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Introduction
This page gives a complete listing of all Berlioz’s musical works, organised into 6 tables: I. Extant works (much the largest category) II. Works written but partially or completely lost III. Unfinished works IV. Works planned but not written V. Sketches and albumleaves VI. Works of disputed authenticity. In a small number of cases it has seemed appropriate to list a particular work in more than one category (for example the opera Les Francs-Juges). Almost every work listed is linked to a page elsewhere on this site which provides more material on it.
The lists have been compiled using various sources, especially the indispensable Catalogue of the Works of Hector Berlioz (1987) by D. Kern Holoman, which forms volume 25 of the New Berlioz Edition (NBE). Numbers preceded by H refer to the relevant entry in Holoman’s Catalogue, to which the reader is referred for full details. Reference is also made in the tables below to an article by Pierre-René Serna, "Berlioz et l’opéra: tentations, avortements, frustrations" in Hector Berlioz, ed. Christian Wasselin & Pierre-René Serna (Paris, L’Herne, 2003), pp. 187-212 (referred to as "Serna" for short, followed by page numbers). We would like to express our particular thanks to Pierre-René Serna for a number of valuable suggestions which have been incorporated in the tables below.
In each table the works have been listed according to their date of composition, where known. The dates given should be used only as signposts. Even where a work is thought to have been composed at a particular date (for example, from the composer’s Correspondance générale; CG for short), it may well have been based in part on music written earlier (cf. here Berlioz and his music: self-borrowings), and Berlioz may also have continued to revise the work after the main period of composition. The Symphonie fantastique, for example, illustrates both points: though mainly written in 1830, the symphony is known to have incorporated music written years earlier, some of it dating even from before the time when the composer came to Paris in 1821, and Berlioz continued to revise the work in subsequent years after its first performance on 5 December 1830.
In the tables below the page Berlioz and his music: self-borrowings is abbreviated as "Self-borrowings".
This page is also available in French
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Contents of this page:
II. Works written but partially or completely lost
IV. Works planned but not written
VI. Works of disputed authenticity
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|
Date of composition |
Title and description |
NBE volume |
|
ca. 1819 |
Accompaniment to Fleuve du Tage (H5) |
22b |
|
ca. 1819 |
Le Dépit de la bergère (H7) |
15 |
|
ca.1819-1821 |
Le Maure jaloux (H9) |
15 |
|
ca.1819-1821 |
Amitié reprends ton empire (H10) |
15 |
|
ca.1819-1822 |
Recueil de romances avec accompagnement de guitare (H8) |
22b |
|
1822 |
Pleure pauvre Colette (H11) |
15 |
|
1822 |
Canon libre à la quinte (H14) |
15 |
|
1823 |
Le Montagnard exilé (H15) |
15 |
|
1823 |
Toi qui l’aimas verse des pleurs (H16) |
15 |
|
1824-1825 |
Messe solennelle (H20A) |
23 |
|
1825-1826 |
Scène héroïque (La Révolution grecque) (H21) |
12a |
|
July 1826 |
Fugue (H22) |
6 |
|
1825-1826 |
Fragments of the opera Les
Francs-Juges (H23A; Serna
p. 193-4) |
4 |
|
1826 |
Grande Ouverture des
Francs-Juges (H23D) |
4 |
|
1826-1828 |
Grande Ouverture de Waverley (H26) |
20 |
|
July 1827 |
La Mort d’Orphée (H25) |
6 |
|
1828 |
Resurrexit (H20B) |
12a |
|
before 1828 |
Nocturne (Mélodie pastorale) (H23B) |
4 |
|
July 1828 |
Herminie (H29) |
6 |
|
ca.1828? |
Nocturne à deux voix (H31) |
15 |
|
1828 |
Le Roi de Thulé (H33A) |
15 |
|
1828-1829 |
Huit Scènes de Faust (H33) |
5 |
|
July 1829 |
Fugue à trois sujets (H35) |
6 |
|
July 1829 |
Cléopâtre (H36) |
6 |
|
1829 |
Le Ballet des ombres (H37) |
14 |
|
1829 |
Neuf Mélodies (H38) No. 1 Le Coucher du soleil (H39; NBE 15) No. 2 Hélène No. 3 Chant guerrier (H41; NBE 14) No. 4 La Belle Voyageuse No. 5 Chanson à boire (H43; NBE 14) No. 6 Chant sacré No. 7 L’Origine de la harpe (H45; NBE 15) No. 8 Adieu Bessy No. 9 Elégie en prose (H47; NBE 15) |
14 or 15 |
|
1830 |
Épisode de la vie d’un artiste (H48) Performance planned for 3 May 1830,
Théâtre des Nouveautés, cancelled |
16 |
|
July 1830 |
La mort de Sardanapale (H50) |
6 |
|
1830 |
Hymne des Marseillais |
22b |
|
1830 |
Chant du neuf Thermidor (H51bis) |
22b |
|
1830 |
Ouverture de la Tempête (H52) |
7 |
|
1831 |
Grande Ouverture du Roi Lear (H53) |
20 |
|
1831 |
Intrata di Rob-Roy MacGregor (H54) |
20 |
|
1831 |
Le Retour à la vie |
7 |
| 1831 |
Méditation religieuse Version I (H56A): for chorus and wind instruments (lost) See 1849 for Version II |
|
|
1832 |
Quartetto et coro dei maggi (H59) |
12a |
|
1832 |
La Captive |
15 |
|
before June 1833 |
Sur les Alpes, quel délice! (H64) |
22b |
|
before July 1833 |
Scène héroïque (La Révolution grecque) (H21B) |
12a |
|
before December 1833 |
Le Jeune Pâtre breton (Le Paysan breton) |
15 |
|
1834 |
Le Jeune Paysan breton |
15 |
|
1834 |
Les Champs |
15 |
|
1834 |
Harold en Italie (H68) |
17 |
| 1834 |
Sara la baigneuse Ballade Version I (H69A): for male quartet and orchestra (lost) First performance: 9 November 1834, Salle du Conservatoire, Girard conducting See 1849 for Version III and Table II, 1838 for Version II (lost) |
|
|
before September 1834 |
Je crois en vous (H70) |
15 |
|
before November 1834 |
La Belle Voyageuse Version II (H42B): for male quartet and orchestra (lost) Performed on 9 November 1834, Salle du Conservatoire, Girard conducting; Berlioz may have been one of the singers See 1829 for Version I |
|
|
before November 1835 |
Le Jeune Pâtre breton |
13 |
|
1835 |
Le Chant des Bretons |
14 |
|
1835 |
Chansonette de M. Léon de Wailly (H73) |
15 |
|
before November 1835 |
Le Cinq Mai (H74) |
12a |
|
1837 |
Grande Messe des morts (Requiem) (H75) |
9 |
|
1838 |
Benvenuto Cellini |
1 |
|
1838 |
Grande Ouverture de Benvenuto Cellini (H76B) |
1 |
|
1839 |
Aubade |
15 and 13 |
|
1839 |
Roméo et Juliette (H79) |
18 |
|
1840 |
Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale |
19 |
|
1840-1841 |
Les Nuits d’été No. 1 Villanelle (H82A) No. 2 Le Spectre de la rose (H83A) No. 3 Sur les Lagunes (H84A) No. 4 Absence (H85A) No. 5 Au Cimetière (H86A) No. 6 L’Île inconnue (H87A) See 1843, 1855-1856 for Version II |
15 |
|
1841 |
Rêverie et Caprice (H88) |
21 |
|
1841 |
Le Freyschütz (H89) |
22b |
|
1841 |
L’Invitation à la valse (H90) |
22b |
|
1842 |
Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale |
19 |
|
1842 |
La Mort d’Ophélie |
15 |
|
before December 1842 |
La Belle Voyageuse |
13 |
|
February 1843; |
Les Nuits d’été No. 4 Absence (H85B – February 1843) See 1855 & 1856 for Version II of the other songs |
13 |
|
1843 |
Chant sacré |
12a |
|
before December 1843 |
La Belle Isabeau (H94) |
15 |
|
1843-1844 |
Le Carnaval romain (H95) |
20 |
|
1844 |
Hélène |
12a |
|
1844 |
Hymne à la France (H97) |
12b |
|
1844 |
Three pieces
for Alexandre’s orgue mélodium: |
21 |
|
1844 |
Ouverture du Corsaire (H101) |
(20) |
|
1844 |
Marche funèbre pour la dernière scène
d’Hamlet (H103) |
12 |
|
before December |
Le Chasseur danois |
15 |
|
1845 |
Marche marocaine (H105) |
22 |
|
1845 |
Zaïde |
15 and 13 |
|
1845 |
Le Chasseur danois |
13 |
|
1846 |
Marche de Rákóczy (H109) |
8b |
|
1846 |
Chant des Chemins de Fer (H110) |
12b |
|
1846 |
La Damnation de Faust (H111) |
8a-b |
|
before November 1846 |
Prière du matin (H112) |
14 |
|
before November 1846 |
Le Trébuchet (H113) |
15 |
| before December 1846 |
Marche d’Isly (H108) Arrangement: orchestration of music by Léopold de Meyer First performance: 2 October 1846, New York, George Loder conducting A manuscript of the score in the hand of Berlioz’s copyist Rocquemont is extant; the ascription of the orchestration to Berlioz is thought possible by Holoman (p. 274), but rejected without argument in NBE vol. 22 p. viii n. 3. The arrangement by Berlioz certainly existed; it is not clear that the extant manuscript is of that arrangement. See also Table II and the remarks by P.-R. Serna on this site. |
not included in NBE |
|
between 1846 and 1851 |
Ouverture Le Corsaire |
20 |
|
1848 |
Hymne des Marseillais |
22b |
|
1848 |
Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale |
14 |
|
before April 1848 |
La Menace des Francs (H117) |
12b |
|
1848 |
La Captive |
13 |
|
1848 |
La Mort d’Ophélie |
12b |
|
1848-1849 |
Te Deum (H118) |
10 |
|
1849 |
Méditation religieuse |
12b |
|
1849 |
Tristia |
|
|
before November 1849 |
Adieu Bessy |
15 |
|
before November 1849 |
Sara la baigneuse |
12a |
|
before November 1849 |
Le Chant des Bretons |
14 |
|
before November 1849 |
Vox Populi (H120) |
12b |
|
1850 |
Les Champs |
15 |
|
September 1850 |
Feuillets d’album (H121) |
|
|
1850 |
Fleurs des landes (H124) |
14 and 15 |
|
1850 |
La Fuite en Égypte (H128) |
11 |
|
before March 1851 |
La Belle Voyageuse |
13 |
|
1851 |
Tristia |
12b |
|
before July 1854 |
L’Impériale (H129) |
12b |
|
1853-1854 |
L’Enfance du Christ (H130) |
11 |
|
1855 |
Le Retour à la vie |
7 |
|
1856 |
Version II (H81B) for voice and orchestra of 5 songs from Les Nuits d’été (H81A – see 1840-1841): No. 1 Villanelle (H82B) No. 2 Le Spectre de la rose (H83B – between 1855-1856); first performance: 6 February 1856, Berlioz conducting No. 3 Sur les Lagunes (H84B) No. 5 Au Cimetière (H86B), Clair de lune No. 6 L’Île inconnue (H87B), Barcarolle See 1843 for No. 4 Absence (H85B) |
13 |
|
1856-1858, 1859-1861, 1863 |
Les Troyens (H133) |
2a-c |
|
before April 1859 |
Plaisir d’amour (H134) |
22b |
| September to November 1859 |
Orphée (not in Holoman) Arrangement with a French libretto of Gluck’s opera, based on the Italian version of 1762 and the French version of 1774 First performance: 18 November 1859, Théâtre Lyrique, with Pauline Viardot in the title role |
22a |
|
before October 1859 |
Hymne pour la consécration du nouveau tabernacle (H135) |
14 |
|
1860 |
Le Roi des aulnes (H136) |
22b |
|
before February 1861 |
Le Temple universel |
14 |
|
1860-1862 |
Béatrice et Bénédict (H138) |
3 |
| September to October 1861, July to October 1866 |
Alceste (not in Holoman) Arrangement with a French libretto of Gluck’s opera, based on the Italian version of 1767 and the French version of 1776 First performance: 21 October 1861, Paris Opéra, with Pauline Viardot in the title role 1866 production, first performed on 14 October 1866, Paris Opéra |
22a |
|
1863 |
Collection de 32 Mélodies (H139):
Villanelle (H82A – see 1840-1841) |
14 and 15 |
|
1864 |
Marche troyenne (H133B) |
21 |
|
ca.1867-1868 |
Le Temple universel |
14 |
|
between 1861-1868 |
Veni creator (H141) |
14 |
|
between 1861-1868 |
Tantum ergo (H142) |
14 |
|
between 1861-1868 |
Invitation à louer Dieu (H143) |
22b |
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II.
Works written but partially or completely lost
|
Date of composition |
Title |
| ca. 1816 |
Arrangements of duets as trios and quartets See Memoirs, chapter 4 Lost |
| 1817-1819 |
Pot-pourri concertant sur des thèmes italiens (H1) For flute, horn and strings See Memoirs, chapter 4 Two quintets (H2, H3) Romances (H4) Je vais donc quitter pour jamais (H6) |
|
1822 |
Le Cheval arabe (H12) Canon à 3 voix (H13) Both works, now lost, were presented to Lesueur when Berlioz first met him |
|
1823 |
Estelle et Némorin (H17;
Serna p. 191-3) |
|
Winter 1823-1824 |
Le Passage de la mer Rouge (H18) |
|
1823-1824 |
Beverley, ou le joueur (H19) |
|
1825-1826 |
Les Francs-Juges (H23) |
|
July 1827 |
Fugue (H24) |
|
before May 1828 |
Marche religieuse des Mages (H27) |
|
July 1828 |
Fugue (H28) |
|
ca.1828 |
Là ci darem la mano (H30) |
|
1828-1829 |
Salutaris (H32) |
|
1829 |
Chanson des pirates (H34) |
|
July 1830 |
Fugue (H49) |
|
1830 |
La Mort de Sardanapale (H50) |
|
1831 |
Méditation religieuse |
|
September 1831 |
Chœur (H57) |
| Late 1831 |
Chœur d’anges (H58) Lost |
|
1831-1833 |
Le Dernier Jour du monde (H61) |
|
1833 |
La Chasse de Lützow (H63) |
|
1833 |
Romance de Marie Tudor (H66) |
|
before November 1834 |
La Belle Voyageuse |
|
before November 1834 |
La Captive |
| before November 1834 |
Le Jeune Paysan breton (H65B) |
|
1834 |
Sara la baigneuse |
|
1835 |
Fête musicale funèbre (H72) |
|
before March 1838 |
Sara la baigneuse (H69B) |
|
1844 |
Chant sacré (H44C) |
|
1844 |
Scène de la comédie [act III, scene 2] (H102) |
| before December 1846 |
Marche d’Isly (H108) Arrangement: orchestration of music by Léopold de Meyer First performance: 2 October 1846, New York, George Loder conducting A manuscript of the score in the hand of Berlioz’s copyist Rocquemont is extant; the ascription of the orchestration to Berlioz is thought possible by Holoman (p. 274), but rejected without argument in NBE vol. 22 p. viii n. 3. The arrangement by Berlioz certainly existed; it is not clear that the extant manuscript is of that arrangement. See also Table I and the remarks by P.-R. Serna on this site. |
|
1848 |
Chant du départ (H115) |
| 1853 |
Marche pour la musique des Guides (not in Holoman) March for the imperial band of the Guides, commissioned for the celebration of Napoleon III’s wedding on 30 January but not performed; mentioned in a letter to Liszt of 23 February (CG no. 1568) Lost, though the music may have provided material for the Trojan March in Les Troyens |
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| Date of composition | Title and description |
| 1831-1833 |
Le Dernier Jour du monde (H61 and
Serna p. 198-200) Oratorio based on a scenario by Berlioz Perhaps abandoned in favour of later projects like the Requiem (H75 – Table I, 1837) Lost |
| 1833-1834 |
Le Cri de guerre du Brisgaw (H23C) Incomplete intermezzo in one act based on Les Francs-Juges (H23 – Table I, 1825-1826) (Libretto in NBE, vol. 4, Appendix II pp. 333-6) |
| 1835 |
Fête musicale funèbre (H72) 2 out of 7 movements were completed; a performance planned for 22 November 1835 was cancelled; The work was perhaps a further development of Le Dernier Jour du monde (H 61) and the Retour de l’armée d’Italie (H 62 – Table V), and was later integrated in Le Cinq Mai (H74 – Table I, 1835), the Requiem (H75 – Table I, 1837) and the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale (H80A – Table I, 1840) Lost |
| 1835-1839 |
Érigone (H77) Intermède antique, text after P. S. Ballanche The manuscript libretto and fragments of an autograph score, dating from 1838-1839, have been preserved [see NBE 21 pp. X-XI and 85-92] |
| 1841-1842 |
La Nonne sanglante
(H91 and Serna p. 203-4) Incomplete opera Libretto by Eugène Scribe; abandoned about 1844, briefly re-examined in 1847; libretto assigned to Gounod in 1853 Two complete movements, and significant fragments of some other movements have been preserved; they are published in NBE 4 |
| 1848 |
Chant du départ (H115) Arrangement: music by Méhul, text by Chénier Mourons pour la patrie (116) Arrangement: music and text by Rouget de Lisle Both were patriotic works for soloists and chorus, and were to be published by Beale in London If written, both are lost |
| 1866 | Armide (not in Holoman) Arrangement with a French libretto of Gluck’s opera, for a production at the Théâtre-Lyrique with Mme Charton-Demeur in the title role; the project was abandoned (cf. CG nos. 3083, 3092, 3110) |
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IV.
Works planned but not written
|
Date |
Title |
| ca. 1823? |
Les Noces d’or d’Obéron et de
Titania Opera or cantata, to a libretto by Humbert Ferrand Serna p. 193 and his article on this site; dates the project to 1823 against Holoman p. 423 who places it ca. 1832 (see below) |
| ca. 1826 |
La Mort d’Hercule Opera in three acts, to a libretto possibly by Stéphen de La Madelaine Holoman p. 422; Serna p. 194-5 |
|
1826-1827 |
Richard en Palestine |
|
1826-1828 |
Robin-Hood |
| 1828 |
Virginius (not in Holoman) Opera, based on Livy (cf. CG no. 94) Serna p. 197 |
|
1828-1830 |
Atala |
| 1829 |
Lara (not in Holoman) Opera, on a libretto by Stéphen de La Madelaine (cf. CG no. 123) Serna p. 198 |
| 1830 |
Othello (not in Holoman) Opera, on a libretto by Rouget de Lisle (cf. Memoirs ch. 29 and CG nos. 196, 198) Serna p. 198 |
|
ca. 1832? |
Les Noces des fées |
| 1832 |
An opera on a libretto by Eugène
Süe (not in Holoman; cf. CG
no. 293, 314) Serna p. 200 |
| 1833 |
An opera, not identified (not in
Holoman; cf. CG
no. 314) Serna p. 201 |
|
1833 |
Les Brigands |
| 1834 |
"A large opera in 3 acts on a
historical subject that had not yet been treated", on a libretto by Léon
de Wailly (not in Holoman; cf. CG
no. 408) Serna p. 203 |
|
1834, 1844 |
Hamlet |
|
1838 |
Settings of verses by Édouard Turquety |
|
1843 |
Plainchants de l’Église grecque |
|
ca. 1847 |
Méphistophélès |
|
1847 |
An opera in 3 acts, to a libretto written in French by Alphonse Royer and
Vaës, for the
1848-1849 season of the Drury Lane
Theatre in London |
|
1847 |
God Save the Queen |
|
1850 |
Music to a text by Humbert Ferrand |
|
1851 |
Jeanne d’Arc |
| ca. 1852 |
Symphony in A minor Berlioz dreamed of this work for two consecutive nights but resisted the temptation to write it (see Memoirs, chapter 59, where he describes this episode) Holoman p. 426 |
| 1858-1860 |
An Opera on the Thirty Years’ War To a libretto by Édouard Plouvier, to fulfil Bénazet’s commission for Baden-Baden The project was later abandoned in favour of Béatrice et Bénédict (H138 – see Table I, 1860-1862) Holoman p. 427; Serna p. 207 |
| 1859 |
Roméo et Juliette An opera after Shakespeare Apparently suggested to Berlioz by Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein; he had previously thought of the possibility, but declined (CG no. 2361). Another suggestion was an opera on Christopher Columbus (ib.) Holoman p. 426; Serna p. 205-6 |
| 1859 |
Cléopâtre An opera after Shakespeare Also suggested to Berlioz by Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein; Berlioz was initially attracted by the idea (cf. CG nos. 2423, 2430, 2442, 2449), but did not follow it up Holoman p. 426; Serna p. 207-8 |
| 1862 |
Salammbô An opera based on Flaubert’s novel Serna p. 209 |
| 1865 | "A vast symphonic poem", which Berlioz declared he would like to write for Estelle Fornier: "only through the medium of the orchestra" would he be "able to express what he feels" (CG no. 3002) |
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|
Date of composition |
Title and description |
NBE volume |
| 1832-1836 |
Sketchbook of 1832-36 (H62), includes sketches for: Dans l’alcôve sombre, to a text by Hugo |
See 21, pp. X and 83-4 |
| 1836 | Albumleaf in B flat major | 21, pp. XI, 93, 171 |
|
1842-1848 |
Souvenirs – Bêtises – Improvisations (H93) |
21, pp. XI, 94-5, 172 |
|
1844 |
Albumleaf (H96) |
21, pp. XI, 95, 173 |
|
1845 |
Le Vent gémit (H106) |
21, pp. XI and 96 |
|
1847 |
Nessun maggior piacere (H114) |
15 |
| 1851 | Albumleaf, Je resterai | 21, pp. XI and 96 |
|
1852 |
Albumleaf for Édouard Silas (H127), 2 bars |
21, pp. XI and 97 [also NBE 25, p. 323] |
|
1855 |
Valse chantée par le vent dans les cheminées d’un de mes châteaux en
Espagne (H131) |
21, pp. XI and 97 (beginning only) |
|
ca. 1855-1856 |
Au bord d’une rivière (H132), 26 bars |
21, pp. XI and 93 |
| 1861 | Albumleaf in G major, 4 bars | 21, pp. XI-XII and 97 |
| 1868 | Albumleaf in C major, 5 bars | 21, pp. XII and 97 |
| 1868 | Albumleaf in G minor, 10 bars | 21, pp. XII, 97, 173 |
| date? | Albumleaf in F major, 2 1/2 bars | 21, pp. XII and 97 |
| date? | Double albumleaf, C major and C minor, 4 + 4 bars | 21, pp. XII and 97 |
|
date? |
Salut matinal (H140) |
21, pp. XII and 97 |
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VI.
Works of disputed authenticity
| ca. 1818-1820 |
A book of 56 pieces for guitar and 32 romances with guitar accompaniment,
in different handwritings, from the Berlioz family house in La
Côte-Saint-André (not in Holoman) According to Hugh Macdonald none of the handwritings is that of Berlioz, and there is no proof that any of the pieces were actually composed by him (source: our personal communication) Note: these are distinct from the 25 songs (H8) for which the young Berlioz wrote guitar accompaniments – see Table I, 1819-1822 |
not included in NBE |
|
before September 1850 |
Chant des chérubins (H122) |
not included in NBE |
|
before September 1850 |
Pater noster (H123) |
not included in NBE |
![]()
Berlioz and his music: self-borrowings
Berlioz: Musical and Literary Works (contains a detailed listing of the contents of the New Berlioz Edition)
![]()
The Hector Berlioz Website was created by Monir Tayeb and Michel
Austin on 18
July 1997;
Berlioz: A Listing of his Musical Works created on 1
August 2005, revised 1 September 2005 and 15 April 2006.
© 2005-2008 Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb. All rights of reproduction reserved.