The “March to the Scaffold” is the fourth of five movements in the Symphonie Fantastique. He was prolific as a writer and critic throughout his life, often supporting his family on his writer’s income between compositions. His experience with such immense musical forces lent him great expertise in instrumentation and orchestration, and led him to write a treatise on the subject. He wrote his music on a grand scale: his Requiem, for example, was scored for: 20 woodwinds a brass section of 12 horns, 4 cornets and tubas, and 4 additional antiphonal brass choirs of 38 musicians total 26 percussionists on 16 timpani, 10 cymbals and more more than 100 strings a choir of at least 210 voices, plus a tenor soloist. He pursued her for years and finally convinced her to marry him, only to have the marriage fall apart in short order. As a young man he fell madly in love with Harriet Smithson, an actress whom he saw play Ophelia in Hamlet. He was prone to fits of passion and obsession in both his life and his music. He developed a great love for Shakespeare, basing several of his composition on the bard’s work. His most famous work is among his earliest: the Symphonie Fantastique. He initially studied medicine before leaving school to become a composer. He never mastered one single instrument, dabbling in the guitar and flute early in his life. French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is a unique figure in music history.
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