Hector Berlioz – Biography of Hector Berlioz

Louis Hector Berlioz He was born on December 11, 1803, at La Cote-Saint-Andre, in Isère, near Grenoble, France; his father was a physician known to be one of the first to experience acupuncture in Europe.

Héctor began studying music at the age of twelve, writing modest arrangements and compositions. Due to his father’s efforts to dissuade him from such endeavor, he soon abandoned his piano studies; however, she became a very good guitarist and flutist. Self-taught, he learned harmony only from textbooks, without receiving any formal instruction: his first compositions are especially romances and chamber works.

When he was twelve, young Berlioz fell in love with an eighteen-year-old girl, Estelle Fornier, his neighbor. At the same time, he learned to read Virgil’s works in Latin, translating them into French with the help of his father.

After completing high school in his native country, he was sent to Paris by his father, with the intention of studying medicine. Soon, however, Berlioz He realized that scientific studies were not for him, and decided to leave the faculty favoring the conservatory, although he had to suffer ostracism from his father who, considering that he did not respect his will, deprived him of the financial means necessary for his stay in Paris. Hector, then looked for work and was employed in the theater of the Dramatic Gymnasium as a member of the choir. Of this period is the “Messe solennelle“while in 1825 he began to write”Les francs-juges“, which ended the following year, although it was never performed.

From 1826, Hector he studied composition with the teacher Jean-François Le Sueur and with Anton Reicha; He also sent a “fugue” to participate in the Prix de Rome, recognition that the French State granted to young people who distinguished themselves in the arts, but his work was discarded; As a result, the desire to win that award became almost an obsession for him until 1830, when his cantata finally reached that goal.

In 1827 he composed the overture “Waverley“and began working at the Odeon Theater, along with Irish actress Harriet Smithson, on some performances of William Shakespeare. In love with the actress, Berlioz began flooding Harriet’s hotel room with love letters, which confused and even terrified to the recipient, who, in fact, never surrendered to her courtship.

In 1828 Berlioz he listened to the third and fifth symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven at the Paris Conservatoire, and was very enthusiastic; at the same time, he first read the “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which became a source of inspiration for “Huit Scènes de Fausto“, which would later become”The Damnation of Faust“.

He deepened his knowledge of Beethoven’s works and began – meanwhile – to study the English language, so that he could easily read Shakespeare; Furthermore, he began writing as a music critic. In 1830 he composed the “Symphonie fantastique“, a work that gave him notoriety and fame.

In 1830, after having arranged “The marsellesa“and compose an overture for”The Tempest“of Shakespeare performed at the Paris Opera, he met Franz Liszt, with whom he began a long and deep friendship.

On December 30, 1831, Hector left France for Rome, because the Prix de Rome stated that the winners had to spend two years studying in the Italian capital. There he had the opportunity to write several works destined to achieve success.

During his stay on the Italian peninsula, he lived at the French Academy at Villa Medici; although he was, however, very disappointed in Rome, which he described as “lto the most stupid and prosaic of cities I know, no room for anyone with a head or a heart. “Also for this reason, he tried several times to get away, to visit the surroundings: during one of these trips he had the opportunity to meet a group of Italian patriots who resided in France eager to unify the country. To these years belong, among other things, the overture of “The Lear King“, composed in Nice, and”Rob roy“.
Later, Berlioz traveled and visited Pompeii, Naples, Milan, Tivoli, Florence, Turin, and Genoa;

Berlioz He returned to Paris in November 1832. In France he met Ernest Legouvé, whom he became friends with, and eventually began an affair with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, despite language difficulties: he, in fact, did not understand English while she didn’t know any French. However, the couple was married on October 3, 1833 in a civil ceremony held at the British Embassy: Liszt was also among the witnesses. The following year, Harriet gave birth to their only son, Louis.

In the following decades, the musical production of Berlioz he enriched himself with new works, despite some ups and downs, and with rhythms decidedly lower than those of his youth. In March 1854, Hector suffered a severe blow with the death of Harriet; the following year she met Richard Wagner, although the relationship soon cooled off. In the last years of his life, Berlioz traveled to Russia.

He died on March 8, 1869 in Paris, at the age of 66.