Prague Concert Life, 1850-1881

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Hector Berlioz

Louis-Hector

Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). French composer and writer. His reluctant early education in medicine was soon abandoned in favour of music during the early 1820s. Although he learnt to play the flute, his musical career revolved entirely around composition, criticism, writing (music theory and his autobiography), and conducting. His music, primarily comprising operas, orchestral and secular vocal works, and some church music, was both lauded and vilified in his own day as being progressive and eccentric. He visited Prague on several occasions during the 1840s. His compositions were received there with considerably greater contemporary acclaim than they were accorded by critics and public in neighbouring Vienna or Leipzig, and Berlioz in return described the city’s musical environment, personalities and outlook with generally enthusiastic praise.