In 1839, the composer completed work on his symphony Romeo and Juliet for orchestra, choir and soloists*.

* Shakespeare's text was arranged by E. Deschamps.

The turn from Byron, Musset, Chateaubriand to the realistic dramaturgy of Shakespeare, with its multifaceted images and life-affirming pathos, enriched Berlioz's creative style. True, in his interpretation the Shakespearean plot is romanticized. Having pushed into the shadows the socio-philosophical motives and the main conflict of the tragedy, the composer emphasized in it ideas close to romantic art: images of love and death, psychological pictures, fairy-tale and fantastic images (present in Shakespeare only in the form of inserts), poeticized genre flavor. And yet, in terms of breadth and objectivity, this grandiose symphony rises above the author’s previous works, while at the same time differing from them in even more daring innovation and more diverse musical and compositional techniques.

Just as the French romantic playwrights, admiring the freedom of Shakespearean drama, rebelled against the “three unities” of the classicist theater, so Berlioz, under the influence of Shakespeare, crossed the boundaries of the traditional symphony and created a new art form.

"Romeo and Juliet" can be called an "instrumental drama" in the full sense of the word. This symphony has a clearly expressed storyline, connected not only with the general program, but also with a specific poetic text. From the first to the last sounds, music is held together (in addition to the actual musical laws of development) by a holistic theatrical and dramatic idea. The presence of choral scenes further brings Romeo and Juliet closer to opera. Finally, the very structure of the symphony is such that the features of both the sonata form and the theatrical play are equally noticeable in it. Thus, the predominant instrumental parts form, as it were, the framework of a symphonic cycle *.

* The opening fugato corresponds to the introduction. “The Feast of the Capulet” formally performs the function of a sonata allegro. “Love Scene” is associated with the slow movement of the classicist symphony. “Fairy Mab” is an undeniable scherzo.

At the same time, the arrangement of all seven parts (and some of them are further divided into smaller picture-episodes) is extremely reminiscent of a theatrical composition *.

* No. 1. Introduction (Street fights. Confusion. Appearance of the Duke), prologue. No. 2. Celebration at the Capulets. No. 3. Night scene: No. 4. Fairy Mab, queen of dreams. No. 5. Burial of Juliet. No. 6. Romeo in the Capulet crypt. No. 7. Final.

However, these features do not transform Berlioz’s work into an oratorio and do not bring it closer to opera, since the leading images of the symphony are expressed by generalized instrumental means, such as the inspired night love scene that anticipated Wagner's Tristan. Not the beloved theme from the Symphony Fantastique, but the brilliant love theme from Romeo and Juliet should be considered Berlioz’s highest expression of the feeling of inspired passion:

The image of Romeo is also depicted using instrumental techniques. This “Renaissance” Shakespearean hero is interpreted by Berlioz in a modern, Byronian spirit. Against the background of the noisy fun of the ball, represented by music that is almost banal in its deliberately reduced everyday appearance, a lonely, yearning Romeo is subtly outlined:

The juxtaposition of these two musical planes - the genre-based everyday and the romantic-refined, intellectual - creates a brightly contrasting effect. In terms of its power, this scene belongs to the best embodiments in music of the idea of ​​​​romantic antithesis. The fairy Mab's scherzo appears here as a traditional symphonic scherzo. The fantastic motif, fleetingly mentioned in Shakespeare, grows in Berlioz’s work to the significance of an independent part. In its virtuosic, brilliant instrumentation, in its exquisite rhythm, in its radiance, this scherzo has no equal in modern music (although its close kinship with the scherzios extravaganza of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” or Schumann’s “Ariel” is beyond doubt).

The scene of Juliet's burial belongs to the most profound philosophical pages in Berlioz's work, reminiscent of many moments of his stunning "Requiem" *.

* In this movement, the instrumental fugue is then repeated in chorus.

The opening fugato, depicting a street battle, the meeting and death of lovers in the crypt form relief, purely instrumental parts. Only the finale (the reconciliation of the warring families) is close to the operatic cantata scene. A theatrical-opera ending is generally characteristic of Berlioz's symphonies.

What it has in common with drama, but not at all with opera, is achieved by the introduction of a choral element. However, there is nothing similar here to the use of the choir in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

In addition to the final scene, singing occurs mainly in the prologue, which, following theatrical laws, introduces the listener into the sphere of action of the symphony *.

* The themes of the main parts sound in it, as if in embryonic form.

Occasionally it is used to concretize a poetic image (for example, the “Italian” song of departing guests).

The connection with the multifaceted images of Shakespearean drama led to a huge expansion of the musical and expressive means of the symphony. In particular, the genre diversity of the music is striking: fugue (Juliet’s funeral) and verse song (stanzas about love in the prologue); an aria of the lament type (Father Lorenzo in the finale) and an enchanting scherzo (scherzetto in the prologue, “Fairy Mab”); instrumental recitation (the prince's speech in the prologue) and Italian folk choral singing (the guests' song); dreamy nocturne (night scene in the garden) and masquerade music in the “light” genre (celebration at the Capulets); an intimate prelude (lonely Romeo) and a massive opera-choral scene (the oath of reconciliation). At times, in the development of themes and in the juxtaposition of episodes, theatrical plot elements are actually reflected (the scene in the crypt, the scene of Romeo at the festival). Berlioz achieves almost visible relief here.

The theme of the hero's death, typical for the composer, in this work is for the first time, under the influence of Shakespearean images, shown in an optimistic light. The grandiose mass scene of reconciliation is close in its life-affirming spirit to the finales of Beethoven’s heroic-tragic symphonies.

Hector Berlioz, (1803–1869)

Berlioz's work is the brightest embodiment of innovative art. Each of his mature works boldly explodes the foundations of the genre and opens paths to the future; each subsequent one is different from the previous one. There are not too many of them, as well as genres that attracted the composer’s attention. The main ones among them are symphonic and oratorio, although Berlioz also wrote operas and romances. His music depicts new romantic heroes, endowed with violent passions; it is full of conflicts, polar oppositions - from heavenly bliss to hellish orgies. Everything is subject to the composer’s pen: human passions rage against the backdrop of a serene landscape, the fantastic world of spirits, sometimes bright and beautiful, sometimes personifying evil, is adjacent to pictures of folk life, battle scenes - with religious chants. And all this is presented on a colossal scale - a huge orchestra, a giant choir. It is no coincidence that Heine called Berlioz a lark the size of an eagle.

Composer, conductor, critic - in all areas of musical activity, from a young age he was in conflict with the world around him and never knew peace. His daring innovation met with ridicule, misunderstanding and, despite the support of advanced musicians, never received real recognition. This applies, first of all, to his homeland France - a country that, until the last third of the 19th century, was theatrical, operatic, and not symphonic.

The twenty-seven-year-old composer burst into the musical life of Paris with the unusual Symphony Fantastique, when a symphony orchestra had existed in the French capital for only two years, and the public was listening to Beethoven's symphonies for the first time. Berlioz expanded the orchestra to an unprecedented extent. Moreover, not only due to an increase in the number of musicians: he introduced new instruments - colorful, with sharply individual timbres, and used special playing techniques that created previously unheard-of effects. Essentially, he created a new romantic orchestra and influenced both his contemporaries and the subsequent generation of composers. It is no coincidence that Berlioz is the author of the Treatise on Instrumentation. And this is all the more amazing because Berlioz learned the secrets of instrumentation self-taught, without having any worthy teachers - experts in the orchestra, or conducting practice, only studying the scores of the classics, which he already knew by heart in his young years.

Berlioz's symphonies, born of a new era, inspired by romantic ideas, rich in theatricality, took on unprecedented forms and received mysterious authorial subtitles - fantastic, dramatic. Instruments replaced human voices, were personified, turned into heroes, and at the same time the word was introduced into the symphony, singers and a choir took part in their performance, the parts were called scenes, their number grew - the symphony became a theater. Thus, Berlioz in his own way embodied the favorite idea of ​​the romantics - the idea of ​​a synthesis of arts. But here is a paradox: this truly French synthesis, carried out by a truly French artist, was not understood precisely in France, while in Germany, Austria, and Russia the composer received recognition during his lifetime.

On the one hand, Berlioz's idols are typical of romantics. The first of them is Beethoven. However, for the French composer, even this turned out to be a challenge to generally accepted tastes - after all, Paris’s first acquaintance with Beethoven’s symphonies a year after the author’s death caused bewilderment, rejection, and even indignation. Berlioz promoted Beethoven's work as a conductor and critic, and even, together with Liszt, gave a charity concert for the Beethoven monument fund in his native Bonn. The shock of his life was the young musician’s acquaintance with Goethe’s “Faust” and the work of Shakespeare: from one of his first works, marked opus 2, - eight scenes from “Faust” (1828–1829) to the peak of his mature period - the oratorio “The Damnation of Faust” ( 1846), from the dramatic fantasy for orchestra and choir “The Tempest” (1830) to the last opera, “Beatrice and Benedict” (1862). Like other romantics, Berlioz was keen on revolutionary ideas, arranged La Marseillaise “for everyone who has a voice, a heart and blood in his veins,” and dedicated monumental compositions - the Requiem and the Funeral-Triumphal Symphony - to the heroes of the July Revolution.

On the other hand, inspired by the heroism of the revolution of 1830, the composer did not accept the revolution of 1848, which captured Wagner and Liszt, Schumann and Smetana. As for musical tastes, from his youth he admired Gluck, whose classical images did not attract other romantics too much, and in the last years of his life he edited his operas and, most importantly, wrote an operatic duology on the ancient plot “The Trojans” (1858) without the influence of Gluck.

Berlioz's life was stormy, full of passions, conflicts and an eternal struggle - for the right to become a musician, for creative recognition, for love and the opportunity to get married, and finally, the struggle for existence. And it began in the sleepy, conservative provincial town of Côte-Saint-André near Grenoble, where Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803 into the family of a successful doctor. Nothing foreshadowed either stormy events or just a career as a musician. In his father's house, like in the whole city, there was no piano, and as a child Berlioz learned to play the drum, flute and guitar, and then applied his skills in amateur ensembles and orchestras at home balls. Having no musical education, at the age of 15 he tried to compose instrumental ensembles with the participation of the flute and romances. Berlioz studied the theory of composition from books, and having gone to Paris at the age of less than 18, he entered not the conservatory, which he dreamed of, but the Medical School in order to continue the family tradition.

The decision to choose a career as a musician led to a break with his family, which deprived the young man of financial support. “Undoubtedly, I would have had the courage to flee to China, I would have become a sailor, a smuggler, a pirate, a savage, but I did not give up,” Berlioz later recalled. He was looking for a place as a flautist, worked as a chorister in the theater, where he also performed in small roles in vaudeville. In bad weather, Berlioz wore wooden galoshes cut from logs, the invention of a friend, and in good weather he admired the views of Paris from the Pont Neuf, dining on a piece of bread and a handful of dates.

The years of study at the conservatory (1826–1830) were marked by sharp clashes with the director, retrograde professors who were unable to understand the innovative aspirations of the daring student and who rejected his works. Even the teachers of composition (F. Lesueur) and counterpoint (A. Reich) who appreciated him could give the young man little, since they were focused on the old theories of the 18th century. Berlioz fought for the highest conservatory award, the Prix de Rome, for years. This award gave the right to a four-year stay abroad on state support. For half of this period, the boarders lived in Rome at the Villa Medici. The conditions of the competition were very strict: young composers were locked in the “box” of the French Institute - a separate room where they were confined until the end of the competitive cantata.

Berlioz made his first attempt in 1826, but was not admitted to the competition because he could not write a fugue. The following summer he presented the cantata “The Death of Orpheus” - it was declared unperformable. A year later, although Berlioz tried, according to his own assurance, to compose a very small and completely well-intentioned work, his cantata “Erminia” received only the second prize, which did not give any rights. One Lesueur praised him: “This young man will become, I vouch for it, a great composer who will be an honor to France... He is a composer of great talent who will be a master in his art.” “Despise yourself enough to compete again!” - Berlioz exclaimed in despair and in 1829 presented the cantata “The Death of Cleopatra”. The prize was not awarded to any of the competitors. Finally, the following summer, the composer decided to “become small enough to pass through the gates of heaven,” and on July 29, 1830, he completed the cantata “The Death of Sardanapalus,” which was unanimously awarded the Rome Prize. Berlioz wrote this cantata in a feverish atmosphere. The composer, locked in the “box,” heard gunfire and the thunder of cannons: the July Revolution began in Paris - the Three Glorious Days, which overthrew the Bourbon dynasty. Berlioz freed himself during the last of them and, with a pistol in his hand, rushed to the barricades that had not yet been dismantled. However, the fighting had already stopped, which plunged the 26-year-old romantic into despair: “This is a new torture, joining so many others.”

Chief among them is unhappy love, which, like everything in Berlioz, took on colossal proportions and required a persistent struggle - with one’s own family, with the family of the beloved and, above all, with herself. This plunged him, in his own words, into the seventh circle of hell. Henrietta Smithson, a 27-year-old actress, arrived in Paris in the fall of 1827 as part of an English troupe introducing Shakespeare's tragedies to France. The captivating Ophelia and Juliet did not pay attention to the stormy passion of the daring graduate of the conservatory, who was three years younger than her, and despised him. And in the spring of 1830, having heard about some unseemly actions of Henrietta, he became interested (or, as he said, allowed himself to be carried away) by the pianist Camilla Mock. The composer compared her to the “graceful Ariel,” Shakespeare’s spirit of the air, and dedicated his fantasy “The Tempest” to her, in which he wanted to tell about his love with “an orchestra of 100 people and a choir of 150.”

By that time, Berlioz was already the author of significant works. The turn of the 20-30s opens the mature period of his work, spanning about 20 years. It is no coincidence that he marked the “Waverley” overture (1827–1828), inspired by the famous novel by Walter Scott, as opus 1, followed by “King Lear” by Shakespeare, “Rob Roy” by Walter Scott, and “The Corsair” by Byron. This was a new genre of programmatic concert overture, just (in 1826) created by Mendelssohn.

The largest creation of these years is the Fantastic Symphony, a real manifesto of romanticism. The story of one’s own love, revealed in a detailed program, overgrown with incredible details and ending with an infernal denouement, is for the first time embodied not in a vocal cycle or opera, but in the symphonic genre. Its premiere on December 5, 1830 again linked Berlioz's name with the Three Glorious Days - the proceeds from the concert were intended for the victims of the July Revolution. At the premiere, a meeting took place with 19-year-old Liszt, a brilliant pianist who had not yet distinguished himself as a composer, conductor, or critic - a meeting that marked the beginning of a friendship that lasted many decades. Liszt made a piano arrangement of the Symphony Fantastique, often performed it in his concerts, and later made a lot of efforts to promote Berlioz’s other works - he conducted them and wrote articles.

On December 29, 1830, Berlioz went to Italy, to the Villa Medici. A few months later he learned that Camille Mock had gotten married. Subsequently, in his “Memoirs,” the composer described how he decided to return to Paris and, dressed in a maid’s dress, go to the house of his unfaithful lover, shoot the traitor, her mother, her husband, and then himself. If the pistols misfire, take poison. But while waiting for his luggage, which was delayed on Italian roads, he changed his mind and, returning to Rome, made up a story about trying to drown himself in a state of insanity.

At the Villa Medici, the boarders made a bet (whether he would kill or not), in which Mendelssohn, who was also in Italy at that time, was said to have participated. Both young musicians often met in Rome, and Berlioz sincerely admired not only the pianist’s talent, but also Mendelssohn’s gift as a composer, although he noted that he “loved the dead too much.” And Mendelssohn openly admitted his misunderstanding of Berlioz’s work, calling him “a real caricature without a shadow of talent.” Italian impressions - from nature and hunting, songs and dances, the customs of the highlanders and Roman carnivals, meetings with pilgrims and robbers - were reflected in many of Berlioz’s works: the symphonies “Harold in Italy” and “Romeo and Juliet”, the opera “Benvenuto Cellini”, the overture "Roman Carnival".

Three years later, Berlioz returned to his homeland. On December 9, 1832, a new version of the Symphony Fantastique and its continuation, “Lelio, or Return to Life,” was performed. The composer sent the tickets to Henrietta Smithson, she witnessed his triumphant success, and only then did he risk introducing himself to her. But it took him almost another year to finally break her resistance, and only on October 3, 1833, without having obtained his parents’ consent to the marriage, Berlioz married Henrietta Smithson. One of the witnesses to the wedding was Liszt. In a small country house in Montmartre, where the composer cultivated family happiness, he worked on his second symphony, Harold in Italy, no less innovative than the Fantastique. Now Berlioz brings the symphony closer to the concerto, and the choice of the solo instrument is also unusual - in the 19th century they did not write concertos for the viola. The work was commissioned from Berlioz by Paganini: the famous violinist admired his work and at one of the concerts, to the applause of the audience and orchestra, knelt down in front of him. The concerts do not bring in any income, and Berlioz is forced to deal with critical detail. Cursing “this hard labor”, which, however, gave him regular income, the composer devoted more than four decades to literary work and left more than 600 articles, essays, short stories, etc. At the same time, in 1834, he began work on the opera “Benvenuto Cellini” ", in which he used one of the episodes of the autobiographical book of the famous Italian sculptor, artist, jeweler, “brilliant bandit,” as Berlioz called him. The opera was not a success and lasted only four performances. After such a failure, he did not turn to the opera genre for more than twenty years.

But in the 30-40s, the composer created several masterpieces in the oratorio and symphonic genres. Having barely finished Benvenuto Cellini, Berlioz wrote a monumental Requiem in memory of the victims of the July events of 1830 in three months. Under the direction of the author, it was performed at the Invalides on December 5, 1837, at a grand funeral celebration that gathered all of Paris. 420 people took part in the performance - this was influenced by the traditions of the era of the Great French Revolution of 1789, when music sounded on the streets of Paris, and the whole people took part in the mass festivities. Berlioz especially loved the Requiem: “If I were threatened with the destruction of all my works, I would ask to spare the Requiem.” Three years later, to carry the ashes of the heroes of the revolution, Berlioz wrote the Funeral and Triumphal Symphony - not for a symphony, but for a military brass band of a gigantic composition with optional string instruments and a choir of 200 people in the finale; and not for a concert hall, but for performance in the open air, during a procession through the streets to the burial site. The conductor was Berlioz - in the uniform of a National Guardsman and with a saber instead of a conductor's baton.

No less original is the symphony “Romeo and Juliet” with the participation of three choirs and soloists, called “dramatic” by the author (1839). The plot, which inspired many Italian composers to create operas, receives an unusual refraction from Berlioz: the main scenes, including the love scene in the garden, are embodied by orchestral rather than vocal means, and by an orchestra of 160 people. And in 1846, Berlioz completed the last major work of the central period - “The Damnation of Faust”, the genre of which is designated as a dramatic legend.

By that time, the composer's life had changed. Unable to find a use for his powers in Paris, unable to give concerts, in December 1842 he went on a tour of Europe. And he’s not going alone. In his own words, he “broke the hearth that had been created with such difficulty.” His companion is the young singer Maria Recio, who made her debut on the opera stage a year ago - beautiful, but not very talented, with a small voice. The name of Berlioz is already known outside France: in Leipzig back in 1837, on the advice of Schumann, one of his overtures was performed, Schumann wrote an article about the Symphony Fantastique, and in 1841 the Requiem was performed with great success in St. Petersburg. Berlioz performed in many cities in Germany. In Leipzig he met with Robert and Clara Schumann, exchanged batons with Mendelssohn, who led the Gewandhaus Orchestra, in Dresden he listened to Wagner's Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman, which he did not like, and talked with their author.

Returning to Paris, Berlioz takes part in several grand festivals. In 1841, he conducted a choir of 1,200 people and an orchestra of 36 double basses and 25 harps at the Industrial Exhibition, and the following year he conducted the Olympic Circus on the Champs-Elysees, seating more than five thousand people. In one of these concerts, dedicated to the Russian theme, Berlioz performs works by Glinka, gets to know him and devotes a large article to him. In October 1845, the composer again went on a big tour - this time to Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, where he met with an enthusiastic reception. In 1847, his first trip to Russia took place. Berlioz spent three months in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Here creative triumph and large fees awaited him. The tour in London was less successful.

Upon his return, the composer suffered one blow after another: Henrietta was paralyzed; soon the father dies. The political situation is also not conducive to creativity - neither the revolution of 1848, which Berlioz did not accept, nor the coup of 1851 and the establishment of the empire of Napoleon III, whom the composer, unlike the leading figures of France, welcomed.

The last twenty years of Berlioz's life and work are sharply different from the central one. He no longer writes symphonic works. True, 1853 was supposed to bring a symphony in A minor, but the history of non-writing is one of the most tragic pages in the composer’s biography. “This page makes me shudder. Suicide is not so sad” (R. Rolland). This is how Berlioz recalled this in his Memoirs: “One night I heard in a dream a symphony that I dreamed of writing. Waking up in the morning, I remembered almost the entire first part of it... I already went to the table to write it down, but then I thought: if I write down this fragment, I will get carried away and start composing further. The outpouring of feelings, which I now always strive to indulge in with all my soul, can bring this symphony to grandiose proportions. I will spend, perhaps, three or four months on this work alone... I will no longer be able, or almost impossible, to write musical feuilletons and, therefore, my income will decrease even more... I will give a concert, the proceeds from which will only just cover half of my income. expenses... All these thoughts made me tremble, and I put down the pen, saying: “Bah!” Tomorrow I will forget this symphony!“ The next night the stubborn symphony returned and sounded in my head again. I clearly heard the same allegro in A minor and, moreover, I saw it written. I woke up full of nervous excitement and sang the theme allegro, the form and character of which I liked extremely. I was about to get up, but... the same thoughts as the day before again held me back, I suppressed the temptation, hoping for only one thing - to forget. Finally, I fell asleep again, and the next morning, when I woke up, the memory actually disappeared and never returned.” The composer's productivity plummets. Now he is concerned with completely different topics than in his stormy romantic youth. How different these works are from those created in the central period - even when referring to the same genres! In the spiritual - instead of the grandiose dramatic Requiem - the oratorio “The Childhood of Christ” is chamber in form, idyllic in spirit. In the opera - instead of the vibrant, daringly adventurous “Benvenuto Cellini” - there is a strict, classic duology “The Trojans” based on a traditional ancient plot and an unpretentious, without a hint of any depth, comedy “Beatrice and Benedict” (1862). The composer has not written anything for the last seven years.

Berlioz's main activity in the 50-60s was as a conductor: repeated trips to London, to German cities, to the “Berlioz Week” organized by Liszt in Weimar, to the almost annual festival in Baden, where excerpts from “The Damnation of Faust” and “ Trojans”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Beatrice and Benedict” were a huge success. His home life is becoming increasingly sad. In 1854 his wife dies. She “was a harp, the sounds of which were mixed with all my concerts, my joys, my sorrows and on which, alas, I broke so many strings... I could neither live with her nor leave her.” Seven months later, Berlioz married Maria Recio, more out of duty than out of love: life with her did not bring him happiness. “Now I am ready for the end of my career, tired, burned out, but always burning and full of energy that sometimes awakens with a force that almost frightens me.”

Even official recognition did not please Berlioz, because it was purely external. In 1856 he was finally elected a member of the French Academy, and two years later he was awarded a gold medal for the Imperial Cantata in honor of Napoleon III. Liszt, who arrived in Paris in 1861, wrote: “It seems that his whole being is leaning toward the grave.” But earlier he buried his beloved sister, his second wife, and in 1867 he lost his son, a sailor, who died in Mexico from a fever. Berlioz is tormented by illness, he spends 18 hours a day in bed: “I don’t do anything now, I just suffer.”

Having rejected a lucrative offer to tour in New York, he, however, in 1867 accepted an offer to go to Russia. The tour in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which lasted three months, turned out to be Berlioz's last triumph. He lived in the palace of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. Members of the “Mighty Handful” warmly welcomed him as the first musical innovator, Balakirev made an arrangement of “Harold in Italy” for piano in 4 hands, Cui and Stasov wrote enthusiastic articles. During the concerts in Moscow, a dinner was held in Berlioz's honor, at which speeches were given, among others, by the famous music critic V. Odoevsky and Tchaikovsky. The thought of a Russian tour supported the composer in the last year of his life, and his last letters were sent to Russia. To Odoevsky, Berlioz wrote with admiration about the young Russian school and predicted: “In five or ten years, Russian music will conquer all the opera stages and concert halls of Europe.”

Berlioz died in Paris on March 8, 1869, alone, “suffocating from general indifference,” according to Rolland’s figurative expression. The funeral, held three days later, was as modest as that of Henrietta Smithson, who had long outlived her glory.

Fantastic Symphony, op. 14(1830–1832)

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, piccolo clarinet, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 ophicleides, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, 2 bells or piano, 2 harps, strings (at least 60 people).

The Fantastic Symphony is the first mature work of the 26-year-old Berlioz. Then he was still studying at the Paris Conservatory and preparing - once again! - take part in the competition for the Rome Prize. Conservative professors were unable to understand the innovative aspirations of the daring student and invariably rejected the cantatas he presented. Only in the summer of 1830, having decided to “become small enough to pass through the gates of heaven,” did he win the coveted reward. Berlioz finished the cantata “The Death of Sardanapalus” under the thunder of guns - the July Revolution was raging in Paris.

And six months before, on February 6, he wrote to a friend: “I was ready to begin my big symphony, where I was supposed to depict the development of hellish passion; she’s all in my head, but I can’t write anything.” On April 16, he announced the completion of the symphony entitled “An Episode from the Life of an Artist. A large fantastic symphony in five movements." Thus, the author's title of Berlioz's first symphony does not correspond to what has been established for it for centuries: a fantastic symphony - a definition of the composer's unique interpretation of the genre, like the later dramatic symphony - "Romeo and Juliet".

The artist about whom the symphony tells was himself, who captured in music - with appropriate romantic exaggerations - one, but the most important episode of his life. On May 29, 1830, on the eve of the expected premiere, the symphony program was published in the Le Figaro newspaper, which aroused keen curiosity. All of Paris eagerly followed the unfolding romantic drama of love between Berlioz and Henrietta Smithson.

The twenty-seven-year-old Irishwoman, who came to Paris on tour in the fall of 1827 as part of an English troupe introducing France to Shakespeare's tragedies, shocked the audience with her Ophelia and Juliet. Berlioz pursued her with a “volcanic passion,” but the fashionable actress, according to one critic, despised him. Berlioz dreamed of success, which would attract her attention, fell into despair and contemplated suicide. The concert where the Fantastic was to be performed was postponed for several months; The composer compared the difficulties in the process of its preparation with the transition of Napoleon's Great Army across the Berezina. The premiere took place with great success on December 5, 1830 at the Paris Conservatory under the direction of Francois Gabeneck, the creator of the first symphony orchestra in France. Subsequently, Berlioz made a number of additions, changed the order of parts and slightly reworked the program. The final edition of the symphony was performed, also under Gabeneck, on December 9, 1832. The Symphony Fantastique is the first program symphony in the history of romantic music. Berlioz himself wrote the text of the program, which was a detailed presentation of the plot, the sequentially developing events of each part. However, as the composer reported in the preface, we can limit ourselves to only the names of the five movements.

A young musician with morbid sensitivity and a fiery imagination, in a fit of love despair, is poisoned with opium. The dose of the drug, too weak to kill him, plunges him into a severe oblivion, accompanied by severe visions, during which his sensations, feelings, his memories turn into thoughts and musical images in his sick brain. The beloved woman herself has become a melody for him and, as it were, an obsession that he finds and hears everywhere.

First part. - Dreams. Passion. He remembers first of all this mental anxiety, this confusion of passions, this melancholy, this causeless joy that he experienced before he saw the one he loves; then the volcanic love which she suddenly inspired in him, her mad anxieties, her jealous anger, her return of joy, her religious consolations.

Second part. - Ball. He finds his beloved again at the ball, amid the noise of the brilliant celebration.

The third part. - Scene in the fields. One evening, while in the village, he hears shepherds in the distance calling to each other with a shepherd's tune; this pastoral duet, the scene of action, the light rustle of the trees gently swayed by the wind, the few glimmers of hope that he had recently found - all contributed to bringing his heart into a state of unusual calm and giving his thoughts a more rosy coloring. - But she appears again, his heart shrinks, sad premonitions excite him - what if she is deceiving him... One of the shepherds begins his naive melody again, the other no longer answers. The sun is setting... the distant sound of thunder... loneliness... silence...

Fourth part. - Procession to execution. It seems to him that he killed the one he loved, that he is sentenced to death, he is being led to execution. The cortege moves to the sounds of a march, sometimes gloomy and ominous, sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which the dull noise of heavy footsteps follows without interruption the noisiest shouts. At the end, the obsession reappears for a moment, like the last thought of love, interrupted by a fatal blow.

Fifth part. - A dream on the night of the Sabbath. He sees himself at the Sabbath, among a terrible crowd of shadows, sorcerers, monsters of all kinds, gathered for his funeral. Strange noises, howls, bursts of laughter, distant screams that seem to be answered by other screams. The beloved appears again; but she had lost her character of nobility and timidity; this is nothing more than an obscene dance, trivial and grotesque, it was she who came to the Sabbath... a joyful howl at her arrival... she intervenes in the devil's orgy... The death knell, a clownish parody of Dies irae; round dance of the Sabbath. Round dance of the Sabbath and Dies irae together.

This program sounded to the youth of that time not just as a love story of the author himself or another specific person. For the first time, the image of a typical romantic hero, already discovered by literature, was embodied in music - restless, disappointed, not finding a place in life. Such a hero was called Byronic, because he was a favorite character in the works of the English poet, or - even more precisely - the son of the century, after the title of Alfred de Musset's novel “Confessions of a Son of the Century.” They also found echoes in Berlioz’s program with Hugo’s story “The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Death.”

The first part is “Dreams. Passion" - opens with a slow introduction. The melodious theme of the violins with melancholy sighs, developing broadly and slowly, is borrowed from one of Berlioz’s first works - the romance “Estella” (that was the name of the girl with whom the author, then a 12-year-old boy, was hopelessly in love). The sonata allegro (“Passion”) is entirely built on one theme - a cross-cutting leitmotif that runs through the entire symphony as an obsession, associated in the musician’s sick imagination with his beloved (this theme was found by the composer earlier - in the cantata “Erminia”, submitted for the Rome Prize in 1828). At first light and modest, the theme is presented in relief, without accompaniment, in the unison sound of flute and violins. In the process of development, it conveys confusion, emotional impulses, and in development it acquires an alarming, gloomy character. Her motives are combined with melancholy sighs of the introduction.

The second part, “The Ball,” is Berlioz’s amazing discovery: for the first time he introduces the waltz into the symphony, replacing with this symbol of romanticism both the ancient minuet, mandatory in a classical symphony, and the newer Beethoven scherzo. The mysterious tremolos of the strings and the colorful arpeggios of the harps lead to the light swirling of a lovely waltz theme in the violins, decorated with staccato woodwinds and pizzicato strings. Among the serene picture of the ball, the image of a beloved appears. Its theme sounds tenderly and gracefully on the flute, oboe and clarinet to the transparent accompaniment of strings. And again - a whirling waltz with a theme in a different orchestral outfit, as if all new couples are gliding in an exciting dance. Suddenly it breaks off - and the solo clarinet repeats the beloved's theme.

The third movement - “Scene in the Fields” - replaces the traditional adagio. This is a pastoral picture, calm, serene (it is no coincidence that the brass winds in the orchestra fall silent, leaving only 4 horns). The shepherds' pipes (English horn and oboe) echo, then the smooth, leisurely melody varies inventively. However, here too the theme of the beloved arises - passionate, intense, it destroys the peace of the pastoral scene. The expressiveness of the code is unusual. The strings polyphonically develop the pastoral theme, against which the theme of the beloved appears in the woodwind roll calls. When everything calms down, the cor anglais starts its initial pipe tune, but instead of the oboe answering, an alarming timpani tremolo sounds, like distant rumbles of thunder. Thus the pastoral ends with a premonition of future dramatic events.

A sharp contrast is created by the fourth part - “Procession to Execution”. Instead of a rural landscape, smooth, leisurely pastoral themes - a hard march, sometimes menacing, sometimes brilliant, in the deafening sound of an orchestra with an enhanced group of brass and percussion instruments. This march is borrowed from the first opera, “Secret Fates,” which was not realized by the composer, based on a bloody medieval plot. First, the dull rumble of a gathering crowd is heard. Then the first theme of the march appears - a somber descending unison of cellos and double basses. The second march theme is catchy, brilliant, performed by the brass band of the orchestra with timpani beats. In the coda, as often with Berlioz, the music directly illustrates the program: “an obsession reappears for a moment, like the last thought of love, interrupted by a fatal blow.” The solo clarinet - this instrument personifies the image of the beloved - sings the main leitmotif. Its gentle and passionate sound is interrupted by a powerful blow from the entire orchestra - the executioner's blow, followed by three dull falling sounds (pizzicato strings), like the knock of a severed head falling on a wooden platform - a knock, immediately drowned out by the frantic beat of the solo snare drum and timpani, and then - the roar of chords from the brass section.

The finale, whose title - "A Dream on the Night of the Sabbath" - parodies the French title of Shakespeare's comedy, is the most striking in this innovative symphony. The magical effects of the instrumentation are still amazing. In the slow introduction, a picture of fantastic creatures flocking to the Sabbath appears: the mysterious rustling of strings, dull blows of timpani, abrupt chords of brass and bassoons, exclamations of flutes and oboes, echoed by a solo horn with a mute. In the center of the introduction is the appearance of a beloved, but not the ideal romantic image of the previous parts, but an obscene witch performing a grotesque dance. The clarinet, as if grimacing, intones an unrecognizably changed leitmotif to the accompaniment of timpani. The roar of the orchestra with enthusiastic laughter greets the arrival of the queen of the Sabbath, and she begins her dance - the leitmotif appears in the loud timbre of the piccolo clarinet (this method of thematic transformation, first used by Berlioz, will be widely used in the works of many composers of the 19th and 20th centuries). The distant sound of bells heralds the appearance of another mockingly interpreted theme: the bassoons and ophicleides sound the medieval chant Dies irae - Day of Wrath (Last Judgment), opening the “black mass”. From it the round dance of the Sabbath is born - the main section of the finale. Among the many orchestral effects invented by Berlioz, one of the most famous is in the episode of the Dance of the Dead, the sound of whose bones is transmitted by the playing of the bow shaft on violins and violas. The dance theme of the round dance of evil spirits develops polyphonically, and at the climax it is combined with the theme of the Last Judgment.

"Harold in Italy", op. 16(1834)

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, ophicleide, triangle, cymbals, 2 snare drums, timpani, harp, solo viola, strings (not less than 61 people).

Having received the Prix de Rome in the summer of 1830 after graduating from the Paris Conservatory, for which Berlioz fought for many years, he left for Italy for a year and a half. Upon his return, a triumphant success awaited him: on December 9, 1832, the premiere of the final edition of his first mature work, the Symphony Fantastique, took place, in the program of which the composer passionately and with all sorts of romantic exaggerations spoke about his love for the English actress Henrietta Smithson. On October 3 of the following year she became his wife. On December 22, 1833, Paganini was present at one of Berlioz’s concerts. He recently returned to Paris after a tour in England, where he bought a magnificent Stradivarius viola. As a French music newspaper reported the following month, “Paganini asked Berlioz to write for him a new composition in the style of the Symphony Fantastique... This work is entitled “The Last Minutes of Mary Stuart.” Dramatic fantasy for orchestra, choir and viola solo.” Paganini will perform the viola part at the premiere.”

However, Berlioz, who had a negative attitude towards the genre of the solo virtuoso concerto, in his own words, decided to create “a symphony in a new style, and not at all a work written with the aim of showing the brilliance of his (Paganini - A.K.) individual talent.” Initially, the composer intended to limit himself to two parts, then three, and finally settled on the usual four-part cycle. Berlioz worked quickly, in a calm state of mind, enjoying the happiness of family life in a quiet house in Montmartre. Harold in Italy was completed in six months, on June 22, 1834. On August 14, the young couple had a son, Louis, and on November 15, the symphony premiered. It was performed in the hall of the Paris Conservatory under the baton of Narcisse Girard, and out of respect for the composer the orchestra members agreed to play for free. The soloist was Chretien Ouran, a famous French virtuoso, first violinist of the Conservatory Concert Society and first violist of the Grand Opera. Despite the not very successful performance (due to the conductor), the symphony was a success, and the second part was repeated at the request of the public, among whom were Liszt and Chopin, Hugo and Dumas, Heine and Eugene Sue. The next day, reviews appeared - both laudatory and abusive, and in the evening Berlioz received a letter in which an anonymous author reproached him for his lack of courage - the composer was supposed to shoot himself after the premiere! However, every year the success of the symphony grew stronger, especially after Berlioz himself began conducting it. And at the concert on December 16, 1838, where the Symphony Fantastique and “Harold in Italy” were performed under the direction of the author, Paganini was again present. Shocked, at the end of the concert, amid thunderous applause from the audience and orchestra, he knelt down in front of the composer.

“Harold in Italy” is dedicated to Berlioz’s close friend, the poet Amber Ferrand, who supposedly came up with the idea of ​​choosing Byron’s poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” as the program. The motives of her fourth song, which tells about the hero’s wanderings across Italy, are intertwined with the composer’s own memories of the Italian impressions of 1831–1832 - about visits to monasteries and folk festivals, and a trip to the Abruzzi Mountains. Italy appeared before him - unlike Mendelssohn, who was there in the same years and met with Berlioz - as a romantic country, with wild nature and unbridled morals: “Volcanoes, rocks, serpentine slopes, rich booty buried in caves, a concert of screams of horror , accompanied by an orchestra of pistols and carbines, blood and wine "Tear of Christ", a bed of lava, lulled by earthquakes..." In his Memoirs, Berlioz wrote that he "wanted to liken the viola to a melancholy dreamer in the spirit of Childe Harold, placing it among the poetic memories remaining from... wanderings in the Abruzzi. Hence the name “Harold in Italy.”

This use of a solo instrument, coupled with the theme assigned to it, which changes little throughout the symphony, is an unprecedented solution that brings the symphony closer to an opera, where the hero has a certain leitmotif. Harold, borrowed from Byron, is significantly rethought and interpreted as a generalized romantic image. According to Liszt, who 20 years later devoted extensive research to the symphony, Berlioz saw in Harold “an exile who cannot escape from himself and who is driven from place to place by the ‘poison of life, the demon of thought’.” On the other hand, the composer brings the symphonic genre closer to the concert genre, and is also an innovator in the choice of a solo instrument - there were no viola concerts in the 19th century. Like the Fantastic Symphony, each movement has a title, but, unlike it, the program is limited to this.

The first part is “Harold in the mountains. Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy." It breaks down into two large sections. Melancholy reigns in the adagio, which paints a portrait of the hero. First, the fugato sets out two dark chromatic themes in a low register, then the woodwinds sing out the minor theme broadly, preparing for Harold's appearance. The solo viola presents the same theme, but in a major key (it will appear in this form in subsequent movements). “Scenes of happiness and joy”, contrasting the melancholy of the romantic hero, form a sonata allegro. These pictures of folk fun are united by rapid dance movements in the elastic rhythm of saltarella. In the reprise on the dance theme, an adagio melody is superimposed on the solo viola, supported by winds, as if the hero is trying to merge with the crowd, dissolve in it, captured by the general joy, which is confirmed at the end of the movement in the jubilant unisons of tutti.

The second part - “Procession of Pilgrims Singing Evening Prayer” - is one of the most poetic examples of Berlioz’s music, rich in subtle coloristic effects. In the evening twilight, the ringing of bells is barely audible. From afar, gradually approaching, a chorale of pilgrims can be heard, the melody is sung by violins, violas and bassoons; strict variations are formed in the measured rhythm of the procession with sharp-sounding harmonies unusual for that time. Among the episodes is the authentic tune of an ancient Catholic chorale, designated by Berlioz as “religious singing”: chords of wooden and muted string instruments, juxtaposed alternately, imitate the sound of an organ, as if coming from a monastery. In another episode, the adagio theme of the first movement is superimposed on the pilgrims' march (the solo alto is joined by clarinet and horn), but the themes are so different that they cannot merge together. This is how the main idea of ​​the symphony is revealed: the world of pilgrims, sublime, simple and harsh, is alien to the restless soul of the hero - he is destined to be forever alone.

The third part - “Serenade of a Highlander from Abruzzi for His Beloved” - is another picture of Italian life, the memory of which the composer preserved in his “Memoirs”. He describes a peculiar concert - a serenade heard one night in the Abruzzese, and talks about the pifferi - “wandering musicians who come down from the mountains ... with bagpipes and pifferi (a type of oboe) ... The bagpipe, accompanied by a large piffero blowing the bass, brings out the harmony, consisting of two or three notes, against which a medium-length piffero plays a melody; and above all this two small, very short pifferi... flutter in trills and cadences and flood the artless song with a shower of fancy decorations.” It is this ensemble that is heard in the opening tunes, entrusted to the piccolo flute and solo oboe (or, optionally, English horn) accompanied by a sustained rhythm of altos and woodwind fifths. And at the same time, the rapid dance movement of this opening episode echoes the “scenes of joy” of the first part. And the serenade is sung by the English horn, accompanied by guitar accompaniment of strings. Then other wind instruments join the horn, the solo viola interweaves its voice with the adagio theme, contrasting themes are combined in a simultaneous sound. The hero's theme receives an unexpected development, the viola sounds tense and mournful in the upper register. The carefree strumming of the pifferari makes you forget about sadness, but then an amazing transformation occurs: the viola intones not Harold’s theme (it sounds barely audible in the violins, flutes, and harp harmonics), but the highlander’s serenade. The hero makes a last attempt to merge with the world around him, to experience its simple joys.

The finale is called “Orgy of Robbers. Memories of previous scenes." The frantic theme of strings in unison that opens it, characterizing the robbers, will invade the themes of the previous movements that flow like memories: these are the chromatic fugato motifs with which the symphony began, the procession of the pilgrims, the highlander’s serenade, the saltarella of the first movement, and finally, Harold’s leitmotif. A similar technique of including themes from previous movements that are “rejected” by the theme of the finale is borrowed from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. All themes are heard by the solo viola, giving rise to imagine the hero as a witness to an orgy, during which he indulges in memories. In “Memoirs,” Berlioz notes that in the finale “there is a simultaneous rapture of wine, blood, happiness and anger,” here “they drink, laugh, fight, destroy, kill, rape and still have fun,” and the dreamer Harold, “fleeing in fear from this orgy, sings a hymn to the evening sky." (In the coda, the theme of pilgrims once again appears in the ghostly sound of two solo violins and a cello playing offstage.) But, unlike Fantastic, the author does not specify the stages of the hero’s life, and the listener is free to imagine its denouement. Did Harold become a victim of robbers and - as Liszt colorfully narrates in his study - fearlessly accepted the cup of poison from their hands? Or, bored with inaction and loneliness, finding neither heavenly consolations nor earthly entertainment, did you decide to join the bandits and find oblivion in terrible crimes? In any case, the finale of “Harold in Italy” is crowned with a picture of an unbridled orgy.

"Romeo and Juliet", a dramatic symphony after Shakespeare with choruses, vocal solos and a prologue in the form of a choral recitative, op. 17 (1839)

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 2 trombones, ophicleides, bass drum, 2 tambourines, cymbals, small antique cymbals, 2 triangles , timpani, 2 harps (their number can be doubled or tripled), strings (at least 63 people); small choir (14 people) and 2 soloists - contralto and tenor, 2 male choirs behind the stage, Capulet choirs (at least 70 people) and Montagues, bass soloist (Father Lorenzo).

Berlioz first saw Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet on September 15, 1827, during a tour of an English troupe in Paris; the role of Juliet was played by Henrietta Smithson, with whom the 24-year-old composer immediately fell madly in love. He experienced a true shock: it was an opportunity “to be transported to the burning sun, the fragrant nights of Italy, to these cruel scenes of revenge, to these selfless embraces, to these desperate battles of love and death, to be present at the spectacle of this love, sudden, like a thought, ebullient, like lava, powerful, irresistible, huge and pure, and beautiful, like the smile of angels..."

During his stay in Italy in 1831–1832, Berlioz sketched out a plan for a musical composition on this subject, perhaps with an opera in mind. Returning to Paris, he continues to pursue Henrietta with his “volcanic passion”, falls into despair, contemplates suicide and at the same time dreams of success that would attract her attention. Triumphant success fell to his lot on December 9, 1832, when the Symphony Fantastique was performed. In the program, he spoke about his love with all sorts of romantic exaggerations. In October of the following year, despite opposition from both his and her family, Berlioz married Henrietta Smithson. That same year, Paganini ordered him, as one of the Parisian newspapers reported, “a new composition in the style of the Symphony Fantastique,” ​​in which he was to play the solo viola part. Thus was born Berlioz's second symphony, Harold in Italy (1834). And although the solo part was not virtuosic enough for him, Paganini continued to admire Berlioz’s work. Having attended a concert on December 16, 1838, where both symphonies were performed, he knelt before the composer to the applause of the audience and orchestra. And the next day Berlioz received a check for 20 thousand francs from Paganini. Now he could work calmly, in his own words, “sail on the sea of ​​bliss,” composing “Romeo and Juliet.”

In 8 months, the composer created a gigantic score for a symphony orchestra, three choirs and three soloists (notes in the score - beginning January 24, 1839, ending September 8; in letters, respectively, January 22 - August 22) and dedicated it to Paganini. The premiere took place after two months of rehearsals with a huge orchestra (160 people), choir (98 people) and soloists of the Grand Opera Theater on November 24, 1839 under the direction of the author. The hall of the Paris Conservatory was packed, even members of the royal family were present. “It was the biggest success I’ve ever had,” the composer recalled about the first concert, and about the second he wrote: “I was crushed by screams, tears, applause, everything.”

For his third symphony, Berlioz chose a completely unusual genre, designating it as “a dramatic symphony with choirs and vocal solos.” In the preface to the score, he explained that the singing that occurs at the beginning should prepare for the perception of subsequent scenes in which the passions of the characters find expression in the symphony orchestra. The abandonment of the vocal duets of Romeo and Juliet in the garden scene and in the crypt scene made it possible to “give to the imagination a freedom which the specific sense of the sung word cannot give it,” and to speak in an orchestral language - “richer, more varied, less restrained and thanks to its uncertainty - immeasurably more powerful."

The program in Romeo and Juliet is interpreted by the author differently than in the first two symphonies. The composer now includes the word in the choral and solo episodes (text by the poet Emile Deschamps) and precedes the orchestral episodes with detailed subtitles outlining the course of events. The number of episodes is large (they can be compared with the numbers of an opera or oratorio), and the total number of parts remains traditional - four, although incredibly expanded.

The first part includes an introduction, prologue, stanzas, and scherzetto. Author's explanation for the introduction: “Contractions. - Confusion. - Intervention of the prince." This is a catchy orchestral picture, depicting the turbulent life of medieval Verona, street battles in which the entire city is drawn. The sharp, elastic theme of fugato (the theme of enmity) begins with violas, they are joined by cellos, violins, woodwinds, and, finally, the whole orchestra sounds powerful. The prince’s menacing speech, prohibiting fights on pain of death, is entrusted to three trombones and an ophicleide in unison and should, according to the author’s direction, be performed proudly, in the nature of a recitative. This is Berlioz’s favorite technique - transferring to the instrument the function of the human voice, endowing it with declamatory, oratorical melody.

The prologue, unlike the introduction, is vocal. A small male choir, supported by rare chords of harp and brass, recites on one note, talking about the events just shown in the orchestral number - the bloody feud between the Montagues and the Capulets and the order of the prince. The solo contralto picks up the recitative, telling the story of lovers Romeo and Juliet. Then again the choir talks about upcoming events, and the orchestra illustrates them: the lively music of the Capulet’s ball sounds (from the second part), the dreamy theme of Romeo’s loneliness (from the same place), the theme of love, widely sung by a choir of wood and strings (from the third part). The stanzas begin without a break - a lyrical contralto aria to the accompaniment of a harp, which is joined in the second verse by a beautiful cello echo. Not directly related to the development of the plot, the aria glorifies love, the secret of which was known only to Shakespeare, who took it to heaven (the final words are picked up by a small choir). The last section of the prologue is a recitative from the tenor soloist and a rapidly sweeping scherzetto. This is Mercutio's story about the fairy Mab, the queen of dreams. A sudden contrast arises in the coda - a picture of Juliet's funeral accompanied by mournful psalmody by the choir. Thus, the first part can be compared in its dramatic function to an operatic overture, exhibiting many of the musical themes of the drama that follows.

The second part is subtitled “Romeo alone. - Sadness. - Concert and ball. A big celebration for the Capulets." It consists, as Berlioz often does, of two large episodes. It is even similar to the first part of “Harold in Italy” (“Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy”) in the designation of the tempo of the initial section - Andante melancolico, which embodies the loneliness of the main character. His dreams, his sadness are conveyed by the lyrical theme of solo violins without accompaniment, already familiar from the prologue - chromatic, declamatory, unfolding freely and improvisationally. For a moment, the music of the ball bursts into dreams, but immediately gives way to a new lyrical and expressive theme of the oboe. This ends the slow intro. It contrasts with a fascinating sonata allegro with the carefree, fast-paced dance themes that Berlioz was so successful at. “The Capulet's Big Feast” directly echoes the “scenes of happiness and joy” in “Harold” - they are brought together by a rhythm reminiscent of saltarella. And like the previous symphony, in the reprise the composer contrapuntally combines the theme of the festival and the theme of Romeo - the latter is powerfully proclaimed by the unisons of wooden and brass instruments. The role of this movement is reminiscent of the first sonata allegro of a traditional symphonic cycle with a slow introduction.

The third movement can be compared to an ordinary adagio, which is also preceded by a large introduction. Her program: “Scene of love. Clear night. - Capulet's garden, silent and deserted. Returning from the ball, the young Capulets pass by, singing excerpts of the ball’s music.” The music accurately embodies the program, although the events follow in reverse order. In the introduction, mysteriously flickering chords are heard, the roll calls of two male choirs behind the stage with echoes of the dance theme of the previous part. The adagio that follows is the lyrical center of the entire symphony, one of the composer's greatest achievements. Passionate feeling blossoms in the broadly developing melodious themes, and the instruments presenting them are reminiscent of an operatic duet. At the beginning - a male voice (violas, cellos, bassoon, cor anglais in a low register), in the reprise - a female voice (flute and cor anglais in a higher register, violins), and finally they merge in a single hymn of love (the theme is carried out in third, as in an Italian opera duet).

The fourth part, like the first, consists of many sections: “Queen Mab, or the Fairy of Dreams”, “Juliet’s Funeral Cortege”, “Romeo in the Capulet Tomb”, the finale. The first two are similar to the middle parts of the usual cycle, juxtaposed in contrast - a fantastic scherzo and a funeral march. Berlioz has already paid attention to the fairy Mab, who plays an insignificant role in Shakespeare’s tragedy, in the vocal scherzetto of the first movement, but in the symphonic scherzo of the fourth he unfolds a large, colorful picture of the magical kingdom of the elves. The composer paints it with airy, refined colors and masterful skill. The effects of orchestration are impossible to list - this is a whole encyclopedia of innovative techniques that are amazing even a century after the death of the author. The rapidly rushing theme pauses briefly in the trio, decorated with harmonics of violins and harps, and again continues its aerial flight.

“Juliet's Funeral Cortege” is one of the most tragic sections of the symphony. The chamber orchestra is combined with a large choir in a fugato with complex polyphonic techniques, which Berlioz specifically emphasized in the explanation of the score. At first, the funeral march sounds in the orchestra, and the choir psalmodizes on one note: “Shower the deceased maiden with flowers.” Then the choir intones the theme of the march, and the violins, like a bell, repeat a single note. Using the usual contrast between minor and major in the funeral march - in the middle, lighter section - Berlioz, however, in the reprise does not return to the minor mode: the initial fugato is carried out in major, in an abbreviated form, without a choir.

The next section - “Romeo in the Capulet Tomb” - contains the most detailed program: “Summons. - Juliet's Awakening. - Crazy joy, despair; the last languor and death of both lovers.” The music closely follows the program, alternating between many short, contrasting, highly theatrical fragments. At the end, the lonely voice of the double basses sounds, answered by a pathetic replica of equally lonely violins and a fading oboe solo.

The finale is a real opera scene, even suggesting, according to the author’s program, a theatrical embodiment: “The crowd gathers at the cemetery. - Fight between Capulets and Montagues. - Recitative and aria of Father Lorenzo. Oath of Reconciliation." Here the actors entering into direct relationships are specified. The two choirs first clash in canonical roll calls, in which the theme of enmity is heard, and then are included in the large scene of Father Lorenzo. This grandiose three-choir composition - with the participation of the prologue choir - where the bass soloist acts as a luminary with a melody of an appealing, oratorical style, vividly recalls the crowd scenes of the French romantic “grand opera”, which flourished precisely in the 30-40s of the 19th century . Following Shakespeare, Berlioz emphasizes the high humanistic idea of ​​tragedy, its catharsis: the death of the heroes was not in vain, what power, weapons, and fear were powerless to overcome was accomplished by love, which defeated enmity and death: in the “Oath of Reconciliation” the intonations of the theme of love are heard.

Funeral-triumphal symphony, op. 15(1840)

Orchestra composition: 4 flutes, 5 piccolos, 5 oboes, 26 clarinets, 5 piccolos, 2 bass clarinets, 8 bassoons, contrabassoon (optional), 12 horns, 8 trumpets, 4 cornets, 10 trombones, 6 ophicleides, 8 snare drums, bass drum, cymbals (3 pairs), timpani (optional), bunchuk, tom-tom; in the final - strings (total 80 people, optional), choir (200 people, optional).

On the tenth anniversary of the July Revolution of 1830, great celebrations were planned in Paris. The ashes of those killed in the Three Glorious Days were supposed to be transferred to the Place de la Bastille and buried at the foot of the column installed here. The ceremony was designed in every detail. First, a funeral mass in the Church of Saint-Germain d'Auxerrois, which is preceded by artillery salvoes. Then the cortege, accompanied by detachments of the National Guard, heads along the embankments and boulevards to the Place de la Bastille. There, the opening of the column, the blessing of the graves and the burial take place. It is accompanied by the performance of a “religious symphony ", which is completed again by artillery salvoes. The order to compose the symphony and direct its performance at the festival was received by Berlioz, who three years earlier had created a Requiem in memory of the victims of the July events and performed it at a grandiose funeral celebration in the Invalides.

By this time, Berlioz was the author of three symphonies, and the Funeral-Triumphal one completed the ten-year symphonic period of his work. Each symphony is innovative, each subsequent one is different from the previous one. Fantastic (1830) is the first programmatic romantic symphony, in which the composer spoke about his passion for the Shakespearean theater actress Henrietta Smithson. The second, “Harold in Italy” after Byron (1834), combines the genres of symphony and concerto: the image of the main character is portrayed by a solo viola. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1839), the composer goes even further in mixing genres, bringing the symphony closer to opera, expanding its scope: three choirs and three soloists were added to the orchestra, choral recitatives and arias were introduced, and the last scene was turned into a real operatic one. the final.

Berlioz worked on the Funeral and Triumphal Symphony in March 1840 and used a fragment from the unrealized “Funeral Celebration for the Memory of the Glorious Men of France” (1835). The original title - the July Symphony - turned into something else on the title page of the score: “A great mourning and triumphal symphony for the military orchestra “Harmony”, composed for the transfer of the remains of the Victims of July and the inauguration of the column of the Bastille and dedicated to His Royal Highness the Duke of Orleans.”

Unlike Berlioz's other symphonies, the Funeral-Triumphal symphony does not have a plot program. The composer limited himself to the general title and headings of each part, indicating the genre rather than specific content. However, in his Memoirs, Berlioz proposed a more detailed program: “I wanted to recall, first of all, the battles of the Three Glorious Days with the mournful accents of a march, menacing and sad at the same time, which would be performed during the procession; to give a kind of funeral oration and farewell addressed to the illustrious dead during the interment of the remains in a monumental tomb; and, finally, to sing a hymn of glory, an apotheosis, when, having lowered the tombstone, the people will see only a high column, crowned with Liberty with outstretched wings, rushing to heaven, like the souls of those who died for it.”

The performance took place on the streets of Paris on July 28, 1840, under the direction of Berlioz. Dressed as a National Guardsman, saber in hand, he conducted a huge military orchestra. This vividly reminded the composer of the July days of 1830, when, escaping from the stuffy walls of the French Academy, where on July 29 he finished a competitive cantata for the Rome Prize, Berlioz, pistol in hand, rushed into the streets of Paris, blocked by barricades, regretting that the fighting had already subsided. On July 28, 1840, during a street procession that lasted three hours, the first part of the symphony was performed, with the orchestra and conductor walking between the detachments of the National Guard. Then, during the burial on the Place de la Bastille, the symphony was performed in full. They didn't listen to her well. The king, placed on the throne by the revolution of 1830, but having already lost popularity, appeared to the people from the balcony of the Louvre; part of the crowd greeted him with exclamations of “Long live the king!”, others shouted “Long live the reform!”; The National Guard paraded to the beat of drums. The satirical leaflet ironically described the ceremony as "a funeral procession of the liberties who died for the citizens, to form a parallel for the citizens who died for freedom."

The real success of the Funeral and Triumphal Symphony was in a concert performance on August 7 of the same year, when young listeners broke chairs with delight, and Wagner, who was then living in Paris, wrote: “When I listened to his Funeral Symphony ... I clearly felt that it was in all its depth should be clear to every street boy in a work blouse and a red cap... I can happily express here my deepest conviction that the July Symphony will live and inspire people as long as the French nation exists.” The funeral-triumphal symphony revives the traditions of the festivities of the Great French Revolution of 1789, when music took to the streets and squares, and thousands of citizens took part in its performance. The ceremonial transfer of the ashes of the great figures of France to the Pantheon, funeral marches - a genre that was established precisely during that period, incendiary speeches of revolutionary speakers, heroic hymns - these are the prototypes of Berlioz's symphony, which he inherited from his teacher F. Lesueur, a famous composer of the era of the revolution. However, the choir - an indispensable participant in revolutionary festivities - is assumed by Berlioz, although gigantic (200 people), but only in the finale, and even then not necessarily. The text of the choir, short and very pompous, belongs to the poet Anthony Deschamps, brother of the author of the lyrics for the vocal numbers of Romeo and Juliet. It glorifies the heroes who died for their homeland and were crowned with palm branches of immortality among the angels and seraphim. Conceived to be performed by a military orchestra of 110 people in the open air, on a square, with a gathering of masses of people, the symphony approaches compositions of mass everyday genres and is less perceived in a concert hall, although it uses classical patterns of construction and development.

The longest first part - “Funeral March” - begins with dull drum beats, similar to the thunder of cannons. The main part is played by wooden instruments, and the dotted marching rhythm is played by horns, trumpets and cornets. The theme unfolds slowly, heavily, reaching a deafening sound. As usual, the major side part is more lyrical, even chamber-like: it is intoned by clarinets and oboes, and is also accompanied only by wooden horns with sustained sounds. It is very short, and the powerful climax, built on the theme of the main part, is tragic. The lyrical sound of the side note in the reprise is an emotional respite in the gloomy atmosphere of the funeral procession, after which the mournful mood, marching rhythm and thunder of drums return. However, the part ends with an enlightened major climax.

The second part - “Funeral Speech” - directly resurrects the images of the French Revolution, full of pathos, oaths over the graves of heroes. The solo trombone is entrusted with oratorical recitative - the instrument plays the role of a human voice, which is so typical of Berlioz. In the next brief episode, the trombone plays a more melodious theme in third with the bassoons - like a duet of male voices.

And in the third episode, in a measured rhythm and a more agile tempo, a new melodious trombone melody is intertwined with echoes.

“Apotheosis” plays the role of a quick finale. The celebration is announced by fanfare calls from the brass against the background of drumming. In the pompous first theme one can hear the turns of the funeral speech of the second part, but now, repeated several times, it sounds like a victorious anthem of a lapidary, poster warehouse. More lyrical images also appear, but marching images remain dominant. In the reprise of the opening theme, the orchestra is joined by a choir, emphasizing the apotheotic tone of the finale.

Dramatic symphony after Shakespeare with choruses, vocal solos and a prologue in the form of choral recitative

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 2 trombones, ophicleides, bass drum, 2 tambourines, cymbals, small antique cymbals, 2 triangles, timpani, 2 harps (their number can be doubled or tripled), strings (at least 63 people); small choir (14 people) and 2 soloists - contralto and tenor, 2 male choirs behind the stage, Capulet choirs (at least 70 people) and Montagues, bass soloist (Father Lorenzo).

History of creation

Berlioz first saw Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet on September 15, 1827, during a tour of an English troupe in Paris; the role of Juliet was played by Henrietta Smithson, with whom the 24-year-old composer immediately fell madly in love. He experienced a true shock: it was an opportunity “to be transported to the burning sun, the fragrant nights of Italy, to these cruel scenes of revenge, to these selfless embraces, to these desperate battles of love and death, to be present at the spectacle of this love, sudden, like a thought, ebullient, like lava, powerful, irresistible, huge and pure, and beautiful, like the smile of angels..."

During his stay in Italy in 1831-1832, Berlioz sketched out a plan for a musical composition on this subject, perhaps with an opera in mind. Returning to Paris, he continues to pursue Henrietta with his “volcanic passion”, falls into despair, contemplates suicide and at the same time dreams of success that would attract her attention. Triumphant success fell to his lot on December 9, 1832, when the Symphony Fantastique was performed. In the program, he spoke about his love with all sorts of romantic exaggerations. In October of the following year, despite opposition from both his and her family, Berlioz married Henrietta Smithson. That same year, Paganini ordered him, as one of the Parisian newspapers reported, “a new composition in the style of the Symphony Fantastique,” ​​in which he was to play the solo viola part. Thus was born Berlioz's second symphony, Harold in Italy (1834). And although the solo part was not virtuosic enough for him, Paganini continued to admire Berlioz’s work. Having attended a concert on December 16, 1838, where both symphonies were performed, he knelt before the composer to the applause of the audience and orchestra. And the next day Berlioz received a check for 20 thousand francs from Paganini. Now he could work calmly, in his own words, “sail on the sea of ​​bliss,” composing “Romeo and Juliet.”

In 8 months, the composer created a gigantic score for a symphony orchestra, three choirs and three soloists (notes in the score - beginning January 24, 1839, ending September 8; in letters, respectively, January 22 - August 22) and dedicated it to Paganini. The premiere took place after two months of rehearsals with a huge orchestra (160 people), choir (98 people) and soloists of the Grand Opera Theater on November 24, 1839 under the direction of the author. The hall of the Paris Conservatory was packed, even members of the royal family were present. “It was the biggest success I’ve ever had,” the composer recalled about the first concert, and about the second he wrote: “I was crushed by screams, tears, applause, everything.”

For his third symphony, Berlioz chose a completely unusual genre, designating it as a “dramatic symphony with choirs and vocal solos.” In the preface to the score, he explained that the singing that occurs at the beginning should prepare for the perception of subsequent scenes in which the passions of the characters find expression in the symphony orchestra. The abandonment of the vocal duets of Romeo and Juliet in the garden scene and in the crypt scene made it possible to “give to the imagination a freedom which the specific sense of the sung word cannot give it,” and to speak in an orchestral language - “richer, more varied, less restrained and thanks to its uncertainty - immeasurably more powerful."

The program in Romeo and Juliet is interpreted by the author differently than in the first two symphonies. The composer now includes the word in the choral and solo episodes (text by the poet Emile Deschamps) and precedes the orchestral episodes with detailed subtitles outlining the course of events. The number of episodes is large (they can be compared with the numbers of an opera or oratorio), and the total number of parts remains traditional - four, although incredibly expanded.

Music

The first part includes an introduction, prologue, stanzas, and scherzetto. Author's explanation for the introduction: “Contractions. - Confusion. - Intervention of the prince." This is a catchy orchestral picture, depicting the turbulent life of medieval Verona, street battles in which the entire city is drawn. The sharp, elastic theme of fugato (the theme of enmity) begins with violas, they are joined by cellos, violins, woodwinds, and, finally, the whole orchestra sounds powerful. The prince’s menacing speech, prohibiting fights on pain of death, is entrusted to three trombones and an ophicleide in unison and should, according to the author’s direction, be performed proudly, in the nature of a recitative. This is Berlioz’s favorite technique - transferring to the instrument the function of the human voice, endowing it with declamatory, oratorical melody.

The prologue, unlike the introduction, is vocal. A small male choir, supported by rare chords of harp and brass, recites on one note, talking about the events just shown in the orchestral number - the bloody feud between the Montagues and the Capulets and the order of the prince. The solo contralto picks up the recitative, telling the story of lovers Romeo and Juliet. Then again the choir talks about upcoming events, and the orchestra illustrates them: the lively music of the Capulet’s ball sounds (from the second part), the dreamy theme of Romeo’s loneliness (from the same place), the theme of love, widely sung by a choir of wood and strings (from the third part). The stanzas begin without a break - a lyrical contralto aria to the accompaniment of a harp, which is joined in the second verse by a beautiful cello echo. Not directly related to the development of the plot, the aria glorifies love, the secret of which was known only to Shakespeare, who took it to heaven (the final words are picked up by a small choir). The last section of the prologue is a recitative from the tenor soloist and a rapidly sweeping scherzetto. This is Mercutio's story about the fairy Mab, the queen of dreams. A sudden contrast arises in the coda - a picture of Juliet's funeral accompanied by mournful psalmody by the choir. Thus, the first part can be compared in its dramatic function to an operatic overture, exhibiting many of the musical themes of the drama that follows.

The second part is subtitled “Romeo alone. - Sadness. - Concert and ball. A big celebration for the Capulets." It consists, as Berlioz often does, of two large episodes. It is even similar to the first part of “Harold in Italy” (“Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy”) in the designation of the tempo of the initial section - Andante melancolico, which embodies the loneliness of the main character. His dreams, his sadness are conveyed by the lyrical theme of solo violins without accompaniment, already familiar from the prologue - chromatic, declamatory, unfolding freely and improvisationally. For a moment, the music of the ball bursts into dreams, but immediately gives way to a new lyrical and expressive theme of the oboe. This ends the slow intro. It contrasts with a fascinating sonata allegro with the carefree, fast-paced dance themes that Berlioz was so successful at. “The Capulet's Big Feast” directly echoes the “scenes of happiness and joy” in “Harold” - they are brought together by a rhythm reminiscent of saltarella. And like the previous symphony, in the reprise the composer contrapuntally combines the theme of the festival and the theme of Romeo - the latter is powerfully proclaimed by the unisons of wooden and brass instruments. The role of this movement is reminiscent of the first sonata allegro of a traditional symphonic cycle with a slow introduction.

The third movement can be compared to an ordinary adagio, which is also preceded by a large introduction. Her program: “Scene of love. Clear night. - Capulet's garden, silent and deserted. Returning from the ball, the young Capulets pass by, singing excerpts of the ball’s music.” The music accurately embodies the program, although the events follow in reverse order. In the introduction, mysteriously flickering chords are heard, the roll calls of two male choirs behind the stage with echoes of the dance theme of the previous part. The adagio that follows is the lyrical center of the entire symphony, one of the composer's greatest achievements. Passionate feeling blossoms in the broadly developing melodious themes, and the instruments presenting them are reminiscent of an operatic duet. At the beginning - a male voice (violas, cellos, bassoon, cor anglais in a low register), in the reprise - a female voice (flute and cor anglais in a higher register, violins), and finally they merge in a single hymn of love (the theme is carried out in third, as in an Italian opera duet).

The fourth part, like the first, consists of many sections: “Queen Mab, or the Fairy of Dreams”, “Juliet’s Funeral Cortege”, “Romeo in the Capulet Tomb”, the finale. The first two are similar to the middle parts of the usual cycle, juxtaposed in contrast - a fantastic scherzo and a funeral march. Berlioz has already paid attention to the fairy Mab, who plays an insignificant role in Shakespeare’s tragedy, in the vocal scherzetto of the first movement, but in the symphonic scherzo of the fourth he unfolds a large, colorful picture of the magical kingdom of the elves. The composer paints it with airy, refined colors and masterful skill. The effects of orchestration are impossible to list - this is a whole encyclopedia of innovative techniques that are amazing even a century after the death of the author. The rapidly rushing theme pauses briefly in the trio, decorated with harmonics of violins and harps, and again continues its aerial flight.

“Juliet's Funeral Cortege” is one of the most tragic sections of the symphony. The chamber orchestra is combined with a large choir in a fugato with complex polyphonic techniques, which Berlioz specifically emphasized in the explanation of the score. At first, the funeral march sounds in the orchestra, and the choir psalmodizes on one note: “Shower the deceased maiden with flowers.” Then the choir intones the theme of the march, and the violins, like a bell, repeat a single note. Using the usual contrast between minor and major in the funeral march - in the middle, lighter section - Berlioz, however, in the reprise does not return to the minor mode: the initial fugato is carried out in major, in an abbreviated form, without a choir.

The next section - “Romeo in the Capulet Tomb” - contains the most detailed program: “Summons. - Juliet's Awakening. - Crazy joy, despair; the last languor and death of both lovers.” The music closely follows the program, alternating between many short, contrasting, highly theatrical fragments. At the end, the lonely voice of the double basses sounds, answered by a pathetic replica of equally lonely violins and a fading oboe solo.

The finale is a real opera scene, even suggesting, according to the author’s program, a theatrical embodiment: “The crowd gathers at the cemetery. - Fight between Capulets and Montagues. - Recitative and aria of Father Lorenzo. Oath of Reconciliation." Here the actors entering into direct relationships are specified. The two choirs first clash in canonical roll calls, in which the theme of enmity is heard, and then are included in the large scene of Father Lorenzo. This grandiose three-choir composition - with the participation of the prologue choir - where the bass soloist acts as a luminary with a melody of an appealing, oratorical style, vividly recalls the crowd scenes of the French romantic “grand opera”, which flourished precisely in the 30-40s of the 19th century . Following Shakespeare, Berlioz emphasizes the high humanistic idea of ​​tragedy, its catharsis: the death of the heroes was not in vain, what power, weapons, and fear were powerless to overcome was accomplished by love, which defeated enmity and death: in the “Oath of Reconciliation” the intonations of the theme of love are heard.

A. Koenigsberg

The first place in Berlioz's legacy belongs to his program symphonies. Created within one creatively intense decade (1830-1840), they embodied the typical aspects of Berlioz's innovative art in a particularly bright and bold form. The musical language of the symphonies is distinguished by rare originality. First of all, the novelty of the melodies is striking. They are so unlike what was accepted in the music of classicism that many contemporaries generally refused to recognize Berlioz’s melodic gift. In fact, the composer, who knew how to excellently compose in the traditional song style, created a new type of national French melodic music in the works of the 30s. What was new was, firstly, the attraction to ancient and folk modes. Secondly, the usual character of sonata-symphonic melodies was radically changed by free, varied rhythms. The influence of French speech, its features, in particular the art of declamation, was felt here. Berliozian melodicism is not characterized by the “repeated-rhythmic” principle coming from dance music, or the periodic structure of musical phrases associated with poetic stanza. In Berlioz's melodies, poetically measured speech gave way to elevated oratorical prose. This explains why his melodies are often heard without harmonic accompaniment, why they are poorly reproduced on the piano and are not sung. In Berlioz, melody acts as a relevant plastic and coloristic factor that organizes the form and directs the development of music. The leading role in creating the composer's image is played by the orchestral-timbre element. In this area he made a real revolution. Modern orchestral music originates from Berlioz. Berlioz subordinated the laws of vocal control, harmony, texture, rhythm, and dynamics to timbre-colorful expressiveness. Berlioz's orchestra is distinguished by rare detail and subtle timbre nuances. He needed a huge cast of performers not only for grandiose dynamic effects, but also for the finest nuances within the piano and pianissimo. His harmonic language is striking in its boldness. Some of the composer's techniques (unexpected resolutions of dissonances, unusual comparisons of chords) go beyond the traditional concept of tonality. Often his harmonies, considered outside of the orchestral sound, seem elementary and even colorless. However, in combination with timbre colorfulness, they acquire bright individual expressiveness. It can be argued that if Berlioz's harmony is the result of his orchestral thinking, then he imagined instrumentation “vertically.” In Berlioz's themes the importance of the background has changed and increased enormously. Sometimes the figurative polyphonic texture in combination with the richest timbre and harmonic shades pushes the melody into the background. His works raised French music to the level of the advanced literature of his time. In this sense, Berlioz seems to be a true successor to Beethoven's symphonism. However, the main theme of his work is far from Beethoven. Berlioz is a pure romantic. His art was prepared by the psychologism of Musset, the individualistic rebellion of Byron, the self-absorbed quest of lyric poets and a number of literary and musical dreamers. But romantic images received a generalized expression in the symphonies of Berlioz, like Beethoven. “A lark the size of an eagle” - this is what Heine called the composer, in one phrase describing both the lyricism of Berlioz’s music and the monumental features inherent in it.

First Symphony, "Fantastic" (1830-31) , was a manifesto of French romanticism. Progressive artists of Paris saw in it the beginning of a new music school. The score was preceded by a detailed program, outlined by the author himself in the form of a script entitled “An Episode from the Life of an Artist.” The composer's script is largely autobiographical. Berlioz's lyrical confession reflected a typical theme of the time - the mood of a "young man of the 19th century", an atmosphere of discord with reality, exaggerated emotionality and sensitivity. The first part, called “Dreams, Passions,” is distinguished by rare originality. For the first time in symphonic music, the complex spiritual world of the new hero, torn by contradictions, was embodied, captured in the literary portraits of Musset, Stendhal, de Vigny, and Hugo. The work begins with an introduction. This is an intimate and romantic prelude, echoing the mood of the opening Adagio of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. It is dominated by images of passionate dreams. The sonata Allegro that follows can be called a “psychological poem.” His music begins with a theme that personifies the image of his beloved. This is the main theme in its classicist understanding and essentially the only one, since the music of the entire movement is based on it (or on the motives formed from it). However, the images of love dreams are not dominant. Allegro agitato ed appassionato creates a picture of the hero’s restless soul with its “Faustian” duality and heightened sensitivity. The first part, expressing images of emotional unrest, is followed by a picture of a noisy, brilliant celebration - “The Ball”. This contrast expresses one of the central thoughts in the art of the 19th century - the contrast of a lonely, disappointed romantic with a merry crowd alien to him. In the music of the ball scene, a bright genre is combined with subtle French salon grace. For the first time, the basis of a symphonic movement is the everyday waltz. The melodious melody, dance quality, and transparent instrumentation (two solo harps) give this scene greater expressiveness. The third part - “Scene in the Fields” - paints an image of a lonely, yearning hero in the lap of nature: here a pastoral idyll contrasts with mental turmoil. With rare artistic power, Berlioz shows two planes in inextricable unity. The hero’s state of melancholy casts gloomy shadows on the majestic, serene nature. The intonations of bright peace are transformed under the influence of complicated musical turns that characterize the hero’s spiritual yearning. Particularly original are the harmonic language and the slowly unfolding melodies, rich in psychological nuances. In the Adagio there are theatrical and visual moments: a dialogue-tuning between two shepherds (the roll call of the cor anglais and oboe), distant rumbles of thunder, and unexpected silence. The fourth part - “Procession to Execution” - is a stunning picture of despotic violence, full of nightmares and premonitions of death. The iron marching gait that permeates the music gives rise to a feeling of soulless inexorability and doom. In the descending scale-like melody, in the abrupt intonations of the counterposition, acute tragedy is expressed. The development of the theme evokes a feeling of non-stop, inevitable movement towards a terrible goal. The motive of the beloved, flashing before the moment of execution, is perceived as the last memory of the bright ideal to which the hero’s interrupted life was dedicated. Undoubtedly, the musical images of this scene resonate with modern French opera. In the last part - “A Dream on the Night of the Sabbath” - the forces of evil are shown in that demonic aspect that has become typical for the romantics. Expressive orchestral techniques - high tremolos of violins, blows of the bow and bells, extensive use of brass instruments - create a picture of an orgy. The whirling in a hellish round dance is conveyed by a double fugue. The theme of the Catholic sequence "Dies irae" serves to characterize the demonic "black mass". The emotional fury of the finale, its condensed colors convey the hero’s hatred and disgust for the negative aspects of life. The theme of “unhappy love” rose in Berlioz’s symphony to the meaning of the tragedy of “lost illusions.”

Berlioz's Second Symphony - "Harold in Italy" (1834) reflected the Italian impressions of the author. Along with paintings of nature and everyday life, these include the composer’s passion for Byron. The symphony grew out of a sonata for viola, which, at Paganini’s request, Berlioz undertook to compose for him. Genre, closeness to Italian folklore, and sound imaging characterize this work, and especially its most striking and original middle parts. The first part is “Harold in the mountains. Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy" - is closely related to Italian folk music. In the second part - “Procession of Pilgrims Singing Evening Prayer” - using the finest sound recording techniques, a picture of the approaching and retreating procession is created. The sound of a choral litany mixes with the roar of bells. The variational development of this theme is distinguished by its exceptional richness of color. The third part - “Love Serenade of a Highlander in the Abruzzese” - is close in music to the tunes of Italian shepherds (pifferari) and folk tunes. The finale - "Orgy of Bandits", - depicting the death of the hero in a robber's cave, is reminiscent of the bacchanalia in the finale of the "Fantastic Symphony". The strong and original side of the music of “Harold in Italy” is the finest colorful and visual instrumentation. Berlioz also widely used here a new technique of concretizing the image through the “leittimbre”. The timbre of the viola invariably accompanies the theme that runs through the entire work and personifies Byron's hero.

In 1839, the composer completed work on his third symphony, Romeo and Juliet. for orchestra, choir and soloists. In terms of breadth and objectivity, this grandiose symphony rises above Berlioz’s previous works, while at the same time differing from them in even more daring innovation and more diverse musical and compositional techniques. "Romeo and Juliet" can be called an "instrumental drama" in the full sense of the word. This symphony has a clearly expressed storyline, connected not only with the general program, but also with a specific poetic text. Location of all seven parts (No. 1. Introduction (Street fights. Confusion. Appearance of the Duke), prologue. No. 2. Celebration at the Capulets. No. 3. Night scene: No. 4. Fairy Mab, queen of dreams. No. 5. Burial of Juliet. No. 6. Romeo in the Capulet Crypt. No. 7. Finale), some of which are further divided into smaller picture-episodes, is extremely reminiscent of a theatrical composition. However, these features do not transform Berlioz’s work into an oratorio and do not bring it closer to opera, since the leading images of the symphony are expressed by generalized instrumental means, such as, for example, the inspired night love scene, which anticipated Wagner’s Tristan. The image of Romeo is also depicted using instrumental techniques. This “Renaissance” Shakespearean hero is interpreted by Berlioz in a modern, Byronian spirit. Against the background of the noisy fun of the ball, represented by music that is almost banal in its deliberately reduced everyday appearance, a lonely, yearning Romeo is subtly outlined. The juxtaposition of these two musical planes - the genre-based everyday and the romantic-refined, intellectual - creates a brightly contrasting effect. In terms of its power, this scene belongs to the best embodiments in music of the idea of ​​​​romantic antithesis. The fairy Mab's scherzo appears here as a traditional symphonic scherzo. The fantastic motif, fleetingly mentioned in Shakespeare, grows in Berlioz’s work to the significance of an independent part. In its virtuoso, brilliant instrumentation, in its exquisite rhythm, in its radiance, this scherzo has no equal in modern music. The scene of Juliet's burial belongs to the most profound philosophical pages in Berlioz's work, reminiscent of many moments of his stunning "Requiem". The opening fugato, depicting a street battle, the meeting and death of lovers in the crypt form relief, purely instrumental parts. The finale (reconciliation of warring families) is close to an operatic cantata scene. In addition to the final scene, singing occurs mainly in the prologue, which, following theatrical laws, introduces the listener into the scope of the symphony. Occasionally it is used to concretize a poetic image (for example, the “Italian” song of departing guests). The connection with the multifaceted images of Shakespearean drama led to a huge expansion of the musical and expressive means of the symphony. In particular, the genre diversity of the music is striking: fugue (Juliet’s funeral) and verse song (stanzas about love in the prologue); an aria of the lament type (Father Lorenzo in the finale) and an enchanting scherzo (scherzetto in the prologue, “Fairy Mab”); instrumental recitation (the prince's speech in the prologue) and Italian folk choral singing (the guests' song); dreamy nocturne (night scene in the garden) and masquerade music in the “light” genre (celebration at the Capulets); an intimate prelude (lonely Romeo) and a massive opera-choral scene (the oath of reconciliation). At times, in the development of themes and in the juxtaposition of episodes, theatrical plot elements are actually reflected (the scene in the crypt, the scene of Romeo at the festival). Berlioz achieves almost visible relief here.

In 1840, Berlioz wrote his last fourth symphony, “Mourning and Triumphal” - the second work after the Requiem, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the July Revolution of 1830. The “Funeral-Triumphal Symphony,” originally written for a huge brass band (a string section is optional), is designed for the acoustics of streets and squares. The first performance of the symphony took place on the occasion of the transfer of the ashes of the victims of the July Revolution and the consecration of the column in their memory. Gathering musicians from all over Paris and joining them with the National Guard orchestra, Berlioz walked ahead of the orchestra through the streets of Paris, conducting the saber. The symphony consists of three movements: the first - “Funeral Procession”; the second is the “Funeral Oration” performed by a solo trombone (a bold move: this kind of pathetic declamation by a solo trombone has never been seen in music before); the third is “Apotheosis” (“Glory to the Fallen Heroes” for orchestra and choir). Richard Wagner described this symphony as follows, emphasizing its democracy: “When I listened to his “Funeral Symphony,” written in honor of the funeral of the victims of the July Revolution, I clearly felt that in all its depth it should be understandable to every street boy in a working blouse and red cap... I really prefer this symphony to all the other works of Berlioz, since it is noble and significant from the first to the last note. There is no place for painful exaltation in it - from this it is saved by a high patriotic feeling, growing gradually from complaint to mighty apotheosis...” Unlike Berlioz’s other symphonies, the Funeral-Triumphal one has no plot, but in “Memoirs” the composer proposed a detailed program: “I wanted to recall, first of all, the battles of the Three Glorious Days with the mournful accents of a march, menacing and sad at the same time, which would be sung as the cortege passed; to give a kind of funeral oration and farewell addressed to the illustrious dead during the burial of the remains in a monumental tomb; and, finally, to sing a hymn of glory, an apotheosis, when, having lowered the tombstone, the people will see only a high column, crowned with Liberty with outstretched wings, rushing to heaven, like the souls of those who died for it.” The symphony revives the traditions of the festivities of the Great French Revolution of 1789, when music took to the streets and squares and was performed by thousands of citizens. Conceived to be performed by a military orchestra of 110 people, which is joined in the finale by a choir (another 200) in the open air, on the square, with a gathering of masses of people, the symphony comes closer to works of mass everyday genres and is less perceived in the concert hall, although it uses classical patterns of construction and development.

For Charles Duthoit Berlioz is first and foremost a romantic and a Frenchman. In the music of France, Dutoit feels so confident that he conducts without a score, clearly and skillfully showing the orchestra all the necessary details of the composition, and the orchestra, having complete confidence in the maestro, readily follows all his instructions. This makes his strings sound so synchronized, and his winds sound so clear. The gradation of moods of Berlioz's characters and the rich timbre palette are shown very interestingly and with great skill. As a result, the execution captivates with its transparency, sometimes whimsicality, sometimes sensuality, and often sublimity.

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Symphonies

"Fantastic"
"Romeo and Juliet"
"Mourning-Triumphal"
"Harold in Italy" / "Rob Roy" Overture, "Corsair" Overture

Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Charles Duthoit

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Romeo et Juliette; Symphonie funébre et triomphale; Harold in Italy
Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Charles Dutoit
1983-1987

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Symphonie fantastique, Op.14 (1830)
1. Reveries. Passions (Largo - Allegro agitato ed appassionato assai) 15:52
2. Un bal (Valse: Allegro non troppo) 6:37
3. Scene aux champs (Adagio) 17:05
4. Marche au supplice (Allegretto non troppo) 4:55
5. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat (Larghetto - Allegro - Ronde du Sabbat) 10:27

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Romeo et Juliette,symphonydramatique, Op.17 (1839)
I. Introduction (4:20)
II. Prologue. Part I. D "anciennes haines endormies (4:46)
III. Premiers transports que nul n"oublie! (6:02)
IV. Bientot de Romeo - la pale reverie (3:11)
V. Part II. Romeo seul - Grand fete chez Capulet (13:01)
VI. Scene d'amour (18:50)
VII. La reine Mab (7:57)
VIII. Part III. Jetez des fleurs (10:57)
IX. Romeo au tombeau des Capulets (7:52)
X. Finale. Recitatif du pere Laurence (4:36)
XI. Pauvres enfants que je pleure (8:43)
XII. Jurez donc par l"auguste symbole (4:54)

Symphonie Funébre et Triomphale, Op. 15 (1840)
I. Marche funébre (17:54)
II. Oraison funébre (8:30)
III. Apothéose (8:36)

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Harold en Italie,symphony avec un alto principal, Op.16 (1834)
1. Harold aux montagnes (Adagio - Allegro) 16:55
2. Marche des Pelerins (Allegretto) 8:29
3. Sérénade (Allegro assai - Allegretto) 6:58
4. Orgie de brigands (Allegro frenetico - Adagio - Allegro, Tempo I) 12:28
5. Overtue "Rob Roy" (13:04)
6. Overtue "Le Corsair"(8:13)