Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians. He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many...
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quick facts

Birthdate:	December 11, 1803
Birthplace:	La Côte-Saint-André
Date of death:	March 8, 1869
Also known as:	H. Berlioz, Berlioz, Hector, Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869)

Hector Berlioz Image Gallery

Cabinet card photo of Hector Berlioz by Franck, Paris, ca. 1855.	Drawing of Berlioz conducting a choir by Gustave Dor , published in Journal pour rire, June 27, 1850
Lithograph of Berlioz by August Prinzhofer, Vienna, 1845. Berlioz considered this to be a good liken...	Last photograph of Berlioz, 1868
Painting of a young Berlioz by mile Signol, 1832. Owned by the French Academy, Rome. Also in a repr...	Photograph of Berlioz by Nadar, January 1857
First page of original Symphonie fantastique (1830) manuscript	Drawing of Harriet Smithson as Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet

Written works by Hector Berlioz

Treatise on Instrumentation
Mémoires
childhood of Christ
Beethoven
art of music and other essays =

Title	Published	Genre
Treatise on Instrumentation	1844	Textbook
Mémoires	1969	Autobiography
childhood of Christ
Beethoven
art of music and other essays =
Hector Berlioz
Souvenirs de voyages
Grande ouverture de l'opéra Benvenuto Cellini
Memoiren
Requiem
vie de Berlioz racontée par Berlioz
Lebenserinnerungen
prise de Troie
Requiem, Op. 5
années romantiques, 1819-1842
orchestral conductor
New edition of the complete works
chef d'orchestre
mort d'Orphée
Troyens à Carthage
Lelio; or, The return to life
Lettres à la princesse
Te Deum
Requiem in Full Score
Berlioz
Fantastic symphony
Te Deum
musiciens et la musique
soirées de l'orchestre
Fausts Verdammung
Les Musiciens and La Musique
Trojans in Carthage
L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25, In Full Score
Memorie
Grand Traite D'Instrumentation and D'Orchestration Modernes, Nouvelle Edition
Voyage musical en Allemagne et en Italie
Correspondance inédite de Hector Berlioz--1819-1868
Berlioz Memoirs Hector Berlioz (The Norton library
Drei Orchesterstücke aus Fausts Verdammung
Grande traite d'instrumentation et d'orchestration
Damnation de Faust d'Hector Berlioz
Gesammelte Schriften von Hector Berlioz
Schriften
Critique musicale t.3
Troyens
Elisabeth
Mémoires
Rimskiǐ karnaval
anne es romantiques, 1819-1842
The Musical Madhouse
Les Grotesques de La Musique
Mémoires de Hector Berlioz comprenant ses voyages en Italie, en Allemagne, en Russie et en Angleterre, 1803-1865
New letters of Berlioz, 1830-1868
Harold en Italie
UN Bal Et Marche Au Supplice
grotesques de la musique
Life and Letters of Hector Berlioz
Memoirs
Memoirs of Hector Berlioz from 1803 to 1865
Mozart, Weber and Wagner
Te Deum à trois choeurs
Evenings in the orchestra
Reverie and Caprice
Trojans
The Life, as Written by Himself in His Letters and Memoirs
Cauchemars et passions
Symphony No. 3, Op. 55
Gluck & his operas, with an account of their relation to musical art
Les Troyens
Selected letters of Berlioz
Instrumentationslehre
heure de musique avec Hector Berlioz
life of Hector Berlioz as written by himself in his letters & memoirs
Les Soirees de L'Orchestre
Euphonia ou la ville musicale
Requiem Mass and Te Deum in Full Score
Soirées de l'orchestre
Uvertiura k opere Beatriche i Benedikt
A travers chants
Briefe von Hector Berlioz an die Fürstin Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein
Autobiography of Hector Berlioz
Romeo and Juliet
conductor; the theory of his art
nuits d'été
Traité d'instrumentation et d'orchestration
A critical study of Beethoven's nine symphonies
Eleven unpublished letters, 1830-1864
The trojans
Beatrice and Benedick
Benvenuto Cellini
Berlioz's orchestration treatise
Hector Berlioz
The life of Hector Berlioz
A treatise upon modern instrumentation and orchestration
La damnation de Faust
Béatrice et Bénédict
Les Nuits d'ete
Harold en Italie, Symphonie avec un alto principal en 4 parties
Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9

Birthplace of Hector Berlioz

La Côte-Saint-André

La Côte-Saint-André is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.

Places Hector Berlioz has lived

Map showing Places Lived by Hector Berlioz

Marker	Location
A	Rhône-Alpes

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:
What category of music does Hector Berlioz play?
A:
Musical tracks by Hector Berlioz are in the romantic music genre.
Q:
Which album titles have been recorded by Hector Berlioz?
A:
The following records were released:
- Te Deum (London Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, Wooburn Singers & European Community Youth Orchestra feat. conductor: Claudio Abbado)
- Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Enrique Bátiz)
- Harold in Italy / Les Francs-Juges (San Diego Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: Rivka Golani)
- French Symphonies (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Sir Yehudi Menuhin) (disc 1)
- L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (Monteverdi Choir & Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon feat. conductor: John Eliot Gardiner)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 (Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam feat. conductor: Sir Colin Davis)
- La damnation de Faust (London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Ambrosian Singers & Wandsworth School Boys' Choir feat. conductor: Sir Colin Davis)
Q:
What is Hector Berlioz quoted as saying?
A:
A famous quote is, "Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down."
Q:
Where was Hector Berlioz born?
A:
Hector Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André.
Q:
In what line of work did Hector Berlioz specialize?
A:
Hector Berlioz was an accomplished music critic, composer, conductor and author.
Q:
Who was an influence on Hector Berlioz?
A:
Ludwig van Beethoven and Thomas de Quincey inspired Hector Berlioz.

Quotes

Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.
- Hector Berlioz

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Hector Berlioz

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