Born on December 11, 1803 at La Côte-Saint-André, Southeastern France, Hector Berlioz was not a child prodigy unlike many other composers of his era. He showed interest to studying music composition when he was 12 and learned harmony mainly from books found in the library of his home. He took lessons in flute, guitar and singing and, by all accounts, became an astonishing performer on the guitar. His first compositions were romances and chamber pieces. As his father was a well-regarded and prosperous physician, he insisted that the boy study medicine, but the young Berlioz had his heart set on music, specifically the profession of composer. His father was simply astounded, since until the age of 17 or 18, the son – recognized today as one of the experts of orchestration – had never attended a performance by an orchestra. They finally agreed on a compromise: He would study medicine in Paris and music at the Conservatoire "in his spare time."
In 1821, Hector Berlioz moved to Paris and enrolled in a medical school. He started conscientiously to study medicine though he experienced a strong aversion towards it. He spent more time at the Paris Conservatoire library than at the medical school learning music composition and copying scores, enchanted by Gluck’s operas. Berlioz eventually gave up medicine and enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire under Jean-François Le Sueur in 1826, a professor who was his only true friend among the professors at the Conservatoire. This decision led to a painful break with his family, his mother even cursed Berlioz for rejecting the career of a doctor.
A year later, Berlioz fell hopelessly in love with the 27 year-old Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who in the heyday of her glory was performing in Paris at that time. The young composer suffering from unrequited love worked hard to win her heart but for a long time to no avail. She considered him a lunatic as she received overly passionate notes from another admirer who was madly in love with her but took him for being Berlioz himself. To prove to her that he had talent Berlioz composed a lot. His works of the period include songs, cantatas, and overtures, during this period he began to write musical critiques for Parisian publications and started to rely on journalism for a living since his father had suspended his allowance. Berlioz was gradually introduced to the Parisian literary and cultural circles where he made the acquaintance of and became friends with such outstanding contemporaries as Chopin, Liszt, Hugo, and Balzac. On December 5, 1830, Berlioz’s probably best known work Symphonie Fantastique, inspired by his relationship with Harriet Smithson, premiered at the Conservatoire. Franz Liszt, whom Berlioz had met the day before, was present at the performance and fascinated by the music, invited the composer to dinner and eventually they became good friends. In 1830 after several unsuccessful attempts he won the coveted Prix de Rome, which meant a stable income under the state scholarship, and went to Italy where he wrote symphony works – in a very vivid, expressive and colorful style. He was back in Paris in 1832 and organized a concert featuring his Symphonie Fantastique along with its sequel Lélio to notable success. The next year he married Harriet Smithson, whose fame had slowly started to decline, and had to work hard to support the family. In 1834 he finished his symphony Harold en Italie. Benvenuto Cellini – another opera - failed due to a hostile audience. In 1839 his “dramatic symphony” Roméo et Juliette saw the light of day. A year later, his Symphonie funèbre et triomphale under the direction of Berlioz himself was performed for the first time.
From 1843 onwards, he spent a lot of time outside France as touring conductor in many European countries. He conducted operas and symphonic music both his own and music composed by his contemporaries which he had never done before. Berlioz made his first visit to Russia in 1847. The second one took place in 1867. Both visits proved financially very rewarding, which saved Berlioz from bankruptcy. His career as conductor was highly successful and gained him numerous admirers; on the other hand, in his home country he got acclaim from neither critics nor audience. In 1846, his work La Damnation de Faust was performed and, unfortunately, it turned out to be a commercial failure, leaving the composer deep in debts. The audience did not accept the unconventional work due to its novelty and original character though it is now considered one of the most mature compositions in Berlioz’s oeuvre. After the French revolution of 1848, Berlioz showed less predilection to composing but was rewarded with multiple tours as conductor. In 1854, he wrote a cantata L’enfance du Christ. Soon after his wife died, ties with his friends also grew weak. He died on March 8, 1869. "Finally, they are going to play my music” were his last words according to tradition. He is rightly regarded the creator of the program symphony music. Ten years after his death he was proclaimed head of the French musical school.