic writing and melodic aspects of his writing.
• His works reveal a mastery of orchestral sonorities:

1. The symphony ‘Harold in Italy’ with viola obbligato written for Paganini (1834)
2. Romeo et Juiliette (1839)

• Berlioz toured widely and conducted his own works
• Many of his compositions reflect his literary interests, and he was a pioneer in the writing of programmatic music, a hallmark of the Romantic era
• He was also one of the earliest composers to write a considerable amount of music criticism

Memoires (1870)

Question 2

Context of Symphonie fantastique

Answer 2

• Composed very quickly in 1830 and first performed at the Paris Conservatoire on 5th December the same year
• Though retaining most typical features of the Classical symphony, the work was extended from the usual four movements to five
• It came at a time in his career when he was responding to a number of experiences, personal, musical and literary:

1. His infatuation with the Irish actress, Harriet Smithson
2. Shakespeare’s plays
3. Beethoven’s symphonies
4. Goethe’s Faust

Question 3

How did the Romantic split influence this work

Answer 3

• It is programmatic (tells a story) [in this case it is intended as a reproach to Harriet for ignoring him
• Its use of an expanded orchestra (two harps, cor anglais, Eb clarinet, bells, ophicleide [similar to tuba) - an unreliable bass trombone which subsequently he replaced with a tuba
• Use of special effects e.g. the off-stage oboe in the third movement, woodwind glissandi and col legno (strings play with the wood of the bow) in the fifth movement
• The innovative approach to formal design, with an idee fixe, a recurring musical theme which symbolises the loved one. The theme is subjected to quite a lot of variation depending on the programmatic content. This is similar to what Liszt used in his works and Wagner too with a leitmotif technique

Question 4

How does the symphony relate to Berlioz’s earlier works

Answer 4

• The theme at bar 3 of the first movement was taken from a setting of Florian’s ‘Je vais donc quitter pour jamais’ from Estelle et Nemorin
• The idee fixe (starting in bar 71) cane from Herminie, a cantata written in 1828
  1. Reveries - Passions

The composer imagines that a young musician sees for the first time a woman who possesses all the charms of the ideal being he has dreamed of, and falls desperately in love with her. The transition from a state of dreamy, melancholy, interrupted by several fits of joy.

Question 5

Describe the instrumentation (sonority)

Answer 5

• Large string section specified (at least 15 first violins, 15 second violins, 10 violas, 11 cellos and 9 double basses)
• The use of four rather than two bassoons
• The addition of cornets a pistons (valved brass instruments capable of playing chromatic notes)

Question 6

Describe the sonority

Answer 6

• Contrast of woodwind and horns (bars 1-2) with strings (bar 4 onwards)
• Use of mutes (bar 2)
• Pizzicato (bar 7)
• The frequent separation of cellos and double bass (e.g. bar 12)
• Hard drum sticks (bar 64)
• Violin melody doubled by flute to highlight the idee fixe (bar 71)
• Restrained use of orchestral tutti effects, the first of which only occurs at bar 409
• Berlioz divides the violin parts this time
• Measured tremolo at bar 461

Question 7

Describe the texture

Answer 7

• Melody dominated-homophony at bars 3-16
• Homorhythm (chords) at bars 511-525
• The idee fixe is introduced in monophony (bar 71)
• Melody frequently found is bass instruments (e.g. bar 166 onwards)
• Octave woodwinds answered by octave strings (bars 191-197)
• Broken chord accompaniment in low strings at bar 285 onwards
• Heterophony at bar 410 with violin line embroidering the idee fixe in violas, cornets and upper winds

Question 8

Describe the Dynamics

Answer 8

Berlioz covers a dynamic range from ppp to FF

• Notice the extent to which he allocates different dynamics at the same point e.g. the timpani pp at bar 511 in contrast to the ppp in the rest of the orchestra

Question 9

Describe the tempo, metre and rhythm

Answer 9

• A slow introduction (Largo) is followed by a much faster Allegro agitato e appassionato (from bar 64) for the main part of the movement
• There are frequent variations in tempo, e.g. animez (94) and retenu (bar 100)