Gluck: An Eighteenth-Century Portrait in Letters and Documents

This book brings together a variety of eighteenth century sources--principally letters to and from Gluck--to construct a portrait of one of the most interesting musicians of that century. Celebrated today for his historical significance, as the composer who did most to effect the transition from baroque to classical opera, Gluck in his lifetime was both a controversial and a colorful figure. Besides the letters, the book includes a wealth of factual documents and informal anecdotes, not easily accessible in the original German, French and Italian languages. Everything has been arranged and translated to provide readers with a lively, continuous narrative.