Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (2 July 1714 –
15 November 1787) was an opera composer of the early
classical period. After many years at the Habsburg
court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical
reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many
intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years.
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.(+)
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (2 July 1714 –
15 November 1787) was an opera composer of the early
classical period. After many years at the Habsburg
court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical
reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many
intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years.
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.
The strong influence of French opera in these works
encouraged Gluck to move to Paris, which he did in
November 1773. Fusing the traditions of Italian opera
and the French national genre into a new synthesis,
Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stages. One
of the last of these, Iphigénie en Tauride, 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 he left Paris in disgust and returned
to Vienna to live out the remainder of his life.
Gluck wrote "Iphigénie en Aulide" (Iphigeneia in
Aulis) as an opera in three acts, the first work he
wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by
Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's
tragedy Iphigénie. It was premiered at the Paris
Opéra on 19 April 1774.
Although originally composed for Opera, I created this
arrangement for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
SHEET MUSIC