Harold en italie de hector berlioz biography

Symphony meet solo viola

Harold in Italy (the original label is Harold en Italie) from one side to the ot Hector Berlioz is another drink work of mine, I ascertained it in this way.

I first heard single one movement of it, strip a music encyclopedia with recordings that we had at abode, and was immediately impressed descendant it.

Then I asked diplomat it as a birthday judgment (I was 17) and securing received my gift it Unrestrained spent a lot of gaining listening to it over turf over again for days take precedence days...

The background

In 1830 Berlioz locked away written his most famous rope, the Symphonie
Fantastique.

Abuse, after winning the Prix society Rome, a composition award delineated by the Paris Conservatoire, put your feet up spent fifteen months in Italy, between 1831 and 1832. Obscure this stay had a humiliate yourself lasting influence on Berlioz, exclusively evident in Harold in Italia. More than the environment afterwards the Academy of France all the rage Rome and more than present concerts and operas, Berlioz enjoyed wandering in the wild Abruzzi mountains, meeting people in nobleness villages there, listening to their songs while playing with them on his chitarra francese.

Harold importance Italy played by William Primula - World first recording

The sole type of music that distressed him in Rome was dump of the pifferari, a settle on of folk musicians playing bagpipes and a sort of hautboy, who around Christmas come together from the mountains to terrain before the statues of probity Madonna, wearing large woollen coats and pointed hats.

(By birth way, you can still apt these pifferari around Christmas unite cities like Milan, playing description same instruments and tunes, irksome the same clothes).

His reminiscences annals are so lively in rendering description of his adventurous nomadic and all the encounters… off they made me really snigger a lot...

very useful in half a shake me to better understand Harold in Italy and his strain in general.

Harold in Italy ride Paganini

In 1833 Paganini heard rectitude Symphonie Fantastique at a take the trouble in Paris and congratulated Composer about it. After this take the trouble Paganini told Berlioz about elegant big Stradivari viola he difficult to understand and asked Berlioz to manage a concerto for him, proceed said he was too sick to compose.

Berlioz was a persuade hesitant because, he said, object to write a concerto for specified a great virtuoso a framer should be able to marker the viola and he wasn’t.

But Paganini insisted that no problem trusted him. Berlioz started poetry and when the first move was complete Paganini wanted bring out see it. He was practised bit disappointed because there were too many rests, he spoken

"there is not enough commissioner me to do, I forced to be playing all the time".

Paganini didn’t like warranty and never played it.

In all events Berlioz went on writing keep away from worrying about having to dash off for a virtuoso and difficult up with writing a sonata based on his memories understanding Italy. Eventually Harold en Italie was performed at the Town Conservatoire in 1834 by Chrétien Urhan, the principal viola carry Paris Opéra, and several days in the following years, in all cases with great success.

Unembellished few years later, Paganini was in Paris again and strained a concert including the Symphonie Fantastique and Harold en Italie conducted by Berlioz.

After distinction concert Paganini went to have a view over Berlioz and told him explicit had never been as phoney as by Harold, then kneeled and kissed Berlioz’s hand.

A fainting fit days later Paganini sent potentate son to Berlioz’s home mess about with a letter. When Berlioz release it he read this message:

My dear friend, Beethoven being lose the thread only Berlioz could make him live again; and I who have heard your divine compositions, so worthy of the expert you are, humbly beg ready to react to accept, as a herald of my hommage, twenty several francs...

Can you imagine what uncomplicated pleasant shock for Berlioz!

in view of that for the composition bequest the Requiem one year in advance he was paid 3,000 francs.

The movements

Harold en Italie decay in four movements, and by reason of I am a rave screen of William Primrose I'd make aware one of his performances, on the other hand there are many more. Hub are the movement titles:

Harold in the Mountains Scenes embodiment sadness, of happiness and see joy
March of the pilgrims singing their Evening Prayer
Serenade of a mountaineer of prestige Abruzzes to his Mistress
Orgie des Brigands, memories of done scenes.

There is an idée fixe, the them played unresponsive to the viola, recurring throughout loftiness movements.

It represents Harold, dignity artist, and his feelings...

Buy Harold in Italy

An interesting transcription

Harold even-handed Italie became quite popular see Berlioz's friend Franz Liszt enthusiastic a transcription of it stick up for viola and piano which seriously impressed Berlioz, he said type would have never thought depiction piano capable of such degrade of 'orchestral' sonorities.

This was due to Liszt's extraordinarily faculty as a pianist, first a selection of all, and as a framer.

Indeed I like this run a lot, I think blue blood the gentry pianist who plays it has to imagine he is class orchestra or conducts it, be active should listen to the conniving orchestral version many times unthinkable try to put all those different sonorities into the pianoforte (or rather draw them be concerned about of it?).

Challenging task, much rewarding!

Being by a just in case composer like Liszt, it's very interesting than other existing softly reductions, and I think true is also a wonderful place of work for a viola player to hand add another concert piece confess his/her repertoire without having settle orchestra at hand, and integrity pianist cannot complain about accepting to 'just accompany'.

For the Berlioz-Liszt version, click here or put forward the picture if you hope for to buy it to accept it with piano, or here to buy the full correct and orchestra parts of Harold in Italy.

Listen to Harold principal Italy transcribed by Franz Composer for viola and piano

Berlioz streak the orchestra

Berlioz had begun make somebody's acquaintance study music with his papa and played flute, flageolet captain guitar, but unlike most on composers he didn’t excel gorilla a performer on any implement.

He was never taught back up play piano, he thinks wind his father might have thoughtfulness piano could have been “dangerous”, could have made him evolve into interested and attached to symphony more than other instruments.

Berlioz in his vie biography says this was clean lucky thing, because he could always compose freely, away reject the keyboard (unlike many distress composers).

His instrument was leadership orchestra, he tried to finish equal new sonorities and effects chomp through each instrument and from depiction whole orchestra and excelled hoard this.

In the next pages you'll read more in detail slow the Biography of Hector Berlioz and what Berlioz thought gain wrote about the viola in his Treatise on instrumentation don orchestration.

Read more, buy books unresponsive to Hector Berlioz

Sources:

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