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1-12 of 12
- Music Department
- Writer
- Composer
Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803, into the family of Dr. Louis Berlioz and Marie-Antoinette-Josephine. Hector was the first of six children, three of whom died. He took music lessons at home from a visiting teacher and played flute and guitar. By age 16 he wrote a song for voice and guitar that was later reused for his "Symphonie Fantastique."
In 1821 Berlioz went to Paris to study medicine. His impressions of the Paris Opera performance of "Iphigenie en Tauride" by Christoph Willibald Gluck turned him on music forever. He spent more days at the Paris Conservatory than at the medical school. In 1823 he started writing articles on music for "Le Corsaire". He abandoned medicine for music and successfully performed his "Messe Solennelle" in 1825. After being "cursed" by his mother for abandoning medicine, his allowance from his father was reduced, and was forced to take such jobs as a choir singer to support himself. In 1828 he heard the 3rd and 5th Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven and with that impression he read "Faust" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. With such inspiration he started composing "La Damnation de Faust."
Berlios fell in love with Irish actress Harriet Smithson and became so inspired that he finished the "Symphonie Fantastique." He premiered the work and met Franz Liszt at the premiere. They became good friends and Liszt transcribed the "Symphonie Fantastique" for piano. In 1830, after being rejected by Harriett Smithson, Berlioz became engaged to pianist Camille Moke. He went to Rome as the Prix de Rome Laureate and met Felix Mendelssohn and the Russian Mikhail Glinka. All three became friends for many years. At that time Berlioz received a letter from his fiancée that she had decided to marry M. Camille Pleyel, a wealthy piano maker in Paris. He decided to return to Paris and kill his fiancée, Mr. Playel and himself, but the long trip cooled him down. He stopped in Nice and composed "Le Roi Lear," inspired by William Shakespeare's play "King Lear".
Back in Paris he became friends with Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Niccolò Paganini, Frédéric Chopin and George Sand. He met writer Ernest Legouve and they became lifelong friends. In 1833 he finally married Harriet Smithson, with Liszt himself as one of his witnesses. Their son was born in 1834. Later he had a mistress, singer Marie Recio, whom he married after the death of Hariet Smithson in 1852.
Berlioz was an influential music critic. He wrote about Giacomo Meyerbeer, Mikhail Glinka, Paganini, Liszt and other musicians. From 1834-38 he completed the opera "Benvenuto Cellini". In 1938 his "Harold en Italie" was performed at the Paris Conservatoire. His friend Paganini was so impressed by that performance that he gave Berlioz 20,000 francs.
In the 1840s Berlioz toured in Europe and strengthened his friendship with Mendelssohn-Bartholdy', Richard Wagner, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Robert Schumann. After extensive concertizing in Belgium and Germany, Berlioz returned to Paris. There his friend Mikhail Glinka, who lived in Paris for over a year, came up with the idea of concerts in Russia. Berlioz's joke "If the Emperor of Russia wants me, then I am up for sale" was taken seriously. Having Mikhail Glinka as a convert, Berlioz was invited to Russia twice, and each tour brought him financial gain beyond his expectation. His deep debts in Paris were all covered many times over after his first concert tour of Russia in 1847. Back in Paris he was having difficulties in funding performances of his massive works and lived on his witty critical publications. His second tour of Russia in 1867 was so much more attractive that Berlioz turned down an offer of $100,000 from American Steinway to perform in New York. In St. Petersburg Berlioz took special pleasure in performing with the first-rate orchestra of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
His second Russian concert tour was a successful finale to his career and life. Berlioz never performed again. He died on March 8, 1869, and was laid to rest at the Cimetiere de Montmartre with his two wives.- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Alphonse de Lamartine was born on 21 October 1790 in Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire, France. He was a writer, known for Jocelyn (1933), Jocelyn (1922) and Graziella (1955). He was married to Marianne-Elisa Birch. He died on 1 March 1869 in Paris, France.- Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize the massive military resources of the North and guide the Union to victory. However, he was criticized by many Union generals, who perceived him as overcautious and micromanaging.He also organized the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. After Lincoln's assassination, Stanton remained as the Secretary of War under the new US president, Andrew Johnson, during the first years of Reconstruction. He opposed the lenient policies of Johnson towards the former Confederate States. Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton ultimately led to Johnson being impeached by the Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives. Stanton returned to law after he retired as Secretary of War. In 1869, he was nominated as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by Johnson's successor, Ulysses S. Grant, but Stanton died four days after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate.
- Apollo Korzeniowski was born on 21 February 1820 in Honoratka, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire [now Honoratka, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine]. Apollo was married to Ewa Bobrowska. Apollo died on 23 May 1869 in Kraków, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland].
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born on 8 May 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Louis Moreau was a composer, known for Original Sin (2001), Little Women (2019) and The Lovebirds (2020). Louis Moreau died on 18 December 1869 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.- Allan Kardec was born on 3 October 1804 in Lyon, France. Allan was a writer, known for O Espiritismo, de Kardec aos Dias de Hoje (1995). Allan was married to Amélie Gabrielle Boudet. Allan died on 31 March 1869 in Villa Ségur, Bordeaux, France.
- Soundtrack
Claribel was born on 23 December 1830 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, UK. Claribel died on 30 January 1869 in Dover, Kent, England, UK.- Mary Ann Mantell was born on 9 April 1795 in Paddington, London, England, UK. She was married to Gideon Mantell. She died on 20 October 1869 in London, England, UK.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Carl Loewe was born on 30 November 1796 in Loebjuen, Germany. Carl is known for Hermann Prey singt Lieder von... (1963) and A Voice Out of the Cold: Vivica Genaux (2004). Carl died on 20 April 1869 in Kiel, Germany.- Iginio Ugo Tarchetti was born on 29 June 1841 in San Salvatore Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy. Iginio Ugo was a writer, known for Passion of Love (1981), Fosca (1981) and La Lettera U (Manoscritto d'un Pazzo) (2021). Iginio Ugo died on 25 February 1869 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
- Robert Braithwaite Martineau was born in 1826 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England, UK. He was married to Maria Wheeler. He died on 13 February 1869 in Campden Hill, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Music Department
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mirza Ghalib was born on 27 December 1797 in Agra, Mughal Empire. He was a writer, known for Masaan (2015), Mirza Ghalib (1954) and Ghalib (1961). He died on 15 February 1869 in Delhi, British India.