| 1803. | Louis Hector Berlioz born. |
| 1822. | Medical student in Paris. |
| 1824. | Mass failed at Saint-Roch under Masson. |
| 1825. | Mass succeeded. |
| 1826. | Failed in preliminary examination for Conservatoire competition. |
| 1827. | Passed preliminary and entered for competition. His Orpheus declared unplayable. |
| 1828. | Third attempt. Tancred obtained second prize. Saw Miss Smithson. Gave first concert. |
| 1829. | Fourth attempt. Cleopatra. No first prize given. |
| 1830. | Gained Prix de Rome with Sardanapalus. Marie Pleyel. |
| 1831. | Rome. Symphonie Fantastique and Lélio. |
| 1832. | Concert at which Miss Smithson present on 9th December. |
| 1833. | Marriage. In November Henriette’s benefit and failure. |
| 1834. | Louis born. Harold performed in November. |
| 1835. | Symphonie Funèbre begun. |
| 1836. | Requiem. |
| 1837. | Benvenuto Cellini finished. |
| 1838. | Paganini’s present. |
| 1839. | Romeo and Juliet. |
| 1840. | Funèbre performed. First journey to Brussels. |
| 1841. | Festival at Paris Opera House. |
| 1842-3. | First tour in Germany. |
| 1844. | Carnaval Romain. Gigantic concert in the Palais de l’Industrie. Nice. |
| 1845. | Cirque des Champs Elysées concert. Marseilles. Lyons. Austria. |
| 1846. | Hungary. Bohemia. In December, failure of Damnation de Faust. |
| 1847. | Russia. Berlin. In November, London, as conductor at Drury Lane. |
| 1848. | London. In July, Paris. Death of Dr Berlioz. |
| 1849. | Te Deum begun. |
| 1850. | Childhood of Christ begun. |
| 1851. | Member of Jury at London Exhibition. |
| 1852. | Benvenuto Cellini given by Liszt at Weimar. In March, London, Romeo and Juliet. May, conducted Beethoven’s Choral Symphony. June, Damnation de Faust. |
| 1854. | March, Henriette died. Dresden. Marriage with Mdlle. Récio. |
| 1855. | North German tour. Brussels. Te Deum. In June, London. Imperial Cantata. On Jury of Paris Exhibition. |
| 1856. | The Trojans begun. |
| 1858. | Concerts in the Salle Herz brought in some thousands of francs. |
| 1861. | Baden. |
| 1862. | Marie Berlioz died. Beatrice and Benedict performed at Baden. |
| 1863. | Weimar. Childhood of Christ at Strasburg. In November, The Trojans. |
| 1864. | In August, made officer of Legion of Honour. Dauphiny. Meylan. Estelle Fournier. |
| 1865. | Geneva, to see Estelle. |
| 1866. | In December to Vienna, to conduct Damnation de Faust. |
| 1867. | In June Louis died. In November, Russia. |
| 1868. | Russia. Paris. Nice. In August, Grenoble. |
| 1869. | Died 8th March. |
THE LIFE OF BERLIOZ
I
LA CÔTE SAINT-ANDRÉ
Decidedly ours is a prosaic century. On no other grounds can my wounded vanity account for the humiliating fact that no auspicious omens, no mighty portents—such as heralded the birth of the great men of the golden age of poetry—gave notice of my coming. It is strange, but true, that I was born, quite unobtrusively, at La Côte Saint-André, between Vienne and Grenoble, on the 11th December 1803.
As its name implies, La Côte Saint-André lies on a hillside overlooking a plain—wide, green, and golden—of which the dreamy majesty is accentuated by the mountain belt that bounds it on the southeast, being in turn crowned by the mystic glory of distant Alpine glaciers and snowy peaks.
Needless to say, I was brought up in the Catholic faith. This—of all religions the most charming, since it gave up burning people—was for seven years the joy of my life, and although we have since fallen out, I still retain my tender memories of it.
Indeed, so greatly am I in sympathy with its creed that, had I had the misfortune to be born in the clutches of one of the dreary schisms hatched by Luther and Calvin, I should certainly, at the first awakening of my poetic instinct, have thrown off its benumbing grasp and have flung myself into the arms of the fair Roman.
My sweet remembrance of my first communion is probably due to my having made it with my elder sister at the Ursuline convent, where she was a boarder.
At early morn, accompanied by the almoner, I made my way to that holy house. The soft spring sunlight, the murmuring poplars swaying in the whispering breeze, the dainty fragrance of the morning air, all worked upon my sensitive mind, until, as I knelt among those fair white maidens, and heard their fresh young voices raised in the eucharistic hymn, my whole soul was filled with mystic passion. Heaven opened before me—a heaven of love and pure delight, a thousand times more glorious than tongue has told—and thus I gave myself to God.