Bonjour.  I am Hector Berlioz. I was born on December 11, 1803 in France.  My father was Louis Berlioz, a respected physician and scholar.  He is often credited with the first experimentation with and recording of the use of acupuncture.  I had five siblings, however only two lived to be adults; they were Nanci and Adèle.  They were very close to me for all of my life.  I was a French Romantic composer, best known for my compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts.  Sometimes, I conducted grand orchestras of over 1,000 musicians.  I also composed close to 50 orchestral pieces.  Many people consider my works to have been crucial to the development of Romanticism.  Some of my works required massive orchestral forces.  Unlike most composers of my time, I was not a child prodigy.  I began studying music at the age of 12.  Regrettably, because of my father's disapproval, I never learned how to play the piano.  To me this was both debilitating and beneficial.  I often think that it could have been such a useful skill, until I trouble my mind with the fingerings.  You see, these would have been the end to my creations.