The operas by Ch.W. Gluck: on the parody and borrowing technic in the musical theatre of 18th century

Abstract

The main issue of article is the technique of reuse of the musical material in the 18th century operas through works by Ch.W. Gluck. It focuses upon two problems: 1) the self-quotation in the Gluck’s works, i.e. borrowing of musical pieces or their parts from one opera to another; 2) the influence of Gluck’s music on composers of his time. These problems are examined in a number of Gluck’s operas such as “Ezio” (1750), “La clemenza di Tito” (1752), “Antigono” (1756), “Orfeo ed Euridice” (1762), “Iphigénie en Tauride” (1779) as well as in the version of “Orfeo ed Euridice” revised by J.Ch. Bach (1774) and the opera “Orfeo ed Euridice” by F. Bertoni (1776). The author comes to a conclusion that the parody technique in Gluck’s operas manifests itself in the variety of forms from the countertexture method to the fundamental reworking. At the same time the material transferred from the earlier operas seria to reform musical dramas is incorporated into the new concepts very organically. The version of “Orfeo” revised by J.Ch. Bach demonstrates the rare example in the history of music when pasticcio becomes in fact a hot aesthetical discussion indicating a turning point in the evolution of opera genre.

Keywords: 18th century opera, Ch.W. Gluck, parody