Dissonance in the Republic of Letters - The Querelle Des Gluckistes Et Des Piccinnistes (Hardcover)

Eighteenth-century French cultural life was often characterised by quarrels, and the arrival of Viennese composer Christoph Wilibald Gluck in Paris in 1774 was no exception, sparking a five-year pamphlet and press controversy which featured a rival Neapolitan composer, Niccolo Piccinni. However, as this study shows, the Glick-Piccinni controversy was about far more than which composer was better suited to lead French operatic reform.