Harold and Hector (and a bit of Harriet)

 One of the local community orchestras, the Waukegan Symphony, was a short a (French) horn and asked if I would come and play 1st horn. I rarely play 1st horn and I had played a concert with them a few years ago and really liked the conductor. And I have friends in the group.  So I was happy to be able to do so!

The program was two unusual pieces. The first was Respighi "Ancient Airs and Dances," a charming short piece. Respighi's best known piece is "The Pines of Rome."

The second half was "Harold in Italy," by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz was French, he lived from 1803 to 1869. His most famous work is Symphony Fantastique in which Berlioz tells the story of his fictional love for a real actress, Harriet Smithson. It involves opium dreams and witches. It's a very exciting piece and is played regularly by orchestras. [Harriet Smithson came to performance and somehow realized that the piece was about her. She married Berlioz, but it was a very unhappy marriage.]

On the other hand, "Harold in Italy" is rarely performed. I learned the story behind this piece when our conductor introduced it to the orchestra. Nicolo Paganini, the famous violin virtuoso who lived from 1782 to 1840, had, according to our conductor, gotten bored with the violin and looking for a new challenge, took up the viola. Paganini asked Berlioz to write a viola concerto (a solo with orchestra) for him and Berlioz agreed. What Berlioz actually wrote, Harold in Italy, is an orchestra piece with small bits of viola solo. Paganini refused to play it or pay the commission fee. Berlioz found some other violist to premiere the piece. Paganini was at the concert and was so impressed that he apologized and paid the commission.

I can't think of any piece by Berlioz that is not programmatic. The story this piece is a young man, Harold, of course, who travels to Italy. The first movement depicts Harold in the mountains of Italy. In the second, he meets a group of pilgrims. The third movement is a serenade in the mountains, with some lovely parts for the horns! The fourth movement is "Orgy of the Brigands," though it comes across more as an energetic recap of the music that came before.

However, even to this day it is not a piece that violists choose when they (rarely) get asked to solo with an orchestra. The viola is a lovely instrument, but it is overshadowed by the violins and cellos. And pretty much every other instrument in the orchestra.