Discuss Berlioz’s contribution to the symphony
Berlioz is often overlooked as an influential composer; however the reality is that he was one of the most important due to his developing ideas of how orchestration could be expanded, how symphonic form could be developed and how music would be written in a programmatic style. Above all this, Berlioz was one of the pioneers of the Romantic period, inspiring through his innovation of ideas such as the ‘idée fix’ and as some saw it, his disregard for the ‘Viennese Architectural Legacy’ and ‘rules of composition’.
The ‘idée fix’ was Berlioz’s most famous creation as it enabled him to take a more narrative approach to his composing. This was important as it contrasted from the strongly structured music that had come before him. The idée fixe is used to unify the disparate elements of the symphony in ‘Symphonie Fantastique’.
Another talent Berlioz was gifted with was the art of orchestration. Although, it was not an advance that was received well at the time, it had an overarching effect of great significance. Berlioz demonstrated his talent in his first symphony, ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. This work was the first of four symphonies that Berlioz composed. ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ was composed in a programmatic format. Berlioz may well have been the first great composer to not be able to play a musical instrument, nor to have shown any musical talent at an early age. But he persevered, and became interested in different ways to use the orchestra and the different combinations of instrumental sounds. In 1844, he wrote a book on orchestration which he named, “Traite de l'Instrumentation” which is still widely appreciated and used today. Berlioz' advances in this area contributed greatly to the growth and development of the modern symphony orchestra.
Berlioz was the first composer to closely associate his symphonies with extra