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G. Berlioz is one of the greatest composers and greatest innovators of the XIX century. He went down in history as the creator of the program symphony, which had a deep and fruitful influence on all the subsequent development of romantic art.
For France, the name of Berlioz is associated with the birth of a national symphonic culture. Berlioz is a musician of a wide profile: a composer, conductor, music critic, who upheld progressive, democratic ideals in art, born of the spiritual atmosphere of the July revolution of 1830. The future composer's childhood proceeded in a favorable atmosphere. His father, a doctor by profession, instilled in his son a taste for literature, art, and philosophy. Under the influence of the atheistic beliefs of the father, his progressive, democratic views, the world outlook of Berlioz took shape. But for the boy’s musical development, the conditions of the provincial town were very modest. He studied flute and guitar, and the only musical impression was church singing - Sunday solemn masses, which he loved very much. Traction Berlioz to music manifested itself in an attempt to compose. These were small plays and romances. The melody of one of the romances was subsequently included as a leit of the "Fantastic" symphony.
In 1821, Berlioz went to Paris at the insistence of his father to enter Medical School. But medicine does not attract the young man. Fascinated by music, he dreams of professional music education. In the end, Berlioz makes an independent decision to give up science for the sake of art, and this incurs the wrath of parents who did not consider music to be a worthy profession. They deprive the son of any material support, and henceforth the future composer can count only on himself. However, believing in his mission, he turns all his strength, energy and enthusiasm to the independent mastery of the profession. He lives like a half-starved Balsakov hero, in the attic, but in the opera he does not miss a single performance, and spends all his free time in the library, studying scores.
Since 1823, Berlioz begins to take private lessons from J. Lesuer - the most prominent composer of the era of the French Revolution. It was he who instilled in his student a taste for monumental forms of art designed for a mass audience. In 1825, Berlioz, having shown outstanding organizational talent, satisfied with the public performance of his first major composition - the Great Mass. The following year, he composes the heroic scene "The Greek Revolution", this work opened a whole direction in his work, connected with the revolutionary theme. Feeling the need for deeper professional knowledge, in 1826 Berlioz entered the Paris Conservatory in the class of Lesueur and in the class of counterpoint A. Reich. Of great importance for the formation of the aesthetics of a young artist is communication with prominent representatives of literature and art, including O. Balzac, V. Hugo, G. Heine, T. Gotye, A. Dumas, George Sand, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, N. Paganini. With Liszt he is connected by personal friendship, a community of creative searches and interests. Subsequently, Liszt will become a fiery propagandist of music by Berlioz.
In 1830, Berlioz creates the “Fantastic Symphony” with the subtitle: “An episode from the artist’s life”. It opens a new era of programmatic romantic symphony, becoming a masterpiece of world music culture. The program is written by Berlioz and is based on the fact of the biography of the composer himself - the romantic story of his love for the English dramatic actress Henriette Smithson. However, autobiographical motifs in music generalization acquire the meaning of the general romantic theme of the artist’s loneliness in the modern world and, more broadly, the theme of “lost illusions”.
1830 was stormy for Berlioz. The fourth time participating in the competition for the Rome Prize, he finally won, presenting to the jury the cantata "The Last Night of Sardanapala." The composer finishes his work to the sounds of an uprising that began in Paris and goes straight from the competition to the barricades to join the rebels. In the following days, having orchestrated and shifted to the Marseillaise for a double chorus, he learns it with the people in the squares and streets of Paris.
2 years Berlioz as a Roman scholar holds in the Villa Medici. Returning from Italy, he unfolds an active conductor, composer, music critic, but he encounters a total rejection of his innovative activities by the official circles of France. And this predetermined his whole future life, full of hardships and material difficulties. The main source of income of Berlioz is musical critical work. Articles, reviews, musical novels, feuilletons were subsequently published in several collections: “Music and Musicians”, “Musical Grotesques”, “Evenings in the Orchestra”. Central to the literary heritage of Berlioz took Memoirs - the composer's autobiography, written in brilliant literary style and giving a wide panorama of the artistic and musical life of Paris in those years. A great contribution to musicology was the theoretical work of Berlioz, A Treatise on Instrumentation (with the application “Orchestra Conductor”).
In 1834 the second program symphony “Harold in Italy” appeared (according to the poem by J. Byron). A developed solo alto part gives this symphony the features of a concert. 1837 was marked by the birth of one of the greatest creations of Berlioz - Requiem, created in memory of the victims of the July revolution. In the history of this genre, the Requiem of Berlioz is a unique work that combines a monumental fresco and a subtle psychological style; marches, songs in the Spirit of Music of the French Revolution side by side with the heartfelt romantic lyrics, then with the strict, ascetic style of the medieval Gregorian choral. The Requiem is written for a grand composition of participants: 200 choristers and an extended orchestra with four additional groups of wind instruments. In 1839, Berlioz finishes work on the third programmatic symphony “Romeo and Juliet” (after the tragedy of W. Shakespeare). This masterpiece of symphonic music, the most original work of Berlioz, is a synthesis of a symphony, an opera, an oratorio and allows not only concert, but also stage performance.
In 1840, the “Mourning-Triumphal Symphony” appeared, intended for performance in the open air. It is dedicated to the solemn ceremony of transferring the ashes of the heroes of the 1830 uprising and vividly resurrects the traditions of theatrical performances of the Great French Revolution.
Romeo and Juliet is joined by the dramatic legend Condemnation of Faust (1846), which is also based on a synthesis of the principles of program symphony and theatrical and stage music. Berlioz's “Faust” - the first musical interpretation of the philosophical drama by I. V. Goethe, which marked the beginning of numerous subsequent interpretations of it: in the opera (S. Gounod), in the symphony (Liszt, G. Mahler), in the symphonic poem (R. Wagner), in vocal and instrumental music (R. Schumann). Peru Berlioz also owns the oratorio trilogy “The Childhood of Christ” (1854), several program overtures (“King Lear” - 1831, “The Roman Carnival” - 1844, etc.), 3 operas (“Benvenuto Cellini” - 1838, the dilogy “Trojans” - 1856-63, "Beatrice and Benedict" (1862) and a number of vocal-instrumental works in various genres.
Berlioz lived a tragic life, never having achieved recognition in his homeland. The last years of his life were gloomy, lonely. The only bright memories of the composer were associated with trips to Russia, which he visited twice (1847, 1867-68). Only there he achieved brilliant success with the public, a real recognition among composers and critics. The last letter of the dying Berlioz was addressed to his friend - the well-known Russian critic V. Stasov.