Berlioz in Paris
Église de la Sainte-Trinité
The Church of Sainte-Trinité is linked to Berlioz’s career in several ways. It was in this church, located at the time in Rue de Clichy, that Berlioz married Marie Recio on 19 October 1854, seven months after the death of his first wife Harriet Smithson. It was in the present and larger church, which was built in 1863-1867 on the Place de la Trinité at the bottom of Rue Blanche, that the funeral service for the composer took place on 11 March 1869, three days after his death on 8 March at 12.30.
One of the speakers at the Montmartre Cemetery, where Berlioz was buried after the funeral service, was Antoine Elwart (1808-1877; Prix de Rome 1834), on behalf of the Conservatoire, which was ironic. Berlioz had reportedly said to Elwart "If you are going to make a speech I’d just as soon not die".
Exactly one year after Berlioz’s death, on 8 March 1870, a Berlioz Festival, organised by Ernest Reyer, one of the composer’s friends, was held at the Paris Opéra; it attracted a large crowd. Berlioz’s rehabilitation was about to begin.
You will find on this site five contemporary obituaries.
It should also be mentioned that the composer Olivier
Messiaen, a devoted admirer of Berlioz’s music, was
organist at this church for much of his career, from 1931 to 1992.
Berlioz’s death mask
This picture was published in the 8 December 1898 issue of La
Vie Illustrée, a copy of which is in our own collection.
Église de la Sainte-Trinité
This old postcard is in our collection.
© 2000-2007 (unless otherwise stated) Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb for all the photos, engravings and information on this and other Berlioz in Paris pages
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