Hector Berlioz remained in the history of music as a vivid representative of the romantic era of the 19th century, who managed to connect music with other forms of art.
Childhood
Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803 in a small French town near Grenoble. The mother of the future composer was a zealous Catholic, and her father was a convinced atheist. Louis-Joseph Berlioz did not recognize any authority and tried to instill his views in children. It was he who influenced to a greater extent the formation of the vital interests of the oldest child in the family - Hector. A doctor by profession, Louis Joseph was interested in art, philosophy, and literature. The father instilled in the boy a love of music and taught him how to play the guitar and flute. However, he saw the future of his son in medicine. That is why Berlioz Sr. did not teach Hector to play the piano, believing that this could distract from his main goal - to become a doctor.
Folk songs, myths, the chant of the church choir in the local monastery became vivid impressions of the childhood of the future composer. Hector's full interest in music was fully manifested at the age of 12. Spending a lot of time in his father’s library, he received musical knowledge on his own. So gradually formed Berlioz-composer, who was supposed to revolutionize music.
Study
At the age of 18, having graduated from high school in his native Grenoble and having received a bachelor's degree, Hector Berlioz, at the insistence of his father, went to Paris to enter the medical faculty. The passion for music did not leave the young man, and he spent more time in the library of the Paris Conservatory than in the classrooms of the university. Moreover, having visited for the first time at the autopsy, the young man began to feel an aversion to medicine. Later, Hector Berlioz began to take lessons from a professor at the Conservatory in composition theory. The first public appearance took place in 1825. Parisians heard the solemn mass. Berlioz’s life after this has changed little, since the young composer could not immediately win the hearts of the inhabitants of the French capital. Moreover, many critics spoke very negatively about the Mass.
Despite this, the young man, having finally realized that music is the main occupation of life for him, left medicine in 1826 and entered the conservatory to study, which he successfully completed in 1830.
Journalism
The first works in journalism by Berlioz appeared in 1823. Gradually, he entered the artistic life of Paris. There is a rapprochement with Balzac, Dumas, Heine, Chopin and other prominent representatives of the creative intelligentsia. For a long time, Berlioz tried himself in the field of musical criticism.
Life in Paris
In 1827, an English theater troupe toured the French capital. Berlioz fell in love with the talented actress of the troupe Harriet Smithson. She was very popular among the public, and a little-known student of the conservatory was of little interest to her. Wanting to attract attention, Berlioz began to seek fame in the musical field. At this time he writes cantatas, songs and other works, but fame does not come, and Harriet does not pay attention to Berlioz. In material terms, his life is not arranged. Official music critics of Berlioz did not favor, his works often met with misunderstanding of contemporaries. Three times he was refused a scholarship, giving the right to travel to Rome. However, after graduating from the conservatory, Berlioz still received it.
Marriage and personal life
After receiving a scholarship, Berlioz leaves for Italy for three years. In Rome, he met with the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka.
In 1832, while in Paris, Berlioz again meets Harriet Smithson. By this time, her theatrical life had come to sunset. Public interest in the performances of the English troupe began to decline. In addition, an accident happened with the actress - she broke her leg. Now the young woman is no longer the windy coquette she was before, and she is no longer afraid of the routine of marriage.
After a year they get married, but Hector Berlioz very soon realizes that lack of money is one of the most insidious enemies of love. He has to work all day to provide for his family, and creativity is left with only one night.
In general, the personal life of the famous composer can hardly be called happy. After he left his studies at the medical faculty, there was a break with his father, who wanted to see only a doctor in his son. As for Harriet, she was not ready to endure hardships, and soon they parted. Having married for the second time, Hector Berlioz, whose biography is full of tragic pages, does not long indulge in the joys of a quiet family life and remains a widower. To top it all off, the only son from his first marriage dies in a shipwreck.
Berlioz as a conductor
The only thing that saves the musician from despair is his work. Berlioz toured Europe a lot as a conductor, performing both his works and the works of his contemporaries. He has the greatest success in Russia, where he comes twice. He performs in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Hector Berlioz: works
The composer's work was not appreciated by his contemporaries. Only after the death of Berlioz it became clear that the world had lost a musical genius, whose works were full of faith in the triumph of justice and humanistic ideas.
The most famous works of the author were the symphonies “Harold in Italy” and “Corsair”, inspired by a passion for Byron's work during his life in Italy, and “Romeo and Juliet”, in which he expressed his understanding of the tragedy of the heroes of Shakespeare. The composer created a lot of such works that were written on the topic of the day. For example, such was the cantata "Greek Revolution", dedicated to the fight against the Ottoman yoke.
But the main work, thanks to which Hector Berlioz became known, is The Fantastic Symphony, written in 1830. It was after its premiere that the most progressive critics drew attention to Berlioz.
According to the author, the young musician is trying to poison himself because of unrequited love. However, the dose of opium is small, and the hero falls into a dream. In his sick imagination, feelings and memories turn into musical images, and the girl becomes a melody heard from everywhere. The idea of the symphony is largely autobiographical, and many contemporaries considered Harriet to be the prototype of the girl.
Now you know what biography Berlioz had. The composer was ahead of his time, and the whole depth of his work was revealed to lovers of classical music and specialists only after many years. In addition, the composer became an innovator in the field of orchestration and in the joint use of some instruments that had not previously been used in solo parts.