Beschreibung:

BERLIOZ HECTOR: (1803-1869) French Composer. A rare and extremely fine A.M.Q.S., `H. Berlioz´, one page, oblong 4to, Vienna, 3rd February 1840, to Ch. Walter, in French. Berlioz has very carefully and cleanly penned a ten bars musical quote, which he entitles `Thème de l´adagio de Romeo et Juliette (scene d´amour)´ (Translation: `Theme of the adagio of Romeo & Juliette (love scene)) Berlioz also annotates to the heading the musical tempo `Andante´. Signed and inscribed by Berlioz `Pour l´album de Mr. Ch. Walter, avec mille remerciements de la part de son dévoué H.Berlioz´ (Translation: `For Mr. Ch. Walter´s autograph album, with a thousand of thanks from his devoted H.Berlioz´) Also dated in Berlioz´s hand. EX Berlioz composed his choral symphony Romeo et Juliette in 1839. It was premiered on 24th November 1839. This large-scale work is regarded as one of Berlioz's finest works, and is widely considered his most comprehensive and detailed programmatic piece. The composition of Romeo et Juliette was made possible by the generous gift of 20,000 francs by Niccolo Paganini after hearing a performance of Harold en Italie in Paris in 1838, the great virtuoso had publicly knelt before Berlioz and hailed him as the heir of Beethoven. Paganini died shortly after, and did not read or hear the piece. Berlioz used the money primarily to repay his debts, and afterwards was still left with a good sum of money, which he used to allow himself to put his full focus towards working on "a really important work", unobstructed by his usual time-consuming obligations as a critic. The present Autograph Musical Quote was signed only two months after its premiere.