What to Listen For
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, IV
Here’s what to listen for in the fourth movement (March to the Scaffold) of Symphonie fantastique, a
program symphony by Hector Berlioz.
■ Program symphony
March to the Scaffold is the fourth movement of a five-movement program symphony, a multimovement work for orchestra with literary or pictorial associations. Symphonie fantastique is a work
for a large, colorful orchestra that tells the story of a young lovesick musician in despair who, after
taking too much opium, falls into a deep sleep full of crazy dreams.
■ Idée fixe
The woman he loves (his “beloved”) is conveyed in this program symphony by a recurring idea or
theme that is heard in all five movements. Berlioz was French, and the French term for a fixed idea
is idée fixe. When the idée fixe is heard in the first movement, it sounds like this: [idée fixe]. In each
movement, the idée fixe changes as the beloved’s role in the story changes. By the fourth movement, the fictional musician dreams he has killed his beloved, and when he thinks about her briefly
at the end of the movement, the idée fixe sounds like this: [4:05– 4:11].
■ Theme A and Theme B
Throughout this movement as the lovesick musician is marched to the scaffold and to his death,
you will hear two different themes: Theme A and Theme B. Theme A is a descending scale in duple
meter that first sounds like this: [0:25– 0:36]. Then, as the march continues, the descending motion
of Theme A stays the same, but other elements of music are altered to make it sound slightly
different.
Theme B contrasts with Theme A. Theme B begins in ascending motion and is played loudly by
brass and percussion, instruments typically heard in a marching band like the one accompanying
the lovesick musician to his death. Here is Theme B: [1:31–1:44].
The musical style (duple meter with lots of brass and percussion) conveys his march to the guillotine where, for one last moment, he thinks about his beloved [4:05– 4:11] before his head is
chopped off [4:11– 4:14].
So remember to listen for how the descriptive music follows the program. Listen for contrasting
Themes A and B (that set the ominous, dark mood of the story and convey the march of our main
character), the idée fixe (his final thoughts), and the fatal blow.
What to Listen For Tutorials by Jennifer Hund for The Enjoyment of Music, by Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and
Joseph Machlis
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