Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Music #357 - Berlioz

[ɛk'tɔʁ bɛʁ'ljoːz]   /BARE-lee-O’s/  
(1803-1869)
The first major composer who was not an instrumental performer, Berlioz became one of the first modern conductors, and made the orchestra his instrument.

The Damnation of Faust / La damnation de Faust 

Originally a slow and sad song by an unknown writer, it was then frequently rewritten to various tempos and versions, and named after Prince Rakoczy, a Hungarian national hero. 
        Berlioz rewrote it as a Hungarian March for concerto, and made it the 4th song in Part 1 of his operatic Damnation of Faust. 
        Here, the aging scholar Faust (as Goethe’s Faust) hears an army marching past in the distance.   
 



Symphonie Fantastique 

"Episode in the Life of an Artist"

The Fantastic Symphony has 5 movements:
1. Rêveries - Passions Daydreams - Passions 
– day-dreaming for love
2. Un bal / A ball 
– meeting the dream girl
3. Scène aux champs Scene in the Country 
– passion of love; pain of failure; killing the girl
4. Marche au supplice / March to the Scaffold 
– for the crime of killing 
stage performance        score
5. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat Dream of a Witches' Sabbath
 




Te Deum 

Berlioz placed the orchestra and chorus at the opposite end of the church to the organ for the musical effect.



Grande messe des morts / Requiem

Forceful and vivid setting, with massive orchestra including 12 horns, 16 timpani, and 4 brass ensembles.


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