Period of revolution

The life and times of Berlioz 1803 Hector Berlioz is born on 11 December in the southern French town of La Côte-saint-andré. His father is a doctor. 1804 The 35-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte (right) is crowned emperor of France on 2 December. 1815 Defeated by the Duke of Wellington’s forces at Waterloo, Napoleon is exiled to St Helena, where he dies six years later. 1821 Berlioz is sent to Paris to study at the Ecole de Médecine.

1825 His first major work, the Messe solennelle, is performed at the Church of Saint-roch (left). 1830 The July Revolution in France leads to the abdication of King Charles X. In October, Berlioz wins the Prix the Rome with his cantata La mort de Sardanapale.

1833 He marries actress Harriet Smithson, the inspiration behind his 1830 Symphonie fantastique.

1842 He embarks on an extensive conducting tour of Belgium and Germany, during which he meets Schumann (below) for the first time. 1848 Another revolution in France brings an end to the July Monarchy. The Second Republic replaces it. 1851 Louis Napoleon stages a coup d’état, soon declaring himself Emperor Napoleon III. 1854 Harriet Smithson dies after severe illness. Berlioz marries the singer Marie Recio seven months later. 1863 Berlioz finally arranges the staging of three acts of his opera Les Troyens at Paris’s Théâtre Lyrique. 1869 Berlioz dies in Paris on 8 March. He is buried in the city’s Cimetière du Nord, Montmartre.