# Berlioz: Orchestral vs Religious Works



## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

Despite the excellence of most of his symphonies (Colind Davis in particular), which I wouldn't dare deny, I can't help but feel that most people ignore or forget his religious works. And I don't know why!! I find Bernstein's Requiem and Te Deum way more inspired (and inspiring) than every Shymphonie Fantastique that I've heard, for example. Am I completely nuts or what?


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Orchestral really isn't the right word here. 

Anyway, I don't even know if this is an issue of religious vs. secular, but simply of Symphonie Fantastique tending to dominate everything else. I suspect for many, it's the only piece of his they really know. I'd be curious how often it is performed vs. other works. Maybe some overtures are played often because they are easy to drop in a program.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

OP: Neither.

Check out his greatest masterpiece, the opera Les Troyens.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> ...I can't help but feel that most people ignore or forget his religious works...


I think that this is something of a generalisation, but I do take your point. Personally however I find his 'Grande Messe des Morts' to be a wonderful work: huge, terrifying, passionate, profound. In fairness to the OP's post though, I've known the 'Symphonie Fantastique' for many more years than the requiem.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I think the orchestral and religious works are both wonderful. The _Symphonie Fantastique_, though, tips the scales towards the orchestral somewhat.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I think the inspiration in the _Fantastique_ is white-hot, and the piece is as amazing to me now as it was 40 years ago. The _Requiem_ is magnificent and just as inspired. The _Te Deum_ seems to me not quite equal to those.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

It would be remarkable if the 'religious' music were more 'inspired' - Berlioz was an atheist

I wouldn't suggest his _te Deum_ was the height of his inspiration (and certainly the very early _Messe Solonnelle_ isn't). I wpouldn't call _L'enfance du Christ_ a 'religious' piece although it has a biblical theme.

As Hpowders rightly says, _Les Troyens_ is for many listeners, the real peak of his inspiration


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> It would be remarkable if the 'religious' music were more 'inspired' - Berlioz was an atheist
> 
> I wouldn't suggest his _te Deum_ was the height of his inspiration (and certainly the very early _Messe Solonnelle_ isn't). I wpouldn't call _L'enfance du Christ_ a 'religious' piece although it has a biblical theme.
> 
> As Hpowders rightly says, _Les Troyens_ is for many listeners, the real peak of his inspiration





















I'd say _Les Troyens_, certainly _;D _--- but _tied with_ _Benvenutto Cellini _and parts of his _Requiem_ (which Berlioz himself considered his 'legacy' work).


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

My favourite Berlioz is the Requiem, the Te Deum and the Grande Symphonie Funebre & Triomphale, so I understand where the OP is coming from... I prefer his solemn & architectural things to his passionate & wild things, although those are great as well. These days I am especially drawn to the Te Deum, with its feeling of unavoidable fate and immanent grandeur that demands nothing but complete submission.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Nobody has mentioned _Roméo et Juliette_ which IMO equals _Les Troyens_.










I prefer Charles Dutoit (+Montreal Orchestra) to Sir Colin Davis (I own all their Berlioz recordings).


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Headphone Hermit said:


> It would be remarkable if the 'religious' music were more 'inspired' - Berlioz was an atheist
> 
> I wouldn't suggest his _te Deum_ was the height of his inspiration (and certainly the very early _Messe Solonnelle_ isn't). I wpouldn't call _L'enfance du Christ_ a 'religious' piece although it has a biblical theme.
> 
> As Hpowders rightly says, _Les Troyens_ is for many listeners, the real peak of his inspiration


Berlioz was agnostic.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Despite its weaknesses and the fact that Berlioz himself disowned it, I think the Messe solennelle from 1824 (and not rediscovered in the early 1990s) is still a fine achievement for a 20 year old.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

TxllxT said:


> Berlioz was agnostic.


correct - slip of the fingers (or rather, sloppy memory)

Thanks for setting this right :tiphat:


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