Hector Berlioz

The Life of Berlioz

The tremendous 19th century French composer, Hector Berlioz holds a very unique place in history. He was far ahead of his time, clearly one of the most innovative and original composers of the Romantic era. Berlioz did not only excel in composition, but he was a writer and critic, some say his literary achievement was just as important or even more important relative to his musical output. (Final sentence)

Berlioz often ridiculed Wagner and the German people for taking birthdays so seriously, he always tried to minimize the importance of his own. As a child, the official place and date of his birth was La Cote-Saint-Andre, II December 1803 (Dec. 2, 1803), but his "celebrated" birthday was actually Eau, 19 Frimaire An XII (December 19 1703). A decade earlier during the great Revolution, the authorities had abolished royalty and institute a calendar intended to celebrate the advent of a new age of reason, not a basis in religious values. In the time period of Berlioz's birth, children were being named by classical heroes rather than saints, and Berlioz was no exception he was named after.... Berlioz was the first child of the (NAMES), but quickly, five more children were born in a period of seventeen years; unfortunately, Berlioz and his two sisters were the only to survive into adolescence. Although Berlioz had tremendous love for his sisters, his feelings with his parents were not the same. Growing up, his father did not show him much love; he wasn't a very affectionate man. Despite that, Berlioz saw his father as a humane, sensitive man with a liberal outlook and broad intelligence (footnote). His mother did not receive the same respect from Berlioz; she was an extremely religious with a dogmatic temper. Berlioz's childhood was filled with prosperity, but lacked love.

Berlioz had most of his education at home, from his systematic father, Louis-Joseph, who had completed his studies in medicine, only a few years before Berlioz was ready to learn. Taking advantage of the law of 1811 that permitted candidates for the baccalaureat es letters to be educated outside the official institution, so he initiated an education technique commonly used with females of the time. His father taught the majority of Latin, French, geography, anatomy to his son; he employed tutor for the teachings of mathematics and dance. Louis Berlioz did not hire a musician for his son; he thought his son should learn this hobby on his own, since it would never make the family any money. With the assistance of Berlioz's uncles, Felix Marmion, who was a great music lover, and supervised the child as he learned the names of notes. There was not an opera or serious instrumental music in his sleepy hillside town, so whatever musical appetite Berlioz had in the early years of his life, had to be satisfied by the celebratory fanfares of the band of the regions National Guard, and slot the liturgical chant, similar to Gregorian Chant, that was song in his local church.

Although Louis Berlioz must have found his son, Hector a fantastic pupil, and must have gratified by his willingness to learn science and literature, that he had instilled in him. Berlioz's passion was still not in medicine, it was in music; unfortunately his father had an extreme prejudice against the arts, seeing it as a primarily female way of life. Nonetheless, Berlioz persevered in his studies.