Skip to main content
Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

1 8.1
A French composer from the Romantic period who wrote Symphonie fantastique
  • proper noun
  • /ˈɛktər ˈbɛrliˌoʊz/
: Hector Berlioz
  • Did you know that Hector Berlioz wrote 'Symphonie fantastique'?

Examples

  • The music of Hector Berlioz inspired many later composers in the Romantic era.

  • The famous composer Hector Berlioz changed the landscape of classical music.

  • A concert featuring works by Hector Berlioz drew a large audience at the symphony hall.

  • We studied Hector Berlioz and his innovative orchestration in our music history class.

  • A concert featuring works by Hector Berlioz drew a large audience at the symphony hall.

  • The music of Hector Berlioz inspired many later composers in the Romantic era.

  • We studied Hector Berlioz and his innovative orchestration in our music history class.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Hector + Berlioz

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person, so the meaning ('a French composer, 1803–1869') is referential and based on world knowledge rather than composition of the parts. Knowing the constituent tokens 'Hector' and 'Berlioz' (both names) does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical or professional information, so the expression is opaque.

Etymology

Hector Berlioz was a French composer who wrote very dramatic, dream-like music, for example the piece 'Symphonie fantastique', and he used a very large orchestra to create wild images. That's why his name is remembered today for bold, emotional Romantic music that changed how people thought about orchestral sound.