I’m assuming that most of you know this piece. The program can be found here: http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/fantas.htm
9 thoughts on “Assignment – Friday, Oct. 23”
Luke Celenza
I always seem to like the second movement the most of the symphonies we’ve listened to. I really like the fast quiet bowing with the harp playing in the cracks at the beginning, and at :46 seconds the theme flows seamlessly and effortlessly out into the next development. I really like how themes don’t linger too long he always develops them further or introduces new ideas entirely keeping the movement broken into little vignettes. Sometimes when the cadence is milked and extended for dramatic effect, I find it to be ineffective and uninteresting. Maybe at the time it threw the audiences off, and drew them in?
I love how dramatic the moment of the artist’s execution is in the fourth movement. The first time I heard this live, I literally flinched due to the shock of the sudden chord following the peaceful clarinet line. The juxtaposition is really perfect.
What always blows my mind about this piece is how early it was written in the development of romantic orchestral music. It must have sounded crazy when non musicians first heard it (even a lot of musicians disliked it im sure). the fact that he was so far ahead of the game says a lot about his genius.
One of the the first things that struck me about this piece (honestly, this is the first time I’d ever heard it) was the subtle, yet consistent, development of themes. In the first movement one major theme (in scale degrees: b6-5-4-3, n6-5-4-3, etc) was presented consistently against a variety of textures of orchestration. In a way the color of the orchestration and the overall sound of the orchestration was equally as important as the theme itself.
its certainly very interesting to see how Berlioz builds this music based on all the emotions and stories he has in the letter.
The love feeling to the girl, the weird dancing scene, with the use of all the chromaticism and the rhythm he uses.
One of my favorite pieces! Berlioz’s use of program music, which just started to evolve, was barrier-breaking and the idea of not following the classical form, which may annoy some musicians, is, in fact, the beauty of this piece! The idee fixe is an early idea which will eventually become what we know as Leitmotiv. The dance movement really charactizes the program description really well.
I find it really interesting that the inspiration for this piece did not come from an important political figure or event, but rather from the personal experience of an artist. This really speaks to the idea of romantic individuality, and not just the individuality of an important figure, but really the individuality of all people (which I realize is a little paradoxical). This is one of the first times (chronologically) that I have seen in music the celebration of regular human-ness.
This piece is amazing. I think one of the main things that this piece reminds me of about Berlioz is that he was a master of instrument character. This is a program symphony, following a specific story. Berlioz knew exactly what instrument would properly depict every aspect of that story. I don’t think any composer does a better job at depicting vivid imagery through abstract sounds.
Berlioz has the one same theme which always repeats somewhere in each movement, using it to remind the listener of the importance of the object of his love and attention through his opium induced visions. I think it’s very cool how the same theme is used for the witches dance, an opposite symbol of his affectionate theme. Counterpoint doesn’t seem to take an important role, as everything is told through the effects of the orchestra, rhythmically and instrumentally.
9 thoughts on “Assignment – Friday, Oct. 23”