The Lighter Classics in Music by David Ewen

dance tune, first heard in the woodwind and cellos; but the first Mazurka melody soon reappears in the full orchestra. A third lively dance melody is then presented by the strings. _Ruslan and Ludmila_ also contributed a lively overture to the orchestral repertory. This opera, with libretto by the composer and several others based on a Pushkin poem, was first heard in St. Petersburg on December 9, 1842. Ruslan is a knight who is a rival of Ratmir for the love of Ludmila. Ludmila is abducted by the dwarf Tchernomor, and after Ruslan has saved her, Ludmila’s father blesses his future son-in-law. Vigorous chords lead to a dashing melody in violins, violas and woodwinds. A more lyrical second theme, almost folk-song in character, is then heard in violas, cellos and bassoons. Both themes are given a vigorous development in which the sprightly character of the overture is never allowed to lose its brisk pace or vitality. Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald Gluck was born in Erasbach, Upper Palatinate, on July 2, 1714, the son of a forester on the estate of Prince Lobkowitz. Gluck received his early music instruction in his native country from local teachers. He then earned his living playing the violin and cello in rural orchestras. In 1736 he came to Vienna where soon thereafter he began to serve as chamber musician for Prince Lobkowitz. After a period of study and travel in Italy he returned to Vienna, now to become one of its most influential musicians. In Vienna he had produced several of his early operas, all of them in the traditional Italian style of that period. But he soon drew away from the stilted conventions of the Italian opera to achieve a fusion of music and drama new to opera, as well as dramatic truth, simplicity, and directness of emotional appeal. His works in this new style, with which a new epoch in opera was launched, included _Orfeo ed Euridice_ in 1762, _Alceste_ in 1767, and _Iphigénie en Aulide_ in 1774, the last written for the Paris stage. After living in Paris from 1773 to 1779, Gluck returned to Vienna to remain there the rest of his life. During his last years he was an invalid. He died in Vienna on November 15, 1787. Gluck was a giant in the early history of opera. With Rameau, he was a pioneer in establishing music drama as opposed to formal Italian opera. _Orfeo ed Euridice_, produced in Vienna on October 5, 1762—with which Gluck first set forth his new ideas and theories about opera—is the earliest opera to have survived in the permanent repertory. A delightful _Ballet Suite_, adapted by Felix Mottl from various orchestral dances from several of Gluck’s greatest operas, is an orchestral work by which the composer is most often represented on semi-classical as well as symphonic programs. This suite includes the following: “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from _Orfeo ed Euridice_; “_Air gai_” and “_Lento_” from _Iphigénie en Aulide_; and two old baroque dances, the “Musette” and “Sicilienne” from _Armide_. The “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” is one of the loveliest of all Gluck’s melodies, and one of the most famous from 18th century opera. This is a beatific song mainly for flute solo and strings, describing Elysium, to which Orfeo has come in search of his wife, Eurydice. Fritz Kreisler’s transcription for violin and piano is entitled _Mélodie_. Sgambati arranged it for piano solo, and Gruenfeld for cello and piano. Benjamin Godard Benjamin Louis Godard was born in Paris on August 18, 1849. After attending the Paris Conservatory, he received in 1878 a municipal prize for an orchestral work, besides having his first opera produced. He wrote several operas after that, winning fame with _Jocelyn_ in 1888. He also wrote a considerable amount of chamber and orchestral music, in which his fine, sensitive lyricism is evident. He died in Cannes, France, on January 10, 1895. Among his more familiar works is the _Adagio pathétique_. This started out as a piece for violin and piano, the third of a set of compositions in op. 128. It was orchestrated by Ross Jungnickel in 1910, and is most popular in this version. This is music notable for its expressive emotion; its lyricism at times has a religious stateliness. The most famous single piece of music by Godard, however, is the “Berceuse” from his opera, _Jocelyn_. With libretto by Paul Armand and Silvestre and Victor Capoul—based on a poem by Lamartine—_Jocelyn_ was introduced in Brussels on February 25, 1888. The setting is France during the French Revolution, and concerns the love of Jocelyn, a young priest, for the daughter of a nobleman. After many inner struggles, Jocelyn decides to remain true to his calling and give up his beloved. They meet for the last time at her deathbed to which Jocelyn has been summoned to administer absolution. The “Berceuse” is a tender aria by Jocelyn (“_Cachés dans cet asile_”) in which he calls upon angels to protect his loved one. Leopold Godowsky Leopold Godowsky was born in Soshly, near Vilna, Poland, on February 13,