Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Maestro Leon Botstein introduces the festival with a discussion of Berlioz's influential Treatise on Instrumentation, the revival of his Symphonie fantastique in the mid-20th century, and the composer's interest in bringing music to a wider public.

The 34th Bard Music Festival
Berlioz and His World

Weekend One • August 9–11
Revolutionary Spectacle and Romantic Passion

Weekend Two • August 15–18
Music and the Literary Imagination

https://fishercenter.bard.edu/whats-on/programs/bard-music-festival/

The Bard Music Festival returns for its 34th season with an exploration of the life and work of visionary French composer Hector Berlioz (1803–69), whose grand-scale works, startling sonorities, and advanced literary leanings helped redefine musical Romanticism.