LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Hector Berlioz: Composers
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The 200th Anniversary of the birth of the great French Romantic composer, Hector Berlioz is celebrated in a spectacular performance of his colossal and dramatic Grande Messe Des Morts. Over 325 performers join forces for this monumental event.
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Berlioz and his wife, two of the most highly strung individuals to be found anywhere, were bound to have plenty of storm and stress in their daily life. And so it came about that a separation, at least for a time, seemed advisable. Berlioz made every provision in his power for her comfort, and then started out on various tours to make his compositions known. Concerts were given in Stuttgart, Heckingen, Weimar, Leipsic, and in Dresden two, both very successful. Others took place in Brunswick, Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover, finishing at Darmstadt, where the Grand Duke insisted not only on the composer taking the full receipts for the concert, but, in addition, refused to let him pay any of the expenses.
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After the 1830s, Berlioz found it increasingly difficult to achieve recognition for his music in France, and as a result, he began to travel to other countries more often. Between 1842 and 1863 he traveled to Germany, England, Austria, Russia and elsewhere, where he conducted operas and orchestral music - both his own and others'. During his lifetime, Berlioz was as famous a conductor as he was as a composer. In 1840, the
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Berlioz valued the original intentions of the composer and criticized readings of the score that added ornamentation or made other changes. He possessed deep classical roots, and yet he spoke the language of Romanticism. Melody was his central strength, although his conducting was characterized by great precision of rhythm. A facile contrapunalist, he was fond of placing two varying voices in dialogue with each other, and from harmonic standpoint, never liked a single melody over and accompaniment—it seemed too much like Italian opera to him.
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Berlioz struggled vainly throughout his career for success in Paris. For years he supported himself as the Conservatoire’s librarian and as a music critic. Eventually... his music began to achieve recognition abroad. In Weimar, Liszt organized a week-long festival of Berlioz’s compositions. Russia, England and other parts of Germany and central Europe also acknowledged the power and originality of his music, and the composer spent more and more time conducting performances foreign cities.
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Berlioz advanced as a critic, writing for a variety of journals. Although fairly well-paid for his musical criticism, he was in constant financial difficulties. He did not belong to the official musical circles; hence he had to go into debt to finance his concerts. All in all, through 1838 his life remained hard. During this period... there were performances of Harold en Italie, the Grande Messe des morts (Requiem), and Benvenuto Cellini. The failure of this opera was a bitter blow to Berlioz, who was ambitious for success as an opera composer.
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