1. Hector Berlioz

2. Berlioz (Write down dark text) Born in France
Began studying music at age 12
Was not a prodigy like many other composers of his day
Never learned to play the piano
Proficient at guitar, flageolet, & flute

3. Academics
After finishing high school, he went to Paris to study medicine.
While in Paris, he became interested in opera and he began studying composition.
His father was so furious with Berlioz’s distraction with music that he cut off financial support.
After three years of medical school, he quit to pursue his music career.
Two years later he entered the Paris Conservatory to formally study music.

4. Berlioz’s Angst
11 January “Oh if only I did not suffer so much! … So many musical ideas are seething within me … Now that I have broken the chains of routine, I see an immense territory stretching before me, which academic rules forbade me to enter. Now that I have heard that awe-inspiring giant Beethoven, I realise what point the art of music has reached; it’s a question of taking it up at that point and carrying it further – no, not further, that’s impossible, he attained the limits of art, but as far in another direction…..”

5. “…There are new things, many new things to be done, I feel it with an immense energy, and I shall do it, have no doubt, if I live. Oh, must my entire destiny be engulfed by this overpowering passion? … If on the other hand it turned out well, everything I’ve suffered would enhance my musical ideas. I would work non-stop … my powers would be tripled, a whole new world of music would spring fully armed from my brain or rather from my heart, to conquer that which is most precious for an artist, the approval of those capable of appreciating him.
Time lies before me, and I am still living; with life and time great events may come to pass.”

6. Journal Question
Did Berlioz struggle with acceptance from the world of fine composers?
What was he afraid of writing?

7. The woman who inspired Berlioz…. Irish actress Harriet Smithson

8. Music Credited for creating the modern orchestra
His new style of composition led directly to the Romantic Period of music.
Wrote Symphonie Fantastique, which brought him much fame
Here’s the link for the 1st movement: