Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
For most of my posts, I often use the New York Philharmonic Archives. These have the most extensive information on music that has been performed in the past and among others. They have thousands of different articles, programs, scores and many more describing the music that has been performed going back as the 1800s. So many on the different composers that we know and love today.
For today, I decided to step aside from the programs that I often look at, and instead look at the score with a composer’s eye. I have composed large orchestral works myself and know a thing or two about the scores and the music. One noticeable thing that most people will see, is that the score is a copy. Going back as far as Vivaldi, many people have made it their goal to copy musical works for others to enjoy and to last. Berlioz lived over 200 years ago and the symphony premiered in 1830. Many musical works have been lost because they were not kept safe, and that is why many have copied the works to save and to give to others like the New York Philharmonic Hall. The symphony played this piece a long time ago and have kept copies under lock and key.
When looking at the score, it looks very complicated in some areas. There are so many different moving parts to make the sound whole. You can see the almost every single instrument is playing something a little different from the one before it. There are some areas where the score is calm and it has slowed down in amount of players. Without listening you can tell that some places, it is very fast and angry maybe, and others slowed down. You see that the score keeps changing to add something different and new. One last observation is that the strings are the heaviest players who carry the piece greatly. It has come to my knowledge that during this time period in music, the strings most played both the melody and rhythm; providing the drive of the piece. Which is something that I have also done. I do my best to switch it up a bit every once and awhile, but sometimes the strings most often play the melody and rhythm to keep the piece afloat.