Berlioz: "Waverley" Overture, Op. 1, H 26 (with Score)

Hector Berlioz:
"Waverley" Overture, Op. 1, H 26 (with Score)
Composed: 1827
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
This overture was named after Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley. Like many oh his contemporaries, Berlioz regarded Scott's novels as quintessentially Romantic and perfectly suited for music. (Another composer who revered Scott was Donizetti, whose Lucia del Lammermoor was based on The Bride of Lammermoor. ) Berlioz initially created this score as an abstract "grande ouverture caractéristique," and appended the present title as an afterthought around the time of its belated first performance in 1838. The score was prefaced by a poetic citation from the novel:
Dreams of love and Lady's charms
Give place to honour and to arms.
The first line seems to be reflected in the long, eloquent cello melody that introduces the overture after nearly two minutes of expressive orchestral sighing. The cello theme is developed modestly against a soft, throbbing rhythm. At length the violins burst in with more martial, even somewhat frenzied material evoking Scott's second line; for this fortissimo theme, the strings are reinforced by brass and timpani. The Allegro vivace section continues in the same manner for some time, before a brief recollection of the overture's opening passages leads to a march-like review of the works' main themes. In this early work, Berlioz seems unsure of himself, his melodic lines seemingly lacking clear direction. Nevertheless, Waverley, with its bold exploration of tonality and color, clearly prefigures the composer's mature style.

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Sacré orchestration.

[@benrubin8624]

from two mins to five mins is ridiculously beautiful

[@PhilippeBrun-qy3st]

Magnifique...Merci à vous.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

What a great orchestrator he was!

[@nicosuarez6962]

You too, Mr. Beethoven 🙃

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@nicosuarez6962 Thanks!

[@christianwouters6764]

And that at so young an age. Most composers of that period just applied the formula's of Haydn and Mozart, the bel canto composers f.i.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@christianwouters6764 I actually quite like the bel canto composers (Bellini especially), but I do agree that they profited quite a bit off the compositional techniques of their predecessors.

[@christianwouters6764]

​@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven The difference is that Berlioz never worked with the concept melody/accompaniment, what the bel canto composers like Bellini allways did.

[@kofiLjunggren]

9:35

[@kofiLjunggren]

Written 1827????!?!?!

[@loganfruchtman953]

Keep in mind this was written immediately following Beethoven’s death and Schubert was still alive for only one more year.

[@o.dalton194]

I'm confused as to why Berlioz decided to use a Clarinet in C and A simultaneously in the slow movement? I'd be interested to know why. I suppose there is a low E in the 2nd part in A, so that would make the range extension make sense... But why not have two instruments in A rather? Anyway, it's always interesting seeing the early works of composers!

[@jeannotdenimes158]

Probably because he wanted that at least one clarinet had a brighter sound.

[@owengette8089]

5:20 epic gamer moment

[@Tijaxtolan]

Why?

[@owengette8089]

@ when I used to listen to music primarily on score videos, I’d leave timestamps on favorite moments. I probably left over 100. KZbin flagged my account as spam for this so I just had to add some text to distinguish me from a bot