At one time he was engaged to another woman who was unkind to him and he wrote: “Two tears of rage started from my eyes and my mind was made up on the spot to kill without mercy.” But being impetuous and quick tempered, he never reached the scene of murder, for, when about to sail to where she was, he either fell or jumped into the water, which very much dampened his ardor for killing. One night, Chopin and Schumann followed him because he had threatened to kill himself. But, at the crucial moment Berlioz changed his mind! Life for Berlioz was a drama in which he was the leading man, and he watched his own performance, as if he were a part of the audience. He craved novelty at every turn. He was sensitive, high-strung and vain, and yet withal, he had the dignity of being loyal to his beliefs in himself, and did not want to deceive anybody. He wrote with humor, brilliancy and understanding, he had faith in his work, and was sufficiently heroic to stick to his course whatever the cost. He was a martyr, for he suffered in order to do what he wished in music, and was never appreciated. Although he went to England, Germany, Austria and Russia, and was very successful, Paris, only, interested him. In 1863, his opera _The Trojans in Carthage_ failed and in 1868, he died, a broken-hearted man. BERLIOZ’S CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC It seems strange, but Berlioz disliked Bach and Palestrina and worshiped Beethoven, Gluck and Weber. He was jealous of Wagner and did everything he could to make _Tannhäuser_ a failure in Paris. Berlioz invented new ways, as do our Jazz Bands today, to make the instruments produce different sounds. He put bags over the horns, hung up the cymbals and had them struck with sticks instead of clapping them together, dressed up the drumsticks in sponges, and was much pleased at the effect made when a trombone played a duet with a piccolo. He made propaganda for new instruments especially for the horn, invented by Adolphe Saxe, which was called Sax Horn, and from which descended the Saxophone, so behold Berlioz, the founder of the Jazz Band! Where other composers would use four trombones or one, he used sixteen! In his _Requiem_ for example, he used sixteen trombones, twelve ophicleides (cornets with extra levers or keys), eight pairs of kettle drums, two bass drums, a gong and of course, all the regular string and reed instruments. He boasted after the first performance, that a man had a fit from the excessive noise! THE INTIMATE FRIEND OF INSTRUMENTS