' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'')
Op. 14, is a
program symphony written by the French composer
Hector Berlioz
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
in 1830. It is an important piece of the early
Romantic period. The first performance was at the
Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
on 5 December 1830.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
made a piano transcription of the symphony in 1833 (S. 470).
The American composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
described the symphony as the first musical expedition into
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature, and because history suggests Berlioz composed at least a portion of it under the influence of
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
. According to Bernstein, "Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral."
Berlioz put a great deal of emotion into the piece, exploring the extremities of many ends of the emotional spectrum. He wanted people to understand his intentions behind it as they were the driving factor behind each movement and the story he attaches to the different parts of the piece. Berlioz said "For this reason I generally find it extremely painful to hear my works conducted by someone other than myself."
In 1831 Berlioz wrote a lesser-known sequel to the work, ''
Lélio
''Lélio, ou Le retour à la vie'' (English: ''Lélio, or the Return to Life'') Op. 14b, is a work incorporating music and spoken text by the French composer Hector Berlioz, intended as a sequel to his '' Symphonie fantastique''. It is written ...
'', for actor, soloists, chorus, piano and orchestra.
Overview
' is a piece of
program music
Program music or programatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program note ...
that tells the story of an artist gifted with a lively imagination who has poisoned himself with
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
in the depths of despair because of hopeless, unrequited love. Berlioz provided his own preface and
program notes
A concert program is a selection and ordering, or programming, of pieces to be performed at an occasion, or concert. Programs may be influenced by the available ensemble of instruments, by performer ability or skill, by theme ( historical, progra ...
for each movement of the work. They exist in two principal versions – one from 1845 in the first score of the work and the second from 1855.
[Translation of Berlioz's program notes to the ''Symphonie fantastique''](_blank)
/ref> From the revised preface and notes, it can be seen how Berlioz, later in his life, downplayed the programmatic aspect of the work.
In the first score from 1845, he writes:
In the 1855 preface, a different outlook towards the work's programmatic undertones is established by Berlioz:
Inspiration
After attending a performance of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' on 11 September 1827, Berlioz fell in love with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson
Harriet Constance Smithson (18 March 1800 – 3 March 1854), most commonly known as Harriet Smithson, who also went by Henrietta Constance Smithson,, Murphy, Groghegan, 2015 p.196. Harriet Smithson Berlioz, and Miss H.C. Smithson, was an Anglo- ...
, who had played the role of Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...
. He sent her numerous love letter
A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings.
History
One of the oldest references to a lo ...
s, all of which went unanswered. When she left Paris in 1829, they had still not met. Berlioz then wrote ''Symphonie fantastique'' as a way to express his unrequited love. There are many different portrayals of Harriet Smithson
Harriet Constance Smithson (18 March 1800 – 3 March 1854), most commonly known as Harriet Smithson, who also went by Henrietta Constance Smithson,, Murphy, Groghegan, 2015 p.196. Harriet Smithson Berlioz, and Miss H.C. Smithson, was an Anglo- ...
throughout the symphony. For example, the harsh narrative in the last two movements can be attributed to her rejection of him during this period of the composition. Smithson did not attend the premiere in 1830, but she heard the work in 1832 and realized Berlioz's genius. The two finally met and were married on 3 October 1833. However, their marriage became increasingly bitter, and they eventually separated after years of unhappiness.
Instrumentation
The score calls for an orchestra of about 90 musicians:
;Woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...
s
:
:
:
:4 bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s
;Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
:4 horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
:2 cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
s
:2 trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s
:3 trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
s
:
;Percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
:4 timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...
(played by four players)
:cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
s
:snare drum
The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...
(used in movement IV)
:bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
:bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
s in C and G
;Strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
:2 harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
s (used in movement II)
:violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s I, II
:viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
s
: celli
:double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
es
Berlioz specified at least 15 1st violins, 15 2nd violins, 10 violas, 11 celli and 9 basses on the score.
Berlioz originally wrote for one serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
and one ophicleide
The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th century France to extend the keyed bugle into the alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or B took root over the cours ...
, but quickly switched to two ophicleides after the serpent proved to be difficult to use.
Each of the 5 movements had a different make-up. Not all instruments are used in each movement. Berlioz was one of the first to employ such a huge orchestra, and his successors continue this trend.
Berlioz also brings unique instrumentation and playing techniques into the piece. The piece was one of the earliest symphonies where the English horn played a large role. He includes an imitative duet between an off-stage oboe and the English horn. Berlioz also utilizes col legno
In music for bowed string instrument
Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound.
Despite th ...
bowing for the strings, a technique used very infrequently by major composers during his career.
Movements
The symphony has five movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
, instead of four as was conventional for symphonies of the time:
Each movement depicts an episode in the protagonist's life that is described by Berlioz in the program notes to the 1845 score. These program notes are quoted in each section below.
I. "Rêveries – Passions" (Daydreams – Passions)
The first movement is radical in its harmonic outline, building a vast arch back to the home key; while similar to the sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
of the classical period, Parisian critics regarded this as unconventional. It is here that the listener is introduced to the theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
of the artist's beloved, or the ''idée fixe''. The ''idée fixe'' begins:
Throughout the movement there is a simplicity in the way melodies and themes are presented, which Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
likened to Beethoven's epigrams' ideas that could be extended had the composer chosen to. In part, it is because Berlioz rejected writing the more symmetrical melodies then in academic fashion, and instead looked for melodies that were "so intense in every note as to defy normal harmonization", as Schumann put it. The theme itself was taken from Berlioz's ''scène lyrique'' "Herminie", composed in 1828.[ Steinberg, Michael. "The Symphony: A Listener's Guide". pp. 61–66. Oxford University Press, 1995.]
II. "Un bal" (A ball)
The second movement is a waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
in . It begins with a mysterious introduction that creates an atmosphere of impending excitement, followed by a passage dominated by two harps; then the flowing waltz theme appears, derived from the ''idée fixe'' at first, then transforming it. More formal statements of the ''idée fixe'' twice interrupt the waltz.
The movement is the only one to feature the two harps, providing the glamour and sensual richness of the ball, and may also symbolize the object of the young man's affection. Berlioz wrote extensively in his memoirs of his trials and tribulations in having this symphony performed, due to a lack of capable harpists and harps, especially in Germany.
Another feature of this movement is that Berlioz added a part for solo cornet to his autograph score, although it was not included in the score published in his lifetime. The work has most often been played and recorded without the solo cornet part. However, conductors Jean Martinon
Jean Francisque-Étienne Martinon (usually known simply as Jean Martinon (); 10 January 19101 March 1976) was a French conductor and composer.
Biography
Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire ...
, Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...
, Otto Klemperer
Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
, Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera.
Early life
Dudamel was ...
, John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life and career
Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...
, Charles Mackerras
Mackerras in 2005
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Eng ...
, Jos van Immerseel
Jos Van Immerseel (born 9 November 1945) is a Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.
Van Immerseel studied organ, piano and harpsichord at the Antwerp Conservatory under Flor Peeters, Eugène Traey and harpsichordist and musicolo ...
and Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Early life and education
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
have employed this part for cornet in performances of the symphony.
III. "Scène aux champs" (Scene in the country)
The third movement is a slow movement, marked ''Adagio'', in . The two shepherds mentioned in the program notes are depicted by a cor anglais
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...
(English horn) and an offstage oboe tossing an evocative melody back and forth. After the cor anglais–oboe conversation, the principal theme of the movement appears on solo flute and violins. It begins with:
Berlioz salvaged this theme from his abandoned ''Messe solennelle''. The ''idée fixe'' returns in the middle of the movement, played by oboe and flute. The sound of distant thunder at the end of the movement is a striking passage for four timpani.
IV. "Marche au supplice" (March to the scaffold)
Berlioz claimed to have written the fourth movement in a single night, reconstructing music from an unfinished project, the opera '' Les francs-juges''. The movement begins with timpani sextuplets
A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...
in thirds, for which he directs: "The first quaver of each half-bar is to be played with two drumsticks, and the other five with the right hand drumsticks". The movement proceeds as a march filled with blaring horns and rushing passages, and scurrying figures that later show up in the last movement.
Before the musical depiction of his execution, there is a brief, nostalgic recollection of the ''idée fixe'' in a solo clarinet, as though representing the last conscious thought of the soon-to-be-executed man.
V. "Songe d'une nuit du sabbat" (Dream of a Night of the Sabbath)
This movement can be divided into sections according to tempo changes:
* The introduction is Largo, in common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
, creating an ominous quality through the copious use of diminished seventh chord
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the diminished seventh ...
s [Hovland, E. (2019, p20) “Who’s afraid of Berlioz?” ''Studia Musicologica Norvegica''. Vol 45, No. 1, pp9-30.] dynamic variations and instrumental effects, particularly in the strings (tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo.
The first is a rapid reiteration:
* Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...
s, pizzicato
Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument :
* On bowed ...
, sforzando).
* At bar 21, the tempo changes to Allegro and the metre to . The return of the ''idée fixe'' as a "vulgar dance tune" is depicted by the B clarinet. This is interrupted by an Allegro Assai section in cut time
''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C with a vertical line through it), which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian for "on the breve", originally meaning tha ...
at bar 29.
* The ''idée fixe'' then returns as a prominent E clarinet solo at bar 40, in and Allegro. The E clarinet contributes a sharper timbre than the B clarinet.
* At bar 80, there is one bar of ''alla breve
''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C with a vertical line through it), which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian for "on the breve", originally meaning th ...
'', with descending crotchets in unison through the entire orchestra. Again in , this section sees the introduction of the bells and fragments of the "witches' round dance".
*The " Dies irae" begins at bar 127, the motif derived from the 13th-century Latin sequence. It is initially stated in unison between the unusual combination of four bassoons and two ophicleides. The key, C minor, allows the bassoons to render the theme at the bottom of their range.
* At bar 222, the "witches' round dance" motif is repeatedly stated in the strings, to be interrupted by three syncopated notes in the brass. This leads into the ''Ronde du Sabbat'' (Sabbath Round) at bar 241, where the motif is finally expressed in full.
* The Dies irae et Ronde du Sabbat Ensemble section is at bar 414.
There are a host of effects, including trilling in the woodwinds and ''col legno
In music for bowed string instrument
Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound.
Despite th ...
'' in the strings. The climactic finale combines the somber Dies Irae melody, now in A minor, with the fugue of the ''Ronde du Sabbat'', building to a modulation into E major, then chromatically into C major, ending on a C chord.
References
Sources
* Holoman, D. Kern
Dallas Kern Holoman (born September 8, 1947) is an American musicologist and conductor, particularly known for his scholarship on the life and works of Hector Berlioz.
Life and career
Holoman was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 8, 1 ...
, ''Berlioz'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1989). .
* ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford University Press, 2002. .
* Wright, Craig, "The Essential Listening to Music" (Schirmer, Cengage Learning 2013). .
External links
''Symphonie fantastique'' on the Hector Berlioz Website
with links to Scorch full score and program note written by the composer.
*
Keeping Score: Berlioz ''Symphonie fantastique''
multimedia website with interactive score produced by the San Francisco Symphony
European Archive
A copyright-free LP recording of the ''Symphonie fantastique'' by Willem van Otterloo (conductor) and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the European Archive
Beyond the Score
A concert-hall dramatized documentary an
performance
with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
''Symphonie fantastique'' at the Internet Archive
performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski conducting
Complete performance of the symphony by the London Symphony Orchestra accompanied by visual illustrations
of the symphony's programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symphonie Fantastique
1830 compositions
Compositions by Hector Berlioz
Compositions that use extended techniques
Music dedicated to nobility or royalty
Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique
Works about opium