Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), full name Louis Hector Berlioz, was a celebrated French musical composer and critic, born near Grenoble, in the department of Isère, France. He was sent to study medicine in Paris, but he abandoned it for music, to which he devoted his life.

His best known works are "Les Troyens" (opera, 1856 — 59) the "Symphonie Fantastique," (1830), "Romeo et Juliet," (1839) and the "La Damnation de Faust" (cantata, 1846). With the "Symphonie," which he produced while he was yet but a student at the Conservatoire in Paris, Paganini was so struck that he presented him with 20,000 francs.

Wisdom & Quotes

• Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

- quoted in Almanach des lettres francaises

George Borrow