Berlioz Romeo and Juliet, H 79

Hector Berlioz wrote Romeo et Juliette with the generous help of Nicccolo Paganini, who provided him with 20,000 francs that helped him pay off his debts and concentrate on a work of large scale. Berlioz finished in the score in 1839, and the first performance of the work took place that same year. The work received mixed reviews, though Berlioz considered it to be a success. Nowadays it is considered as one of his finest works, and one of his most detailed programmatic pieces. The score underwent a number of revisions after the first performances, to be finally published in 1847.