Show The Music Student Abro Abroad I IiI 1 Return to Operatic I and Gluck By Pietro WA I I II E have ha taken taleen brief excursions V w WE y into the origin and history of Instruments Instruments In- In and have ha glanced has has- thy into the tho evolution e of musical cpm cpm- m- m L Now let Zet us turn back to the eighteenth century and consider ithe the changes In operatic forms torms brought about b by some nomo very great s-re-at reformers If It the they were not great musicians r tf In 1 1722 when the I Frenchman Ram Ram- 3 au began his wonderful Inventions In With chords there were two schools of ot pora oera quite as vitally opposed d to each r other then as they are aro now now the French Und And the tho Italian The French paid paM ax- ax remo attention to th the story of ot th the opera l-opera Op opera a. a the scenery and costumes and ande esPecially e to the ballet As to the music that was altogether Incidental hll the Italian Italian then then a as today today- aid most of ot their stress on tho the lovely ely voices and the music written for tor those The Tho Italians car cared d der er very ery little about scenery or costumes and the theor or orchestra was of ot no Importance what- what ver er Most Moat of ot tho thu European countries preferred and patronized tho the Italian schools although on one got very tired ot of the sameness of ot the melodies Yet tilts the star singers and tho the beautiful r made up for tor many other As Aft yet ct there was no German k operatic school although the tho Germans German had light opera which they called Now low the public as 88 always took I UI f cheerfully whatever was provided for tor forI I ft It preferring then as ns now the tho lighter U forms of ot musical entertainment But the ithe musicians themselves were vere far tar 5 from satisfied and tb they y goaded each other on to further and finer efforts 0 and an and reforms using tho lash of or cism to rouse tho flagging interest of at 0 each other and tho the public Handel was up In England in 1733 5 pleading leading musical England taking taking- snuff 1 and preparing to become the greatest 0 Composer of oratorio music in the world Mozart was not yet born and amI n the Frenchman Lully was dead and V gone There came into Paris at this r time a musical reformer named Rameau His mission was to reform J harmon SOle of ot Production y Down Don In Ital where Hameau studied fand and traveled he found the they Vero ero very ery particular as to the composition ant and i of ot their numerous and POP- POP 3 l ular tular operas Not more than half a dozen people were allowed on tho stage at one ono time Each Ench scene must finish with an air or melody No winger Minger was vas allowed to sing two airs one following the other and every net act must finish with a chorus or a 0 dance Another thing that must have been somewhat amusing It If not confusing if each singer could troll out his own t particular air or part In th the chorus or 5 duct duet in his own language So that ono one might be singing in French ono one In InGerman German while still others trilled and turned In Italian No one cared Tho The story Etory was perfectly familiar to all nil tn ta ithe the and the voice olce was the great thing Tho ho human voice has always alwa's been admired Ly th the Italians to the point of ot adoration And In those days the composer u was a a. mere more puppet for tor the to fling back and forth fUIth between I i th themselves em s elves s. s V Whatever cr Ii a t e v er I insertions n s e r t to ns 0 or r omissions were desired by th the tho singers were vere made at ont once To TI such lengths lenS vas Avas this custom carried that th these old operas were as full tull of ot trills and runs in and ml scoops up and down as the old Scrollwork patterns on a n Utah porch built in th the SOs It is an artistic law that all development devel ol cornea comes In answer to a a. need 1 t f When the people got their new neVo o operas aras they the were so delighted with them that I I m tho they didn't care whether r they were p grave Era or gay good or bad Then came J. J the gradual evolution o of ot the orchestra Fund and of ot Instruments And Ad the delight In Inthe the ithe Instrument as a novelty once satis- satis fled mod then camo came a demand for tor bettor better performers 1 and they thoy In n turn demanded d 1 better compositions composition So that each improvement Im- Im provement pIo called for another and so each cach aided and assisted In tho the growth J. J i of ot the other Composers Component In I I The eighteenth century tury k kept pt composers composers compos- compos ers ers In the background and most music written th then n clearly clearl- arranged 11 simply sim Ini- Ini pi ply to show off ort In singers erl and the few solo Instrumentalists Tho The old Italian op operas raJ are arc Toil full Of t examples of tunca cut right off ore in th the middle to allow tho lie singer r to tl fly up uti to notes or down to notes with all nIl sorts of whirligigs 8 and on OIL the Wa way Tills This style of ot singing ha has been finally fastened on to the rare and much hl high h soprano voice which Is coloratura na-meau na took music as a el very serious business lie was vas one of or precocious musical children Was born horn in 1683 and died in 1764 lIt lie was a both hoth organist and violinist t. t which h Ich gave 0 him a sound I 0 lint bun foun foundation n- n dation to build on lie wrote organ orAan and clavier ler pieces while lC ic c was still very young oung lie He b became came the he Paris Parl court or organise or- or ganis' ganis In 1733 and wrote his first opera from a libretto b by Voltaire and Voltaire and It W was S A fl t Biblical text ut at that Ho Ito wrote roto n m army operas none pune of ot which have o lived ed all of them more or less following Lully In style yet et tho the thon n vast t discoveries he Was wan making had hall their place In nil all his later published works and were adopted d b by mu musicians In every cry conn country try What hat were those changes For myself my my- self seU I have never b been cn sa satisfied tidIed with ho tho statement of a a. fact J I want ant to know why h it is 15 so and vind 1 wont re results flow from It Jt So let me mc tell you OU Just how liow things were and what did to better r them Before Bachs Bach's ha day as we talked about somo some time a ago 10 the tuning of ot instruments Instruments in instruments In- In was an Individual affair Tho slight alight difference for or Instance between F sharp and G flat was never nc evened e up So that when you wanted to pla play In the tho ke key of or G you ou had to have o an instrument sp specially tuned for that purpose purpose pur pur- pose so also alao when you yon wanted to lo pla plaIn play In F you ou needed ono one with that special tuning timing Bach tun tuned d the I F sharp up a shade and the G flat lat down clown a n shad and amI so 80 made the two Into int ore one note Neither elther offends the ear eor w when cn played In either cither tho the F or G scale l Evolution of ot Chords Following this wl e adjustment of ot in instrumental instrumental In- In tone values came camo the evolution evo o lution of chords as an Independent part of ot music Not as a musical fence for tor forthe the tho voice ol o or even cn the melody to rest upon Lon J but a a. distinct st ct part put of ot music itself uio next step was 10 to o navo o llOr harmonize with the tho ono one preceding and tho ho one following it Fut Put for fOI on hundred hun hun- dred years earB after this the chords were let alono alone because the public adored a tune so iO much that thc they gave l no rio thought ht or encouragement to cho unless chords they too too set forth a a. melody Then came lie He discovered co a most Interesting nt phenomenon in musical music music- al acoustics J Ho Ito Ie told lold the musicians and and the tho public Incidentally that Incidentally that t no noone noone one ono note nott lived cd to Itself or died to Itself I Interesting discovery that thal for fOl a n. be believer believer be- be liever In Individualism IndivIdualism which which however how how- ever evor Rameau was not hOW I Now s suppose you ou tl try the experiment he proposed and that he ho had all nil Europe I trying In no time after ho he announced It H. Strike lower lowar C below the staff st r-n r rna n na a piano and then put your ear elJ fr very close and listen You will hear a f lint t I echo of ot the tho C above th then m G. G C e. e U L' U. U G Gand Gand Gand and B flat lat running running- up far tar above the tho staff and all making a natural chord Th The results of this announcement were extraordinary He lie also musicians that lint tho the chords of O. O C and andE E wore alike In structure even when struck at different points In the scale In other words one was upside down tho the other downside up and both th w were r but variants of ot tl tie tho o first t C. C E and G. G The Th Importance of ot th these so two propositions can scarcely lie he 10 estimated Rameau continued to write his court operas with tho the same merry morry tunes that were so popular with the French But Buthe ut he put In all sorts of ot new now arrangements of ot chords and these made the rollicking dance tunes full tull of ot charm anI and ard novelty Prepared Way n For Jor Gluck All this prepared the way for the greater operatic reformer who TV was as a a. aGerman aGerman German educated In Italy and doing his life work in France His ills name was Christoph Gluck He was born In liB near Nuremberg He He died In 1787 Gluck wa was ns not at all precocious no nor j I was he lie the son of or musical parents Ills father was a gamekeeper and the hi V I got his musical because of ur his fine line voice used a aH a n child In the Hie Jesuit school he attended He lie was nas as 37 i I I old wrote an bore before he I opera and It ItIs is often said he lie w wasted the first half of ot his life lite In o oJ of old established mast masters rs H lie lId 1 1 ed VJ an and aHl 1 conducted In Milan Inan Jl London Jondon hagen Rome Naples and Vienna be- be foro fore going to Paris In 1 1774 ij when he was sixty years cars old And ho hu w went nt rl ri H h hon on composing and producing operas till 1781 when ho lie was 77 ii years years' CU old His masterpiece produced during I the fierce ope operatic war Dr between bet his own followers followers' and In 1778 lisS wn everlasting e fame tame for Cor What hal wn was the nature of Clucks Cluck's reforms re re- forms Let Lpt me make the tho lie answer In simple non terms Gluck 8 saw the strong and the w weak al points in both the French and the Italian Hallan schools of mu music lc B Being a G German Ger man he possessed the calm caIrn Judicial r-I r mind and being also alo a musician of ot rare ral ability ho he combined the b best st of ot hoth both and rejected reJect much of tho thi 3 3 of or both In Field Cluck Gluck studied Lully's and I works by the hour He lie had his harpsichord harpsichord chord taken Into the thc fields when at his country place arid and surrounded ed only by bythe bythe the birds and Insects ho he worked out I his theories Ills His thoughts about the Ideal opera are arc preserved cd to lo us He says tAYS that t the tho first tiling thing Is a n good stron strong story story story-or or I libretto Next the music must be written writ writ- tIt ten so that lint It expresses tho the Ideas of ot the thc story The tunes must not be cut cutup cutup up to please pleas the thc singers ers and lot let th them hem m I show off everywhere e but arranged e so sob aj as b to fit It the words and the plot No Kol I trills nOI nor runs must be used unless the they I belong right where It would add to the effectiveness eness of the thc stor story I Next he hc Insists that the tho orchestra mutt murt pIa play an overture e ind and j Indeed all the tho mu music lc must Indicate what I th the story portrays portra 8 If It the dramas drama's ac acHon action ac- ac Hon tion Is 15 tragic sp must the thc music he be Gloomy Gloom terrible actions must bo be accompanied b by one ono sort of ot mont ment love lo scenes by Liv another I merit ment anil ad tune tunc character so that there may be bo many contrasts This of ot course was in substance Monteverdi's cl claim lm a I hundred years cars before only onh he had such sucha a n limited musical foundation Gluck took the thc pianoforte right out of the or orchestra or- or r- r chestra and wrote his chords to acc m- m pan pany recitations and to fill till In all the gaps galls Gluck Invented In Instruments or variants van vari I ants of ot the prevailing alling ones an and added man many instruments to fill UD tin the gap Sall left when the piano A- A harpsichord was I taken taleen away Naturally all this was not cas easy Critics public and singers ah ah yes yos Ih the despoiled singers singers rose rose up In solid re rebellion re- re I hellion bellion against this Italian German n- n I French musical reformer To find a aman aman man who was determined that drama I and music should stand an equal c chance and wl o had tho the genius the prestige c and the power to set sot his Ideas In motion was unbelievable And there I was war wal on Yes an actual war war war-or of musical fac tac- fac- fac Th rh The old Italian school 0 of music music- lovers 10 at tho the French court enrolled themselves under the banner of or the king headed b by the old Italian whom the they imported for that purpose while whilo Gluck Gluck proud proud overbearing powerful powerful pow pow- erful erCul old Gluck k then over o 60 mar 60 mar marshaled 1 his hosts under the thc patronage of ot his constant friend and ally Marie 1 Antoinette and a merr merry war it was Finally both musicians were set to write music to tho the same samo libretto Iphi ehla text adapted from Racine and Gluck used his stor story scenes cenes choruses solo singers and arid chords w th such consummate skill and charm that even his rival rl proclaimed him the vietor vie vic Ictor tor Ills declaration rallon might well hay have been boon wor worded ed In the tho modern expression I The Tho whole is 15 greater r than any anyone ono one of Its parts Such then was Gluck All nations nation I claim him all musicians acclaim him I II I fc |