Did Berlioz bother to write any piano music?

[dlu]

Did he? It would be a shame if he didn't.

[bernhard]

Nope. Shame on him (he hated the piano).

[Sketchee]

He did write songs with piano accompaniment.  For solo piano, Liszt transcriptions or transcriptions by others are pretty much it.

[eugene_oneg]

"Posted by: Bernhard Posted on: Aug 5th, 2004, 12:52am
Nope. Shame on him (he hated the piano).  "

Wrong!! . He once stayed with Chopin at Sand's home in the french countryside. his pavillon was next to Chopin and he mentionned in a letter how delightfull it was to listen to chopin at the piano.
He did not "hate" it.

[dlu]

I think he did prefer wind instruments though

[DarkWind]

He was a guitarist.

[bernhard]

"Posted by: Bernhard Posted on: Aug 5th, 2004, 12:52am
Nope. Shame on him (he hated the piano).  "

Wrong!! . He once stayed with Chopin at Sand's home in the french countryside. his pavillon was next to Chopin and he mentionned in a letter how delightfull it was to listen to chopin at the piano.
He did not "hate" it.

Although the majority of romantic composers were pianists (and many like Liszt  were virtuosos of the instrument), Berlioz never learned to play the piano. As a child he learned the flute and the guitar. His family (who was rich) wanted him to study medicine and that he did for two years (the worst of his life according to him). He is on record to say this about the piano and pianists:

Piano shy?: 'My father would not let me take up the piano; otherwise I should no doubt have turned into a formidable pianist in company with 40,000 others ........... and thus saved me from the tyranny of keyboard habits, so dangerous to thought, and from the lure of conventional sonorities, to which all composers are prone.' (Hector Berlioz)

Part of his dislike for pianos may well have had non-musical origins. He fell deeply in love with Maria Moke, who apparently reciprocated his feelings. He went to Rome, but after three weeks without news from her, he returned to Paris. On his way, in Florence,  he found out that she had married Camille Pleyel, the piano manufacturer. He was livid. He decided to kill Maria, Camille, her mother, and then commit suicide. He got as far as Nice, but by then he had cooled down enough to go back on his murderous plans. Eventually Maria bedded a lot of famous pianists (she was an accomplished pianist herself), including Liszt, making Camille a well-known cuckhold.

As for Chopin, he once said that Berlioz didn't think while he was composing; he just dipped a (feather) pen into an ink-pot and then shook it over the stave. Ink drops fell at random on the stave lines.

Enough gossip?

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[DarkWind]

As for Chopin, he once said that Berlioz didn't think while he was composing; he just dipped a (feather) pen into an ink-pot and then shook it over the stave. Ink drops fell at random on the stave lines.

Hahahaha! Anyways, Berlioz is known more for his orchestration techniques than his actual composing. He even has a book of orchestration currently in circulation by Dover.

[dlu]

Thank you everyone for your posts. I think now with all of this information I will now finish Berlioz's memoirs (I started reading it a while back and now for a couple months it has been just sitting on the top of my piano).
Thanks again,
DLu

[bernhard]

Nope. Shame on him (he hated the piano).

Guess what?

I was browsing in this large music shop, and what do I come across?

“Berlioz – Piano works” – ed. Hinson (Hinshaw)  

with the complete piano-solo works of Berlioz. It turns out that he composed piano-solo pieces after all: The staggering number of three piano pieces!

Rustic serenade
Hymne
Toccata

Now we know.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[dlu]

Guess what?

I was browsing in this large music shop, and what do I come across?

“Berlioz – Piano works” – ed. Hinson (Hinshaw)  

with the complete piano-solo works of Berlioz. It turns out that he composed piano-solo pieces after all: The staggering number of three piano pieces!

Rustic serenade
Hymne
Toccata

Now we know.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

Interesting, I'll be sure to check that out. Thanks Bernhard, you always come through!

[Philip Daniel]

Guess what?

I was browsing in this large music shop, and what do I come across?

“Berlioz – Piano works” – ed. Hinson (Hinshaw)  

with the complete piano-solo works of Berlioz. It turns out that he composed piano-solo pieces after all: The staggering number of three piano pieces!

Rustic serenade
Hymne
Toccata

Now we know.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

Bernhard,
I checked a reliable source, and those three compositions by Berlioz--Rustic Serenade, Hymne, & Toccata, were originally written for the harmonium. Those must be piano arrangements of pieces expressly written for the newly developed melodium organ (harmonium) of his time. Here is a link to the source of the information: https://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/salexandre.htm.

Best Wishes,
Philip Daniel

[bernhard]

Bernhard,
I checked a reliable source, and those three compositions by Berlioz--Rustic Serenade, Hymne, & Toccata, were originally written for the harmonium. Those must be piano arrangements of pieces expressly written for the newly developed melodium organ (harmonium) of his time. Here is a link to the source of the information: https://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/salexandre.htm.

Best Wishes,
Philip Daniel

Oh bother!

We are back to square one then. No piano pieces from Hector.

[apion]

It turns out that he composed piano-solo pieces after all: The staggering number of three piano pieces!

How incredibly prolific 

[mikey6]

How incredibly prolific 

I think Mr Berg takes the cake though with the staggering amount of 1 piano sonata! (I guess though compared to his total output, that's a fair bit

[liszt1022]

Berlioz did admire Liszt's piano transcription of his Symphonie fantastique, and Liszt continued to transcribe Berlioz orchestral works throughout the years with Berlioz' approval. So pick up New Liszt Edition (Edito Musica Budapest printing) book Transcriptions I: Works of Berlioz for some good Berlioz-approved Berlioz on piano.

[jas]

He wrote in his Memoirs, "I can only offer up my gratitude to chance which taught me perforce to compose freely and in silence, and thus saved me from the tyranny of keyboard habits."

So his opinion on the piano is reasonably clear. Not one for tact was old Berlioz.

Jas