Christoph Willibald Gluck was born in Erasbach, Upper Palatinate, on July 2, 1714, the son of a forester on the estate of Prince Lobkowitz. Gluck received his early music instruction in his native country from local teachers. He then earned his living playing the violin and cello in rural orchestras. In 1736 he came to Vienna where soon thereafter he began to serve as chamber musician for Prince Lobkowitz. After a period of study and travel in Italy he returned to Vienna, now to become one of its most influential musicians. In Vienna he had produced several of his early operas, all of them in the traditional Italian style of that period. But he soon drew away from the stilted conventions of the Italian opera to achieve a fusion of music and drama new to opera, as well as dramatic truth, simplicity, and directness of emotional appeal. His works in this new style, with which a new epoch in opera was launched, included Orfeo ed Euridice in 1762, Alceste in 1767, and Iphigénie en Aulide in 1774, the last written for the Paris stage. After living in Paris from 1773 to 1779, Gluck returned to Vienna to remain there the rest of his life. During his last years he was an invalid. He died in Vienna on November 15, 1787.
Gluck was a giant in the early history of opera. With Rameau, he was a pioneer in establishing music drama as opposed to formal Italian opera. Orfeo ed Euridice, produced in Vienna on October 5, 1762—with which Gluck first set forth his new ideas and theories about opera—is the earliest opera to have survived in the permanent repertory.
A delightful Ballet Suite, adapted by Felix Mottl from various orchestral dances from several of Gluck’s greatest operas, is an orchestral work by which the composer is most often represented on semi-classical as well as symphonic programs. This suite includes the following: “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from Orfeo ed Euridice; “Air gai” and “Lento” from Iphigénie en Aulide; and two old baroque dances, the “Musette” and “Sicilienne” from Armide.
The “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” is one of the loveliest of all Gluck’s melodies, and one of the most famous from 18th century opera. This is a beatific song mainly for flute solo and strings, describing Elysium, to which Orfeo has come in search of his wife, Eurydice. Fritz Kreisler’s transcription for violin and piano is entitled Mélodie. Sgambati arranged it for piano solo, and Gruenfeld for cello and piano.
Benjamin Godard
Benjamin Louis Godard was born in Paris on August 18, 1849. After attending the Paris Conservatory, he received in 1878 a municipal prize for an orchestral work, besides having his first opera produced. He wrote several operas after that, winning fame with Jocelyn in 1888. He also wrote a considerable amount of chamber and orchestral music, in which his fine, sensitive lyricism is evident. He died in Cannes, France, on January 10, 1895.
Among his more familiar works is the Adagio pathétique. This started out as a piece for violin and piano, the third of a set of compositions in op. 128. It was orchestrated by Ross Jungnickel in 1910, and is most popular in this version. This is music notable for its expressive emotion; its lyricism at times has a religious stateliness.
The most famous single piece of music by Godard, however, is the “Berceuse” from his opera, Jocelyn. With libretto by Paul Armand and Silvestre and Victor Capoul—based on a poem by Lamartine—Jocelyn was introduced in Brussels on February 25, 1888. The setting is France during the French Revolution, and concerns the love of Jocelyn, a young priest, for the daughter of a nobleman. After many inner struggles, Jocelyn decides to remain true to his calling and give up his beloved. They meet for the last time at her deathbed to which Jocelyn has been summoned to administer absolution. The “Berceuse” is a tender aria by Jocelyn (“Cachés dans cet asile”) in which he calls upon angels to protect his loved one.
Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky was born in Soshly, near Vilna, Poland, on February 13, 1870. A prodigy pianist, he attended the Berlin High School for Music, after which he made his American debut in Boston in 1884. Additional study took place in Paris with Saint-Saëns. Godowsky then launched his career as a mature concert pianist with performances throughout the world of music. He achieved international renown not only as a virtuoso but also as a teacher of the piano, at the Chicago Conservatory and the Vienna Academy. His concert career ended in 1930 when he was stricken by a slight paralysis of the hand. As a composer, Godowsky was most famous for his suites for the piano, the most famous being Triakontameron, Java, and Renaissance. He also produced a library of remarkable transcriptions for the piano. He died in New York City on November 21, 1938.