Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/50

 GLUCK being paid in one with eggs, which in another he exchanged for bread. After a time he ap- peared in the large towns as a violoncellist, tracted the attention of Prince Lobko- witz, so that when in 1736 he went to Vienna, the house of the prince was opened to him, and a salary was given which enabled him, at 22, to study musical science. He now had op- portunity also to hear the works of Fux, Cal- dara, the brothers Conti, Porsile, and other dramatic and church composers, adequately aed. The Lombard prince di Melzi, hearing Gluck both as a singer and violinist, in the soirees of Lobkowitz, appointed him chamber musician, took him to Milan, and placed him under Sammartini. Having mean- while shown talent in composition, in 1740 he received an order to compose an opera for the court theatre of Milan. The old field of the Italian opera of Handel's time had now been nearly exhausted, and the works of the day, even those of the greatest masters, had gone down in the scale until they were little more than pieces of music written to give the sing- ers opportunity to exhibit their powers. Real musical expression was one of the last things which entered into the thoughts of the com- poser. Hence the first work of Gluck has an importance in musical history beyond any oth- er of that time, unless the oratorios of Han- del be excepted. The text chosen for him was the Artaserae of Metastasio, a libretto which in its form was sufficient in case Gluck had then, which he had not, thought out the system which he afterward adopted and which pro- duced an entire revolution in the musical drama to prevent him from striking out an entirely new path. Still the composer had an indistinct feeling of the hollowness and insuffi- ciency of the recognized forms of dramatic com- position, and ventured to make expression the great object of his music. He completed the work, with the exception of one air, in his own manner, and in 1741 had it in study. At the hearsal in the theatre a large company was present. The new work proved so differ- ent from what they were accustomed to hear be generally received with smiles, and shnifrs, and jokes upon the German composer, (ilurk let all pass without remark. For the final rehearsal he composed the wanting air in the strictest style of the day. It was a beau- tiful piece for the singer, and when the audience h. an! it they broke into the loudest applause, nrnl with iiiiu consent attributed it to Sammar- tini. Gluck remained silent. The first public performance came off with appropriate scene- ry and action. The house was crowded. The interest rose with every number, the music meeting with the most decided success, until tin- modish air, which proved so "stale, flat, and unprofitable," so out of character with all the rest, that Gluck had to withdraw it and substitute one more in the spirit of his work. The success was triumphant, and the composer was called from city to city of Italy to direct the Artaserse. He was now the great operatic composer of that era. In 1742 he wrote Demo- foonte, text by Metastasio, for Milan ; Deme- trio and Ipermnestra, texts by the same, for Venice ; in 1743, Artamene for Cremona, and Siface for Milan ; in 1744, Fedra for Milan ; in 1745, Alessandro neW Indie, by Metastasio, under the title Poro, for Turin. Lord Middle- sex invited him to London to compose for the theatre in the Haymarket, and in 1745 he set out for the English capital, but found the thea- tre closed. On Jan. 7, 1746, it was reopened, with La caduta de" 1 giganti, by Gluck. It was not successful, and was only performed five times. He afterward produced Artamene with better fortune, and Piramo e Tisbe, in which pieces from his earlier works were, at the wish of the managers, adapted to a new text. This failed comparatively ; and this event led Gluck to his permanent system of composition, whose principles are as follows : 1, that dramatic music can only reach its highest power and beauty when joined to a text simple, truly poetic, and exhibiting natural and definite emo- tions and passions with the highest possible truth to nature ; 2, that music might be made the language of emotion, capable of expressing the various feelings of the heart ; 3, that the music must follow with all possible exactness the rhythm and melody of the words ; 4, that in accompaniments the instruments must be used to strengthen the expression of the vocal parts by their peculiar characters, or to height- en the general dramatic effect by employing them in contrast to the voice, as the text or dramatic situation might demand. From these principles it followed that the beautiful arias then esteemed the highest efforts of the musi- cal art, though in fact unsurpassable as means of sensual gratification to the ear, could never deeply touch the soul nor rouse any lasting emotion. In his later years Gluck was in the habit of saying, when an air of this kind was commended : " Yes, it is right beautiful ; but it does not draw blood." Toward the close of 1746 the composer returned to Germany. Dla- vacz says he became a member of the electoral orchestra of Dresden with a respectable salary, which seems probable, but in fact none of the biographers have cleared up the chronology of his life for the two or three years after his return. On June 29, 1747, an opera in one act, Le nozze d^Ercole e cTEbe, music by Gluck, was performed at Pilnitz in honor of the marriage of Princess Anna, daughter of Augustus III. According to Schmid, La Semiramide rico- nosciuta, text by Metastasio, music by Gluck, was performed at Vienna on Maria Theresa's birthday, in May, 1748 ; and in the autumn of the same year a newspaper contains a para- graph of news from Hamburg, which is dated Oct. 3, and says : " Herr Gluck, so well known in music, is at present chapelmaster here in place of Scalabrini." In 1749 he removed to Vienna, and only left that city when called to Italy and Paris to produce his works. In the