Symphonie Fantastique Analysis

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1st and 2nd Mvts. Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz In 1845, Berlioz composed the 1st and 2nd mvts. of the Symphonie Fantastique. These movements have gone down in history as some of the greatest examples of music featuring passion and beauty. Berlioz was a French composer whom was a “principle force” in the beginning of the Romantic Era in the 19th century (Funk and Wagnalls). Surprisingly, Berlioz was not originally studying music. He first started out becoming educated in medicine in Paris, France (Funk and Wagnalls). Later in his life, he foreshadowed the use of the Symphonic Poem (Funk and Wagnalls). The first movement of Symphonie Fantastique is also known as "Rêveries – Passions." As I listened to this piece of music, I had the …show more content…

This desolation does not last too long though. As if the song was bi-polar so to speak, the sadness is interrupted by times of joy and happiness. The second movement of Symphonie Fantastique is also known as “Un Ball” which translates to “a party.” The party brings loud confusion and commotion torment to the writer, but he also enjoys natural beauty and tranquility of the environment. There are two harps that are prominent within this piece. Later in this movement, a waltz theme is played during this movement. Overall, Symphonie Fantastique is a beloved piece of music by both critics and your average listeners. The way that Berlioz was able to portray the emotions of deep sadness and intense happiness within the same piece of music was incredible. I personally felt this music to be somewhat of an amusement park ride as it contains so many high points and low points. Berlioz had to have felt relief from writing this as he released what he was feeling. As I was writing, researching, and listening to this music, I kept thinking to how the music reminds me of someone with manic depression as I have learned in Psychology 101 and 200. At first, this thought was pushed to the side. I made a quick search to find out if he was manic, though. The results were not shocking to me as he is apparently known to have had this disorder. The way his music had such drastic highs and lows portrays this

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