Corner view

 View of French romantic composer conductor Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) as he'd walk out of his building on rue Saint Vincent.

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 How many of us who studied piano as children can forget the endless études and exercises for beginners we were made to practice (and practice) by Hector Berlioz - a strange name on dog-eared sheet music folders. Born in southeastern France, Berlioz is said to have drawn many of his influences from Beethoven, von Gluck, Goethe's Faust and, though he did not speak English, Shakespeare's plays. At the insistence of his father he went to Paris to study medicine, hated it, and became a composer instead. Only when he became successful did his parents forgive him. He was to stay in Paris the rest of his life. - BPJ