Birth of Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was born on 11 December 1803 in La Côte-Saint-André. A French composer and conductor, Berlioz was born in a small town near Grenoble and, defying his father's wish that he become a doctor, studied music in Paris. His Symphonie fantastique of 1830, a work inspired by his passion for the actress Harriet Smithson, introduced the idea of a recurring theme and a story told in music, and became a landmark of Romantic orchestral music. He wrote other large-scale works, such as the Requiem, The Damnation of Faust and the opera Les Troyens, and a treatise on orchestration that became a standard text. He was more admired abroad than at home during his life, and he earned a living partly as a critic. His innovative orchestral writing influenced Liszt, Wagner and Mahler.

Open on the timeline