Hector Berlioz composed the Symphonie fantastique when he was 27 years old. He drew inspiration from his own passionate life and transformed his memoirs into his most famous program symphony. The story revolves around a young artist who is love-stricken and depressed, leading him to poison himself with opium. The beloved is symbolically represented throughout the symphony by the idee fixe. The symphony consists of five movements. The program begins with the 1st movement called Reveries, Passions, which depicts the artist’s life before meeting the beloved. It portrays a sense of mundaneness and indescribable search or yearning until the moment he encounters her. At this point, his longing abruptly ends and transforms into intense love akin to a volcano. The soaring melody of the Idee fixe is introduced in this section. The 2nd movement, titled A Ball, captures a gala ball where the artist once again encounters his beloved. It is presented as a dance movement in three parts, with the Idee fixe reappearing in waltz time.
The 3rd movement, titled “Scene in the Fields,” portrays a peaceful break. It illustrates a summer evening in the countryside where the protagonist encounters two shepherds playing their pipes. This serene moment spent immersed in the pastoral duet brings forth an unexpected sense of tranquility. However, the atmosphere changes abruptly when a woman appears, evoking feelings of sorrowful solitude.
The 4th movement, known as “March To the Scaffold,” depicts a dream in which the protagonist has killed his beloved and is condemned to death, being led to the scaffold. Towards the end of this movement, the Idee fixe briefly resurfaces, symbolizing the interrupted last thought of love before facing the axe.
In the 5th movement, the protagonist envisions himself at a witch’s Sabbath, surrounded by eerie spirits who have gathered for his funeral. The terrifying sounds of groans, shrieks, and shrill laughter resound in his ears. Suddenly, the familiar melodic theme, known as the “Idee fixe”, reemerges. However, it is no longer the refined and dignified melody heard in previous movements. It has transformed into something vulgar and grotesque. The beloved has arrived at this diabolical orgy. The witches excitedly welcome her with howling joy and she joins them in their demonic dance. Meanwhile, bells toll for the dead.
Listening Guide 25 is the 4th movement, March To the Scaffold: The devilish march is in a minor key and the recurring theme is heard near the end of this movement. The clarinet is the instrument that represents the recurring theme and at the very end it is abruptly silenced by a mournful, loud chord and then concludes in a dark essence. The performance involves a large orchestra consisting of a flute, piccolo, two clarinets, four French horns, four bassoons, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, two ophicleides, two timpani, a bass drum, bells, and strings.
The form of the piece is a loose ternary structure (A-B-A). It is divided into six sections. The piece starts with ominous drumbeats and muted brass in the introduction. The introduction ends with a powerful crescendo from the bass drum, which immediately introduces the second section, featuring theme A played by low strings at a slow and cautious tempo, followed by violins picking up the theme. Theme B is then introduced by brass and woodwinds, adding a diabolical march-like tune. The opening section is then repeated.
The third section serves as the development. It follows a ternary structure (B-A-B-A), starting with theme B played by brass, followed by theme A played pizzicato by strings, alternating again to theme B in brass and concluding with theme A.
The fifth section features theme A performed by the full orchestra in its original form and then inverted with ascending scales.
In the sixth section, there is a melody called “Idee fixe” played on the clarinet. This melody represents the last thought of love and is performed with great sweetness (dolce assai) and passion (passionato). It is followed by a loud chord that abruptly cuts off the melody, symbolizing the fall of an axe.
The introduction begins with the distant sound of a steady beating drum, which gradually becomes louder. This steady beat serves as the foundation for a serious tone that remains unchanged throughout. The march melody played over this steady beat feels flat and creates a sense of impending doom. The brass instruments then burst in, taking over the monotonous drumbeat and soaring in an ascending sound that reaches a peak before tapering off with low strings carrying the melody in a descending scale.In this passage, the ascending and descending sound is recapitulated and the viola and bassoon join in with their own unrelated melody. This smaller melody contrasts with the grander brass melody and maintains a slower background. In the middle section of this movement, an abstract quality emerges. The theme becomes more developed and the composer, Berlioz, uses extreme opposites to convey moods of a manic-depressive state. The tempo picks up with the full orchestra in what seems to be an allegro, creating a grand triumphant march. However, Berlioz suddenly slows down the tempo in the low strings, creating a deliberate depressive crawl. He adds a dissonance to the melody by incorporating bizarre violin plucks, giving it a schizophrenic touch. Towards the end of this section, the strings play at a frantic pace, creating a sense of anxiety. Suddenly, everything becomes quiet and the sweet melody of the clarinet, called Idee fixe, is heard. However, without warning, the clarinet melody is abruptly cut off by the crash of a symbol, followed by the coda. Harriet Smithson, who inspired this symphony, should take pride in having such a piece written about her. The fourth movement of Symphonie Fantastique captures the energy and inappropriate mood changes that can be experienced in a dream-like state.The march towards the scaffold takes on a different tone than expected, transforming from a solemn death march into a grand and pompous procession. This shift in atmosphere, however, is intentional and showcases the composer’s brilliance. By creating music that captures the disjointed elements of a dream-like state, the composer conveys an abstractness that reflects the mind in a semi-conscious condition.
