1746 to 1762 he wrote a large number of operas, with varying success
so far as performance was concerned, but with great and lasting
benefit to his style and fame, as was shown when his "Orpheus" was
first produced, Oct. 5, 1762. Its success determined him at once to
acquaint the musical world with his purpose to reform the opera by
making it dramatically musical instead of purely lyric, thus paving
the way for the great innovator of Baireuth. "Alceste," produced in
1767, was the first embodiment of these ideas. Strong criticism
greeted it, to which he replied with "Iphigénie en Aulide," written in
1772, and performed for the first time in Paris two years later, under
the auspices of Marie Antoinette, who had once been his pupil. It was
followed by "Orpheus and Eurydice," adapted from his earlier work of
the same name, which met with brilliant success. In 1777 he brought
out "Armide." It aroused an unprecedented excitement. Piccini was at
that time in Paris. He was the representative of the old Italian
school. His partisans gathered about him, and a furious war was waged
between the Gluckists and Piccinists for three or four years; the
combatants displaying a bitterness of criticism and invective even
worse than that which Wagner brought down upon his devoted head. When
Gluck brought out his great work, "Iphigénie en Tauride," in 1779,
however, the Piccinists quitted the field and acknowledged the
reformer's superiority. "Echo et Narcisse" was written in the same
year, but "Iphigénie en Tauride" was his last great work. He retired
shortly afterwards to Vienna, where he died Nov. 15, 1787.


ORPHEUS.

"Orpheus," the libretto by the Italian poet Calzabigi, was first
produced at Vienna, Oct. 5, 1762, and for the first time outlined the