Listening - Berlioz

How This Prescribed Work is Examined

In the written listening paper, prescribed works are tested from a recording alongside a printed score extract marked with bar numbers or rehearsal letters. Each excerpt is played a stated number of times.

Most questions demand short, exact musical facts: naming instruments, time signatures, keys, cadence types, or textures. When a question asks you to 'describe the music' or 'identify features of the orchestration', avoid writing vague atmospheric impressions. Instead, work systematically down this checklist and tie every point to an instrument, bar number, or score marking:

• Melody: Shape, conjunct or disjunct, sequence, ornamentation, phrasing.
• Rhythm and Metre: Time signature (3/8 or 4/4), dotted rhythms, syncopation, sextuplets.
• Key and Harmony: Home key, modulations, pedal points, cadences (such as a perfect cadence).
• Texture: Monophonic, homophonic, or polyphonic (contrapuntal).
• Dynamics and Tempo: Dynamic extremes ($pp$ to $fff$), dynamic swells, tempo changes (stringendo).
• Instrumentation: Specific families, solo lines, playing techniques (pizzicato, con sordino, tremolo).
• Programmatic Link: Exactly what dramatic character, event, or emotion the music depicts.

Historical Context, Programme, and the Idée Fixe

Berlioz composed Symphonie Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un artiste ('Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist') in 1830, and it was premiered on 5 December 1830 at the Paris Conservatoire. Influenced by Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 6), which proved to Berlioz that a symphony could tell an explicit story, Berlioz handed a printed programme to the audience.

The story centres on a young artist who, despairing over unrequited love, poisons himself with opium. The dose plunges him into hallucinations where his beloved appears in every scene as a melodic obsession: the idée fixe.

The Five Movements in Order

1. Rêveries – Passions (Daydreams – Passions): The artist first sees his beloved; the idée fixe is heard complete in C major.
2. Un Bal (The Ball) [Prescribed]: A glittering ballroom dance where the image of the beloved floats past.
3. Scène aux champs (Scene in the Fields): A pastoral dialogue between two piping shepherds; brooding jealousy returns.
4. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) [Prescribed]: The artist dreams he has murdered his beloved and is marched to the guillotine.
5. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath): A demonic funeral orgy where the beloved joins the revels as a witch to the sound of the Dies Irae.

Origins and the Irish Connection

In 1827, Berlioz attended Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet at the Odéon Theatre in Paris, falling obsessively in love with the actress Harriet Smithson, who was born in Ennis, Co. Clare. They married in 1833, though the marriage later dissolved. For Movement 4, Berlioz adapted music from his own unfinished opera Les francs-juges, cleverly grafting on the clarinet idée fixe and the scaffold ending.

Anatomy of the Idée Fixe

The melody itself displays distinct Romantic hallmarks:

• It is long-breathed and asymmetrical, unfolding across irregular phrase lengths that sound breathless and erratic.
• It climbs sequentially towards an expressive peak before falling back with sighing appoggiatura figures.
• It features dynamic hairpin swells (crescendo and diminuendo) and rests that mimic a racing heartbeat.
• Through thematic transformation, Berlioz recasts its metre, tempo, and timbre: transformed into 3/8 on flute and oboe in 'The Ball', and reduced to an unaccompanied phrase on solo clarinet just before the blade falls in 'March to the Scaffold'.

Quick Aural Identification: Know It in Three Seconds

Before writing your analysis, you must instantly identify which movement and section is playing from the audio:

• Opening of 'The Ball' (bb. 1–35): Sweeping harp arpeggios over quiet, low string tremolos with no distinct tune yet.
• Section A of 'The Ball' (bb. 36–119): Light, swirling waltz melody in first violins with an 'oom-pah-pah' accompaniment in 3/8 time.
• Section B of 'The Ball' (bb. 120–174): Flute and oboe singing a long, lyrical tune in F major over fragmented waltz accompaniment.
• Coda of 'The Ball' (b. 302 onwards): Solo clarinet plays the idée fixe unaccompanied; the dance halts momentarily before a wild dash to the finish.
• Opening of 'March to the Scaffold' (bb. 1–16): Muffled timpani sextuplets, quiet plucked low strings, and menacing muted horn calls.
• Theme 1, Statement 1 of the March (bb. 17–24): A stark, two-octave descending scale played exclusively by cellos and double basses in octaves.
• Theme 2 of the March (bb. 62–77): Loud, swaggering military march in B flat major with heavy brass and military snare drum (tambour militaire).
• Scaffold Coda (bb. 164–178): Sudden silence, a solitary clarinet motif cut off by an explosive orchestral crash, followed by falling pizzicato strings and triumphant major fanfares.

Movement 2: 'The Ball' (Un Bal) – Structure and Orchestration

Depicting an aristocratic Parisian ball, the movement is structured in extended ternary form ($A - B - A^1$) with an introduction and coda. Marked Valse: Allegro non troppo (waltz: moderately fast, but not too much), it is 368 bars long and centered in A major.

[Intro: bb. 1–35] ──► [Section A: bb. 36–119] ──► [Section B: bb. 120–174] ──► [Section A1: bb. 175–232] ──► [Coda: bb. 233–368]
(Harp arpeggios,      (Main waltz in A major,    (Idée fixe on flute/oboe,    (Waltz returns enriched,   (Stringendo rush, clarinet
 A minor to A major)   first violins, 3/8)        F major, homophonic)         countermelodies in winds)  b. 302, harp glissandi)

Structural Stages

• Introduction (bars 1–35): Begins mysteriously in A minor with hushed string tremolos played con sordino (muted). Two harps enter with sweeping arpeggios, modulating gently through dominant harmony into A major.
• Section A (bars 36–119): First violins state the principal waltz theme marked dolce e tenero (sweetly and tenderly). The texture is homophonic, featuring an elegant melody supported by a classic dance accompaniment in lower strings.
• Section B (bars 120–174): The tempo does not change, but the music sounds broader because the idée fixe moves in sustained note values. Scored in F major on flute and oboe, it intrudes on the dance like a sudden daydream while strings play broken waltz fragments underneath.
• Section $A^1$ (bars 175–232): The waltz theme returns in A major with richer orchestration, adding woodwind counter-melodies and warm horn harmonies.
• Coda (bars 233–368): The momentum accelerates (stringendo). At bar 302, the wild whirling dance freezes for a quiet, nostalgic statement of the idée fixe on solo clarinet, before the orchestra bursts into cascading harp glissandi and sweeping cadential chords.

Scoring and Metre

• No Percussion: Berlioz uses no percussion whatsoever in 'The Ball'—no timpani, no cymbals, no drums. This is the only movement in the symphony without timpani, deliberately keeping the ballroom sound light and transparent.
• Two Harps: Scoring for two distinct harp parts was revolutionary in an 1830 symphony, painting the glitter of chandeliers and swirling ball gowns.
• Restrained Brass: Heavy brass (trombones, tubas, and ophicleides) are omitted. Only four horns and two cornets provide discreet harmonic filler.
• Metre: Berlioz selects 3/8 instead of standard 3/4 waltz time. With three quavers per bar felt as a single buoyant pulse, it captures the rapid spinning momentum of Parisian couples.

Movement 4: 'March to the Scaffold' (Marche au supplice) – Form and Thematic Development

Depicting an opium-fuelled march to the guillotine, Movement 4 spans 178 bars in 4/4 metre (Allegretto non troppo). It merges traditional march design with elements of a modified sonata structure.

[Intro: bb. 1–16] ──► [Exposition: bb. 17–77] ──► [Repeat: bb. 1–77] ──► [Dev 1: bb. 78–113] ──► [Dev 2: bb. 114–139] ──► [Coda: bb. 140–178]
(Murky timpani        (Theme 1: 5 statements,    (Exposition repeated    (Themes combined,      (Theme 1 inverted,      (Clarinet b. 164, blade
 sextuplets, G min)    Theme 2: B flat major)     in full)                tritone D flat mod)    ascending sequences)    crash, G major fanfare)

Introduction (bars 1–16)

Opens in G minor with ominous sextuplet figures played by two timpanists using sponge-headed sticks, punctuated by muted horn syncopations and pizzicato bass notes.

Theme 1: The Descending Theme (bars 17–61)

A stark, two-octave descending scale in G minor featuring a flattened 7th (F natural). Berlioz repeats this theme five consecutive times, varying the texture and orchestration on each statement:

• Statement 1 (bar 17): Monophonic texture in cellos and double basses in octaves, ending on an imperfect cadence.
• Statement 2 (bar 25): Becomes polyphonic with the addition of a dry, detached staccato bassoon countermelody; harmony touches E flat major.
• Statement 3 (bar 33): Melody transfers to the violins in octaves while low strings take over the countermelody, driven by rolling timpani sextuplets.
• Statement 4 (bar 41): Orchestrated for fuller wind and string forces, resolving in G minor.
• Statement 5 (bar 49): The original descending line remains in the low strings, but the violins play a melodic inversion (a rising scale). This is combined with pizzicato bassoons and punchy octave accents in the ophicleide.

Theme 2: The March Theme (bars 62–77)

A brash military march in the relative major (B flat major). It features punchy dotted rhythms and syncopations, scored fortissimo ($ff$) for full brass, woodwinds, and military snare drum (tambour militaire).

Exposition Repeat and Developments

• Exposition Repeat: Bars 1–77 are repeated in full, giving the march a feeling of unstoppable, mechanical fate.
• Development 1 (bars 78–113): Combines the descending and march themes over pedal points. Berlioz alternates between G minor and D flat major chords (the jarring tritone interval), creating harmonic dread.
• Development 2 (bars 114–139): The inverted ascending version of Theme 1 is sequenced upwards in a massive crescendo, driving directly towards the execution.

The Scaffold Coda: Programmatic Realism and Orchestration

The coda (bars 140–178) provides one of the most famous examples of literal storytelling in classical music:

The Execution Sequence

1. The Final Memory (bar 164): The orchestra suddenly falls silent. A solitary, unaccompanied solo clarinet plays the opening phrase of the idée fixe (bars 164–168) pianissimo ($pp$) and dolce, representing the condemned artist's dying thought of Harriet.
2. The Guillotine Blade (bar 169): The clarinet's phrase is severed mid-note by a savage, fortissimo ($ff$) tutti chord across the whole orchestra, reinforced by cymbals, bass drum, and heavy brass.
3. The Bouncing Head (bars 170–173): Detached, falling pizzicato notes in the cellos and double basses depict the severed head dropping down into the executioner's basket.
4. The Cheering Crowd (bars 174–178): Antiphonal brass fanfares and thundering drum rolls erupt into a roaring cadence in G major. This shift to the tonic major is not a happy ending; it is an ironic, bloodthirsty celebration by the mob.

Orchestration Innovations in Movement 4

• The Ophicleide: Berlioz scored for two ophicleides (keyed brass instruments common in 19th-century France, now replaced by the modern tuba) to produce a coarse, snarling bass foundation.
• Four Bassoons: Berlioz uses four bassoons in counterpoint with low strings, exploiting their dry, reedy timbre to evoke a grotesque atmosphere.
• Percussion Writing: Explicit instructions for sponge-headed versus wooden drumsticks, along with the military snare drum, turn the percussion into an engine of relentless doom.

Higher Level: Comparative Analysis and Performance Interpretation

At Higher Level, you are expected to compare the two movements against each other and evaluate live or recorded performances with musical justification.

Comparative Summary

Evaluating Performance Interpretations

When answering questions on interpretation, discuss concrete musical decisions:

• Tempo Selection: If a conductor takes Movement 2 too fast, the waltz loses its aristocratic grace; if too slow, it loses dance buoyancy. In Movement 4 (Allegretto non troppo), driving the tempo too quickly destroys the heavy, mechanical tread of a condemned man walking to his death.
• Observing the Exposition Repeat: In Movement 4, taking the full repeat of bars 1–77 doubles the psychological weight of the march, making the procession feel inescapable. Cutting the repeat quickens the transition to the execution scene.
• Instrument Choice (Ophicleide vs Modern Tuba): Modern tubas provide a smooth, rounded, heavy bass. A historical keyed ophicleide produces a rougher, more nasal, slightly unstable buzz that reinforces the grotesque character.
• The Cornet Obbligato in 'The Ball': Berlioz later added a virtuosic, optional solo cornet part to 'The Ball'. Deciding whether to play this part fundamentally changes the texture, shifting focus away from the delicate strings and harps toward a flashier solo brass display.

Key terms

Programme Music

Instrumental music that illustrates an explicit extra-musical story, poem, or literary narrative provided to the listener by the composer.

Idée Fixe

The 'fixed idea': a recurring melodic theme devised by Berlioz that symbolises the beloved (Harriet Smithson), appearing transformed across all five movements.

Thematic Transformation

Altering the rhythm, metre, harmony, tempo, or timbre of a core musical theme so that its dramatic character changes while remaining recognisably the same tune.

Extended Ternary Form

A three-part musical structure (A–B–A1) expanded with substantial introductory, transitional, or coda passages.

Monophonic

A musical texture consisting of a single unaccompanied melodic line, even if played by several instruments in unisons or octaves.

Homophonic

A musical texture where a single clear melody is supported by chordal accompaniment, such as the waltz theme in 'The Ball'.

Polyphonic

A contrapuntal texture where two or more independent melodic lines sound simultaneously, as heard when the bassoon countermelody joins Theme 1 in Movement 4.

Ophicleide

A keyed 19th-century brass instrument with a wide conical bore; ancestors of the modern tuba, used by Berlioz for a dry, snarling bass register.

Tambour Militaire

A military side or snare drum, used in Movement 4 to establish a rigid, militaristic march pulse.

Melodic Inversion

Turning a melodic shape upside down, where ascending intervals become descending intervals of equal distance and vice versa.

Tritone

An unstable interval spanning three whole tones (augmented fourth or diminished fifth), such as G to D flat, used by Berlioz to create harmonic tension.

Pizzicato

Plucking string instruments with the fingers rather than using the bow, used in Movement 4 to depict the severed head falling into the basket.

Con Sordino

An instruction to play with mutes attached to the instrument, producing a dampened, veiled sound.

Perfect Cadence

A musical full stop formed by the chord progression V to I, providing a decisive sense of finality.