Christoph Willibald Gluck

Tell me about the place and time you lived

I was born on July 2nd 1714 in Erasbach, Germany. But in 1717 my family and I moved to Bohemia, between 1722 and 1727 my family had lived near Bohmisch-Kamnitz, and then after that, until 1736, we lived in Eisenberg. My parents were Alexander Johannes Gluck and Maria Walburga Gluck, my father was the master forester to Prince Philipp Hyazinth von Lobkowitz.

I was alive during the Enlightenment Period- The age of reason and new ways of thinking. During this time, Frederick II “the great” was crowned king of Prussia in 1740. In 1751, the first Encyclopedia was published by Voltaire, Rousseau Diderot, and d’Alembert. The Seven Years War began in 1756, where Britain and Prussia had defeated France, Spain, Austria, and Russia. The Industrial Revolution began in England in 1760.

Around 1727 I had left my home and move to Prague, I played in several churches and began university work while still continuing my musical studies. Then in the winter of 1735-36 I moved to Vienna, then to Milan; Where I studied composition with Giovanni Battista Sammartini and created many sonatas. From 1745-1746 I lived in England and created many operas and had some help from a few other great musicians such as A.F Vanneschi and George Frideric Handel, making many operas.

2. What events in your early life made you get interested in the arts?

From the time I was 12 until I was 18, I attended the Jesuit School of Kommotau, where I had music lessons as well as a good general education. I was also introduced to music by way of the church choir when I was younger.

My father had repeatedly tried to derail my attempts to play musical instruments by having me assist him in the hunt, so he obviously was not very supportive. But when I was about 13, I escaped my home and moved to Prague, where I continued my musical studies, mostly self-taught.

I loved music, particularly opera, I guess you could say that my interest in and love for music had been with me since I was born.

3. What role did mentors play in helping you develop the interests and talents you have as an artist?

One of my mentors was Giovanni Battista Sammartini, whom I had met while I was in Milan. Along with fulfilling my duties in the Melzi family chapel as a chamber musician, I was also studying composition with Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Sammartini was an italian organist and composer.

From Sammartini I learned the new Italian style of music, and together we created six trio sonatas, each consisting of two movements with a minuet as conclusion, along with other trio sonatas. He didn’t necessarily help develop my interests in arts, but he sure did help my artistic growth and knowledge.

4. What was the world of art like in your particular art field when you entered it?

To me, the Italian model had become repetitive and stale. It’s elaborate vocal style, stock characters, meager storylines, and antiquated standards, all no longer appealed to me; I set out to reform opera as it was then known.

When I had first started creating operas and taking classes in Milan, Baroque opera, or more specifically, high Baroque, was very popular. Great musicians such as George Frideric Handel had used this style in the operas Partenope, Orlando, Alcina, and many more.

In Baroque style music, melodies tend to be longer and more complex, with sudden rather than gradual dynamic changes, abstract lyricism, little stylistic unity, and a great range of rhythmical and melodical possibilities.

5. How did the major cultural, economic, and political situations of the time impact your work?

My opera La caduta de’ giganti had glorified the Duke of Cumberland, after his victory at Culloden over the forces of Prince Charles Edward. My opera-serenade La contesa dei Numi was composed in celebration of the birth of the heir to the Danish throne. My libretto for Orfeo ed Euridice was partly based on the theories and practices of D.Diderot, F.M. von Grimm, Voltaire, and Rousseau (my first reformist opera).

My operas were named in the category of ‘reform’ operas, which in fact goes deeper than the style of the opera itself. Most of them express ideals and theories of the late Enlightenment.

6. What were your major accomplishments and the methods you used in your art?

Since the Baroque period was a time for new ways of artistic and musical composition, composers were more open to experimentation and improvisation. So many of my works were “reformist” operas that parted ways from the original Italian model and began to focus on the dramatic structure opera could provide, Baroque operas.

My techniques focus on dramatizing the music with sudden dynamics and constant rhythms and/or the events taking place. I was trying to bring up to the stage what true opera should be like, without the repeated jokes and the same characters that had become stereotypical because of how often they were being used.

7. What were the key opportunities you had that led to turning points in your life and art?

When I was in Vienna in the winter of 1735-1736, I was discovered by Prince Melzi, an ardent lover of music, who accompanied me to Milan. In Milan, I played as a chamber musician for the family chapel. And while doing that, I was studying composition with Giovanni Battista Sammartini, together we made many operas.

Before then I had musical studies under Czernohorsky and maintained myself by performing at village fairs and dances in Prague. So from just by doing those things I didn't have very many musical opportunities. But with the help of Giovanni Battista Sammartini, I was making operas at rapid speeds for the public, forming only the beginning of my musical career.

In 1746, I got an opportunity to compose an opera for Dresden for the royal wedding between the Bavaria and Saxony families. The success of my work brought me to the attention of the Viennese court.

8. What hardships or roadblocks did you have to overcome in order to become an artist?

As I was growing up my father did not agree with the musical side of me, and constantly tried to pull me away from it by having me join him on the hunt. But that was but one of the hardships I had faced during my career.

Some people would say that at the time I was in England, I was a rather less than ordinary producer of Italian opera. And I had learned that arias which in their original setting had been applauded lost all effect when new words had been put into the Pasticcio. Lastly, my music style had been criticized by many people who still preferred traditional Italian style, so at times, it had been quite hard for me to try and win them over.

9. What personal stories or anecdotes best illustrates how you became successful in the arts?

When I was younger, the violoncello had attracted me, and I began to teach myself to play without any other help besides an old instruction book. Before long I had made sufficient progress which enabled me to join a troop of traveling minstrels, and from Prague we made our way to Vienna.

While this story was not a direct lead to my success in music, it led me to Vienna. And there I had been discovered by Prince Melzi, who had me work for him in his family chapel as a chamber musician; then work with Giovanni Battista Sammartini, with whom I made many successful operas.

So you see, if I had not taught myself to play that violoncello, I might not have been successful in music.

10. How did your work impact the world of art?

It is said to be that I had been a “regenerator of opera”. While rather composing the stale and repetitive Italian model, I looked to bring out the dramatic qualities opera could provide.

I had challenged the old Italian ways of opera, and started an age of newly reformed baroque operas. And with Orfeo ed Euridice, from then on I absorbed and transcended the spirit of the age of reform in which I had begun.