Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)
An opera composer, initiated many
reforms that laid the foundations of later opera composers, but had little
immediate effect on the composers of the time. Gluck, after writing
in the traditional Italian style, finally came to the conclusion that the
dramatic force of the libretto must be the most important aspect of opera.
To achieve this he made the following innovations:
1) he
eliminated virtuosity,
substituting lyric simplicity
2) he
strove to create musical portraits of
his characters and their feelings
3) he
returned to the use of plots taken from mythology
--
plots that avoid
the complex counterplots and minor intrigues of Neapolitan opera
4) he
made the recitative more musically expressive
5) he
used the instruments of the orchestra as a
tonal palette,
creating the proper mood and atmosphere by tonal
coloring
6) he employed the chorus
to create dramatic intensity
7) he
made the overture an introduction to the mood
and spirit of the opera
His most important works were "Orfeo ed Euridice"
(1762); "Alceste" (1767); and "Armide"
(1777).
The "Preface to Alceste" was an important treatise
on opera. In it Gluck sought to establish the aesthetics of
his musical theories concerning opera. He also gave an account of
what he believed to be serious abuses of the true purpose of opera in the
Italian school.