The great 19th century French composer Hector Berlioz holds a unique place in musical history. Far ahead of his time, he was one of the most original of great composers, but also an innovator as a practical musician, and a writer and critic whose literary achievement is hardly less significant than his musical output. Few musicians have ever excelled in all these different fields at once. Louis-Hector Berlioz was born at 5 o’clock in the evening on 11 December 1803, 8 March - death of Berlioz in Paris.