- Fact 2 - Date of Birth: Berlioz was
born on December 11, 1803
- Fact 3 - Place of Birth: La
Cote-Saint-Andre, Isere, France
- Fact 4 - Full Name: Hector Berlioz
(Louis Hector Berlioz)
- Fact 5 - Lifespan: 1803-1869
- Fact 6 - Name of mother and father:
His parents names were Louis Berlioz and
Marie-Antoinette-Josephine
- Fact 7 - Family background: His
father was a doctor and mother a staunch Catholic
- Fact 8 - Childhood and education:
It was assumed Hector Berlioz would follow in his father's
footsteps as a doctor and was never given music lessons until he
was 13.
- Fact 9 - Hector Berlioz was
enrolled in a medical school in Paris but after a year he quit
to enrol in the Conservatoire under Jean- François le Sueur
- Fact 10 - His allowance from his
family was cut off due to his decision to pursue a career in
music
- Fact 11 - As Hector Berlioz became
successful he was forgiven and his parents became proud of their
son's achievements
- Fact 12 - Hector Berlioz fell in
love with an Irish actress called Harriet Smithson but she
married another man and Berlioz was so upset that he threatened
to kill Marie, her mother and fiance and the commit suicide - He
abandoned this crazy scheme
- Fact 13 - He eventually married
Harriet Smithson (died 1854) and Marie Recio (died 1862)
- Fact 14 - Berlioz championed
Beethoven who was at
the time unknown in France
- Fact 15 - During his lifetime,
Berlioz was more famous as a conductor than a composer
- Fact 16 - Date of Death: Hector
Berlioz died on March 8, 1869 in Paris, France. He is buried in
the Cimetiere de Montmartre
- Fact 17 - Hector Berlioz wrote operas, symphonies, choral
music, overtures, songs and cantatas. A cantata is a poem set to
music
- Fact 18 - His music lives on and
the musical works of Berlioz include the following:
- Symphonie Fantastique
The Trojans
Roméo et Juliette
Harold in Italy
Requiem
Benvenuto Cellini
Ouverture de la Tempête
The Damnation of Faust
The Childhood of Christ
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