Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz) facts for kids

The Symphonie fantastique is a famous symphony by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is one of the most well-known pieces of Romantic music for an orchestra. The full name of the piece is Episode de la Vie d’un Artiste (which means An Episode in the Life of the Artist). However, everyone usually calls it by its shorter name, Symphonie Fantastique, which means Fantasy Symphony. The word "Fantasy" here refers to the story that the music tells.

This symphony lasts about 45 minutes and has five different parts, called movements. Berlioz himself wrote down the story that his music describes. This is similar to what Beethoven did with his Sixth Symphony. Berlioz’s work is about a young artist. In the music, this young artist is shown by a special tune. This tune is heard many times throughout the symphony. It is called an “idée fixe”, which means a “fixed idea” or an idea that keeps coming back. An idée fixe is like a leitmotif, which is a tune used to represent a person or thing in music. The symphony was first played in Paris in December 1830. Berlioz changed the music a few times between 1831 and 1845.

Instruments in the Symphony

The Symphonie fantastique uses a large orchestra. It includes many different instruments.

Here are some of the instruments you will hear:

• 2 flutes (one can also play piccolo)
• 2 oboes (one can also play cor anglais)
• 2 clarinets (one can also play E-flat clarinet)
• 4 bassoons
• 4 French horns
• 2 trumpets
• 2 cornets
• 3 trombones
• 2 ophicleides (these were older brass instruments)
• 2 pairs of timpani (kettledrums)
• snare drum
• cymbals
• bass drum
• bells in C and G
• 2 harps
• And all the strings (violins, violas, cellos, and double basses)

The Story Told by the Music

This symphony is an example of programme music. This means it tells a story or describes something outside of just the music itself. Here is the story that the composer wrote:

First Movement: Daydreams and Passions

A young artist was deeply in love with a girl, but she did not love him back. He felt so incredibly sad that he tried to end his life. Instead of dying, he fell into a deep sleep. In this sleep, he imagined many things. His beloved appeared to him in a dream. She changed into a musical theme, the idée fixe, which he could not forget. He imagined her love and his gentle feelings for her.

Second Movement: A Ball

The artist meets his beloved at a grand party where everyone is dancing. He finds her among the crowd.

Third Movement: Scene in the Country

In the country, he hears two shepherds calling to each other with their pipes. The trees gently sway in the wind. The young artist starts to feel happier. Then he sees his beloved again. He begins to worry that she might not want him anymore. The shepherd music starts again, but only one shepherd is playing now. The sun sets. Far away, a thunderstorm is heard.

Fourth Movement: March to Punishment

He dreams that he has hurt his beloved because he was so angry. He is now being taken to a place where he will be punished. A march plays as he is led away. For a moment, he thinks of his beloved again. Then, a loud sound happens, and he is punished.

Fifth Movement: Dream of a Witches' Sabbath

The artist is at a gathering of Witches. There are many ghosts and monsters who have come to watch him. His beloved is heard, but her tune now sounds scary and strange. She has come to the gathering. She joins the witches, and they dance while sad funeral music is heard.

First Movement: Rêveries - Passions (Daydreams - Passions)

This movement starts slowly. A tune played by the violins is almost the idée fixe. The full idée fixe is heard when the music becomes fast. It is played by the violins and a solo flute. The lower string instruments play a very active rhythm underneath. This movement's shape is not like a traditional sonata form. Berlioz cared more about the idée fixe, which keeps appearing to the young artist.

Second Movement: Un bal (A ball)

The ball, a party with dancing, is shown in the music by a lively waltz. The two harps make it sound very graceful. Twice, the waltz stops, and the idée fixe is heard.

Third Movement: Scène aux champs (Scene in the country)

The two shepherds playing to each other are represented by a cor anglais in the orchestra and an oboe played offstage, making it sound far away. Then, the main gentle countryside tune is heard on a solo flute and violins. The idée fixe returns in the middle of the movement. The sound of distant thunder at the end is played by four timpani.

Fourth Movement: Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold)

This movement begins with rumbling timpani and horns starting the march tune. Then, the cellos and double basses begin the full march, soon joined by the violins. Just before the artist is punished, there is a short return of the idée fixe played by a solo clarinet. Then, a loud chord sounds, and a single plucked note passes through the strings, showing the final moment.

Fifth Movement: Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a witches' Sabbath)

The idée fixe now sounds like a "vulgar dance tune," played on the E-flat clarinet. There are many special effects, like ghostly col legno playing in the strings (where players tap the strings with the wooden part of the bow). The bubbling of the witches' cauldron is played by the wind instruments. As the dance gets more intense, we hear the Dies Irae (Day of Judgment) melody mixed with the Ronde du Sabbat (Sabbath Round), which is a wild fugue.

Harriet Smithson

In 1827, Berlioz saw a play called Hamlet by Shakespeare. It was performed in English by a theatre group from England. Berlioz fell in love with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, who played Ophelia. He did not meet her then, only saw her acting. He sent her many love letters, but she left Paris without meeting him.

After this, he wrote his Symphonie Fantastique. He wrote the symphony to show his love for her and his sadness because she was not interested in him. When Harriet heard the symphony two years after its first performance, she realized it was about her. She eventually met Berlioz, and they were married on 3 October 1833. For some years, their marriage was happy, even though they did not speak each other’s language. However, after nine years, they separated.