Is Hector Berlioz the Rodney Dangerfield of composers? *
Despite being one of the foremost musical representatives of the Romantic era, let’s face it, Berlioz gets little respect. Or at least that was the case for much of his life and the decades following his death.
Now he’s about to receive the full treatment from the Bard Music Festival. (More on that below.)
Before recordings, assessments of Berlioz’s music leaned heavily on hearsay, a game of Whisper Down the Lane, distorted by prejudice, misperception, and so-called received wisdom. Even during his life – ESPECIALLY during his life – his music was met with confusion, opposition, and often outright hostility. So it always is with the new.
And Berlioz was nothing if not original. If there was ever a composer who was ahead of his time, it was Hector Berlioz.
Thankfully, this visionary artist has long since been vindicated. Enthusiasts are very enthusiastic indeed. But there remain those who are unconverted among the listening public. Because, let’s be honest, emerging as he did in the Paris of Boieldieu, Auber, and Meyerbeer, Berlioz was just weird. He’s still weird. With his moodiness, quirky orchestration, and willingness to shatter the rules in order to achieve his desired effects, he was a flagrant outcast among French composers. His cause was not helped by inept performances and push-back from the hidebound faculty of the Paris Conservatory (overseen by Luigi Cherubini).
It’s interesting that this arch-Romantic worshipped at the altars of Gluck and Spontini. He felt everything so very deeply; he experienced everything so keenly, especially music. He was particularly transported by the noble simplicity of his heroes’ operas.
On the other hand, he was also a champion of Paganini, whom he befriended in the violinist’s retirement, though he never heard him perform. (If only there had been recordings!) Paganini, of course, was legendary for his gymnastic manipulation of his instrument, as was Franz Liszt, of the piano – Liszt also admired by Berlioz. (The admiration was reciprocated.) These gentlemen could be as indulgent as Gluck and Spontini were chaste.
Berlioz’s reaction when his fiancée broke off their engagement was more Dionysian than Apollonian. He formulated a murder-suicide plot every bit as over-the-top as something out of Alexandre Dumas (also his contemporary). It involved a vertiginous coach ride back from Italy, unlikely disguise – crossdressing, complete with a veil – and a contingency plan to administer poison in the event his pistols jammed or misfired. Thankfully, the composer’s head cooled once he discovered he had forgotten his dress.
Since performances were scarce and often substandard, Berlioz earned much of his livelihood through his writings. And Berlioz was not one who was bashful about speaking his mind. His amusing and withering assessments, often couched in wry observation and sarcasm, earned him many enemies. He was in no way cut out for what he perceived – often rightly – as the superficiality of Paris, yet he loved and thrived on the city, and he would not leave. He was much better-received in London, and he entertained the idea of moving, but Paris was in his blood.
Now, of course, we are blessed with recordings and radio broadcasts. Some of Berlioz’s works are standard repertoire. It is now easy to acquaint oneself with his eccentric symphonies – often symphonies, in the classical sense, in name only – his choral works, his songs, and his operas. His greatest hit, the “Symphonie fantastique,” loses some of its punch, unavoidably, through overexposure and the anesthetizing effect of all the developments in music since, but it will never be entirely free of its strangeness, thank goodness.
“Harold in Italy,” the “Queen Mab Scherzo” (from the “Romeo and Juliet” Symphony), “The Damnation of Faust,” and some of the overtures, especially “Roman Carnival,” are here to stay.
Lesser known are the cantatas, the songs, and some of the hybrid works, such as the melodrama “Lélio, or The Return to Life,” a sequel of sorts to the “Symphonie fantastique.”
“Lélio” will receive a rare performance on a double bill with Berlioz’s most famous symphony – which itself concludes with a hair-raising evocation of a witches’ sabbath (that incorporates that horror movie staple, the “Dies Irae”) – to kick off this year’s Bard Music Festival. “Hector Berlioz and His World” will take place at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, August 9-18.
Rarely-performed is what Bard does best, so there will be ample opportunities to enjoy musical curiosities. Morning and afternoon concerts will feature chamber music and songs; evening concerts will lean into the orchestral and choral works. Berlioz’s song cycles “Irlande” (“Ireland”) and “Les nuits d’’été (“Summer Nights”) will be performed, as will his monumental “Te Deum” and “The Damnation of Faust” (complete).
The addendum “His World” will encompass music of his contemporaries, but also that of his influences and those he in turn influenced. Pauline Viardot’s opera, “Le dernier sorcier” (“The Last Sorcerer”), will be heard; also Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3, Joachim Raff’s Symphony No. 10 “Autumn,” and Liszt’s transcription of Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy” for viola and piano.
Bard being Bard, there will also be a concert devoted to “Berlioz’s Transformation of the World of Sound,” the program spiraling off into unsuspected territory, exploring works by Edgard Varèse, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Steve Reich, and György Ligeti.
As always, there will be pre-concert talks, scholarly symposia, and plenty of Berlioz merch for purch (including, but not limited to, the festival t-shirt and a book of critical essays compiled specifically for the occasion).
The American Symphony Orchestra and The Orchestra Now (TŌN) will perform, under their music director, Leon Botstein (also the president of Bard College). In the afternoons, performers are drawn from Bard’s deep well of faculty, alumni, and visiting artists. This is not just a college music festival. I’ve seen some world-class artists and first-rate chamber ensembles there, including Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe, Nicholas Phan, pianists Piers Lane and Danny Driver, the Parker Quartet, and the Horszowski Trio, to name a few), along with the occasional actor, such as Michael York and David Straitharn.
As always at Bard, you get out of it whatever you put into it. If total immersion is your thing, by all means, go for it. The festival is designed with you in mind. However, not to the exclusion of anyone who just wants to go and enjoy a good concert. Bard satisfies on that level too. Scholars, geeks, and dilettantes come together for two weekends of musical bliss (now bridged by a couple of mid-week concerts held at Church of the Messiah in nearby Rhinebeck).
No matter how well you think you know a particular composer, I guarantee you will learn a lot. I’ve been boning up for the last month or two with a couple of volumes of Berlioz’s own writings. More about those another time.
For now, vive le Bard!
For more information, visit
https://fishercenter.bard.edu/whats-on/programs/bard-music-festival/
Fisher Center at Bard
- Credit where credit is due! The observation was originally made by Facebook follower John M Polhamus.
