Program Notes

Hector Berlioz

Overture Le Corsaire (begun 1831, completed 1845, rev. 1851-52)

Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes and clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani and strings

The brig pitched and swayed as the massive storm battered the small craft. Several times it was near to capsizing, and it narrowly escaped destruction. For eleven days there was no letup, no time to prepare for the next onslaught, just a constant barrage that would have concerned even the most experienced captain. Inside the ship, Hector Berlioz held on for dear life, committing his soul to God and probably wishing, for the first time, that he had never won that over-rated musical prize in the first place.

It was 1830, and the 27-year-old Berlioz had just been awarded, on the fourth try, the coveted Prix de Rome, which gave him a stipend to study in Italy for 18 months. But he had recently become engaged to the young pianist, Marie Moke, and the thought of leaving her at this time was unbearable. However, he realized that Madame Moke, Marie's mother, was uncomfortable with the arrangement, and knew that the recognition this prize would bring could only cause him to rise in her esteem. Therefore the composer endured the terrifying sea journey, his first ever, and lived in constant agony that Marie would spurn him while he was away. How right he was.

Berlioz soon learned that his worst fears were realized and that Marie was engaged to marry the eminent piano maker Pleyel. Crushed, but enraged, the Frenchman immediately plotted his revenge. He would return to Paris disguised as a chamber maid armed with two double-barreled pistols, and would shoot the inconstant Marie and her fiance, before taking his own life.

But truth was stranger than fiction in this case, and as time went on, reason prevailed and the advantages of living began to look more attractive than the point of a gun. After all, he had a lot to live for, hadn't he just won the Prix de Rome? In the midst of this rebirth, Berlioz began work on two overtures, King Lear and one that would come to be known as The Corsaire .

The second of these was put aside and not picked up again until many years later, when Berlioz, sitting atop the Martello Tower in Nice, overlooking the sea, finished it. It was performed in this version as The Tower of Nice in 1845. But the composer was not satisfied and put it aside again. In 1851-52, he made his final revisions, and it was performed in 1855. The overwhelming scenery atop the Martello Tower must have brought to mind Berlioz's battering at sea, as well as some of his favorite swashbuckling tales, for the overture was now called The Corsaire , after James Fennimore Cooper's pirate novel The Red Corsaire . In this version it has become an audience favorite.

Berlioz's firsthand account of the sea's rage no doubt was an important factor in the creation of this work, and it is evident from the overture's swirling violin runs that rush headlong at the listener, that we're in for quite an adventure. The rapid gestures soon give way to an inspired adagio. The main body of the work is filled with Berlioz's imaginative orchestration in music that is heroic, rhythmically complex and harmonically rich. The melodies are inspired and throughout, metaphorically speaking, we are constantly soaked in sprays of sea water. So, metaphorically speaking, you might want to get a raincoat.