Was Berlioz's music too dramatic for its time?
Too dramatic! Bah! Some found my music overwhelming, a tempest of passion perhaps, a departure from the expected delicate elegance. They clung to the old ways, fearing the raw, unbridled expression of the individual imagination. My explorations into programmatic music, my use of striking orchestral effects, and my embrace of the grand and the grotesque – these were indeed novel! But was it too much? I say, it was precisely what was needed to capture the turbulent spirit of my age, to explore the very depths of the human soul! To move the audience, to truly make them feel, that was my artistic imperative. The sublime demands a bold stroke!
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