Harold in Italy (Op.is Hector Berlioz' second symphony, written in 1834. Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie Fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ...

It was Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) who encouraged Berlioz (1803-1869) to write Harold en Italie in the first place. Paganini had acquired a superb viola, a Stradivarius— "But I have no suitable music. Would you like to write a solo for viola? You are the only one I can trust for this task." So Berlioz began "by writing a solo for viola, but one which involved the orchestra in such a way as not to reduce the effectiveness of the orchestral contribution." But when Paganini saw the sketch of the allegro movement, with all the rests in the viola part, he told Berlioz it would not do, that he expected to be playing continuously. [1] (http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/harold.htm) So they parted, Paganini disappointed, who soon left for Nice, where he died of the cancer in his jaw that had slowly been disfiguring him. Niccolò Paganini Niccolò Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840 in Nice) was a violinist and composer. ... The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass. ... One of the violins in the Stradivarius collection of the Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain. ... A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. ...

A four-movement work, relaxed and poetic, composed round an extensive part for solo viola, Harold en Italie is a significant contribution to symphonic repetoire especially because it innovatively features solo viola, normally buried in the orchestral texture, and assigns it the dramatic role of a melancholy personality, another departure.

The symphony is inspired by the mood of a poem by Lord Byron, "Childe Harold" a fragment of epic with a quintessentially Romantic hero. "My intention was to write a series of orchestral scenes, in which the solo viola would be involved as a more or less active participant while retaining its own character. By placing it among the poetic memories formed from my wanderings in the Abruzzi, I wanted to make the viola a kind of melancholy dreamer in the manner of Byron’s Childe-Harold," Berlioz wrote. He did not mention that some of the material has been re-used from his discarded concert overture, Rob-Roy. The first movement ("Harold aux montagnes") refers to the scenes that Harold, the romantic and melancholic character encounters in mountains. In the second movement ("Marche des pélerins") Harold is accompanying a group of pilgrims. The third movement ("Sérénade") involves a love scene in which someone is playing a serenade for his mistress. In the forth movement, ("Orgie de brigands") Harold being spiritually tired and depressed, seeks comfort among wild and dangerous company, perhaps in a tavern. Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement in the history of ideas; it originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ... Abruzzo, (also known as Abruzzi, an older obsolete plural denomination) is a region of south central Italy, formerly a part of the Abruzzi e Molise region (with Molise). ...

In the symphony Harold's character is represented by the viola. The hesitant manner in which the viola theme repeats its opening phrase, gaining confidence,like an idea forming, before the long melody spills out in its entirety was satirized in a musical paper after the premiere, which began "Ha! ha! ha! – haro! haro! Harold!"— a cheeky touch that Berlioz recalled years later in his Memoirs.

Harold in Italy premiered at the Conservatoire, Girard conducting, badly, 23 November 1834. Berlioz' agonies as the work was mangled were part of what determined him to conduct his own music in future. Conservatoire de Paris, or Paris Conservatoire, has been central to the evolution of music in France and Western Europe. ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Bibliography

• Berlioz, Hector. Memoirs. ch. 45 (http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/harold.htm)
• [http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/sharold.htm Berloiz website: Harold in Italy

Stolba, K. Marie. The Development of Western Music: A History. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.; New York, New York; 1998.