Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André on December 11, 1803, and was originally educated in medicine in Paris. Abandoning medicine, he studied music from 1823 to 1825 at the Paris Conservatoire under the French composer Jean François Le Sueur and the Czech composer Anton Reicha. In 1830 he won the Prix de Rome. He became a librarian at the Paris Conservatoire in 1838, toured the Continent and Great Britain several times as a conductor between 1842 and 1854, and from 1835 to 1863 wrote musical criticism for the periodical Journal des Débats.

Berlioz's position in 19th-century music is that of a seminal figure, directly influencing symphonic form and the use of the orchestra as well as musical aesthetics; to many he exemplifies the romantic image of the composer as artist. He labored ceaselessly to promote the new music of his time. Forced to train orchestras to meet the demands of this music, he educated a generation of musicians and became the first virtuoso conductor. Berlioz died in Paris on March 8, 1869

Berlioz's masterpiece is considered to be his monumental opera Les Troyens (The Trojans, 1856-59), in which his romanticism is infused with classical restraint. Other works include the symphony with chorus Roméo et Juliette (1836-38), the cantata La damnation de Faust (1846), the requiem mass Grande messe des morts (1837), the oratorio L'enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ, 1850-54), and the overture La carnaval romain (The Roman Carnival, 1844), an excerpt from his opera Benvenuto Cellini (1835-38). Important among his writings are his Mémoires (published posthumously 1870) and Soirées d'orchestre (Evenings with the Orchestra, 1853).