Gluck composer short biography. Christoph Willibald Gluck and his opera reform

GLITCH (Gluck) Christoph Willibald (1714-1787), German composer. Worked in Milan, Vienna, Paris. Gluck's opera reform, carried out in line with the aesthetics of classicism (noble simplicity, heroism), reflected new trends in the art of the Enlightenment. The idea of ​​subordinating music to the laws of poetry and drama has had big influence on musical theater of the 19th and 20th centuries. Operas (over 40): "Orpheus and Eurydice" (1762), "Alceste" (1767), "Paris and Helen" (1770), "Iphigenia in Aulis" (1774), "Armide" (1777), "Iphigenia in Taurida" (1779).

GLITCH(Gluck) Christoph Willibald (Cavalier Gluck, Ritter von Gluck) (July 2, 1714, Erasbach, Bavaria - November 15, 1787, Vienna), German composer.

Becoming

Born into the family of a forester. Gluck's native language was Czech. At the age of 14 he left his family, wandered, earning money by playing the violin and singing, then in 1731 he entered the University of Prague. During his studies (1731-34) he served as a church organist. In 1735 he moved to Vienna, then to Milan, where he studied with the composer G. B. Sammartini (c. 1700-1775), one of the largest Italian representatives of early classicism.

In 1741, Gluck's first opera, Artaxerxes, was staged in Milan; then followed by the premieres of several more operas in different cities Italy. In 1845, Gluck received an order to compose two operas for London; in England he met G.F. In 1846-51 he worked in Hamburg, Dresden, Copenhagen, Naples, and Prague. In 1752 he settled in Vienna, where he took the position of accompanist, then bandmaster at the court of Prince J. Saxe-Hildburghausen. In addition, he composed French comic operas for the imperial court theater and Italian operas for palace entertainment. In 1759, Gluck received an official position in the court theater and was soon awarded a royal pension.

Fruitful collaboration

Around 1761, Gluck began collaborating with the poet R. Calzabigi and choreographer G. Angiolini (1731-1803). In my first working together, the ballet "Don Juan", they managed to achieve amazing artistic unity of all components of the performance. A year later, the opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" appeared (libretto by Calzabigi, dances choreographed by Angiolini) - the first and best of Gluck's so-called reform operas. In 1764 Gluck composed the French comic opera"An Unexpected Meeting, or Pilgrims from Mecca", and a year later - two more ballets. In 1767, the success of "Orpheus" was consolidated by the opera "Alceste", also with a libretto by Calzabigi, but with dances staged by another outstanding choreographer - J.-J. Noverra (1727-1810). The third reform opera, Paris and Helena (1770), had more modest success.

In Paris

In the early 1770s, Gluck decided to apply his innovative ideas to French opera. In 1774, Iphigenia in Aulis and Orpheus, the French version of Orpheus and Eurydice, were staged in Paris. Both works received an enthusiastic reception. Gluck's series of Parisian successes was continued by the French edition of Alceste (1776) and Armide (1777). Last piece served as a reason for a fierce polemic between the “Gluckists” and supporters of traditional Italian and French opera, which was personified by the talented composer of the Neapolitan school N. Piccinni, who came to Paris in 1776 at the invitation of Gluck’s opponents. Gluck's victory in this controversy was marked by the triumph of his opera “Iphigenia in Tauris” (1779) (however, the opera “Echo and Narcissus” staged in the same year failed). In the last years of his life, Gluck carried out the German edition of Iphigenia in Tauris and composed several songs. His last work was the psalm De profundis for choir and orchestra, which was performed under the direction of A. Salieri at Gluck’s funeral.

Gluck's contribution

In total, Gluck wrote about 40 operas - Italian and French, comic and serious, traditional and innovative. It was thanks to the latter that he secured a strong place in the history of music. The principles of Gluck's reform are set out in his preface to the publication of the score of Alceste (written, probably with the participation of Calzabigi). They boil down to the following: music must express the content of the poetic text; orchestral ritornellos and, especially, vocal embellishments, which only distract attention from the development of the drama, should be avoided; the overture should anticipate the content of the drama, and the orchestral accompaniment of the vocal parts should correspond to the nature of the text; in recitatives the vocal-declamatory beginning should be emphasized, that is, the contrast between the recitative and the aria should not be excessive. Most of These principles are embodied in the opera "Orpheus", where recitatives with orchestral accompaniment, arioso and arias are not separated from each other by sharp boundaries, and individual episodes, including dances and choirs, are combined into large scenes with end-to-end dramatic development. Unlike the plots of opera seria with their intricate intrigues, disguises and side lines, the plot of "Orpheus" appeals to simple human feelings. In terms of skill, Gluck was noticeably inferior to his contemporaries such as C. F. E. Bach and J. Haydn, but his technique, for all its limitations, fully met his goals. His music combines simplicity and monumentality, unstoppable energy (as in the “Dance of the Furies” from Orpheus), pathos and sublime lyricism.

Christoph Willibald von Gluck(German: Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck, July 2, 1714, Erasbach - November 15, 1787, Vienna) - German composer, mainly operatic, one of largest representatives musical classicism. The name of Gluck is associated with the reform of the Italian opera seria and the French lyrical tragedy in the second half of the 18th century, and if the works of Gluck the composer were not popular at all times, then the ideas of Gluck the reformer determined further development opera house.

early years

Information about the early years of Christoph Willibald von Gluck is extremely scarce, and much of what was established by the composer's early biographers was disputed by later ones. It is known that he was born in Erasbach (now the Berching district) in the Upper Palatinate in the family of the forester Alexander Gluck and his wife Maria Walpurga, was passionate about music from childhood and, apparently, received a home musical education, common in those days in Bohemia, where the family moved in 1717. Presumably, for six years Gluck studied at the Jesuit gymnasium in Komotau and, since his father did not want to see his eldest son as a musician, he left home, ended up in Prague in 1731 and studied for some time at the University of Prague, where he attended lectures on logic and mathematics, earning a living by playing music. A violinist and cellist who also had good vocal abilities, Gluck sang in the choir of St. Jakub and played in an orchestra conducted by the greatest Czech composer and music theorist Boguslav Chernogorsky, sometimes he went to the outskirts of Prague, where he performed for peasants and artisans.

Gluck attracted the attention of Prince Philipp von Lobkowitz and in 1735 was invited to his Viennese house as a chamber musician; Apparently, the Italian aristocrat A. Melzi heard him in Lobkowitz's house and invited him to his private chapel - in 1736 or 1737 Gluck ended up in Milan. In Italy, the birthplace of opera, he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of the greatest masters of this genre; At the same time, he studied composition under the guidance of Giovanni Sammartini, a composer not so much of opera as of symphony; but it was under his leadership, as S. Rytsarev writes, that Gluck mastered “modest” but confident homophonic writing,” which was already fully established in Italian opera, while the polyphonic tradition still dominated in Vienna.

In December 1741, the premiere of Gluck's first opera, the opera seria Artaxerxes, with a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, took place in Milan. In Artaxerxes, as in all of Gluck's early operas, the imitation of Sammartini was still noticeable, nevertheless it was a success, which entailed orders from different cities of Italy, and in the next four years no less successful opera seria were created. Demetrius", "Porus", "Demophon", "Hypermnestra" and others.

In the autumn of 1745, Gluck went to London, from where he received an order for two operas, but in the spring of the following year he left the English capital and joined the Italian opera troupe of the Mingotti brothers as a second conductor, with whom he toured Europe for five years. In 1751, in Prague, he left Mingotti for the post of conductor in the troupe of Giovanni Locatelli, and in December 1752 he settled in Vienna. Having become conductor of the orchestra of Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Gluck led its weekly concerts - “academies”, in which he performed both other people's compositions and his own. According to contemporaries, Gluck was also an outstanding opera conductor and knew well the features of ballet art.

In search of musical drama

In 1754, at the suggestion of the manager of the Viennese theaters, Count G. Durazzo, Gluck was appointed conductor and composer of the Court Opera. In Vienna, gradually becoming disillusioned with the traditional Italian opera seria - “opera-aria”, in which the beauty of melody and singing acquired a self-sufficient character, and composers often became hostages to the whims of prima donnas - he turned to French comic opera (“The Island of Merlin”, “ The Imaginary Slave”, “The Reformed Drunkard”, “The Fooled Cadi”, etc.) and even to ballet: created in collaboration with the choreographer G. Angiolini, the pantomime ballet “Don Juan” (based on the play by J.-B. Molière), a real choreographic drama, became the first embodiment of Gluck's desire to transform the opera stage into a dramatic one.

K.V. Gluck. Lithograph by F. E. Feller

In his quest, Gluck found support from the chief intendant of the opera, Count Durazzo, and his compatriot, poet and playwright Ranieri de Calzabigi, who wrote the libretto of Don Giovanni. The next step towards musical drama became their new joint work - the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice”, in the first edition staged in Vienna on October 5, 1762. Under the pen of Calzabigi ancient greek myth turned into an ancient drama, in full accordance with the tastes of the time; however, neither in Vienna nor in other European cities did the opera achieve success with the public.

The need to reform the opera seria, writes S. Rytsarev, was dictated by objective signs of its crisis. At the same time, it was necessary to overcome “the centuries-old and incredibly strong tradition of opera-spectacle, musical performance with a firmly established division of the functions of poetry and music.” In addition, opera seria was characterized by static dramaturgy; it was justified by the “theory of affects”, which assumed for everyone emotional state- sadness, joy, anger, etc. - use of certain means musical expressiveness, established by theorists, and did not allow for the individualization of experiences. The transformation of stereotyping into a value criterion gave rise in the first half of the 18th century, on the one hand, to a boundless number of operas, on the other hand, very many of them. short life on stage, on average from 3 to 5 performances.

Gluck in his reform operas, writes S. Rytsarev, “made the music “work” for the drama not at individual moments of the performance, which was often found in contemporary opera, but throughout its entire duration. Orchestral means have become effective, secret meaning, began to counterpoint the development of events on stage. A flexible, dynamic change of recitative, aria, ballet and choral episodes has developed into a musical and plot event, entailing a direct emotional experience.”

Other composers also searched in this direction, including in the genre of comic opera, Italian and French: this young genre had not yet had time to fossilize, and it was easier to develop its healthy tendencies from within than in opera seria. By order of the court, Gluck continued to write operas in the traditional style, generally giving preference to comic opera. A new and more perfect embodiment of his dream of musical drama was the heroic opera Alceste, created in collaboration with Calzabigi in 1767, presented in the first edition in Vienna on December 26 of the same year. Dedicating the opera to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the future Emperor Leopold II, Gluck wrote in the preface to Alceste:

It seemed to me that the music should play in relation to poetic work the same role played by the brightness of colors and correctly distributed effects of chiaroscuro, which animate the figures without changing their contours in relation to the drawing... I tried to expel from the music all the excesses against which they protest in vain common sense and justice. I believed that the overture should illuminate the action for the audience and serve as an introductory overview of the content: the instrumental part should be determined by the interest and tension of the situations... All my work should have been reduced to the search for noble simplicity, freedom from an ostentatious accumulation of difficulties at the expense of clarity; the introduction of some new techniques seemed to me valuable insofar as it suited the situation. And finally, there is no rule that I would not break in order to achieve greater expressiveness. These are my principles.

Such a fundamental subordination of music to poetic text was revolutionary for that time; in an effort to overcome the number structure characteristic of the then opera seria, Gluck not only combined episodes of the opera into big stages, permeated with a single dramatic development, he tied the overture to the action of the opera, which at that time was usually a separate concert number; In order to achieve greater expressiveness and drama, he increased the role of the choir and orchestra. Neither Alceste, nor the third reform opera based on Calzabigi's libretto, Paris and Helena (1770), found support among either the Viennese or Italian public.

Gluck's responsibilities as a court composer included teaching music to the young Archduchess Marie Antoinette; Having become the wife of the heir to the French throne in April 1770, Marie Antoinette invited Gluck to Paris. However, the composer’s decision to move his activities to the capital of France significantly to a greater extent influenced by other circumstances.

Glitch in Paris

In Paris, meanwhile, there was a struggle around the opera, which became the second act of the struggle that had died down back in the 50s between adherents of Italian opera (“Buffonists”) and French opera (“anti-Buffonists”). This confrontation split even the crowned family: the French king Louis XVI preferred Italian opera, while his Austrian wife Marie Antoinette supported national French opera. The split also struck the famous “Encyclopedia”: its editor D’Alembert was one of the leaders of the “Italian party”, and many of its authors, led by Voltaire, actively supported the French one. The stranger Gluck very soon became the banner of the “French party”, and since the Italian troupe in Paris at the end of 1776 was headed by the famous and popular composer Niccolo Piccinni in those years, the third act of this musical and social polemic went down in history as a struggle between the “Gluckists” and "Piccinists". In the struggle that seemed to unfold around styles, the dispute was actually about what an opera performance should be - just an opera, a luxurious spectacle with beautiful music and beautiful vocals, or something significantly more: encyclopedists were waiting for new social content, in tune with the pre-revolutionary era. In the struggle of the “Gluckists” with the “Piccinists,” which 200 years later already seemed like a grandiose theatrical performance, as in the “War of the Buffons,” “powerful cultural strata of aristocratic and democratic art” entered into polemics, according to S. Rytsarev.

In the early 1970s, Gluck's reform operas were unknown in Paris; in August 1772, the attaché of the French embassy in Vienna, François le Blanc du Roullet, brought them to the attention of the public in the pages of the Parisian magazine Mercure de France. The paths of Gluck and Calzabigi diverged: with a reorientation towards Paris, du Roullet became the main librettist of the reformer; in collaboration with him, the opera “Iphigenia in Aulis” (based on the tragedy by J. Racine) was written for the French public, staged in Paris on April 19, 1774. The success was consolidated, although it caused fierce controversy, by the new French edition of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Statue of K. W. Gluck at the Grand Opera

Recognition in Paris did not go unnoticed in Vienna: if Marie Antoinette awarded Gluck 20,000 livres for “Iphigenia” and the same for “Orpheus”, then Maria Theresa on October 18, 1774 in absentia awarded Gluck the title of “actual imperial and royal court composer” with an annual salary of 2000 guilders. Thanking for the honor, Gluck, after a short stay in Vienna, returned to France, where at the beginning of 1775 the production was staged. new edition his comic opera “The Enchanted Tree, or the Deceived Guardian” (written back in 1759), and in April, at the Royal Academy of Music, a new edition of “Alceste”.

Music historians consider the Paris period to be the most significant in Gluck's work. The struggle between the “Gluckists” and the “Piccinists,” which inevitably turned into personal rivalry between the composers (which, however, did not affect their relationship), proceeded with varying degrees of success; by the mid-70s, the “French party” split into adherents of traditional French opera (J.B. Lully and J.F. Rameau), on the one hand, and the new French opera of Gluck, on the other. Willingly or unwittingly, Gluck himself challenged the traditionalists by using for his heroic opera “Armide” a libretto written by F. Kino (based on the poem “Jerusalem Liberated” by T. Tasso) for opera of the same name Lully. "Armida", which premiered at the Royal Academy of Music on September 23, 1777, apparently was received so differently by representatives of different "parties" that even 200 years later some spoke of a "tremendous success", others - of a "failure" "

Nevertheless, this struggle ended in Gluck’s victory, when on May 18, 1779, his opera “Iphigenia in Tauris” (on a libretto by N. Gniar and L. du Roullet based on the tragedy of Euripides) was presented at the Royal Academy of Music, which many still consider best opera composer. Niccolo Piccinni himself admitted “ musical revolution» Gluck. Even earlier, J. A. Houdon sculpted a white marble bust of the composer with the inscription in Latin: “Musas praeposuit sirenis” (“He preferred the muses to the sirens”) - in 1778 this bust was installed in the foyer of the Royal Academy of Music next to the busts of Lully and Rameau.

Last years

On September 24, 1779, the premiere took place in Paris. last opera Gluck - “Echo and Narcissus”; However, even earlier, in July, the composer was struck by a stroke, which resulted in partial paralysis. In the autumn of the same year, Gluck returned to Vienna, which he never left: a new attack of illness occurred in June 1781.

During this period, the composer continued the work he had begun back in 1773 on odes and songs for voice and piano based on the poems of F. G. Klopstock (German: Klopstocks Oden und Lieder beim Clavier zu singen in Musik gesetzt), dreamed of creating a German national opera based on Klopstock’s story “The Battle of Arminius,” but these plans were not destined to come true. Anticipating his imminent departure, around 1782 Gluck wrote “De profundis” - a short work for a four-voice choir and orchestra on the text of the 129th Psalm, which on November 17, 1787, at the composer’s funeral, was performed by his student and follower Antonio Salieri. On November 14 and 15, Gluck experienced three more apoplexy attacks; he died on November 15, 1787 and was initially buried in the church cemetery of the suburb of Matzleinsdorf; in 1890 his ashes were transferred to Central Cemetery Vienna.

Creation

Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer primarily of opera, but the exact number of operas he owned has not been established: on the one hand, some works have not survived, on the other, Gluck repeatedly reworked his own operas. " Music Encyclopedia” names the number 107, but lists only 46 operas.

Monument to K. W. Gluck in Vienna

In 1930, E. Braudo regretted that Gluck’s “true masterpieces,” both of his Iphigenias, had now completely disappeared from the theatrical repertoire; but in the middle of the 20th century, interest in the composer’s work was revived; for many years they have not left the stage and have an extensive discography of his operas “Orpheus and Eurydice”, “Alceste”, “Iphigenia in Aulis”, “Iphigenia in Tauris”, which are even more popular use symphonic fragments from his operas, which have long been found independent life on the concert stage. In 1987, the International Gluck Society was founded in Vienna to study and promote the composer's work.

At the end of his life, Gluck said that “only the foreigner Salieri” adopted his manners from him, “for not a single German wanted to study them”; nevertheless, he had many followers in different countries ah, each of whom in his own way applied his principles in own creativity, - in addition to Antonio Salieri, these are primarily Luigi Cherubini, Gaspare Spontini and L. van Beethoven, and later Hector Berlioz, who called Gluck “Aeschylus of music”; Among his closest followers, the composer’s influence is sometimes noticeable even beyond operatic creativity, like Beethoven, Berlioz and Franz Schubert. As for creative ideas Gluck, they determined the further development of the opera theater; in the 19th century there was no major opera composer who, to a greater or lesser extent, would not have been influenced by these ideas; Another opera reformer, Richard Wagner, also turned to Gluck, who half a century later faced opera stage with the same “costume concert” against which Gluck’s reform was directed. The composer’s ideas turned out to be not alien to Russian opera culture- from Mikhail Glinka to Alexander Serov.

Gluck also wrote a number of works for orchestra - symphonies or overtures (during the composer’s youth the distinction between these genres was not yet clear enough), a concerto for flute and orchestra (G major), 6 trio sonatas for 2 violins and a general bass, written back in the 40s. In collaboration with G. Angiolini, in addition to Don Juan, Gluck created three more ballets: Alexander (1765), as well as Semiramis (1765) and The Chinese Orphan - both based on the tragedies of Voltaire.

K.V. Gluck is a great opera composer who realized in the second half of the 18th century. reform of Italian opera seria and French lyric tragedy. The great mythological opera, which was experiencing an acute crisis, acquired in Gluck's work the qualities of a genuine musical tragedy, filled with strong passions, exalting the ethical ideals of fidelity, duty, readiness for self-sacrifice. The appearance of the first reform opera "Orpheus" was preceded by long haul- the struggle for the right to become a musician, traveling, mastering various opera genres of that time. Gluck lived an amazing life, devoting himself entirely to musical theater.

Gluck was born into the family of a forester. The father considered the profession of a musician to be an unworthy occupation and in every possible way interfered with the musical hobbies of his eldest son. Therefore, while still a teenager, Gluck leaves home, wanders, dreams of getting a good education(by this time he graduated from the Jesuit College in Commotau). In 1731 Gluck entered the University of Prague. The student of the Faculty of Philosophy devoted a lot of time music lessons- took lessons from the famous Czech composer Boguslav of Montenegro, sang in the choir of the Church of St. Jacob. Wanderings in the vicinity of Prague (Gluck willingly played the violin and especially his favorite cello in traveling ensembles) helped him become more familiar with Czech folk music.

In 1735 Gluck, already established professional musician, travels to Vienna and enters service in the chapel of Count Lobkowitz. Soon, the Italian philanthropist A. Melzi offered Gluck the position of chamber musician in the court chapel in Milan. In Italy, Gluck's journey as an opera composer begins; he became acquainted with the work of the greatest Italian masters and studied composition under the guidance of G. Sammartini. Lasted for almost 5 years preparatory stage; It was only in December 1741 that Gluck’s first opera, Artaxerxes (libr. P. Metastasio), was successfully staged in Milan. Gluck received numerous orders from the theaters of Venice, Turin, Milan and over the course of four years created several more opera seria (Demetrius, Poro, Demophon, Hypermnestra, etc.), which brought him fame and recognition among a fairly sophisticated and demanding Italian public.

In 1745 the composer toured London. The oratorios of G. F. Handel made a strong impression on him. This sublime, monumental, heroic art became the most important creative reference point for Gluck. Stay in England, as well as performances with the Italian opera troupe of the Mingotti brothers in the largest European capitals(Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen) enriched the composer’s stock of musical impressions, helped to establish interesting creative contacts, and become better acquainted with various opera schools. Recognition of Gluck's authority in musical world he was awarded the Papal Order of the Golden Spur. “Cavalier Gluck” - this title stuck with the composer. (Let us recall the wonderful short story by T. A. Hoffmann “Cavalier Gluck.”)

A new stage in the composer’s life and work begins with his move to Vienna (1752), where Gluck soon took up the post of conductor and composer of the court opera, and in 1774 received the title of “actual imperial and royal court composer.” Continuing to compose opera seria, Gluck also turned to new genres. French comic operas (“The Island of Merlin”, “The Imaginary Slave”, “The Corrected Drunkard”, “The Fooled Cadi”, etc.), written to the texts of famous French playwrights A. Lesage, C. Favard and J. Seden, enriched the composer’s style with new intonations, compositional techniques, responded to the needs of listeners in directly vital, democratic art. Big interest represents Gluck's work in the ballet genre. In collaboration with the talented Viennese choreographer G. Angiolini, the pantomime ballet “Don Giovanni” was created. The novelty of this performance - a genuine choreographic drama - is determined largely by the nature of the plot: not traditionally fairy-tale, allegorical, but deeply tragic, acutely conflicting, affecting eternal problems human existence. (The ballet script was written based on the play by J. B. Moliere.)

The most important event in creative evolution composer and in the musical life of Vienna the premiere of the first reform opera appeared - “Orpheus” (1762), An ancient Greek myth about legendary singer Gluck and R. Calzabigi (author of libr., like-minded person and permanent employee composer in Vienna) were interpreted in the spirit of strict and sublime ancient drama. The beauty of Orpheus's art and the power of his love can overcome all obstacles - this eternal and always exciting idea lies at the heart of the opera, one of the composer's most perfect creations. In the arias of Orpheus, in the famous flute solo, also known in numerous instrumental versions under the name “Melody,” the composer’s original melodic gift was revealed; and the scene at the gates of Hades - the dramatic duel of Orpheus and the Furies - remained a remarkable example of the construction of a large operatic form in which absolute unity of musical and stage development was achieved.

“Orpheus” was followed by 2 more reform operas - “Alceste” (1767) and “Paris and Helen” (1770) (both in libr. Calzabigi). In the preface to Alceste, written on the occasion of the dedication of the opera to the Duke of Tuscany, Gluck formulated the artistic principles that guided all his creative activity. Without finding adequate support from the Viennese and Italian public. Gluck goes to Paris. The years spent in the capital of France (1773-79) were the time of the composer’s highest creative activity. Gluck writes and stages new reform operas at the Royal Academy of Music - “Iphigenia in Aulis” (libr. L. du Roullet based on the tragedy of J. Racine, 1774), “Armide” (libr. F. Kino based on T. Tasso’s poem “Jerusalem Liberated” ", 1777), "Iphigenia in Tauris" (libr. N. Gniar and L. du Roullet based on the drama by G. de la Touche, 1779), "Echo and Narcissus" (libr. L. Tschudi, 1779), reworks "Orpheus " and "Alceste", in accordance with the traditions of the French theater. Gluck's activities stirred up the musical life of Paris and provoked heated aesthetic discussions. On the composer’s side are French educators and encyclopedists (D. Diderot, J. Rousseau, J. D’Alembert, M. Grimm), who welcomed the birth of a truly high heroic style in opera; his opponents are adherents of the old French lyrical tragedy and opera seria. In an effort to shake Gluck's position, they invited him to Paris Italian composer N. Piccinni, who enjoyed European recognition at that time. The controversy between supporters of Gluck and Piccinni went down in the history of French opera under the name “wars of Gluckists and Piccinnistas.” The composers themselves, who treated each other with sincere sympathy, remained far from these “aesthetic battles.”

In the last years of his life in Vienna, Gluck dreamed of creating a German national opera based on the story of F. Klopstock “The Battle of Hermann”. However, serious illness and age prevented the implementation of this plan. During Glück's funeral in Vienna, his last work, “De profundls” (“From the abyss I cry...”) was performed for choir and orchestra. This unique requiem was conducted by Gluck's student A. Salieri.

Called Gluck "Aeschylus of Music" passionate fan his work G. Berlioz. The style of Gluck's musical tragedies - the sublime beauty and nobility of the images, the impeccability of taste and the unity of the whole, the monumentality of the composition based on the interaction of solo and choral forms - goes back to the traditions of ancient tragedy. Created during the heyday of the educational movement on the eve of the Great french revolution, they responded to the needs of the time for great heroic art. Thus, Diderot wrote shortly before Gluck’s arrival in Paris: “Let a genius appear who will establish true tragedy... on the lyrical stage.” Having set his goal “to expel from opera all those bad excesses against which common sense and good taste have been protesting in vain for a long time,” Gluck creates a performance in which all the components of dramaturgy are logically expedient and perform certain, necessary functions in overall composition. “...I avoided demonstrating a heap of spectacular difficulties to the detriment of clarity,” says the dedication of “Alceste,” “and I did not attach any value to the discovery of a new technique if it did not flow naturally from the situation and was not associated with expressiveness.” Thus, the choir and ballet become full participants in the action; intonationally expressive recitatives naturally merge with arias, the melody of which is free from the excesses of a virtuosic style; the overture anticipates the emotional structure of the future action; relatively complete musical numbers are combined into large scenes, etc. Directed selection and concentration of means of musical and dramatic characterization, strict subordination of all links of a large composition - this is most important discoveries Gluck, which were of great importance both for the renewal of operatic dramaturgy and for the establishment of new, symphonic thinking. (The heyday of Gluck’s operatic creativity occurred at a time of intense development of large cyclic forms - symphony, sonata, concept.) Senior contemporary of I. Haydn and W. A. ​​Mozart, closely associated with musical life And artistic atmosphere Vienna. Glitch, and in the warehouse creative individuality, and in terms of the general direction of searches it is adjacent precisely to the Viennese classical school. The traditions of Gluck’s “high tragedy” and the new principles of his dramaturgy were developed in opera art of the 19th century c.: in the works of L. Cherubini, L. Beethoven, G. Berlioz and R. Wagner; and in Russian music - M. Glinka, who extremely highly valued Gluck as the first among opera composers XVIII V.

I. Okhalova

The son of a hereditary forester, with early years accompanies her father on his many moves. In 1731 he entered the University of Prague, where he studied vocal art and playing various instruments. While in the service of Prince Melzi, he lives in Milan, takes composition lessons from Sammartini and stages a number of operas. In 1745 in London he met Handel and Arne and composed for the theater. Having become conductor of the Italian Mingotti troupe, he visits Hamburg, Dresden and other cities. In 1750 he married Marianne Pergin, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese banker; in 1754 he became conductor of the Vienna Court Opera and became part of the entourage of Count Durazzo, who managed the theater. In 1762, Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice was successfully staged with a libretto by Calzabigi. In 1774, after several financial failures, he followed Marie Antoinette (to whom he was a music teacher), who became the French queen, to Paris and won the favor of the public despite the resistance of the Piccinnistas. However, upset by the failure of the opera “Echo and Narcissus” (1779), he leaves France and goes to Vienna. In 1781, the composer suffered from paralysis and stopped all activities.

The name of Gluck is identified in the history of music with the so-called reform of musical drama of the Italian type, the only one known and widespread in Europe during his time. He is considered not only a great musician, but above all the savior of a genre that was distorted in the first half of the 18th century by the virtuoso embellishments of singers and the rules of conventional machine-based librettos. Nowadays, Gluck's position no longer seems exceptional, since the composer was not the only creator of the reform, the need for which was felt by other opera composers and librettists, in particular Italian ones. Moreover, the concept of the decline of musical drama cannot refer to top works genre, but only to low-quality works and poorly gifted authors (it is difficult to blame such a master as Handel for the decline).

Be that as it may, prompted by the librettist Calzabigi and other members of the entourage of Count Giacomo Durazzo, governor of the Viennese imperial theaters, Gluck introduced a number of innovations into practice, which certainly led to major results in the field musical theater. Calzabigi recalled: “It was impossible for Mr. Gluck, who spoke our language [that is, Italian] poorly, to recite poetry. I read “Orpheus” to him and recited many fragments several times, emphasizing the shades of declamation, stops, slowing down, speeding up, sounds, sometimes heavy, sometimes smooth, which I wanted him to use in his composition. At the same time, I asked him to remove all the flourishes and cadences , ritornellos and everything barbaric and extravagant that has penetrated into our music.”

Gluck Christoph Willibald (1714-1787), German composer, opera reformer, one of greatest masters era of classicism. Born on July 2, 1714 in Erasbach (Bavaria), in the family of a forester; Gluck's ancestors came from Northern Bohemia and lived on the lands of Prince Lobkowicz. Gluck was three years old when the family returned to their homeland; he studied at the schools of Kamnitz and Albersdorf.

In 1732 he went to Prague, where he apparently attended lectures at the university, earning a living by singing in church choirs and playing the violin and cello. According to some reports, he took lessons from the Czech composer B. Montenegrin (1684-1742).

In 1736, Gluck arrived in Vienna in the retinue of Prince Lobkowitz, but already in next year moved to the chapel of the Italian prince Melzi and followed him to Milan. Here Gluck studied composition for three years with the great master of chamber genres G.B. Sammartini (1698-1775), and at the end of 1741 the premiere of Gluck’s first opera Artaserse took place in Milan.

Then he led the life usual for a successful Italian composer, that is, he continuously composed operas and pasticcios (opera performances in which the music is composed of fragments of various operas by one or more authors). In 1745, Gluck accompanied Prince Lobkowitz on his trip to London; their path lay through Paris, where Gluck first heard the operas of J. F. Rameau (1683-1764) and highly appreciated them.

In London, Gluck met with Handel and T. Arn, staged two of his pasticcios (one of them, The Fall of the Giants, La Caduta dei Giganti, is a play on the topic of the day: we're talking about about the suppression of the Jacobite uprising), gave a concert in which he played a glass harmonica of his own design, and published six trio sonatas.

In the second half of 1746, the composer was already in Hamburg, as conductor and choirmaster of the Italian opera troupe P. Mingotti. Until 1750, Gluck traveled with this troupe to different cities and countries, composing and staging his operas. In 1750 he married and settled in Vienna.

None of Gluck's operas early period did not fully reveal the scale of his talent, but nevertheless, by 1750 his name already enjoyed a certain fame. In 1752, the Neapolitan San Carlo Theater commissioned him the opera La Clemenza di Tito (La Clemenza di Tito) to a libretto by the major playwright of that era, Metastasio.

Gluck conducted himself, and aroused both keen interest and jealousy of local musicians and received praise from the venerable composer and teacher F. Durante (1684-1755). Upon his return to Vienna in 1753, he became bandmaster at the court of the Prince of Saxe-Hildburghausen and remained in this position until 1760.

In 1757, Pope Benedict XIV awarded the composer the title of knight and awarded him the Order of the Golden Spur: from then on, the musician signed himself - “Cavalier Gluck” (Ritter von Gluck).

During this period, the composer became surrounded by the new manager of the Viennese theaters, Count Durazzo, and composed a lot both for the court and for the count himself; in 1754 Gluck was appointed conductor of the court opera. After 1758, he worked hard to create works based on French librettos in the style of French comic opera, which was propagated in Vienna by the Austrian envoy in Paris (meaning such operas as The Island of Merlin, L'Isle de Merlin; The Imaginary Slave, La fausse esclave; Fooled cadi, Le cadi dupe).

The dream of “opera reform,” the goal of which was to restore drama, originated in Northern Italy and dominated the minds of Gluck’s contemporaries, and these tendencies were especially strong at the Parma court, where French influence played a large role. Durazzo came from Genoa; Gluck's creative years passed in Milan; they were joined by two more artists originally from Italy, but who had experience working in theaters in different countries - the poet R. Calzabigi and the choreographer G. Angioli.

Thus, a “team” of gifted people was formed, smart people, and influential enough to put general ideas into practice. The first fruit of their collaboration was the ballet Don Juan (1761), then Orpheus and Euridice (1762) and Alceste (1767) were born - Gluck's first reform operas.

In the preface to Alceste's score, Gluck formulates his operatic principles: the subordination of musical beauty to dramatic truth; the destruction of thoughtless vocal virtuosity, all kinds of inorganic insertions into the musical action; interpretation of the overture as an introduction to the drama.

In essence, all this already existed in modern French opera, and since the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette, who had previously taken singing lessons from Gluck, then became the wife of the French monarch, it is not surprising that Gluck was soon commissioned for a number of operas for Paris. The premiere of the first, Iphigenie en Aulide, was conducted by the author in 1774 and served as the occasion for a fierce battle of opinions, a real battle between supporters of French and Italian opera, which lasted about five years.

During this time, Gluck staged two more operas in Paris - Armide (Armide, 1777) and Iphigenie en Tauride (1779), and also reworked Orpheus and Alceste for the French stage. Fanatics of Italian opera specially invited composer N. Piccinni (1772-1800) to Paris, who was a talented musician, but still could not withstand the competition with the genius of Gluck. At the end of 1779 Gluck returned to Vienna. Gluck died in Vienna on November 15, 1787.

Gluck's work is the highest expression of the aesthetics of classicism, which already during the composer's lifetime gave way to the emerging romanticism. The best of Gluck's operas still occupy a place of honor in opera repertoire, and his music captivates listeners with its noble simplicity and deep expressiveness.

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Biography of GLUCK Christoph Willibald (1714-87) - German composer. One of the most prominent representatives of classicism. Christoph Willibald Gluck was born into the family of a forester, was passionate about music since childhood, and since his father did not want to see his eldest son as a musician, Gluck, having graduated from the Jesuit college in Kommotau, left home as a teenager.

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Biography At the age of 14, he left his family, traveled, earning money by playing the violin and singing, then in 1731 he entered the University of Prague. During his studies (1731-34) he served as a church organist. In 1735 he moved to Vienna, then to Milan, where he studied with the composer G. B. Sammartini (c. 1700-1775), one of the largest Italian representatives of early classicism.

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In 1741, Gluck's first opera, Artaxerxes, was staged in Milan; this was followed by the premieres of several more operas in different cities of Italy. In 1845, Gluck received an order to compose two operas for London; in England he met G. F. Handel. In 1846-51 he worked in Hamburg, Dresden, Copenhagen, Naples, and Prague.

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In 1752 he settled in Vienna, where he took the position of accompanist, then bandmaster at the court of Prince J. Saxe-Hildburghausen. In addition, he composed French comic operas for the imperial court theater and Italian operas for palace entertainment. In 1759, Gluck received an official position in the court theater and was soon awarded a royal pension.

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Fruitful collaboration Around 1761, Gluck began collaborating with the poet R. Calzabigi and choreographer G. Angiolini (1731-1803). In their first joint work, the ballet Don Juan, they managed to achieve amazing artistic unity of all components of the performance. A year later, the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice” appeared (libretto by Calzabigi, dances choreographed by Angiolini) - the first and best of Gluck’s so-called reform operas.

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In 1764, Gluck composed the French comic opera An Unexpected Meeting, or Pilgrims from Mecca, and a year later two more ballets. In 1767, the success of “Orpheus” was consolidated by the opera “Alceste”, also with a libretto by Calzabigi, but with dances staged by another outstanding choreographer - J.-J. Noverra (1727-1810). The third reform opera, Paris and Helena (1770), had more modest success.

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In Paris In the early 1770s, Gluck decided to apply his innovative ideas to French opera. In 1774, Iphigenia in Aulis and Orpheus, a French version of Orpheus and Eurydice, were staged in Paris. Both works received an enthusiastic reception. Gluck's series of Parisian successes was continued by the French edition of Alceste (1776) and Armide (1777).

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The last work gave rise to a fierce controversy between the “Gluckists” and supporters of traditional Italian and French opera, which was personified by the talented composer of the Neapolitan school N. Piccinni, who came to Paris in 1776 at the invitation of Gluck’s opponents. Gluck's victory in this controversy was marked by the triumph of his opera “Iphigenia in Tauris” (1779) (however, the opera “Echo and Narcissus” staged in the same year failed).

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In the last years of his life, Gluck carried out the German edition of Iphigenia in Tauris and composed several songs. His last work was the psalm De profundis for choir and orchestra, which was performed under the direction of A. Salieri at Gluck’s funeral.

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Gluck's contribution In total, Gluck wrote about 40 operas - Italian and French, comic and serious, traditional and innovative. It was thanks to the latter that he secured a strong place in the history of music. The principles of Gluck's reform are set out in his preface to the publication of the score of Alceste (written, probably with the participation of Calzabigi).

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Last years On September 24, 1779, the premiere of Gluck's last opera, Echo and Narcissus, took place in Paris; however, even earlier, in July, the composer was struck by a serious illness that resulted in partial paralysis. In the autumn of the same year, Gluck returned to Vienna, which he never left. Arminius,” but these plans were not destined to come true[. Anticipating his imminent departure, around 1782 Gluck wrote “De profundis” - a short work for a four-voice choir and orchestra on the text of the 129th Psalm, which on November 17, 1787, at the composer’s funeral, was performed by his student and follower Antonio Salieri. The composer died on November 15, 1787 and was initially buried in the church cemetery of the suburb of Matzleinsdorf; later his ashes were transferred to the Vienna Central Cemetery[