Tristia (musical composition)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tristia is a musical work in 3 movements, for symphony and chorus, composed by Hector Berlioz. The piece was written during the height of the Romantic era, between 1844 and 1848. Despite the name of the piece, it does not pertain to the Latin poetry written by Ovid, instead drawing its inspiration from the Shakespearean play, Hamlet (The word 'Tristia' in Latin means 'great sorrow'). It was never performed during Berlioz's lifetime.

[edit] Musical Details

The 3 movements are:

1. "Méditation religieus"(Religious meditation)
2. "La Mort d'Ophelie"(The death of Ophelia)
3. "Marche funèbre pour la dernière scène d'Hamlet" (Funeral March for the final scene of Hamlet)

Movements 1 and 2 contain lyrics, while movement 3 does not. (movement 3 still provides vocal parts, just without lyrics.)

The piece displays influence from Beethoven's 7th Symphony(the second movement), as does Harold in Italy, another masterpiece by Berlioz.