Last time we discussed Berlioz’s failed
love affair with Camille Marie Moke. The young composer also had eyes for the
actress Harriet Smithson, whom he first saw perform in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Again, he allowed his emotions
to get the best of him, only this time his passion turned into what became a
symphonic work still enjoyed by audiences today.
Despite his numerous love letters to
Harriet, the actress seemed uninterested, likely due to the fact that they had
never met. Desperate for attention, Berlioz poured his emotion into a new
composition using Harriet as the inspiration. Symphonie fantastique contains a theme referred to as the idee fixe that represents the object of
Berlioz’s love: Harriet Smithson. Throughout this five-movement work, this
theme transforms in various ways in order to best express the various feelings
the composer felt toward the young girl.
The first movement contains the idee fixe surrounded by musical figures
that depict the beating of Berlioz’s heart as he notices his lover. The second
movement transforms the idee fixe
into a waltz as the composer goes to a ball and watches his love from afar. The
third movement, “In the Country,” continues the story of Berlioz’s obsession as
he walks through the country dreaming of the woman for whom he longs. After the
composer realizes that his love is not returned, he dreams of his own execution
during the fourth movement. Only the opening of the idee fixe appears before he is guillotined and the audience can
hear his head drop to the ground. The final movement, “Dream of a Witches’
Sabbath,” distorts the idee fixe and
combines it with the Dies irae theme
from the Mass for the Dead as the composer dreams that his beloved appears at
his funeral as a witch.
The best part of this fun piece is that it
won over Berlioz’s beloved actress. Smithson joined Berlioz in marriage in
1833. Though happy at first, the marriage quickly declined and the couple
eventually separated.
Listen here to Symphonie fantastique and let me know how your affections are moved after hearing this story and
listening to Berlioz’s famous piece.
