Louis-Hector Berlioz (1803-69) wrote that “Beethoven opened before me a new world of music, as Shakespeare had revealed a new universe of poetry.” Bill covers the arc of Berlioz’s life and music, from leaving medical school in Paris to attend the opera and studying at the Paris Conservatory, then being a model of the Romantic movement. This week’s fifth episode features the last two movements of Symphonie Fantastique, displaying Berlioz’s gift for spectacular drama and concludes with an excerpt from his setting of “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem.
Berlioz, Hector
Hector Berlioz sitting, looking longingly
