Gluck, Christoph Willibald von

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Bohemian-German composer. His series of ‘reform’ operas moved music away from the usual practices of the day, in which the interests of singers were the most important considerations. He felt that music should serve poetry by means of expression and follow the situations of the story without interrupting the action. He therefore replaced the endless recitatives with orchestral accompaniments, which helped improve the dramatic flow. In 1762 his Orfeo ed Euridice/Orpheus and Eurydice revolutionized the 18th-century idea of opera by paying more attention to the dramatic aspects of opera and less attention to the formal musical aspects. It was followed by Alceste/Alcestis (1767) and Paride ed Elena/Paris and Helen (1770).

In 1774 his Iphigénie en Aulide/Iphigenia in Aulis, produced in Paris, France, brought to a head the fierce debate over the future of opera in which Gluck's French style had the support of Marie Antoinette, while his Italian rival Niccolò Piccini had the support of Madame du Barry. With Armide (1777) and Iphigénie en Tauride/Iphigenia in Tauris (1779), Gluck won a complete victory over Piccini.