Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

French composer Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) wrote a letter to a friend in 1830 stating:

'I am still unknown. But when I have written an immense instrumental composition which I am now meditating, I intend to go to London to have it performed. Let me win a brilliant success under her very eyes!'

The instrumental composition was to become his first symphony, called the Symphonie fantastique. I have studied the work for the last two weeks and focused intensely on the orchestration, which was by then unconventional and revolutionary. I want to give a breakdown of some of my findings, which will hopefully provide another perspective on how to appreciate Berlioz' arguably most popular work even more.

I - Rêveries - Passions

At rehearsal letter R1 (near the end of the movement) Berlioz gives the instruction: Tout l'orchestre aussi doux que possible, which means that the whole orchestra should play as soft as possible (the instruments are marked ppp). This can be heard at 14:20 in the video below

II - Un Bal

At bar 118, he instructs the violins to play presque rien - almost nothing (17:30)

III - Scène aux Champs

At the beginning of this movement Berlioz wants the first oboe derrière la scene to be played behind the stage, to further establish the distant answer call to the english horn. You can see the player has left his usual position in the video (22:30).

The other interesting device he used for this movement is his use of four timpani to mimic an oncoming thunderstorm. The players can be seen at 35:33.

IV - Marche au Supplice

At rehearsal mark M, Berlioz is very particular that the bass drum and cymbal should carefully observe their alternating dynamics of ff and mf (41:05).

V - Songe d'une Nuit du Sabbat

At the beginning of the final movement Berlioz sub-divides the violins and violas into 2 and 3 sections, and instructs them to play con sord. a punta d'arco - muted and only with the tip of the bow, to give a shimmer for the cellos and basses (42:48).

A nice little effect occurs at rehearsal letter A, when the piccolo, flute and oboe are instructed to perform a glissando on their instruments (43:20).

Next, Berlioz introduces orchestral bells, which are realised with steel plates in the video reference (45:50). He did remark that when the orchestra has no bells at its disposal, two pianos could be used as a substitute.

The bells are foretelling the DIES IRAE, which is a catholic chant often associated with death or suffering (46:14).

The last in a series of delightful orchestral effects occurs at rehearsal mark M1 with the strings playing frappez avec le bois de l'archet. I won't give the translation here as one must experience the effect without knowing what is happening, to fully appreciate its existence in this context (51:16)!




-PW

Why film at a gig?

Krystian Zimerman (c) Kasskara and D/G

I have stumbled across this not-so-recent news article by the BBC in which pianist Krystian Zimerman went off stage during one of his concerts. The reason was that someone was filming with their smart-phone an didn't stop doing so even after the concert was interrupted. Therefore he walked off stage and although he finished the recital, he didn't play an encore and was seemingly annoyed. He commented afterwards:

'What happened is theft, pure and simple. It cuts particularly deeply when the artist is of a sensitive nature.'

No matter whether this is professional behaviour or not, the question I am asking myself is simply why bother? Why film at a gig?
There are no good arguments for doing so.

First of all it is disrespectful against the artist as you could not only make him uncomfortable and therefore diminish the performance for you and everyone around, but more importantly you are making the choice of rather looking at a screen and concentrating on filming than enjoying the performance. Roger Waters:

'It would seem to me to show a lack of respect to and care for fellow concert goers, or for that matter the artist.'

Everyone should remember, and those who have been in this position know, that even though you have 'paid' for the artist to perform, he or she is nevertheless performing for your entertainment, not because it is particularly fun to do so. The artist is putting himself in the spotlight for you to have a good time.

Secondly, the footage you create is probably of poor quality and will not be able to represent the event as it unfolded. Another BBC article quotes two girls when asked about their motivation to film at gigs: '[It's] memories, so you don't forget the good times,' however they also say: 'It is a bit annoying though sometimes when there is loads in front of your face and you can't see.' This is quite remarkable: they claim that they film to not forget the good times but say that they can't really see everything sometimes. Well that would imply they don't necessarily have a good time and should rather try to move to a better spot instead of wasting the experience. Which brings me to my final point, what experience?

Going to a concert for me not only meant to listen to the music first and foremost as I am able to do that with superior quality at home (exlcuding classical concerts). It was also about the performance, the experience of the pushing and shoving in the front row, or (as in the concert hall) to enjoy the anticipation of the music to come. This might all be lost while being occupied with filming, there is no experience when you go home apart from having held your smart-phone for an hour.

I am personally very concerned with the incentive of 'sharing' in our society. People seem to be easily motivated to share their lives for everyone to see. And one of the reasons they film at gigs might be that they almost 'need' something to 'share' or that there is an opportunity to share another part of their life. But instead they should rather live their lives, somehting a lot of people seem to forget more and more. I find that very sad as I am believing that the more someone shares the more this person loses its individuality, which might seem paradox at first but not so much after thinking about it.

-PW