Symphonie Fantastique: Between Love and Hate

The 19th century begins in Europe with major social and ideological changes, and music, and art in general, will also adapt to these changes in society. Industrialization offers Europe a new direction economically, and this change must surely be complemented by changing perceptions of art and what it means to man.

Classicism is gradually fading, so positivism, heroism and symmetry are becoming obsolete concepts, and language needs to be renewed. This also happens with Beethoven, who soon becomes a role model for a new generation of composers, who will be part of the stylistic period of Romanticism.

The story of Hector Berlioz

In December 1803, Hector Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André, a commune in south-eastern France. Nothing at first predicted that he would become one of the greatest composers in the history of music, as his family had no musical or artistic connections – Berlioz’s father was a highly regarded local doctor who used acupuncture and wrote about the medical practice.

This genome of innovation is also passed on to Hector by his father, only not in the medical field. At the insistence of his family, and especially his father, Hector passed his baccalaureate in 1821 and moved to Paris to attend the University of Medicine. From his first months in the French capital, he had a strong affinity with music, which seemed to become a passion for the young medical student, who, as he himself recounts, was terrified by the medical procedures he was studying.

At first, he began to attend the Paris Opera, and then, in 1822, he constantly visited the Conservatoire library where he studied several scores and gradually began to discover the secrets of composition. In 1824, he graduated from the University of Medicine and decided not to pursue a profession in this field, even though his father was deeply disappointed by this decision.

Also in 1824, Hector composed his first work, the “Missa Solemnis”, but had to wait another two years to become a student at the Paris Conservatoire. So the medical graduate is now known as a young composer who fully entered the musical world in 1826, when he was admitted to the Conservatoire and his dream began to take shape.

During his studies at the Conservatoire he is captivated by the works and character of Beethoven, who quickly becomes a benchmark composer for Berlioz. It was also during his studies that he discovered Shakespeare and, with him, what obsession in love looks like.

The turning point

When he was just 23, the young conservatoire student went to the Paris theater to see Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was 1827, and the role of Ophelia was played by Harriet Smithson, a well-known Irish actress of the time.

The young Hector is simply captivated by Harriet’s performance and her beauty, so he develops a real obsession with the woman. In the following period, he literally stalks the Irish actress and sends her an impressive number of letters expressing his total admiration for her as a person and as an actress.

The correspondence remains unanswered by Harriet, so Berlioz, like a true stalker, begins to follow her on the street and in the places she frequented. Before long, he learns that the actress was having an affair with the manager, at which point the young composer suffers a real disappointment. This is manifested not only by regret and melancholy, but also by a severe nervous breakdown, which he can only alleviate with opium.

From these strong feelings, the Symphonie Fantastique is born

In a rather unfortunate context for the young Hector, who is now also affected by Beethoven’s death in the same year, he will introduce a new concept, but also new thematic elements into the classical music of the time. Structured in 5 parts, the Symphonie Fantastique is a programmatic work, explicated and scripted, for which the composer uses new sonorities and a larger number of instrumentalists.

What is the role of the deception in love with Harriet Smithson? As you may guess, this symphony will be entirely dedicated to and influenced by Berlioz’s obsession with the young actress.

These feelings produce a musical innovation – the ‘Fixed Idea’, represented by a central theme that recurs identically several times in the symphony, and which represents Berlioz’s obsession with Harriet.

Part I of the symphony is accompanied by melancholy, but also by the turmoil of ignorance and then rejection, and Part II presents Berlioz’s discovery of Harriet’s affair and the onset of depression.

Part III brings to mind more Beethoven and the ‘Pastoral Symphony’, which certainly influenced Berlioz in that it presents elements of the French countryside, where he seeks a refuge to heal his disappointment in love. The fixed idea reappears after a relaxing section and disturbs the composer’s tranquillity as he seems unable to move on, constantly haunted by the image of Harriet.

The tranquility of Part III is followed by total turmoil in the last two parts. With the beginning of Part IV Berlioz shows the extremely difficult period and the nervous breakdown he went through after his hopes of winning Harriet were over. Psychedelic elements can be seen in this part for the first time in the history of music, most likely generated by the use of opium which the composer turned to in order to alleviate his suffering. The fixed idea returns at the end of these parts, but is abruptly interrupted to suggest the composer’s ‘beheading’ by the woman he loved, an event celebrated by the crowd present at the performance.

About the last part we can easily say that it is highly innovative, but also shocking for the period. Under the title ‘Dream of a Night on the Witches’ Sabbath’, Berlioz brings occult themes mixed with religious ones. Surely you can imagine the reaction of the audience at the first performance, and the divided opinions generated by the interpretation of this work.

In this part, Harriet is no longer presented as a delicate being, as Berlioz transforms her into an “occult prostitute” whose main purpose was to make the composer’s afterlife a torment, doomed to eternal damnation, which Harriet was practicing.

The reactions of the composers of the time were swift: Liszt considered Berlioz a genius, Wagner said he was a worthy successor to Beethoven, and Mendelssohn was traumatized by the composer’s excesses. But it was not their opinions that mattered to Berlioz. Did he finally succeed in getting Harriet Smithson’s attention?

The end of the love story in real life

Although Harriet was not in the auditorium for the first performance of the symphony in 1832, she comes to a performance and at the end is astonished to realize that the idée fixe is her own. Somewhat puzzled, she nevertheless agrees to talk to Berlioz after the concert and, surprisingly, also accepts his marriage proposal.

Unfortunately, the two did not live happily ever after, as Harriet was no longer the same person she was when Berlioz fell in love with her. She had serious problems with alcoholism, brought on by the gradual decline of her career success, and the reason for the marriage was in fact financial, which Berlioz did not realize at the outset.

Their relationship ended after 11 years of marriage, in 1843, when they separated for good, but not legally. He supported her financially until her death in 1854.

Berlioz’s obsession with Herriet strongly and seminificantly influenced perceptions of music in the Romantic era, leading to innovations in language.

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