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Hector Berlioz was a pioneering French Romantic composer and conductor, renowned for his innovative orchestration and programmatic works that dramatically expanded the possibilities of orchestral music.Born in La Côte-Saint-André, France, Berlioz defied his physician father's wishes to pursue music. After medical studies in Paris, he enrolled at the Conservatoire in 1826. His unrequited passion for actress Harriet Smithson inspired his revolutionary Symphonie fantastique (1830)....