GLUCK, CHRISTOPH, was born of humble parents, in the Upper Palatinate, on the borders of Bohemia, in 1714. When very young he lost his father, and was totally neglected; but the genius for music, BO common in the natives of his country, was in him more than ordi narily vigorous ; and, self-taught, he contrived by his talents to work his way to Vienna, where his industry furnished him with the means of procuring not only subsistence but education. He there obtained the patronage of a nobleman, who took him into Italy, and at Milan he received some meat valuable instructions from the celebrated theorist Padre Martini. Having successfully given birth to two or three operas, his reputation spread abroad, and Lord Middlesex, then dictator of the King's Theatre, engaged him as his composer. But the rebellion of 1745 had just broken out, and all foreigners were regarded with suspicion, the theatre therefore was, by order, closed, and only re opened by the influence of the noble manager, who conciliated govern ment by a piece de circonitance, a demi-political drama, entitled `La Caduta dei Giganti ' (the Fall of the Giants), set by Gluck as his intro duction to a British public. It however excited little interest ; the dancing of Madlle. Violetta (afterwards Mrs. Garrick) in this made more impression than the music. In the following year be composed another opera, Artamene,' and brought out a Pasticeio, but with no marked success. He then returned to Italy, where he formed an intimacy with Calzabigi, the poet, and the two concerted a reform of the Italian opera, which was carried out in the instances of Orfeo ' and 'Alceste,' both of which were produced at Vienna, Orfeo ' in 1764, 'Alceste ' in 1769. By these he acquired so high a reputation, that he was Invited to compose an opera for the French Academie Royale. For this he wrote his Iphigenie en Aulide,' which was brought out at Paris, under his own direction, in 1776, and completely triumphed over the national prejudices opposed to it ; but not with out a violent struggle, in which the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, who had been Gluck's pupil, took an active part In favour of the German stranger. He was now hailed as the reviver of that music which had
wrought such miraculous effects In ancient Greece. and the native French composers were cast into the background : when the Italian party, aroused by the success of what they called the barbarous Tedescan school, invited to Paris the Idol of Naples, the celebrated Piccini A furious musical war now broke out in the capital of Franc?, and was carried on with a violence never before or since equalled, and which only could have been supported by a people so alive to whatever relates to the arts immediately connected with the theatre. The moat eminent of the French literati engaged with extraordinary zeal in the contest, and were nearly equally divided. To such a length was the dispute carried, that it has been said no two persons met in society without inquiring to what party each belonged: —Ele rota Oluckiste ou Picoinistel—the reply determining whether the conversation should have an amicable or a hostile bearing.
Besides the above-mentioned operas, Gluck produced several others, the beat of which are Armide," Iphienie en Tauride,' and 'Echo et Narciase.' Helreturned to Vienna in 1784, and shortly after was attacked by paralysis, which terminated his life in 1787. As a com poser Gluck unquestionably poeseesod a powerful and original mind. Nothing from his pen betrays the slightest attempt to imitate, or In any way unduly profit by, the works of others. His melodies are beautifully tender, and rarely, if ever, assume any appearance of gaiety. Indeed, passion is the characteristic of hie, as well as of most German dramatic) music. His choruses are marked by that simplicity which, in his opinion, as well as in that of many able critics, is so conducive to effect on the stage; and his orchestral accompaniments are as remarkable for their appropriateness as for their richness, the period at which they were written being considered. Gluck was, in a word, an intellectual composer, of which fact his works afford incon testable proofs; se well as the originator of a new and superior style of opera musk.