DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

GLOVER GLUCK 183
the Holy Scriptures,' publislied by JetTerys ;
and his setting of LoTigfello^\''s * Excelsior ' is
not without merit.
Stephen Glover, who was never very robust,
retired in early life to the country ; but his
death took place in London (Bayswater), when
he was ftfty-eight, on Dec. 7, 1870.
His music received that mere drawing-room
popularity wliich proclaimed it worthless as representative
of genuine national song on the one
hand, and as the etfort of a pioneer of culture on
the other. His success in the narrow field of
his labours was enormous, and has probably not
been equalled, in the publisher's sense, by any
composer of the present day, although all generations
sutler from musicians who regard the
expediency of the moment as their natural law.
It is due to Stephen Glover to say, while considering
his works in this connection, _ that
little evidence of power to do better things
appears therein. L. n. Ji.
GLOVER, William Howard, born at Kilturn,
London, June 6, 1S19, was a son of Mrs.
Glover, the celebrated actress. He learned the
violin under Wagstatf, leader of the Lyceum
band, and began life by a long tour on the
continent, after which he returned to England
and led a desultory career for some years in
London and the provinces— teaching, playing,
conducting, composing, and even appearing on
the stage in opera. He was for many years
musical critic to tire Morning Post. His chief
works were 'Tam O'Shanter,' a cantata produced
by the New Philharmonic Society, July 4, 1855,
and performed at the Birmingham Festival of
the same year, the operas of ' Ruy Bias,' produced
at Covent Garden, Oct. 31, 1861, and
'Aminta, ' at the Haymarket Theatre; 'Once
too often,' operetta at Drury Lane, Jan. 20,
1862; 'The Coquette"; ' Palomita ' (Xew
York) ; Overtures to ' '
' Manfred '
and Comala
numerous songs, romances, etc. [He arranged
performances of Beethoven's ' Pastoral Symphony,'
with pictorial and choregraphical illustrations
in 1863, and of 'Israel in Egj'pt ' on
a somewhat similar plan in 1865.] In 1868
Gloyer quitted England for New York, where
he was conductor of Niblo's orchestra, and died
Oct. 28, 1875. w. H. H. [additions from
Dkt. of Nat. Blog., etc.]
GLUCK, Christoph "Wili.ibald, Ritter
TON, born July 2, 1714, baptized July 4, at
"Weidenwang, near Neumarkt, in the Upper
Palatinate. His father, Alexander, and his
mother, Walburga, belonged to the household
of Prince Lobkowitz, and it was at his castle
of Eisenberg that the ttiture reformer of the
lyric drama passed his early days. At. twelve
he was sent for six years to the Jesuit school
at Kommotau in Bohemia, where he studied
classics, and had his first lessons in singing,
the violin, harpsichord, and organ. In 1732
be went to Prague, where he continued his
musical education under Czernohorsky, and also
learned the violoncello ; maintaining himself
in the meanwhile by singing in church, playing
the violin at the peasants' dances in the neighbouring
villages, and giving concerts in the
larger towns near Prague. In 1736 he went
to Vienna, and at the house of Prince Lobkowitz
was fortunate enough to meet Prince Melzi, a
distinguished amateur, who engaged him for
his private band, took liim to Milan, and placed
liim with Ct. B. Sammartini to complete his
studies in harmony. Gluck soon began to write
operas ^—'Artaserse' (Milan), 1741 ; 'Demetrio'
(Venice) and ' Demofoonte ' (Milan), 1742;
' Artamene ' (Crema), in 1743; 'La Finta
Schiava ' (in collaboration), (Venice), 'Ipermesti-a,'
' Sofonisba ' (Milan), in 1744 ;
' and Poro '
(Turin), 1744. All these and ' ' Ippolito (Milan,
Jan. 1745) were well received, and in consequence
of their success he was invited in 1745
to London as composer for the 0]iera at the
Haymarket. Here he produced ' La Caduta
de' Giganti ' (Jan. 7, 1746), 'Artamene' (re-
written), and a pasticcio, ' Piramo e Tisbe,' all
without success, Handel declaring that the
music was detestable, and that the composer
knew 'no more counterpoint than his cook'
Waltz, who, however, was a fair bass singer.
Counterpoint was never Gluck's strong point,
but the works just named had not even origin-
ality to recommend them. He also ap]ieared
on April 23, 1746, at the Haymarket Theatie
in the unexpected chai'acter of a performer
on the musical glasses, accompanied by the
orchestra (see the Gtiieral Achrrltscr, March 31,
and H. Valpole's letter to Mann, March 28).
[Harmonica.] But his journey to England,
mortifying as it was to his vanity, exercised an
important influence on Gluck's career, for it
forced him to reflect on the nature of his gifts,
and eventually led him to change his style.
The pasticcio taught liim tliat an air, though
effective in the opera for which it was written,
may fail to make any impression when transferred
to a dilferent situation and set to dilferent words.
A visit to Paris shortly after gave him the opportunity
of hearing Rameau's operas ; and in
listening to the French composer's admiraljly
apjiropriate recitatives, he came to the conclusion
that the Italian opera of that time was but a
concert, for which, as the Abbe Arnaud hapjlly
expressed it, the drama furnished the jiretext.
Returning to Vienna by way of Hamburg and
Dresden [where ' Le Kozze d' Ercole e d' Ebe '
was produced in June 174 7], he applied himself
to the study of iesthetics as connected with
music, and of the language and literature of
various countries, taking care at the same time
to frequent the most intellectual society within
his reach. ' Semiraniide riconosciuta ' (Vienna,
1748) is a decided step in advance, and in it
1 The list of works ^ven here haa been corrected from M.
Wutnuerme'a theiiiatio catalogue.