Berlioz gets snuffed?

Synopsis

“Snuff” is a finely pulverized tobacco that can be, well, “snuffed” through the nose. In the 19th century, taking snuff was a common practice, and on today’s date in 1837, the most notorious example of snuff-taking in music history occurred — or didn’t, depending on who you believe – during the premiere in Paris of the massive Requiem Mass of the French composer Hector Berlioz.

As Berlioz tells it in his Memoirs, the conductor of the performance, Francois-Antoine Habeneck, decided to take a pinch of snuff during an especially tricky passage, at the very moment he should have been giving an important cue to the orchestra. To avert disaster, Berlioz jumped up, gave the cue, and afterwards accused Habeneck of sabotage. Some eye-witnesses are on record saying, “Yes, that’s just how it happened,” while others, equally emphatic, state, “Preposterous! Nothing of the sort occurred.”

Whom to believe? 

Well, it is known that once the basic tempo was set, Habeneck was in the habit of putting down his baton to let the orchestra play on by themselves. He would then calmly take a pinch of snuff. Sometimes, it’s said, he even offered snuff to his neighbors, so perhaps those performances were indeed sabotaged — by an especially loud sneeze!

Music Played in Today's Program

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Requiem; French Radio Chorus and Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Sony 47526

On This Day

Births

• 1687 - Baptism of Italian composer, violinist and theorist Francesco Geminiani, in Lucca

• 1870 - Czech composer Vitezslav Novák, in Kamenice nad Lipou

Deaths

• 1791 - Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadé (aka Amadeus) Mozart, 35, in Vienna

Premieres

• 1749 - Rameau: opera Zoroastre, in Paris;

• 1830 - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique in Paris, with François-Antoine Habaneck conducting;

• 1837 - Berlioz: Requiem, in Paris, François Habeneck conducting (Berlioz later claimed that at one point he had to jump on stage and take over when Habeneck stopped to take snuff, but some eyewitnesses denied this happened);

• 1865 - Brahms: Horn Trio, in Karlsruhe, with two musicians identified only as Strauss (violin) and Segisser (horn), with the composer at the piano; The latest edition of the Grove Dictionary lists an earlier performance in Zürich, Swizterland, on November 28 that same year, however;

• 1911 - Rachmaninoff: Piano Preludes (Gregorian date: Dec. 18);

• 1927 - Janácek: Slavonic Mass, in Brno;

• 1930 - Milhaud: Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra, in Paris;

• 1930 - Sessions: The Black Maskers Suite, in Cincinnati;

• 1947 - Barber: Medea Ballet Suite, by Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1952 - Menotti: Violin Concerto, with Efrem Zimbalist, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1991 - Zwilich: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, by the Louisville Orchestra with Lawrence Leighton Smith conducting, and soloists Jaime Laredo (violin) and Sharon Robinson (violoncello);

• 1998 - Libby Larsen: String Symphony, in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting

Others

• 1704 - George Frideric Handel (19) refuses to turn over the harpsichord to Johann Mattheson (23) during a performance of Mattheson’s opera Cleopatra, leading to a sword duel between the two. It is said that during the swordplay, Handel was saved by a button on his coat that deflected Mattheson’s mortally-directed blade. The two reconciled on December 30 that year, dining together and attending a rehearsal of Handel’s opera Almira, becoming, as Mattheson put it: ”better friends than ever.”