PART I. THE CLASSIC IDEAL

CHAPTER

I. THE REGENERATION OF THE OPERA 1

The eighteenth century and operatic convention--Porpora and Hasse--Pergolesi and the _opera buffa_--_Jommelli_, Piccini, Cimarosa, etc.--Gluck’s early life; the Metastasio period--The comic opera in France; Gluck’s reform; _Orfeo_ and _Alceste_--The Paris period; Gluck and Piccini; the Iphigénies; Gluck’s mission--Gluck’s influence; the _opéra comique_; Cherubini.

II. THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CLASSIC PERIOD 45

Classicism and the classic period--Political and literary forces--The conflict of styles; the sonata form--The Berlin school; the sons of Bach--The Mannheim reform: the genesis of the symphony--Followers of the Mannheim school; rise of the string quartet; Vienna and Salzburg as musical centres.

III. THE VIENNESE CLASSICS: HAYDN AND MOZART 75

Social aspects of the classic period; Vienna, its court and its people--Joseph Haydn--Haydn’s work; the symphony; the string quartet--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Mozart’s style; Haydn and Mozart; the perfection of orchestral style--Mozart and the opera; the Requiem; the mission of Haydn and Mozart.

IV. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 128

Form and formalism--Beethoven’s life--His relations with his family, teachers, friends and other contemporaries--His character--The man and the artist--Determining factors in his development--The three periods in his work and their characteristics--His place in the history of music.

V. OPERATIC DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY AND FRANCE 177

Italian opera at the advent of Rossini--Rossini and the Italian operatic renaissance--_Guillaume Tell_--Donizetti and Bellini--Spontini and the historical opera--Meyerbeer’s life and works--His influence and followers--Development of _opéra comique_; Boieldieu, Auber, Hérold, Adam.