Symphonie fantastique
The cantata was "La Mort de Sardanapale", with which he won the Prix de Rome. His entry the previous year, "Cléopâtre", had attracted disapproval from the judges because to highly conservative musicians it "betrayed dangerous tendencies", and for his 1830 offering he carefully modified his natural style to meet official approval. During the same year he wrote the "Symphonie fantastique" and became engaged to be married.