-- Who we are --

The Berlioz Society - a non-profit-making organisation of persons with an interest
in and a love of the music of the great French Composer Hector Berlioz (1803 -1869) - is a
registered Charity. Chaired by David Cairns, author of the definitive two-volume life of Berlioz,
the Society has an international membership including the world-renowned Berlioz conductor Sir Colin
Davis and Professor Hugh Macdonald, editor of the New Berlioz Edition.

-- What we do --

The Society's aim is to increase the public's awareness of the life and works of Berlioz,
this great composer, especially the lesser known works. To this end the Society organises
meetings, weekends, conferences and publications, and other events.


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---About Berlioz---

The author Victor Hugo, the painter Eugène Delacroix and the composer Hector Berlioz were the troika of the French Romantic Movement
of the 19th century. Heavily influenced by Gluck, Weber and Beethoven, Berlioz (1803-69) spearheaded the romantic movement in music,
writing some of the first programme music, introducing choirs, vocal soloists, the harp and the saxophone - the invention of his
Belgian friend Adolphe Sax - permanently into the symphony orchestra, experimenting with "stereo" and offstage acoustical effects,
inventing the 'idée fixe' - a recurring short melodic strain signifying a person or obsession - forerunner of Wagner's 'leitmotiv' -
and creating the modern orchestra. A great conductor, orchestrator, journalist, music critic and writer, Berlioz only played the
guitar and the flute, the orchestra being his instrument. He composed about 150 works, notably four symphonies, three operas,
a requiem and two masses as well as song cycles, cantatas, concert overtures, Hungary's national anthem and a rumbustious reworking
of France's "Marseillaise". His best known work is the autobiographical Symphonie fantastique (1830) - in which the 'idée fixe' -
representing the composer's passion for the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson - plays a major role.

After years of being considered an eccentric outsider in classical music, Berlioz is now recognised as a true original and one of
the greatest innovators ever. Even his detractors have always had to concede his supremacy as an orchestrator, but now, with all
his large scale works available on recordings, his great melodic gifts and unique compositional imagination are in the public arena 
for all to appreciate. In addition, his writings display the warmth and wit of his personality and his immense critical intelligence,
showing him to be one of the most engaging of the great composers.


"Which of these two powers, love or music, can elevate man to the sublimest heights?
Why separate them? They are the two wings of the soul."  Hector Berlioz 1803–1869



Berlioz was one of the great composers whose scores Elgar studied, indeed the Concert Overture 'In the South - Alassio'
quotes from Berlioz's 'Harold en Italie'.  For more about Elgar, CLICK HERE

Berlioz's efforts to promote his music abroad, particularly in Germany, were greatly aided by Liszt, who also assisted the young Wagner.
Liszt encouraged a friendship between Berlioz and Wagner, but while the latter always respected the work of Berlioz, in later life
Berlioz's regard for the music of Wagner wasn't always sustained.

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-- Other pages --


    

		
First encounter with Berlioz, free membership competition
Click here

		
The ladies in Berlioz's life
Click here

		
Reviews of concerts with Berlioz performances
Click here

		
Concessionary tickets
Click here

-- Links --


    

		
The Hector Berlioz website (Scotland)
http://www.hberlioz.com

		
Association Nationale Hector Berlioz (France)
http://www.berlioz.anhb.com

		
Completely Berlioz (UK)
http://completelyberlioz.multiply.com 


Events for Members

On Sunday May 10 at a venue in London SW6 there was a presentation on the
Chelsea Opera Group - A Berlioz Pioneer - Excerpts from Archive Recordings in the period 1958-81 - Presented by Brian Godfrey.


The Members' Weekend - the Society's principal annual London event - will take place this year on November 28th and 29th - at The Art
Workers' Guild, Queen Square, London WC1 - on the subject of "Interpreting Berlioz" with contributions from conductors, choirmasters, professors
and music critics, headed by Sir Colin Davis, the Society's Patron, and Dame Janet Baker and with live Masterclass under the tutelage of
Kathryn Harries, Director of the National Opera Studio.

In addition, the Society is also planning a visit to the annual Festival Berlioz at La Cote St. Andre (Berlioz's birthplace in eastern
France) in late August.  Further details of these and other forthcoming arrangements will be made available at a later juncture.


--- Berlioz at the BBC PROMS 2009 ---

Performances of Berlioz works at this summer's BBC PROM season at the Royal Albert Hall, London:-
 
Prom 19/July 30: Overture to Benvenuto Cellini; La mort de Cléopâtre/Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano/Hallé/Sir Mark Elder
Prom 24/Aug 2: Te Deum//BBC Symphony Chorus/ Crouch End Festival Chorus/ St Paul's Cathedral Choristers, Trinity Boys Choir/
Jörg Schneider, tenor/ Simon Preston, organ/ BBC S.O/ Susanna Mälkki
Prom 25/Aug 3: Overture to Les Francs-juges; Symphonie funèbre et triomphale/ BBC National Orchestra of  Wales/ Thierry Fischer
Prom 48/Aug 21: Symphonie fantastique/ West-Eastern Divan Orchestra/ Daniel Barenboim

More info' & booking:                                                  http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009


--- and Berlioz's performances elsewhere ---

Berlioz's Te Deum and Tippett's "A Child of Our Time" at the Sage Gateshead
on July 11th 2009 with The Hertfordshire Chorus

Berlioz: Grande messe des Morts/ Prokofiev: Cantata for 20th Anniversary of October Revolution
Valery Gergiev/Sergei Semishkur, tenor/ Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra & Chorus/ City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
On Wednesday Oct 14th and Thursday Oct 15th, 7.30pm each night, Symphony Hall, Birmingham +44 (0)121-780 3333
http://www.cbso.co.uk/?page=concerts/viewConcert.html&cid=1867&m=10&y=2009


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LSO APPEAL - SIR COLIN'S CHALLENGE

Congratulations to Sir Colin Davis, the Berlioz Society's Patron & President of the London Symphony Orchestra;
peerless champions of Berlioz's music down the last 50 years. 2009 marks Sir Colin Davis's 50th anniversary with
the LSO. To celebrate this milestone, Sir Colin has made a generous gift to the Orchestra and is now challenging
audiences and supporters to raise £1million for the LSO Endowment Trust. As a token of our appreciation of his
magnificent performances of Berlioz, which have done so much to raise the profile of the composer in recent decades,
the Society would like to support the LSO Appeal and ask Members to consider making a donation. ´I have been very
privileged to share 50 years of extraordinary music-making with the LSO. It is my personal commitment to ensure that
this Orchestra continues to work on its task of making the best music available to everyone. Please join me in my
challenge and help secure the future of the LSO.' Sir Colin Davis
The LSO needs to raise long-term funds to push the boundaries of its work and building the LSO Endowment Trust is
critical to ensure that the Orchestra can continue to grow and develop for years to come.

For more information:                   Click here.

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New Members' Special offer - for a limited period!

	Annual membership of the Society costs £15.00 and new members of the Society will receive a free copy of a 32-page illustrated
	monograph by Dr Philip Mansel on Paris in the Age of Berlioz, published by the Society in November 2006.
	If you wish to join the Society, or obtain more information, please contact us as below.	
	
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ANY QUESTIONS?   Try our helpline   We'll try to find an answer to any question about Berlioz's life and works.


  

    

    
Berlioz and his orchestra,
caricature by Grandville, 1846
Berlioz c. 1831 - 2: a copy
of a drawing by Horace Vernet

    

    
Berlioz, detail of a woodcut
by Gillot after Grevin
Berlioz,
drawing by Grevin

    

    
Berlioz's son Louis
who pre-deceased him (1834-67)
Berlioz;
the last portrait - 1868

  

    

      
To contact the Society, email to sqing@btinternet.com
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      This page last updated 3rd July 2009


This website prepared and maintained by Ian Hickman Partners (Eur. Ing. D.I. H. May BSc.Hons, C.Eng, MIEE, MIEEE, and D. M. May B.A.Hons, A.C.I.L.)  www.ianhickman.org.uk