- Howard, Patricia. Gluck: An Eighteenth-Century Portrait in Letters and Doc-
uments. New York: Oxford U.P., 1995. xiv, 271p. ISBN 0-19-81635-1.
ML410 .G5 H668.
“Not a biography [but] a selection of material on which a biography might be
based,” this assemblage is highly valuable. It includes letters, reviews, and
memoirs—almost none available before in English—arranged in chronological
order with commentary. Bibliography of about 250 items, index.
Operas in General
- Newman, Ernest. Gluck and the Opera: A Study in Musical History.London:
Dobell, 1895. xx, 300p. Reprints, London: Gollancz, 1967; Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood, 1976; New York: AMS, 1978. ISBN (Greenwood) 0-8371-8849- - ML410 .G5 N3.
A valuable older study, including biography but concentrating on the operas.
Genesis (letters quoted), program notes, reception. Accounts of the aesthetic
theory and conventions of opera in Gluck’s time are of interest. Footnoted but
without bibliography. Worklist, index of names and topics. - Howard, Patricia. Gluck and the Birth of Modern Opera. New York: St. Mar-
tin’s, 1963. 118p. ML410 G5 H6.
A general survey of the operas and their background; genesis, program notes,
40 musical examples. Useful list of the operas and ballets with premiere infor-
mation. Minor bibliography, name index. - Berlioz, Hector. Gluck and His Operas, with an Account of Their Relation to
Musical Art.Trans. Edwin Evans. London: Reeves, 1915. xiv, 167p. ML410
.B5 A543.
Essays on Gluck taken from A travers chants, études musicales, adorations,
boutades et critiques,by Berlioz (Paris: Levy, 1862). Enlightened and perceptive
reactions to Orphée(p.1–34) and Alceste(p.35–161), resulting from revivals of
the operas in Paris, directed by Berlioz. Without notes, bibliography, or index. - Abert, Hermann. “Glucks italienische Opern bis zum Orfeo.” Gluck-Jahrbuch
2 (1916): 1–25.
Argues that the early group of pre-Orfeooperas were influenced by Sammar-
tini, while the next group may have been guided by Hasse. Anticipations of the
reform operas are pointed out. - Kurth, Ernst. “Die Jugendopern Glucks bis Orfeo.” Studien zur Musikwis-
senschaft1 (1913): 193–277.
A thorough background study and technical analysis of 23 works produced
from 1741 to 1760; reprinted from the 1908 edition of Gluck’s works. Notes
and extended musical examples. - Brown, Bruce Alan. Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna. New York:
Oxford U.P., 1991. xvii, 525p. ISBN 0-19-3164-15–9. ML1723.8 .V6 B76.
Between 1754 and 1764 a French troupe was in residence in Vienna, directed
by Giacomo Durazzo, with Gluck as its music director, conductor, and
Cristoph Willibald Gluck 177