Harold in Italy, Op 16
Hector Berlioz (1803-69)
1: Harold in the mountains. Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy
2: March of the pilgrims singing their evening prayer
3: Serenade of an Abruzzi mountaineer to his mistress
4: Orgy of the brigands. Recollections of the preceding scenes
The legendary violinist, Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840), commissioned a work from Hector Berlioz to show off his newly-acquired Stradivarius viola. It is clear that Paganini had a concerto in mind, but Berlioz conceived the piece as a symphony in which the viola plays a leading role but as primus inter pares, first among equals. When Paganini saw how many bars rest there were in the solo part, he refused to have anything more to do with it, and the first performance in 1834 was entrusted to another. Paganini did not attend the premier. A distressful rift between the two great men perhaps, but we will return to their relationship later.
Berlioz said he thought of the solo viola as a ‘melancholy dreamer’ in the style of Lord Byron’s ‘Childe Harold’. His dreamer encounters various scenarios in Italy, and the music portrays each event as suggested by their titles. But there’s a snag. There is nothing in the Italian section of Byron’s poem ‘Childe Harold’ resembling any of these events. Furthermore, Berlioz used material from a very early overture, ‘Rob Roy’, which was intended to evoke a Scottish atmosphere.
The first movement offers a portrait of the hero, a noble theme set against a pastoral background. This melody is the main borrowing from the ‘Rob Roy’ overture. Its broad phrasing and gentle pace are similar in character to the cor anglais melody in the ‘Roman Carnival’ Overture, also by Berlioz.
The ‘march of the pilgrims singing their evening prayer’ resembles the second movement of Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, the ‘Italian’. Coincidentally, both movements were encored at their respective premières. In this piece, Berlioz creates an impression of bells through some subtle and ingenious use of the harp, doubled by the flutes, oboes and horns.
In the third movement, a symphonic scherzo, the oboe and piccolo represent pifferi (rustic oboes), while the strings provide drones reminiscent of the bagpipes or hurdy-gurdy. The ‘trio’ section comprises a lyrical dialogue between the solo viola and cor anglais.
Without preamble, the final movement plunges into the ‘orgy’, The furious energy of the music leaves the viola soloist somewhat on the sidelines. A little respite leads back to the activity, described by Berlioz as:
…that furious orgy wherein wine, blood, joy, all combined, parade their intoxication - where the rhythm sometimes seems to stumble along, sometimes to rush on in fury, and the brass seems to vomit forth curses and to answer prayer with blasphemies; where they laugh, drink, fight, destroy, violate, and utterly run riot.
When, at last, Paganini heard ‘Harold in Italy’ in 1838, he was amazed. At the end of the performance he dragged Berlioz back to the stage, knelt and kissed his hand before the cheering audience and musicians. A few days later he sent Berlioz 20,000 francs, a benefaction that subsidized the composition of the ‘dramatic symphony’, Roméo et Juliette.
Hector Berlioz (1803-69)
1: Harold in the mountains. Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy
2: March of the pilgrims singing their evening prayer
3: Serenade of an Abruzzi mountaineer to his mistress
4: Orgy of the brigands. Recollections of the preceding scenes
The legendary violinist, Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840), commissioned a work from Hector Berlioz to show off his newly-acquired Stradivarius viola. It is clear that Paganini had a concerto in mind, but Berlioz conceived the piece as a symphony in which the viola plays a leading role but as primus inter pares, first among equals. When Paganini saw how many bars rest there were in the solo part, he refused to have anything more to do with it, and the first performance in 1834 was entrusted to another. Paganini did not attend the premier. A distressful rift between the two great men perhaps, but we will return to their relationship later.
Berlioz said he thought of the solo viola as a ‘melancholy dreamer’ in the style of Lord Byron’s ‘Childe Harold’. His dreamer encounters various scenarios in Italy, and the music portrays each event as suggested by their titles. But there’s a snag. There is nothing in the Italian section of Byron’s poem ‘Childe Harold’ resembling any of these events. Furthermore, Berlioz used material from a very early overture, ‘Rob Roy’, which was intended to evoke a Scottish atmosphere.
The first movement offers a portrait of the hero, a noble theme set against a pastoral background. This melody is the main borrowing from the ‘Rob Roy’ overture. Its broad phrasing and gentle pace are similar in character to the cor anglais melody in the ‘Roman Carnival’ Overture, also by Berlioz.
The ‘march of the pilgrims singing their evening prayer’ resembles the second movement of Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, the ‘Italian’. Coincidentally, both movements were encored at their respective premières. In this piece, Berlioz creates an impression of bells through some subtle and ingenious use of the harp, doubled by the flutes, oboes and horns.
In the third movement, a symphonic scherzo, the oboe and piccolo represent pifferi (rustic oboes), while the strings provide drones reminiscent of the bagpipes or hurdy-gurdy. The ‘trio’ section comprises a lyrical dialogue between the solo viola and cor anglais.
Without preamble, the final movement plunges into the ‘orgy’, The furious energy of the music leaves the viola soloist somewhat on the sidelines. A little respite leads back to the activity, described by Berlioz as:
…that furious orgy wherein wine, blood, joy, all combined, parade their intoxication - where the rhythm sometimes seems to stumble along, sometimes to rush on in fury, and the brass seems to vomit forth curses and to answer prayer with blasphemies; where they laugh, drink, fight, destroy, violate, and utterly run riot.
When, at last, Paganini heard ‘Harold in Italy’ in 1838, he was amazed. At the end of the performance he dragged Berlioz back to the stage, knelt and kissed his hand before the cheering audience and musicians. A few days later he sent Berlioz 20,000 francs, a benefaction that subsidized the composition of the ‘dramatic symphony’, Roméo et Juliette.