Romanticism · France
1803 – 1869
La Côte-Saint-André - Paris
Review
Sent to Paris to study medicine, he left her for music against the will of his family. He won the Rome Prize in 1830, the same year he premiered his fantastic symphony, born of his passion for actress Harriet Smithson.
He imagined a new orchestra, with unprecedented colors and sound masses, and wrote an orchestration treaty that is still being studied. He served as a musical critic and was more appreciated in Germany and Russia than in his own country.
Main works
- Fantastic symphony op. 14 (1830)
- Harold in Italy (1834)
- Grande messe des morts (Réquiem) (1837)
- Romano y Juliet (1839)
- Cycle Les nuits d'été (1841)
- Treaty of instrumentation (1844)
- The condemnation of Fausto (1846)
- Opera Les Troyens (1858)
