Chapter 53

Music in Paris Under Louis Philippe: Berlioz and Chopin

Lecture Overview

• Paris vs. Vienna in the early 19th century• Hector Berlioz

– life and music– Symphonie fantastique, movement 4 (“March

to the Scaffold”)

• History of the piano and pianism 1800-1850• Frédéric Chopin:

– life and music– Nocturne in Db, Op. 27, No. 2

• Review

Paris: The July Revolution (1830) Delacroix, “Liberty Leading the People”

The subject of this famous painting by Eugène Delacroix is the July Revolution in Paris in 1830, when the French king Charles X was deposed. Our eyes are drawn to the female figure at the top, who symbolizes liberty and strides fearlessly forward. The tone of the picture is filled with energy and emotion, which were qualities also found in French music of the same time.

The Life of Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

• 1803 born near Grenoble to the family of a doctor

• 1821 arrives in Paris to study medicine; changes to music

• 1830 completes Symphonie fantastique, wins the Prix de Rome

• 1830s becomes a journalist, writes for several Parisian papers and journals

• 1840 composes the songs of Les nuits d’été• 1840s tours Germany conducting his music• 1869 dies in Paris

Principal Compositions of Hector Berlioz

• Orchestra: concert overtures; programmatic symphonies including:– Symphonie fantastique– Romeo and Juliet– Harold in Italy

• Operas: including – Benvenuto Cellini– The Trojans– Béatrice et Bénédict

• Chorus: works including– The Damnation of Faust– L’enfance du Christ– Requiem Mass

• Songs: Les nuits d’été (6 songs on poetry by Théophile Gautier)

• Writings: Memoirs, essays collected as Evenings in the Orchestra and A travers chants

Symphonie fantastique (1830): The Program

1. Reveries – Passions. A young musician sees the ideal woman and suffers fitful passions

2. A Ball. The obsessive thought of the beloved returns to him at a ball

3. Scene in the Country. Even the countryside cannot allay his passion; he suffers doubts about her

4. March to the Scaffold. In a nightmare he believes that he has murdered her, and he is now to be guillotined for his crime. The blade falls. . .

5. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath. He awakens in hell, taunted by witches, and he sees the beloved among them

How Orchestral Music Tells the Story of Symphonie fantastique

• themes used to symbolize characters in the program

• quotations of pre-existing music• instruments used to suggest characters and

situations• instruments imitate natural sounds• musical genres (the march, the waltz)

brought in as suggested by the program• deployment of conventional musical elements

(mode, tempo, character)

Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, 1830, movement 4 (“March to the

Scaffold”)

Irregular sonata form

Hector Berlioz, Les nuits d’été, “Absence,” 1840

Rondo-like form

The Life of Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

• 1810 born in Poland, grows up in Warsaw• 1827–31 tours Europe as piano virtuoso• 1831 settles in Paris• 1837 affair with French writer George Sand• 1847 breaks up with Sand, health declines

(tuberculosis)• 1848 visits London and Scotland to

concertize• 1849 dies in Paris

Chopin’s Principal Compositions

• Piano character pieces including– ballades– nocturnes– études– scherzos– preludes– polonaises– mazurkas– impromptus

• Sonatas for piano (3) and for cello-piano (1)• Piano concertos (2)• Songs (most in Polish)

Frédéric Chopin, Nocturne in Db Major, Op. 27, No. 2, 1835

Free rondo form

Review Key Terms

• Louis Philippe• July Revolution• grand opera• Giacomo Meyerbeer• Eugène Scribe• double escapement• action• recital• Prix de Rome• concert overture• programmatic

symphony• idée fixe

• cyclicism• ophicleide• song collection• romance (type of

song)• mélodie• George Sand• mazurka• nocturne• étude