L'Impériale op. 26

Berlioz composed this cantata for double chorus in 1854, so that it might be premiered the following year at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. Part of it was heard on 15 November 1855 at the Palais de l’Industrie, then it was performed in its entirety on 16 and 24 November. More than 1200 choristers and instrumentalists led by six conductors (with, in addition to Berlioz, Tilmant, Bottesini, Hellmesberger, Vautrot and Hurand, equipped with Verbrugghe’s new electric metronome) gave a resounding interpretation of the text by Captain Pierre-Chéri Lafont to an audience of forty-eight thousand people. Berlioz could rightfully be proud of this “Babylonian concert”, which he described to his sister Adèle on 17 November: “As regards the appearance of this audience of forty thousand spectators, as regards these clothes, these uniforms from every country arranged in tiers in a triple amphitheatre, as regards these chandeliers, these trophies, this buzz of enthusiasm which rolled like the sound of the sea, I will not attempt to give you an idea of them.” To make it easier to synchronise the considerable forces involved, he favoured an essentially vertical style of writing, exploiting contrasts between timbre and volume, the alternation and opposition of groups (the score stipulates that the second chorus should be much larger than the first and that, in a small auditorium, a quartet of soloists should replace the first chorus). Berlioz was hoping that this monumental score celebrating the glory of Emperor Napoleon III (the work’s dedicatee) would gain him the title of Officer of the Légion d’honneur. A decoration which he received… in 1864.