Hector Berlioz was a composer in the romantic era of music.  He was born in La
Côte-St. André on December 11, 1803.   His father was a doctor but still had a
love for music and his mother was a staunch Catholic.  He was gifted musically
as a child and could sight sing at a young age.  At 13 he began playing flute,
guitar and singing but never studied the piano. His first compositions were
composed for the flute, guitar, or voice.
    In 1821 his father sent him to Paris to practice medicine even though he wanted
to study music.  He was unhappy and after two years practicing medicine Berlioz
abandoned his medicine career.  His father threatened to not continue to pay his
allowance if his son did not continue to become a doctor, but Berlioz wanted to
become a composer and left the medicine field.  In 1826 his father stopped the
payments and Berlioz was on his own at Le Sueur's composition class at the
Conservatoire.  He took a job as a singer in a choir but was ashamed of it and
told no one.
    That same year he saw Shakespeare's Hamlet for the first time and he fell in
love with Harriet Smithson, an Irish actress who also peformmed  in
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  In the beginning she thought he was a madman
but she grew to be a very important part of his life.  They married October 3,
1833 because she was in financial trouble and saw him as a way out.
Also in 1827 he entered one of his compositions for the Prix de Rome (he would
enter 3 more times in the next 3 years and in 1830 won the chance to study with
an allowance in Rome for 3 years.), his father started paying his son's
allowance again because he admired his determination and worried about him.  The
same year he composed his most famous piece Symphonie Fantastique.
    On August 14, 1834, Harriet gave birth to their son, Louis.  Harriet's acting
career was failing and as a result she started drinking and became so impossible
that Berlioz moved out with a mistress, Marie Recio, who was an opera singer.
In the next few years Berlioz travelled a great deal and had success in Germany,
Russia, and London.  In 1848 his father died, and in 1854 Harriet died. By 1855,
Berlioz was getting recognized and appreciated which was well deserved of the
great composer and his works were affecting other composers. In 1862 his
mistress Marie died of a heart attack and in 1867 his son died of yellow fever.
In January of 1869, Berlioz became sick and died in Paris on March 8. This is a
quote from Berioz ~
    Which of the two powers, Love or Music, can elevate man to the sublimest
heights? ... It is a problem, and yet it seems to me that this is the answer:
"Love can give no idea of music; music can give an idea of love." … Why separate
them? They are two wings of the soul.
        Berlioz now has a square in Paris with a statue over looking it.