Le Corsaire Overture

Quick Facts

• Concert overture written in 1844; revised in 1851
• The original title of the piece was La tour de Nice (The Tower of Nice), then Le corsaire rouge (The Red Corsaire), and finally Le corsaire.
• Dedicated to James William Davison, an English journalist and music critic who advocated for Berlioz¹

About the Piece

• Le Corsaire was originally inspired by the composer’s recent stay in Nice (the work’s original title, La tour de Nice, referenced the tower that Berlioz stayed in). The revised version, Le corsaire rouge, was named after James Fenimore Cooper’s The Red Rover. The final iteration, Le corsaire, was named after Lord Byron’s The Corsair.
  • Fun fact – Verdi’s1848 opera Il corsaro also draws on Byron’s The Corsair.
• Listen for – the sonic and dramatic effects Berlioz uses throughout the piece to portray the swashbuckling seafaring journey. The piece is not technically programmatic but certainly draws up distinctive imagery.²

1. “Overture ‘Le Corsaire’, H 101 (Berlioz, Hector),” IMSLP, accessed August 21, 2023, https://imslp.org/wiki/Overture_’Le_Corsaire’%2C_H_101_(Berlioz%2C_Hector).
2. Michel Austin, “Overture: Le Corsaire (H 101),” The Hector Berlioz Website (2022), accessed August 21, 2023, http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/scorsaire.htm.