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Hopped up on Opium

Halloween is upon us which can only mean one thing. Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique: Episode in the Life of an Artist.

The artist is a young man (Berlioz himself) who has a series of opium induced visions. Think Jim Morrison.

The 4th and 5th movements are particularly spooky.

In the 4th, the young man is being escorted, in his opium haze, to the scaffold and thinking of his beloved, whom he has murdered.

His thoughts are cut short by the blade of the guillotine.

The 5th movement has two distinct sections. The first is a statement of the Dies irae from the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass.

The second is called "The Witches Sabbath".

What does it all mean? I'm not sure, I've never been hopped up on opium.

I do know that this symphony exceeds the previous limits of the symphonic form which were established by Beethoven.

Symphonie Fantastique is also the first program music.

This means Berlioz is trying to write the soundtrack to a story in the form of a symphony. He is trying to use music to portray specific events.

In essence this is the beginning of the motion picture score.

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Halloween is upon us which can only mean one thing. Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique: Episode in the Life of an Artist.

The artist is a young man (Berlioz himself) who has a series of opium induced visions. Think Jim Morrison.

The 4th and 5th movements are particularly spooky.

In the 4th, the young man is being escorted, in his opium haze, to the scaffold and thinking of his beloved, whom he has murdered.

His thoughts are cut short by the blade of the guillotine.

The 5th movement has two distinct sections. The first is a statement of the Dies irae from the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass.

The second is called "The Witches Sabbath".

What does it all mean? I'm not sure, I've never been hopped up on opium.

I do know that this symphony exceeds the previous limits of the symphonic form which were established by Beethoven.

Symphonie Fantastique is also the first program music.

This means Berlioz is trying to write the soundtrack to a story in the form of a symphony. He is trying to use music to portray specific events.

In essence this is the beginning of the motion picture score.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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