f an opium
eater, and the morbid character of most of his works may be traced to
this cause. Berlioz studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but his
sensational style did not win favour with the classical Cherubini, and
the young man was forced to work against many difficulties. He was even
forbidden at one time to compete for the _Prix de Rome_, and came near
giving up his career in dejection.

On the Parisian stage was a beautiful Irish actress, named Harriet
Smithson, who was performing the plays of Shakespeare. Berlioz at once
fell in love with her, but it was some time before his needy
circumstances allowed him to lay his suit before her. When he did so,
his passion found shape and expression in a great musical work,--the
Symphonic Fantastique.

This is a weird and sinister composition, but very effective. It is in
five movements. The first represents a young man seeing his ideal and
falling in love with her, the object of this sudden affection being
depicted by a tender theme on the violin. This theme pervades the entire
work. In the second movement, which represents a ball, it signifies the
entrance of the fair one. The third movement is called "In the Fields,"
and contains a duet between the two lovers in the guise of a shepherd
and shepherdess. They are portrayed by an English horn and an oboe, the
result being one of the great instrumental dialogues that are sometimes
found in-works of the tone masters. An effective touch is the
introduction of a thunder-storm, after which the English horn begins a
plaintive note of inquiry, but meets with no reply. In the fourth
movement, the young man has slain his love in a fit of jealousy, and is
on his way to execution. Very powerful music expresses the fatal march,
interrupted every now and then by the surging footsteps of the crowd. At
its close, the hero ascends the scaffold; amid a hush, the tender love
theme reappears, but is obliterated by a sudden crash of the full
orchestra, and all is still. Berlioz, however, does not let his hero
rest in the grave, but adds a fifth movement to show him in the infernal
regions. Piccolo and other wild instruments depict the fury of the
demons, a parody on the Dies Irae follows, and even the tender
love-theme is not spared, but is turned into the most vulgar of waltzes.

This musical love-letter was understood, and Miss Smithson afterward
married the great composer. But, unfortunately, the romance stopped at
this point, and they did