Christoph Willibald Gluck, a towering figure in the history of classical music, was born on July 2, 1714, in Erasbach, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria. His life unfolded against the backdrop of the Baroque and Classical periods, and his contributions to opera would forever shape the course of musical history.
Gluck's early musical education began under the guidance of his uncle, who recognized his nephew's prodigious talent and arranged for him to study music in Prague. Later, he continued his studies in Italy, where he absorbed the operatic traditions of the time, particularly those of Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) was a German composer of the Classical era, renowned for his significant contributions to opera reform. Born on July 2, 1714, in Erasbach, Upper Palatinate, in the Holy Roman Empire, Gluck displayed musical talent at an early age. His early education in music began under the guidance of his uncle, who recognized and nurtured his nephew's budding abilities.
In his youth, Gluck studied composition and violin at the Jesuit seminary in nearby Bohemia. His education continued in Milan, where he deepened his knowledge of opera. His early operas, composed in the Italian style, gained attention for their melodic beauty and dramatic expression.
The Classical period was an era of classical music between roughly 1730 and 1820.[1]
The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment,[2] but counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially later in the period. It also makes use of style galant which emphasized light elegance in place of the Baroque's dignified seriousness and impressive grandeur. Variety and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before and the orchestra increased in size, range, and power.
The harpsichord was replaced as the main keyboard instrument by the piano (or fortepiano). Unlike the harpsichord, which plucked strings with quills, pianos strike the strings with leather-covered hammers when the keys are pressed, which enables the performer to play louder or softer and play with more expression; in contrast, the force with which a performer plays the harpsichord keys does not change the sound. Instrumental music was considered important by Classical period composers. The main kinds of instrumental music were the sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony (performed by an orchestra) and the solo concerto, which featured a virtuoso solo performer playing a solo work for violin, piano, flute, or another instrument, accompanied by an orchestra. Vocal music, such as songs for a singer and piano (notably the work of Schubert), choral works, and opera (a staged dramatic work for singers and orchestra) were also important during this period.
The best-known composers from this period are Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert; other notable names include Luigi Boccherini, Muzio Clementi, Antonio Salieri, Leopold Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Christoph Willibald Gluck. Ludwig van Beethoven is regarded either as a Romantic composer or a Classical period composer who was part of the transition to the Romantic era. Franz Schubert is also a transitional figure, as were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Luigi Cherubini, Gaspare Spontini, Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber and Nicolo Paganini. The period is sometimes referred to as the era of Viennese Classic or Classicism (German: Wiener Klassik), since Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Salieri, Schubert, and Beethoven all worked in Vienna.
Great Composers of the Classical Period
Tracklist:
1 - Mozart - Concerto No. 5
2 - Schubert - Piano Sonata D 959
3 - Haydn - Quartet in D major Hob. III 34
4 - Mozart - Concerto No. 1
5 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Concerto in G
6 - Haydn - String Quartets Op. 74
7 - Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 2
8 - Cherubini - Sonata for two Organs in G major
9 - Boccherini - String Quartet No. 7 in G minor Op. 33
10 - Mozart - Divertimento in E-flat major K. 113
11 - François Adrien Boieldieu - The White Lady - I Overture
12 - Haydn - Piano Trio in G major Hob. XV25
13 - Boccherini - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra In B flat Major
14 - Mozart - Flute Concerto in G Major, K. 313 - I. Allegro maetoso
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Christoph Willibald Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice - Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia,[4] both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using simpler recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.
The strong influence of French opera encouraged Gluck to move to Paris in November 1773. Fusing the traditions of Italian opera and the French (with rich chorus) into a unique synthesis, Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stage. Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) was a great success and is generally acknowledged to be his finest work. Though he was extremely popular and widely credited with bringing about a revolution in French opera, Gluck's mastery of the Parisian operatic scene was never absolute, and after the poor reception of his Echo et Narcisse (1779), he left Paris in disgust and returned to Vienna to live out the remainder of his life.
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Christoph Willibald Gluck - Sgambati Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (born 2 July, baptized 4 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using simpler recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.
The strong influence of French opera encouraged Gluck to move to Paris in November 1773. Fusing the traditions of Italian opera and the French (with rich chorus) into a unique synthesis, Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stage. Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) was a great success and is generally acknowledged to be his finest work. Though he was extremely popular and widely credited with bringing about a revolution in French opera, Gluck's mastery of the Parisian operatic scene was never absolute, and after the poor reception of his Echo et Narcisse (1779), he left Paris in disgust and returned to Vienna to live out the remainder of his life.
For more:
http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.blogspot.com