Berlioz: "Les francs-juges" Overture, Op. 3, H 23D (with Score)

Hector Berlioz:
"Les francs-juges" Overture, Op. 3, H 23D (with Score)
Composed: 1827-28
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal

Les francs-juges (translated as "The Free Judges" or "The Judges of the Secret Court") is the title of an unfinished opera by the French composer Hector Berlioz written to a libretto by his friend Humbert Ferrand in 1826. Berlioz abandoned the incomplete composition and destroyed most of the music. He retained the overture, which has become a popular concert item, and used some other musical material in later compositions.

This was the first work Berlioz wrote solely for orchestra and it is the earliest of his compositions to retain a place in the repertoire today. It was first performed at the Paris Conservatoire on 26 May 1828 and published in 1836 (the opus number is 3). Franz Liszt prepared a piano transcription of it in 1833 (S.471).