GLUCK Christoph Willibald - Austrian composer, theatrical figure.
According to the pro-is-hoj-de-ny Czech. Son of the forest-nothing. In school years, he sang in the choir, learned to play on the in-st-ru-men-tah. In 1731, he entered the University of Prague (faculty of lo-gi-ki and ma-te-ma-ti-ki), in Prague he worked as a church organ ni-stoma, teaching-st-in-shaft in the use of half-non-nii of Italian ora-to-rii. From 1737 he lived in Milan, where he studied with J.B. Sam-mar-ti-ni and in 1741 us-pesh-but de-by-ti-ro-val in the te-at-re "Red-jo do-ka-le" opera "Ar-so-serks » to the libretto by P. Me-ta-sta-zio. Until 1745, he wrote operas-ry-se-ria for the theaters of Mi-la-na, Ve-ne-tion and Tu-ri-na, then he signed a contract with Co. -ro-levo-sky theater in Lon-do-ne, where in 1746 he presented 2 operas (using-pol-zo-val in them ma-te-ri-al- their Italian co-chi-not-nies). In 1747, in-se-til Dres-den, Hamburg, Ko-pen-ha-gen with the corpse of P. Min-got-ti, sp-tsia-li-zi-ro-vav-shey-sya on the-stands of opera-buff-fa and those-at-ra-li-called se-re-over at the courts of the European Monarchs. In 1749, he stepped into the corpse-pu of J.B. Lo-ka-tel-li, playing-rav-shui in the New te-at-re in Prague. Gluck's Italian operas of this-go-pe-rio-da you-de-la-yut-xia not-to-some-swarm ex-t-ra-va-gant-no-stuy of the musical language, na-ro -chi-tym is-pol-zo-va-ni-em dis-so-nan-owls (“Mi-lo-ser-die Ti-ta”, 1752, Ne-apol), step-le-niya -mi from the rules of gar-mo-nii and con-tra-point-ta (from-wes-ten recall of Me-ta-sta-zio about Gluck: “ar-hi-van-dal-naya mu- zy-ka"). Vo-cal-parties, creating-yes-vav-shie-sya in collaboration with singers, counting us on brilliant vir-tu-oz-ny tech-no-ku singing.
In 1748, at the opening of the Vienna “Burg-theater”, re-stroy-en-no-go on the day of the birth of Empress Maria Te-re- zii, was-la with a huge mustache-pe-hom used-half-not-at Gluck’s opera-ra-se-ria “Uz-nan-naya Se-mi-ra-mi-da”. In 1752, Gluck re-re-se-lil-sya in Ve-nu, becoming ka-pel-me-ste-rum of Prince Sak-sen-Hild-burg-hau-sen-sko-go. In 1755, at the invitation of Count J. Du-ratz-tso, he began to work at Bur-gtea-ter, sleep-cha-la as a ru-ko-vo - di-tel “aka-de-miy” (concert-tov), then as the author of ballet music, comic operas for the French troupe (“Imagin- maya ra-by-nya", 1758) and Italian operas, becoming-viv-shih-sya according to various tor-s-st-ven-nym in-wo-ladies. At this time, the gen-ro-vy dia-pa-zones of Gluck's creations signified but ras-shi-ril-sya. Epi-so-di-che-ski, he continued to co-chi-nyat for the at-ditches of Ri-ma, Bo-lo-ny, Floren-tion. In 8 comic operas, on-pi-san-nyh in Ve-ne, syn-te-zi-ro-val features of French comedy and Italian opera-ry-buf-fa, with -gained the experience of co-chi-non-niya mu-zy-ki into a French text. These operas, especially “Not-for-see-d-meet-cha” (1764), later performed in German, were influenced by whether on the for-mi-ro-va-nie of the Austrian zin-gsh-pi-la.
With the arrival in Ve-nu in 1761, the poet R. Kal-tsa-bid-ji began the re-for-ma-tor stage of Gluck's creation . The first of their joint pro-of-ve-de-ni-em was the pan-to-mime-ny ba-let “Don Zhu-an, or Ka-men-ny guest” (1761) , someone pro-led sen-sa-tion in Vienna and all of Europe. Day-st-ven-noy ho-reo-gra-fi D.M.G. And-jo-li-no from-ve-cha-li non-discontinuity of development and dra-matism of gluk-kov-sky pair-ti-tu-ry. Za-klyu-chi-tel-naya cha-ko-na (ta-nets fu-riy) ma-ni-fe-sti-ro-va-la "bu-ryu and on-tisk" in mu-zy-ke (from the sounds of the final numbers of the ba-le-ta for-meth-us in the sure-ty-re to the opera “Don Zhu-an” by V.A. Mo-czar- ta). Style-le-howl re-re-lom oz-na-me-no-va-la opera “Or-fey and Ev-ri-di-ka” (1762). Glitch dos-tig here is a classic simplicity and clarity of structure, non-interruption-but-sti musical development (all re-chi-ta-ti- you, in-pre-ki ka-no-us opera-ry-se-ria, is-half-nya-yut-sya with ak-com-pa-not-men-tom or-ke-st-ra); in-kal-nye parties up-ro-shche-ny and clean-shche-ny from ko-lo-ra-tour. The genre “te-at-ral-no-go feast-not-st-va” (azio-ne te-at-rale) called Gluck in-ten-siv-but use-pol-zo-wat ho -ry and pan-to-mime-nye ba-le-you (choreo-count And-jo-li-ni). His-st-ven-ny hu-doge-ni-kam-class-si-qi-stam "Greek taste" brightly appeared in the 1st scene of the opera, where in-a-hundred-new-shchi-ki str-mi-li-lis-pro-from-ve-sti an-tich-ny ri-tu-al in-gre-be-niya. The principles of Gluck's re-forms would be sis-te-ma-ti-che-ski from lo-same-us in dedication to the next opera " Al-tse-sta” (1767, published in 1768; see: Mu-zy-kal-naya es-te-ti-ka Western Europe XVII-XVIII centuries. M., 1971. S. 480-481).
Creative ex-pe-ri-men-you are pro-long-same in “Feast-not-st-ve Apollo-lo-na” (1769), created by fashion-de- whether the French opera-ry-ba-le-ta, and in the serious French opera Ifi-ge-nia in Av-li-de (1774, Paris Opera) on the libretto F. du Roule-le. Under-pi-sav contract with the Paris Opera (1773), Gluck for 6 years presented 4 new operas and 4 earlier on-pi-san-nye ( in new editions), including “Or-fey” (tra-ge-diya-opera, libretto Kal-tsa-bid-zhi translated by P.L. Mo- li-na, 1774, Paris), the comic opera “Magic de-re-vo” (libretto Mo-li-na, after J.J. Va-de, 1775, Ver- sal) and “Osa-zh-den-naya Tsi-te-ra” (opera-ra-ba-let, libretto by Sh.S. Fa-va-ra, 1775, Paris), “Al-tse-sta "(tra-ge-diya-opera, libretto of Kal-tsa-bid-zhi, translated by F. du Roule-le, 1776, Paris).
In 1779, the commander-in-zi-tor completed an opera career-e-ra and ended-cha-tel-but returned to Ve-nu. In 1781-1782, “Or-fey and Ev-ri-di-ka”, “Al-tse-sta”, “Ifi-ge-nia in Av-li-de” and “Ifi-ge-nia in Tav- ri-de "would it be is-full-not-us in honor of pre-be-va-ning in Ve-ne and Pa-ri-same Grand Duke Pavel Pet-ro-vi-cha with sup-ru- goy Ma-ri-ey Fe-do-rov-noy. By that time, Gluck had been from Russia for a long time (opera “Ki-ta-yan-ki”, ba-le-you “Don Zhu-an” and “ Alexander "would they have become-le-na in Mo-sk-ve and in St. ge in 1782, having become-le-on the opera “Or-fey and Ev-ri-di-ka”).
In his re-for-ma-tor-sky activity, Gluck strived to sub-chi-thread mu-zy-ku for-to-us drama. Us-walk-but and after-before-va-tel-but real-li-zuya this idea in the Italian opera-re-se-ria, French musical tragedy and pan-to-mim-nome ba-le-te, he, according to a single-but-soul-no-thing to me from time to time, led re-in-lu-tion in the musical theater-at-re. In-sta-nov-ki of his operas, voz-boo-yes-whether hot-s-te-tic and social-ideological-logical disputes, for-mi-ro-va- whether vra-f-blowing group-pi-rov-ki hu-doge-ni-kov, look-te-lei and kri-ti-kov (from-west-na pro-ho-div-shay in Pa- ri-ba-ta-lia “glu-ki-stov” and side-ron-ni-kov N. Pich-chin-ni - “pich-chin-ni-stov”, she is from-ra-zhe-na in “Letter-mach of the Russian-sko-go pu-te-she-st-ven-ni-ka” N.M. Ka-ram-zi-na; against-no-ka-mi Gluck would J.F. de la harpe and J.F. Mar-mon-tel). At the same time, re-form-ma glitch ideal-al-but-che-ta-las with the traditions of the French opera-ra (reliance on the musical deck-la-ma-tion, the big role of en-samb-lei, ho- ra, ba-le-ta, or-ke-st-ra) and in-fluence-la on the development of musical theater of the 19th century (L. Ke-ru-bi-ni, L. van Bet-ho-ven, G. Spon-ti-ni, R. Wagner, M.P. Mu-sorgsky). After-before-wa-te-lem glitch A. Sal-e-ri was in V-not. An-ti-te-for glitches-ko-mu in-no-ma-niyu musical drama - in the operas of V.A. Mo-king-ta, is-ho-div-she-go from pri-ori-te-ta mu-zy-ki. Opera glitch were stored in re-per-tois-re until the 1830s "Glu-kov-sky re-nes-sans" began with a sta-nov-ki in Paris- com "Te-atr li-rik" of the opera "Or-fey and Ev-ri-di-ka" (1859, 1861) edited by G. Ber-lio-za (know-to-ka and price-no- te-la creative-che-st-va glitch ) with P. Wi-ar-do-Gar-sia in the part of Or-fey.
In the many-th-different-on-the-follows of Gluck, you de-de-lyate 6 re-for-ma-tor-sky operas (except for the mentioned “Or-fairy and Ev-ri-di-ki" and "Al-tse-sty" as well as the musical drama "Pa-ris and Elena", libretto by R. Kal-tsa-bi-ji, 1770, "Bur-gtea -ter"; heroic opera "Ar-mi-da", libretto by F. Ki-no, after T. Tas-so, 1777; ri-de", libretto by Guy-a-ra, after Guy-mo-nu de la Tou-chou and Ev-ri-pi-dou, 1779; musical drama "Echo and Narcissus", libretto by L.T. von Chu-di, after Ovid, 1779; all - the Paris Opera). They are on-pi-sa-ny 19 operas-se-ria (mainly on the libretto of P. Me-ta-sta-zio), 10 se-re-over, “the-at-ral-nyh holidays” , pro-lo-gov, etc.; 9 French comic operas; pas-tic-cho and inserted arias for operas of other com-po-zi-to-ditch; about 90 ballets, performed in the framework of operatic and dramatic performances (authored by Gluck for many co- mni-tel-but); songs, including “Odes and songs of Klop-shto-ka” (1774-1775, published in 1785), spiritual compositions, including mo-tet "De pro-fundis clamavi", about 20 symphonies, trio-with-on-you.
“Before starting work, I try to forget that I am a musician,” said the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, and these words best characterize his reformist approach to composing operas. Gluck “pulled out” the opera from the power of court aesthetics. He gave it the grandeur of ideas, psychological truthfulness, depth and strength of passions.
Christoph Willibald Gluck was born on July 2, 1714 in Erasbach, in the Austrian state of Falz. In early childhood, he often moved from one place to another, depending on which of the noble estates his forester father served. From 1717 he lived in the Czech Republic. rudiments musical knowledge he received at the Jesuit college in Komotau. After graduating from it in 1731, Gluck began to study philosophy at the University of Prague and study music with Boguslav Matej Chernogorsky. Unfortunately, Gluck, who lived in the Czech Republic until the age of twenty-two, did not receive the same strong professional education in his homeland as his colleagues in Central Europe.
The insufficiency of schooling was compensated by the strength and freedom of thought that allowed Gluck to turn to the new and relevant, lying outside the legal norms.
In 1735, Gluck became a house musician in the palace of the princes Lobkowitz in Vienna. Gluck's first stay in Vienna turned out to be short-lived: at one of the evenings in the salon of the princes Lobkowitz, the Italian aristocrat and philanthropist A.M. met the young musician. Melzi. Fascinated by Gluck's art, he invited him to his home chapel in Milan.
In 1737 Gluck took up his new position in the Melzi household. During the four years he lived in Italy, he became close to the greatest Milanese composer and organist Giovanni Battista Sammartini, becoming his student and later a close friend. The guidance of the Italian maestro helped Gluck complete his musical education. However opera composer he became mainly due to his innate instinct as a musical playwright and gift of keen observation. On December 26, 1741, the Reggio Ducal Court Theater in Milan opened new season the opera "Artaxerxes" hitherto unknown to anyone by Christoph Willibald Gluck. He was in his twenty-eighth year - the age at which other composers of the 18th century managed to achieve pan-European fame.
For his first opera, Gluck chose the libretto Metastasio, which inspired many composers of the 18th century. Gluck specially added the aria in the traditional Italian manner in order to emphasize the dignity of his music to the audience. The premiere was a great success. The choice of libretto fell on "Demetrius" by Metastasio, renamed after main character in Cleonich.
Gluck's fame is growing rapidly. The Milan theater is once again eager to open its winter season with its opera. Gluck composes music on Metastasio's libretto "Demofont". This opera had such a big success, which was soon put also in Reggio and Bologna. Then, Gluck's new operas are staged one after another in the cities of northern Italy: Tigran in Cremona, Sofonisba and Hippolytus in Milan, Hypermnestra in Venice, Por in Turin.
In November 1745, Gluck appeared in London, accompanying his former patron, Prince F.F. Lobkowitz. For lack of time, the composer prepared "pasticcio", that is, he composed the opera from previously composed music. Held in 1746, the premiere of two of his operas - "The Fall of the Giants" and "Artamen" - was held without much success.
In 1748, Gluck received an order for an opera for the court theater in Vienna. Furnished with magnificent splendor, the premiere of "Recognized Semiramide" in the spring of that year brought the composer a truly great success, which became the beginning of his triumphs at the Vienna court.
The further activity of the composer is connected with the troupe of G. B. Locatelli, who commissioned him the opera Aezio to be performed at the carnival celebrations of 1750 in Prague.
The luck that accompanied the Prague production of Aezio brought Gluck a new opera contract with the Locatelli troupe. It seemed that from now on the composer is more and more closely linking his fate with Prague. However, at that time an event occurred that dramatically changed his former way of life: on September 15, 1750, he married Marianne Pergin, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese merchant. Gluck first met his future life partner back in 1748, when he was working in Vienna on "Recognized Semiramide". Despite the significant difference in age, a sincere deep feeling arose between the 34-year-old Gluck and the 16-year-old girl. Marianne inherited from her father a solid fortune made Gluck financially independent and allowed him to devote himself entirely to creativity in the future. Having finally settled in Vienna, he leaves it only to attend numerous premieres of his operas in other European cities. On all trips, the composer is invariably accompanied by his wife, who surrounded him with attention and care.
In the summer of 1752, Gluck receives a new order from the director famous theater"San Carlo" in Naples - one of the best in Italy. He writes the opera "Tito's Mercy", which brought him great success.
After the triumphant performance of Titus in Naples, Gluck returns to Vienna as a recognized master Italian opera-series. Meanwhile, the fame of the popular aria reached the capital of the Austrian Empire, arousing interest in its creator from Prince Joseph von Hildburghausen, a field marshal and musical patron. He invited Gluck to lead, as "accompanist", musical "academies" held weekly in his palace. Under the direction of Gluck, these concertos soon became one of the most interesting events the musical life of Vienna; outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists performed at them.
In 1756, Gluck went to Rome to fulfill the order of the famous Argentine theater; he was to write the music for Metastasio's Antigone libretto. At that time, a performance in front of the Roman public was a serious test for any opera composer.
Antigone was a great success in Rome, and Gluck was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur. This order, ancient in its origin, was awarded for the purpose of encouraging outstanding representatives of science and art.
IN mid-eighteenth century, the art of virtuoso singers reaches its peak, and the opera becomes exclusively a place for demonstrating the art of singing. Because of this, to a large extent, the connection between music and the drama itself was lost, which was characteristic of antiquity.
Gluck was already about fifty years old. A favorite of the public, awarded an honorary order, the author of many operas written in a purely traditional decorative style, he seemed unable to open new horizons in music. An intense thought for a long time did not break through to the surface, almost did not reflect on the character of his elegant, aristocratically cold creativity. And suddenly, at the turn of the 1760s, deviations from the conventional operatic style appeared in his works.
First, in an opera dating back to 1755 - "Justified Innocence" - there is a departure from the principles that dominated the Italian opera seria. It is followed by the ballet "Don Juan" on the plot of Molière (1761) - another harbinger of the operatic reform.
It wasn't an accident. The composer was remarkable for his amazing susceptibility to the latest trends of our time, his readiness for creative processing of a wide variety of artistic impressions.
As soon as he heard Handel's oratorios, which had just been created and were not yet known in continental Europe, in his younger years, their sublime heroic pathos and monumental "fresco" composition became an organic element of his own dramatic concepts. Along with the influences of Handel's magnificent "baroque" music, Gluck adopted from the musical life of London the endearing simplicity and apparent naivety of English folk ballads.
It was enough for his librettist and co-author of the Calzabidgi reform to draw Gluck's attention to the French lyrical tragedy, as he instantly became interested in its theatrical and poetic merits. The appearance of the French comic opera at the Vienna court was also reflected in the images of his future musical dramas: they descended from the stilted height cultivated in the opera seria under the influence of Metastasio's "reference" librettos, and became closer to real characters folk theater. The advanced literary youth, thinking about the fate of modern drama, easily involved Gluck in the circle of their creative interests, which forced him to take a critical look at the established conventions of the opera theater. Many similar examples, speaking of Gluck's acute creative susceptibility to the latest trends of modernity, could be cited. Gluck understood that music, plot development and theatrical performance, and not at all artistic singing with coloratura and technical excesses, subject to a single template.
The opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" was the first work in which Gluck implemented new ideas. Its premiere in Vienna on October 5, 1762 marked the beginning of the opera reform. Gluck wrote the recitative in such a way that the meaning of the words was in the first place, the part of the orchestra obeyed general mood scenes, and the singing static figures finally began to play, showed artistic qualities, and singing would be combined with action. The singing technique has become much simpler, but it has become more natural and much more attractive to the listeners. The overture in the opera also contributed to the introduction to the atmosphere and mood of the subsequent act. In addition, Gluck turned the choir into a direct constituent part the flow of drama. The wonderful uniqueness of "Orpheus and Eurydice" in its "Italian" musicality. The dramatic structure here is based on complete musical numbers, which, like the arias of the Italian school, captivate with their melodic beauty and completeness.
Following Orpheus and Eurydice, Gluck five years later completes Alceste (libretto by R. Calzabidgi after Euripides) - a drama of majestic and strong passions. Civic theme here it is carried out consistently through the conflict between social necessity and personal passions. Her drama is concentrated around two emotional states - "fear and sorrow" (Rousseau). There is something oratorical in the theatrical and narrative static character of Alceste, in a certain generalization, in the severity of its images. But at the same time there is a conscious desire to free oneself from the dominance of completed musical numbers and follow the poetic text.
In 1774, Gluck moved to Paris, where, in an atmosphere of pre-revolutionary enthusiasm, his operatic reform was completed and under the undeniable influence of the French theater culture a new opera "Iphigenia in Aulis" (according to Racine) was born. This is the first of three operas created by the composer for Paris. In contrast to Alcesta, the theme of civil heroism is built here with theatrical versatility. The main dramatic situation is enriched with a lyrical line, genre motifs, lush decorative scenes.
High tragic pathos is combined with everyday elements. In the musical structure are remarkable individual moments dramatic climaxes that stand out against the background of more "impersonal" material. "This is Racine's Iphigenia, remade into an opera," the Parisians themselves spoke of Gluck's first French opera.
In the next opera, Armide, written in 1779 (libretto by F. Kino), Gluck, in his own words, "tried to be ... rather a poet, painter than a musician." Turning to the libretto of the famous opera by Lully, he wanted to revive the techniques of the French court opera on the basis of the latest, developed musical language, new principles of orchestral expressiveness and the achievements of his own reformist dramaturgy. The heroic beginning in "Armida" is intertwined with fantastic paintings.
“I wait with horror, no matter how they decide to compare Armida and Alcesta,” Gluck wrote, “... one should cause a tear, and the other should give sensual experiences.”
And, finally, the most amazing "Iphigenia in Tauris", composed in the same 1779 (according to Euripides)! The conflict between feeling and duty is expressed in it in psychological terms. Pictures of mental confusion, suffering, brought to paroxysms, form the central moment of the opera. The picture of a thunderstorm - a characteristically French touch - is embodied in the introduction by symphonic means with an unprecedented acuteness of foreboding tragedy.
Like the nine inimitable symphonies that “come together” into a single concept of Beethoven’s symphonism, these five operatic masterpieces, so related to each other and at the same time so individual, form a new style in musical dramaturgy XVIII century, which went down in history under the name of Gluck's opera reform.
In Gluck's majestic tragedies, which reveal the depth of human spiritual conflicts and raise civic issues, a new idea of musical beauty was born. If in the old court opera of France "they preferred ... wit to feeling, gallantry to passions, and the grace and color of versification to the pathos required ... by the situation", then in Gluck's drama high passions and sharp dramatic collisions destroyed the ideal orderliness and exaggerated elegance of the court opera style .
Each deviation from the expected and customary, each violation of standardized beauty, Gluck argued with a deep analysis of the movements of the human soul. In such episodes, those bold musical techniques were born that anticipated the art of the "psychological" XIX century. It is no coincidence that in an era when tens and hundreds of operas in a conventional style were written by individual composers, Gluck created only five reformist masterpieces over a quarter of a century. But each of them is unique in its dramatic appearance, each sparkles with individual musical finds.
Gluck's progressive efforts were not introduced into practice so easily and smoothly. The history of operatic art even included such a concept as the war of picchinists - supporters of old operatic traditions - and glitchists, who, on the contrary, saw the realization of their long-standing dream of a genuine musical drama gravitating towards antiquity in the new operatic style.
Adherents of the old, "purists and aesthetes" (as Gluck branded them), were repelled in his music by the "lack of refinement and nobility." They reproached him for “loss of taste”, pointed to the “barbaric and extravagant” nature of his art, to “cries of physical pain”, “convulsive sobs”, “screams of sorrow and despair”, which replaced the charm of a smooth, balanced melody.
Today these accusations seem ridiculous and baseless. Judging by the historical detachment of Gluck's innovation, one can be convinced that he preserved those artistic techniques, which were developed in the opera house over the previous century and a half and formed the "golden fund" of its expressive means. In Gluck's musical language, there is an obvious continuity with the expressive and pleasing melody of Italian opera, with the elegant "ballet" instrumental style of French lyrical tragedy. But in his eyes, "music's true purpose" was "to give poetry more new expressive power". Therefore, striving with maximum completeness and truthfulness to translate into musical sounds dramatic idea of the libretto (and the poetic texts of Calzabigi were saturated with genuine drama), the composer persistently rejected all the decorative and stencil techniques that contradicted this. “Inappropriately applied beauty not only loses most of its effect, but also harms, leading astray the listener who is not already in the position necessary to follow the dramatic development with interest,” Gluck said.
And the composer's new expressive techniques really destroyed the conditional typed "beautifulness" of the old style, but on the other hand, they maximized the dramatic possibilities of music.
It was Gluck who appeared in the vocal parts with speech, declamatory intonations that contradicted the “sweet” smooth melody of the old opera, but truthfully reflecting the life of the stage image. The closed static performances of the "concert in costumes" style, separated by dry recitatives, disappeared forever from his operas. Their place was taken by a new close-up composition built according to the scenes, contributing to the through musical development and emphasizing musical-dramatic climaxes. The orchestral part, doomed to a miserable role in the Italian opera, began to participate in the development of the image, and in Gluck's orchestral scores, hitherto unknown dramatic possibilities of instrumental sounds were revealed.
“Music, music itself, has passed into action...” Gretry wrote about Gluck's opera. Indeed, for the first time in the century-long history of the opera house, the idea of drama was embodied in music with such fullness and artistic perfection. The astonishing simplicity that determined the appearance of every thought expressed by Gluck also turned out to be incompatible with the old aesthetic criteria.
Far beyond this school, in opera and instrumental music different countries Europe, aesthetic ideals, dramatic principles, forms of musical expression developed by Gluck were introduced. Outside of the Gluckian reform, not only the operatic, but also the chamber-symphonic works of the late Mozart, and, to a certain extent, the oratorio art of the late Haydn would not have matured. Between Gluck and Beethoven, the continuity is so natural, so obvious that it seems as if the musician of the older generation bequeathed to the great symphonist to continue the work he had begun.
Gluck spent the last years of his life in Vienna, where he returned in 1779. The composer died on November 15, 1787 in Vienna. The ashes of Gluck, first buried in one of the surrounding cemeteries, were subsequently transferred to the central city cemetery, where all the prominent representatives of musical culture Vienna.
1. five more, please...
Gluck dreamed of making his debut with his opera at the English Royal Academy of Music, formerly known as the Bolshoi opera house. The composer sent the score of the opera "Iphigenia in Aulis" to the directorate of the theatre. The director was frankly frightened by this unusual - unlike anything - work and decided to play it safe by writing the following answer to Gluck: “If Mr. Gluck undertakes to present at least six equally magnificent operas, I will be the first to contribute to the presentation of Iphigenia. Without this, no, for this opera transcends and destroys all that has existed before."
2. a little bit wrong
Some fairly wealthy and distinguished dilettante, out of boredom, decided to take up music and, for a start, composed an opera ... Gluck, to whom he gave it for judgment, returning the manuscript, said with a sigh:
- You know, my dear, your opera is quite nice, but ...
Do you think she's missing something?
- Perhaps.
- What?
- I suppose poverty.
3. easy exit
Passing somehow past a store, Gluck slipped and broke the window glass. He asked the owner of the store how much the glass cost, and learning that it was one and a half francs, he gave him a coin of three francs. But the owner did not have change, and he already wanted to go to a neighbor to exchange money, but was stopped by Gluck.
"Don't waste your time," he said. “You don’t need to surrender, I’d rather break the glass for you one more time…”
4. "the main thing is that the suit fits ..."
At the rehearsal of Iphigenia in Aulis, Gluck drew attention to the unusually overweight, as they say, "non-stage" figure of the singer Larrivé, who performed the part of Agamemnon, and did not fail to notice this aloud.
“Patience, maestro,” said Larrivé, “you haven't seen me in a suit. I'm willing to bet anything that I'm unrecognizable in a suit.
At the very first rehearsal in costume, Gluck shouted from the stalls:
- Larriv! You bet! Unfortunately, I recognized you without difficulty!
GLUCK (Gluck) Christoph Willibald (1714-1787), German composer. Worked in Milan, Vienna, Paris. Gluck's operatic reform, carried out in line with the aesthetics of classicism ( noble simplicity, heroics), reflected new trends in the art of the Enlightenment. The idea of subordinating music to the laws of poetry and drama had a great influence on Musical Theatre 19th and 20th centuries. Operas (over 40): Orpheus and Eurydice (1762), Alceste (1767), Paris and Helena (1770), Iphigenia in Aulis (1774), Armida (1777), Iphigenia in Tavrida" (1779).
GLUCK(Gluck) Christoph Willibald (Cavalier Gluck, Ritter von Gluck) (July 2, 1714, Erasbach, Bavaria - November 15, 1787, Vienna), German composer.
Formation
Born in 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; this was followed by the premieres of several more operas in different cities of Italy. In 1845 Gluck was commissioned to compose two operas for London; in England he met G.F. In 1846-51 he worked in Hamburg, Dresden, Copenhagen, Naples, Prague. In 1752 he settled in Vienna, where he took the position of concertmaster, 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 amusements. In 1759, Gluck received an official position in the court theater and soon received a royal pension.
fruitful community
Around 1761, Gluck began collaborating with the poet R. Calzabidgi and the choreographer G. Angiolini (1731-1803). In their first joint work, the ballet "Don Giovanni", they managed to achieve an amazing artistic unity of all components of the performance. A year later, the opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" appeared (libretto by Calzabidgi, dances staged by Angiolini) - the first and best of Gluck's so-called reformist operas. In 1764, Gluck composed the French comic opera An Unforeseen Meeting, or The Pilgrims from Mecca, and a year later, two more ballets. In 1767 the success of "Orpheus" was confirmed by the opera "Alceste" also on the libretto of Calzabidgi, but with dances staged by another outstanding choreographer - J.-J. Noverre (1727-1810). The third reformist opera Paris and Helena (1770) was a more modest success.
In Paris
In the early 1770s, Gluck decided to apply his innovative ideas to French opera. In 1774, Iphigenia at Aulis and Orpheus, the French edition of Orpheus and Eurydice, were staged in Paris. Both works received enthusiastic reception. Gluck's series of Parisian successes was continued by the French edition of Alceste (1776) and Armide (1777). The last work was the occasion for a fierce controversy between the "glukists" 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 Taurida (1779) (however, the opera Echo and Narcissus staged in the same year failed). IN last years In his lifetime, Gluck produced 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 baton 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 firm place in the history of music. The principles of Gluck's reform are outlined in his preface to the edition of the score of "Alcesta" (probably written with the participation of Calzabidgi). They boil down to the following: music should express the content poetic text; orchestral ritornellos and, especially, vocal embellishments, which only divert 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 were embodied in the opera Orpheus, where recitatives with orchestral accompaniment, ariosos and arias are not separated from each other by sharp boundaries, and individual episodes, including dances and choirs, are combined into large scenes with through dramatic development. Unlike the plots of the opera series with their intricate intrigues, disguise and sidelines, the plot of "Orpheus" appeals to simple human feelings. In terms of skill, Gluck was noticeably inferior to such contemporaries as K. F. E. Bach and J. Haydn, but his technique, for all its limitations, fully met his goals. His music combines simplicity and monumentality, uncontrollable energy pressure (as in the "Dance of the Furies" from "Orpheus"), pathos and sublime lyrics.
Gluck's biography is interesting for understanding the history of development classical music. This composer was a major reformer of musical performances, his ideas were ahead of their time and influenced the work of many other composers of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Russian ones. Thanks to him, the opera acquired a more harmonious look and dramatic completeness. In addition, he worked on ballets and small musical compositions- sonatas and overtures, which are also of considerable interest to contemporary performers who willingly include their excerpts in concert programs.
Youth years
Gluck's early biography is not well known, although many scholars are actively investigating his childhood and adolescence. It is reliably known that he was born in 1714 in the Palatinate in the family of a forester and was educated at home. Also, almost all historians agree that already in childhood he showed outstanding musical ability and knew how to play musical instruments. However, his father did not want him to become a musician, and sent him to the gymnasium.
However, the future wanted to connect his life with music and therefore left home. In 1731 he settled in Prague, where he played the violin and cello under the direction of the famous Czech composer and theorist B. Chernogorsky.
Italian period
Gluck's biography can be conditionally divided into several stages, choosing as a criterion the place of his residence, work and active creative activity. In the second half of the 1730s he came to Milan. At this time, one of the leading Italian music authors was G. Sammartini. Under his influence, Gluck began to write own compositions. According to critics, during this period of time he mastered the so-called homophonic style - musical direction, which is characterized by the sound of one main theme while the others play a supporting role. Gluck's biography can be considered extremely rich, as he worked hard and actively and brought a lot of new things to classical music.
Mastering the homophonic style was very important achievement composer, as in the European music school the period under consideration was dominated by polyphony. During this period, he creates a number of operas ("Demetrius", "Por" and others), which, despite their imitation, bring him fame. Until 1751 he toured with an Italian group, until he received an invitation to move to Vienna.
Opera reform
Christoph Gluck, whose biography should be inextricably linked with the history of the formation of operatic art, did a lot to reform this musical performance. In the XVII-XVIII centuries, the opera was a magnificent musical spectacle with beautiful music. Much attention was paid not so much to the content as to the form.
Often, composers wrote exclusively for a specific voice, not caring about the plot and semantic load. Gluck strongly opposed this approach. In his operas, music was subordinated to the drama and individual experiences of the characters. In his work Orpheus and Eurydice, the composer skillfully combined the elements ancient tragedy with choral numbers and ballet performances. This approach was innovative for its time, and therefore was not appreciated by contemporaries.
Vienna period
One from the 18th century is Christoph Willibald Gluck. The biography of this musician is important for understanding the formation of the classical school that we know today. Until 1770 he worked in Vienna at the court of Marie Antoinette. It was during this period that his creative principles took shape and received their final expression. Continuing to work in the genre of comic opera traditional for that time, he created a number of original operas in which he subordinated the music to poetic meaning. These include the work "Alceste", created after the tragedy of Euripides.
In this opera, the overture, which had an independent, almost entertaining meaning for other composers, acquired a great semantic load. Her melody was organically woven into the main plot and set the tone for the entire performance. This principle was guided by his followers and musicians of the 19th century.
Paris stage
The 1770s are considered the most eventful in Gluck's biography. A brief summary of his history must necessarily include a brief description of his participation in the dispute that flared up in Parisian intellectual circles over what an opera should be like. The dispute was between supporters of the French and Italian schools.
The former advocated the need to bring drama and semantic harmony to a musical performance, while the latter emphasized vocals and musical improvisations. Gluck defended the first point of view. Following his creative principles, he wrote new opera based on the play by Euripides "Iphigenia in Tauris". This work was recognized as the best in the composer's work and strengthened his European fame.
Influence
In 1779, due to a serious illness, the composer Christopher Gluck returned to Vienna. The biography of this talented musician cannot be imagined without mentioning him. latest works. Even when seriously ill, he composed a number of odes and songs for the piano. In 1787 he died. He had many followers. The composer himself considered A. Salieri his best student. The traditions laid down by Gluck became the basis for the work of L. Beethoven and R. Wagner. In addition, many other composers imitated him not only in composing operas, but also in symphonies. Of the Russian composers, M. Glinka highly valued the work of Gluck.
(1714-1787) German composer
Gluck is often called the reformer of the opera, which is true: after all, he created new genre musical tragedy and wrote monumental operatic works, which were very different from what was created before him. Although formally referred to as a composer of the Viennese classical school, Gluck influenced the development of English, French and Italian musical art.
The composer came from a family of hereditary foresters who led a nomadic life, constantly moving from place to place. Gluck was born in the town of Erasbach, where at that time his father served on the estate of Prince Lobkowitz.
Gluck Sr. had no doubt that Christoph would follow in his footsteps, and was very upset when it turned out that the boy was more interested in music. In addition, he showed remarkable musical abilities. Soon he began to study singing, as well as playing the organ, piano and violin. These lessons were given to Gluck by the musician and composer B. Chernogorsky who worked on the estate. Since 1726, Christophe sang in the church choir of the Jesuit church in Komotaui while studying at the Jesuit school. Then, together with B. Chernogorsky, he went to Prague, where he continued his musical studies. The father never forgave his son for his betrayal and refused to help him, so Christophe had to earn a living on his own. He worked as a chorister and organist in various churches.
In 1731, Gluck began to study at the philosophical faculty of the university and at the same time compose music. Improving his skills, he continues to take lessons from Montenegrin.
In the spring of 1735, the young man ends up in Vienna, where he meets the Lombard prince Melzi. He invites Gluck to work in his home orchestra and takes him with him to Milan.
Gluck stayed in Milan from 1737 to 1741. Acting as a house musician in the Melzi family chapel, he simultaneously studied the basics of composition with the Italian composer G. B. Sammartini. With his help, he masters a new Italian style of music instrumentation. The fruit of this collaboration was six trios of sonatas, published in London in 1746.
Gluck's first success as an opera composer came in 1741, when his first opera Artaxerxes was staged in Milan. Since then, the composer has created one or even several honors every year, which are staged with constant success on the stage of the Milan theater and in other cities of Italy. In 1742 he wrote two operas - "Demetrius" and "Demophon", in 1743 one - "Tigran", but in 1744 he created four at once - "Sofonis-ba", "Hypermnestra", "Arzache" and "Poro ”, and in 1745 another one - “Phaedra”.
Unfortunately, the fate of Gluck's first works turned out to be sad: only separate fragments. But it is known that the talented composer managed to change the tone of traditional Italian operas. He brought energy and dynamism to them and at the same time retained the passion and lyricism inherent in Italian music.
In 1745, at the invitation of Lord Middlesex, director of the Italian opera at the Haymarket Theatre, Gluck moved to London. There he met with Handel, who was then the most popular opera composer in England, and they arranged a kind of creative competition among themselves.
On March 25, 1746, they gave a joint concert at the Hay Market Theatre, at which Gluck's compositions and Handel's organ concerto, performed by the composer himself, were presented. True, relations between them remained strained. Handel did not recognize Gluck and once ironically remarked: "My cook knows counterpoint better than Gluck." However, Gluck treated Handel quite friendly and found his art divine.
In England, Gluck studied English folk songs, the melodies of which he later used in his work. In January 1746, the premiere of his opera The Fall of the Giants took place, and Gluck instantly became the hero of the day. However, the composer himself did not consider this work of genius. It was a kind of potpourri of his early works. Early ideas were embodied in Gluck's second opera Artamena, staged in March of the same year. At the same time, the composer directs the Italian opera group Mingotti.
With her, Gluck moves from one European city to another. He writes operas, works with singers, conducts. In 1747, the composer staged the opera "The Wedding of Hercules and Hebe" in Dresden, the next year in Prague he staged two operas at once - "Recognized Semiramide" and "Ezio", and in 1752 - "Mercy of Titus" in Naples.
Gluck's wanderings ended in Vienna. In 1754 he was appointed to the post of court bandmaster. Then he fell in love with Marianne Pergin, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy Austrian entrepreneur. True, for some time he has to leave for Copenhagen, where he again composes an opera serenade in connection with the birth of the heir to the Danish throne. But back in Vienna, Gluck immediately marries his beloved. Their marriage was happy, although childless. Gluck later adopted his niece Marianne.
In Vienna, the composer leads a very busy life. He gives concerts every week, performing his arias and symphonies. In the presence of the imperial family, the premiere of his serenade opera, performed in September 1754 at Schlosshof Castle, is brilliant. The composer composes one opera after another, especially since the director of the court theater entrusted him with writing all theatrical and academic music. During a visit to Rome in 1756, Gluck was knighted.
In the late fifties, he suddenly had to change his creative manner. From 1758 to 1764 he wrote several comic operas to librettos sent to him from France. In them, Gluck was free from traditional operatic canons and the obligatory use of mythological stories. Using the melodies of French vaudevilles, folk songs, the composer creates bright, cheerful works. True, over time, he abandons the folk basis, preferring a purely comic opera. This is how the composer's original operatic style is gradually formed: a combination of melody rich in nuances and a complex dramatic pattern.
Encyclopedists occupy a special place in Gluck's work. They wrote for him the libretto for the dramatic ballet Don Giovanni, which they staged in Paris. famous choreographer J. Noverre. Even earlier, he staged Gluck's ballets The Chinese Prince (1755) and Alexander (1755). From a simple plotless divertissement - an application to the opera - Gluck turned the ballet into a vivid dramatic performance.
Gradually improved and his composing skills. Work in the genre of comic opera, composing ballets, expressive music for orchestra - all this prepared Gluck to create a new musical genre- musical tragedy.
Together with the Italian poet and playwright R. Calzabidgi, who then lived in Vienna, Gluck created three operas: in 1762 - "Orpheus and Eurydice", later, in 1774, her french version; in 1767 - "Alceste", and in 1770 - "Paris and Helena". In them, he refuses cumbersome and noisy music. Attention is focused on the dramatic plot and the experiences of the characters. Each character receives a completed musical characteristic, and the whole opera turns into a single action that captivates the audience. All its parts are strictly commensurate with each other, the overture, according to the composer, as if warns the viewer about the nature of the future action.
Usually, an opera aria looked like a concert number, and the artist only tried to present it to the public in a favorable way. Gluck introduces extensive choruses into the opera, emphasizing the intensity of the action. Each scene acquires completeness, each word of the characters carries a deep content. Of course, Gluck would not have been able to carry out his plans without complete mutual understanding with the librettist. They work together, honing every verse and sometimes every word. Gluck wrote directly that he attributed his success to the fact that professionals worked with him. Previously, he did not attach such importance to the libretto. Now music and content exist in an inseparable whole.
But Gluck's innovations were not recognized by everyone. Fans of Italian opera initially did not accept his operas. Only the Paris Opera dared to stage his works at that time. The first of these is "Iphigenia in Aulis", followed by "Orpheus". Although Gluck has been appointed official court composer, he himself travels to Paris from time to time and follows productions.
However, the French version of "Alceste" was unsuccessful. Gluck falls into depression, which intensifies with the death of his niece, and in 1756 returns to Vienna. His friends and rivals are divided into two opposing parties. Opponents are led by the Italian composer N. Piccinni, who specially comes to Paris to enter into a creative competition with Gluck. It all ends with Gluck completing Artemis, but tearing up the sketches for Roland after learning of Piccinni's intentions.
The war of Glukists and Picchinnists reaches its climax in 1777-1778. In 1779, Gluck created Iphigenia in Tauris, which brought him the greatest stage success, and Piccinni staged Roland in 1778. Moreover, the composers themselves were not at enmity, they were on friendly terms and respected each other. Piccinni even admitted that sometimes, as, for example, in his opera Dido, he relied on some musical principles, characteristic of Gluck. But in the autumn of 1779, after the public and critics coolly accepted the premiere of the opera Echo and Narcissus, Gluck left Paris forever. Returning to Vienna, he first felt a slight malaise, and the doctors advised him to stop his active musical activity.
For the last eight years of his life, Gluck lived without a break in Vienna. He revised his old operas, one of them, Iphigenia in Taurida, was staged in 1781 in connection with the visit of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. In addition, he publishes his odes for voice with piano accompaniment to words by Klopstock. In Vienna, Gluck meets Mozart again, but, as in Paris, friendly relations between them do not arise.
The composer has worked last days life. In the eighties he had several cerebral hemorrhages one after another, from which he ultimately died before he could complete the cantata " Last Judgment". His funeral was held in Vienna with a large gathering of people. A kind of monument to Gluck was the premiere of the cantata, which was completed by his student A. Salieri.
