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Hector Berlioz Research Paper

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During the nineteenth century, music composers got inspiration from sources outside of the musical world. The encounter with nature, a love tragedy, impressions of a journey, or a play often served as motives that could be portrayed through music by using different colors, sound effects and moods. In this type of music, events are described and as such it is called descriptive music. One of the most well known composers of the nineteenth century of this type of music is Hector Berlioz.
Hector Berlioz was born in Grenoble, France in 1803. At his father’s request, Berlioz pursued studies in medicine before deciding to live his life as a music composer. His angry father decided to terminate all of Berlioz’s living supplies. Thus, while studying music in Paris, Berlioz began his career as a music critic to earn a living. While in Paris, Berlioz saw a play by William Shakespeare, which greatly inspired him. Berlioz composed many musical pieces that were inspired by literature works, such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Damnation of Faust and The Trojans. Perhaps the most famous piece by Hector Berlioz is Symphonie Fanstastique.
Symphonie Fanstastique is a notable piece of the early Romantic period, which was …show more content…

The main idea from the first movement comes back again, which later transitions to the waltz theme again. In this movement, the artist is attending a ball, and is enjoying the beautiful notes of the waltz when he remembers his love again. The harp playing in the background indicates a sense of loneliness felt by the artist; he imagines dancing with his love in the ball room when he suddenly realizes that it is only a dream and he is still in the ball. The louder music is to suggest that there are people in the ballroom, dancing around the artist. At the end of this part, the music gets faster, which creates a sense of urgent need for the beloved

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