Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique is an interesting piece to explore. While it does not contain lyrics, Berlioz was very clear that the music was telling a story. On April 16, 1830 Berlioz wrote to a friend “Now, my friend, this is how I have woven my novel…”
Berlioz wanted all of his listeners to understand the plot of the “novel” he was telling, so along with the score he published overviews of the story being told. Each note, each layer of texture, the dynamics, the rhythm, the use of idee fixe contribute to the character development and the plot of the novel.
Berlioz was also very particular in the letters he wrote to his friends concerning the order in which the instruments should be positioned. The following excerpt is from a letter recorded in Thomas Kelly’s book ‘First Nights’ on pg. 253.
“The best way to arrange the players, in a hall whose dimensions are appropriate to their number, is to place them, ones above the others, on a series of risers put together in such a way that each row can send out its sounds to the listener without any intermediate obstacle”
My question then becomes this: When an artist writes down the inspiration of the piece in the score and gives painstakingly meticulous instructions for how each note should be played, does that limit the creative output of future performers? Is music about recreating the first premiere, or about each individual’s own personal opinion?
Ralph de Toledano believed that music should be recreated exactly as the composer intended it to be played. Toledano in his National Review Vol. 41 No 16 in 1989 wrote,
“[T]he London Classical Players not only play instruments of Berlioz’s time, they also are arranged on the platform in the manner Berlioz wanted, and this makes a difference in what we hear and how we hear it.”
What is the fine balance between perserving the purity of music in its original form and the beauty of personal interpretation? How do we achieve it?
