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Gluck

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) visited London in 1745, where Handel reportedly dismissed him with the observation that he knew no more counterpoint than his cook. He went on to become one of the most consequential opera reformers of the century, his Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) and the preface to Alceste (1767) arguing that opera should serve dramatic truth rather than vocal display. His arrival in Paris in the 1770s split audiences between his supporters and those of the Italian composer Piccinni in one of the great musical culture wars of the age. The Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo remains a staple of the strings repertoire.

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