In this assignment, you will listen to Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony in its entirety. At just under an hour, this massive work is somewhat longer than our past assignments. Be sure to do the reading first: this is program music ‐ music that follows an accompanying story line ‐ and you need to know the story!
READ Chapter 10 in Kelly. Be sure to read the chapter ‐ especially the Introduction, The Music, and Listening to the Music ‐ before you listen! Then, during each movement, follow along with the Program (highlighted in green in Kelly). This was written by Berlioz and is an intrinsic part of the work.
PRINT the questionnaire and fill it out as you LISTEN to Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony. There are three extra short clips to help you identify crucial themes.
Symphonie Fantastique
performed by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by
Michael Tilson Thomas
Clip: the idée fixe theme, which recurs throughout the symphony (0'38)
I: Rêveries ‐ Passions (Daydreams ‐ Passions) (14'59)
II: Un bal (A ball) (6'58)
Clip: the theme on which the variations in Movement III are based (1'08)
III: Scène aux champs (Scene in the fields) (17'08)
IV: Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold) (6'41)
Clip: the Gregorian chant Dies irae (0'34)
Listen for this melody in the orchestra at 3'13, and again at 7'40,
in Movement V
V: Songe d'une nuit du sabbat (Dream of a witches' sabbath) (9'35)
Text (not heard in the symphony) of the Dies irae chant:
| Dies irae dies illa | That will be the day of wrath, | |
| solvet saeclum in favilla | when the whole world breaks into ashes, | |
| teste David cum Sybilla. | as foretold by David and the oracle. | |
| Quantus tremor est futurus | How earth-shattering it will be | |
| quando Judex est venturus | when God comes to judge, | |
| cuncta stricte discussurus. | investigating everything strictly. |