It was ordered by the government, laid aside for a time, and, finally, performed at the Invalides on the occasion of the capture of Constantine (in Algeria) and the funeral services of General Damremont.

He was astonished at the lack of sympathy and even actual hostility that he encountered.

It would have been more astonishing if he had experienced anything else.
[Illustration: Hector Berlioz] We must remember that at this time Berton, who sang _Quand on est toujours vertuex, on aime a voir lever l'aurore_, passed for a great man.

Beethoven's symphonies were a novelty, in Paris at least, and a scandal.

Haydn's symphonies inspired a critic to write, "What a noise, what a noise!" Orchestras were merely collections of thirty or forty musicians.
We can imagine, therefore, the stupefaction and horror when a young man, just out of school, demanded fifty violins, twenty violas, twenty violoncellos, eighteen contrabasses, four flutes, four oboes, four clarinets, eight bassoons, twelve horns, and a chorus of two hundred voices as a minimum.