s (1823), the Choral Symphony, no. 9 (1824), in which he set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" in the final movement. At Beethoven's death in 1827, Franz Grillparzer best described him during his funeral address when he said: "despite all these absurdities, there was something so touching and ennobling about him that one could not help admiring him and feeling drawn to him."
             Louis Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803, in La Cote-Saint-Andre, a very small town in the east of France, fairly close to Grenoble, and a little further from Lyon. His father was a very respected doctor, an openly declared atheist and also a music lover. His mother was a Catholic. He was brought up under strict Catholicism as a boy, but soon left the Church and claimed agnosticism for the rest of his life. He started musical education when he was 13. He took flute (flageolet), vocal and guitar lessons. He did not study the piano as a child. In fact, his first compositions were for piano, flute and
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