SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

An hour-long classical composition from 1830 probably isn’t what first comes to mind upon hearing the word “psychedelic,” and that’s a problem. Hector Berlioz didn’t take copious amounts of opium and write a five-movement epic symphony to be completely ignored by the audiences of the modern day, and especially not by the audiences of the past.

As a young man, Berlioz always held onto a bit of angst that manifested itself into poetry, opium abuse, and musical composition (coupled with a dash of musical pretentiousness, similar to that of other great psychedelic artists). When Berlioz attended a theatrical performance of Hamlet in 1827, he was immediately captivated by Ophelia, played by English actress Harriet Smithson. Despite not speaking Smithson’s language and only having been to this single performance, he wrote about her frequently in his journal, sent her letters (in French that she couldn’t understand), and even went as far as renting an apartment close to hers so he could see her come and go. By far, the greatest length to which he went in his obsessions was the composition of a five-part symphony about his parasocial relationship with her. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Smithson tried her best to avoid Berlioz. She managed to do so until she unknowingly attended an 1832 showing of Symphonie Fantastique, which she quickly realized was written about her.

Berlioz composed the symphony in only about three months, and it seems to be a projective self-portrait of the composer. This is programmatic music broken into 5 parts or “movements” that follow a very clear and coherent story. To illustrate Berlioz’s vision, he insisted on supplying programs with visual descriptions detailing the subject of each movement at every performance. They are included, alongside my analysis, here: art and words by amelia goetz

Rêveries - Passions (Daydreams - Passions)

A passionate artist sees a woman that, according to the program, “unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her.” When he sees her and thinks of her, a dreamy melody floats in called the idèe fixe, similar to a love theme in many modern movie scores. This movement also features eerily ascending phrases and crescendos, making the audience believe a great revelation is happening in the artist’s mind.

Un bal (A Ball)

Harps, for the first time ever, are included in a large musical work. They evoke romanticism and a kind of intimacy in this ball scene, in which the artist imagines his beloved dancing with another. Interrupting horns and a faster and faster tempo show that, as Berloiz imagines, the “beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirit into confusion.”

Scène aux champs (Scene in the Fields)

The artist decides to go to the countryside for a bit to relax and appreciate the simplicity and beauty of nature. The program describes his inner thoughts: “He broods on his loneliness, and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own… But what if she betrayed him!… This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio.” Apparently, not even the beauty of nature remains pure; an ensemble of 4 timpanis interrupts the returning idèe fixe with the “sound of thunder… solitude… silence…”

Marche au supplice (March to the Witches Scaffold)

This movement was apparently written in a single night, likely under the influence of opium. This is the first movement in which the audience is meant to enter a dream state with the “artist” in the symphony. Berlioz writes that the artist, “Convinced that his love is spurned [...] poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. At the end of the march, the first four bars of the idée fixe reappear like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow.” The movement features erratic changes in volume to connote extreme emotion and events that transpire within. The “fatal blow” is a loud burst from all the instruments, interrupted by a very small note at which the artist’s head falls down the stairs, and once again the full orchestra reenters to simulate the crowd roaring in approval.

Songe d’une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a Witches Sabbath)

Following the artist’s execution in his dream state, a second, somewhat more psychedelic dream comes to the artist. The program describes that, “He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance-tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath… Roars of delight at her arrival… ” A sort of mocking sound comes from the woodwinds, meant to emulate the artist’s beloved (?) laughing at him from beyond the grave. The artist sees that she is no longer a beautiful and graceful figure.

Illustrated above, many technical and aesthetic aspects of the Symphonie Fantastique were designed to be dreamlike, experimental, and completely revolutionary. Berlioz branded himself to his audience as a dramatic musical and lyrical genius with a complex, brooding mind. Compared to the relative mundaneness of Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart, it’s not out of the question for Berlioz to be labeled as the first rockstar; there are certain parallels that come to mind.

In the aftermath of the symphony, Berlioz continued to come on incredibly strong to Smithson, and after much hesitancy on her behalf, Berlioz staged a dramatic proposal. He asked her to marry him and swallowed a lethal dose of opium which he pulled from his pocket. After much chaos and confusion, Smithson agreed and he quickly produced an antidote from his other pocket, which he swallowed immediately. Though sick for a few days after, Berlioz had finally achieved what the principal subject of his greatest work could only hope to do.

Unfortunately, as is the case for many musicians, the hasty marriage built on manipulation, obsession, and physical attraction came to a swift and brutal end. Smithson, struggling with debt and receding notoriety, became somewhat rageful and lashed out frequently at Berlioz under the influence of alcohol. She left one day in 1843, never to return. Berlioz took a small number of lovers very shortly after her departure (and no doubt more opium), perhaps even further solidifying his status as the original psychedelic rockstar from beginning to end.