Scan 90
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1910
13 lines. Read by computer on 7 September 2026. Printed page 68. See the scan on archive.org.
1Berlioz
2enthusiasm, and with all haste sent off young Hector to the Medical School in Paris.
4But the Academy saw more of him than the Medical School. And attendance at the opera bringing back remembrances of Orfeo, Berlioz took to haunting the Conservatory library, spending his days in the study of Gluck's scores. He now wrote his father that he had fully made up his mind to become a musician. The heated argument that came in reply did not change this decision; neither did the cutting-off of his allowance that finally resulted. He lived in a garret, on a fare of bread and dates, taught what pupils he could get, and when in extremity hired out as chorus-singer at the Théâtre de Nouveautés.
6Berlioz, who had applied for lessons of Lesueur, after some preliminary training had become his pupil. This inspiring teacher first treated Berlioz with consideration, and he made rapid progress, at the end of a few months of study being able to compose a mass for the Church of St. Roch. In 1823, through Lesueur, he was admitted as a regular pupil at the Conservatory; here, impatient of academic method, he came into friction with various professors, and between him and Cherubini, the director, there arose an active hostility. A pioneer in the Romantic movement, Berlioz was looked upon as a rebel, but amid all the opposition of conservative leaders he very seldom faltered; he believed in himself and held to his ideals with unfaltering courage.
8The Mass of St. Roch, which on the day of full rehearsal proved impossible of performance, Berlioz rewrote; then borrowed money of a friend to pay concert expenses, and with it scored a well-deserved success. The mass was succeeded by the following compositions: Eight scenes from Faust, the overtures Les Franc-Juges and Waverley, Symphonie Fantastique and Fantasie on Shakespeare's Tempest. But it was not until the appearance of his cantata, La Mort de Sardanapale, that the judges of the day were ready to give him the stamp of their approval. Once and again he had tried for the Prize of Rome, the winning of which meant several years of freedom from the harassment of poverty; the third time of trial, he won the second prize, consisting of a laurel wreath, a gold medal, and a free pass to the opera; a fourth time, and kept out by conservatism and hostility, Berlioz was now in actual want; a fifth time, and at last the prize was gained, with the cantata Sardanapalus. At the presentation of La Mort de Sardanapale, Franz Liszt was present and applauded with most generous enthusiasm.
10By the terms of the Prize of Rome, three years were to be spent in travel, the first two in Italy. But Berlioz remained only a year and a half, by the expiration of that time being so homesick for France, and so disdainful of the musical Italy of the day, that he petitioned to be allowed to go back to Paris, which petition was granted. With the exception of La Captive, the finest of his songs, the work done by Berlioz in Italy was not of much importance. On his return home he was greeted with the news that Miss Henrietta Smithson was again in Paris. Before his departure he had experienced a violent fancy for this lady, a celebrated Irish actress, appearing before the Paris public in interpretations of Shakespearian roles. To Berlioz's advances the actress had not responded very encouragingly, but had shown herself rather fearful of his demonstrations. Though Berlioz in the meantime had let his fancy wander, the return of Miss Smithson brought back the feeling aroused in him when first he saw her at the Odéon impersonating Ophelia and Juliet. After a more or less tempestuous courtship, Berlioz and Miss Smithson embarked on matrimony, the wedding-day hastened by reason of the retirement of the actress from the stage, caused by a fractured ankle and promise of permanent lameness. Berlioz thus tells what constituted her dowry and his prospects: "On the day of our marriage she had nothing in the world but debts and the fear of never again being able to appear to advantage on the stage. My property consisted of 300 francs, borrowed from a friend, and a fresh quarrel with my parents."
12Their early married life moved on bravely in spite of their poverty. If subsistence was pretty bare, life was enriched by the friendship of Liszt, and by the birth of a son, Louis. Of this son Berlioz was passionately fond to the end. In the course of time the husband and wife became estranged,
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