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Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Hector Berlioz

French composer (b. 11 December 1803 at La-Côte-Saint-André, near Lyon; d. 8 March 1869 in Paris), born Louis-Hector Berlioz.

In his Autobiography of 1889 (TH 317) Tchaikovsky notes how his revered teacher Anton Rubinstein had encouraged him in every way at the Conservatory, but had always been sceptical about his enthusiasm for the new tendencies in music, and, in particular, his desire "to follow in the footsteps of Wagner and Berlioz". This reference to the French Romantic composer (in whose music Tchaikovsky also found certain deficiencies—see references below) reflects the fascination which the author of the Symphonie fantastique, with his bold harmonic and orchestral effects, exerted on the younger generation of Russian musicians. For it was not just Tchaikovsky, but also the members of the "Mighty Handful", who admired Berlioz for his orchestration and the imaginative power of his programme music. Already during his first visit to Russia in 1847 Berlioz had been praised to the skies by Vladimir Stasov as the herald of a new school of music. In December 1867, when Berlioz made his second tour of Russia (he had been invited by Milii Balakirev to conduct several concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow), Tchaikovsky had the chance to meet the veteran composer, who was delighted to find so many enthusiastic admirers of his music in Russia at a time when he was not so popular in France. As Nikolai Kashkin recalls in his memoirs, at a banquet given in Berlioz's honour at the Moscow Conservatory Tchaikovsky even proposed a toast to him, with a short speech in French outlining the illustrious guest's achievements.

Tchaikovsky had studied Berlioz's famous Traité d'instrumentation et d'orchestration (first published in Paris in 1843–44 and subsequently republished in several editions and translated into other languages—Tchaikovsky owned a copy of the 1864 German edition, published in Leipzig [1]). He also read with great interest the French master's Memoirs, which were posthumously published as a single volume in 1870, and he frequently quoted whole excerpts from them in his music review articles (e.g. in TH 282 and TH 285). Vasilii Iastrebtsev (1866–1934), a future biographer of Rimskii-Korsakov, recalled a meeting with Tchaikovsky in 1887 during which the latter had spoken at length about Berlioz and his "incomparable instrumentation". Tchaikovsky had even pointed to a certain stylistic affinity, since, like Berlioz, his writing for the orchestra often involved "extremely complex textures" [2]. Tchaikovsky also admired Berlioz for his artistic integrity and the way that he had always persevered in his pursuit of the ideal despite the many frustrations he had endured in life. Similarly, Herman Laroche, in his Foreword to the 1898 edition of Tchaikovsky's music review articles, observes how his late friend would sometimes quote Berlioz's famous words: "Pensez-vous que c'est pour mon plaisir que je fais de la musique?" to refute those who were inclined to see in music no more than pleasant entertainment.

Tchaikovsky did, however, have certain reservations about Berlioz's music (in particular, his lack of melodic invention and insufficient feeling for harmony), and they are mentioned in the following list of Tchaikovsky's most important comments on the latter.

General reflections on Hector Berlioz:

• TH 277 — provides a detailed appraisal of Berlioz, noting how "fiery poetic imagination" predominated in his works over "pure musical creativity", and that, although Berlioz sometimes achieved "miracles of orchestration" and even a certain "beauty of sound", he was unquestionably inferior to Mozart and Beethoven).
• TH 282 — quotes extensively Berlioz's description of the première of Weber's Der Freischütz in Paris in 1824, and calls this "the tribute of a great artist to another great artist").
• TH 285 — after quoting Berlioz's account of the genesis of Harold en Italie, Tchaikovsky makes some observations on how his music was always infused with a "deeply felt poetic spirit", but often marred by the "clumsy and awkward execution" of his ideas).
• TH 299 — gives a remarkable comparison between Berlioz and Beethoven, noting how for the latter "orchestral colour" was always a means to an end, whereas for Berlioz it was very often the reverse).

On specific works by Hector Berlioz:

• Les Francs juges, overture to the opera (1825–26) — see TH 277
• La damnation de Faust, Op. 24 (1845–46) — see TH 299
• Harold en Italie, symphony for viola and orchestra, Op. 46 (1834) — see TH 285

Notes:

1. Polina Vajdman, 'Unbekannter Čajkovskij—Entwürfe zu nicht ausgeführten Kompositionen', Čajkovskij-Studien, Heft 1 (Mainz, 1995), pp. 281–297 (283).  [back]
2. Quoted in David Brown, Tchaikovsky Remembered (London, 1993), p. 76 [back]

References:

• Olga Fedorova, 'Foreign Musicians in Russia' — article on the Voice of Russia web-site