Composer Of The Week

Donald Macleod pulls back the curtain on Berlioz’s greatest obsessionDonald Macleod explores the women who shaped Hector Berlioz’s life and workHector Berlioz was one the most innovative and rebellious musicians of 19th century France. He was a man of unwaveringly high expectations, in his wider life as well as his music. As the quintessential Romantic, one friend said that love was the “alpha and omega of his existence”. This week Donald Macleod looks at Berlioz through the passions and relationships that shaped who he was and what he created, exploring the romantic obsessions of an especially obsessive man. We’ll also hear a movement of his Symphonie Fantastique each day – Berlioz’s best known work, and the musical embodiment of his most powerful infatuation.Music Featured: Marche Funèbre pour la dernière scène d‘Hamlet (Tristia, Op 18) Irlande (La belle voyageuse) Romeo et Juliette – Scène d’amour Lelio – Choeur d’ombres Symphonie Fantastique (1st movement – Reveries – Passions) Fleuve du Tage Tempest Fant