Great Italian and French Composers | Page 7

Marmontel for a libretto. The poet rearranged
one of Quinault's tragedies, "Roland," and Piccini undertook the
difficult task of composing music to words in a language as yet
unknown to him. Marcnontel was his unwearied tutor, and he writes in
his "Memoirs" of his pleasant yet arduous task: "Line by line, word by
word, I had everything to explain; and, when he had laid hold of the
meaning of a passage, I recited it to him, marking the accent, the
prosody, and the cadence of the verses. He listened eagerly, and I had
the satisfaction to know that what he heard was carefully noted. His
delicate ear seized so readily the accent of the language and the
measure of the poetry, that in his music he never mistook them. It was
an inexpressible pleasure to me to see him practice before my eyes an
art of which before I had no idea. His harmony was in his mind. He
wrote his airs with the utmost rapidity, and when he had traced its
designs, he filled up all the parts of the score, distributing the traits of
harmony and melody, just as a skillful painter would distribute on his
canvas the colors, lights, and shadows of his picture. When all this was
done, he opened his harpsichord, which he had been using as his
writing-table; and then I heard an air, a duet, a chorus, complete in all
its parts, with a truth of expression, an intelligence, a unity of design, a
magic in the harmony, which delighted both my ear and my feelings."
Piccini's arrival in Paris had been kept a close secret while he was

working on the new opera, but Abbé du Rollet ferreted it out, and
acquainted Gluck, which piece of news the great German took with
philosophical disdain. Indeed, he attended the rehearsal of "Roland;"
and when his rival, in despair over his ignorance of French and the
stupidity of the orchestra, threw down the baton in despair, Gluck took
it up, and by his magnetic authority brought order out of chaos and
restored tranquillity, a help as much, probably, the fruit of
condescension and contempt as of generosity.
Still Gluck was not easy in mind over this intrigue of his enemies, and
wrote a bitter letter, which was made public, and aggravated the war of
public feeling. Epigrams and accusations flew back and forth like
hailstones.*
* See article on Gluck in "Great German Composers."
"Do you know that the Chevalier (Gluck's title) has an Armida and
Orlando in his portfolio?" said Abbé Arnaud to a Piccinist.
"But Piccini is also at work on an Orlando," was the retort.
"So much the better," returned the abbé, "for then we shall have an
Orlando and also an Orlandino," was the keen answer.
The public attention was stimulated by the war of pamphlets, lampoons,
and newspaper articles. Many of the great literati were Piccinists,
among them Marmontel, La Harpe, D'Alembert, etc. Suard du Rollet
and Jean Jacques Rousseau fought in the opposite ranks. Although the
nation was trembling on the verge of revolution, and the French had
just lost their hold on the East Indies; though Mirabeau was thundering
in the tribune, and Jacobin clubs were commencing their baleful work,
soon to drench Paris in blood, all factions and discords were forgotten.
The question was no longer, "Is he a Jansenist, a Molinist, an
Encyclopædist, a philosopher, a free-thinker?" One question only was
thought of: "Is he a Gluckist or Piccinist?" and on the answer often
depended the peace of families and the cement of long-established
friendships.

Piccini's opera was a brilliant success with the fickle Parisians, though
the Gluckists sneered at it as pretty concert music. The retort was that
Gluck had no gift of melody, though they admitted he had the
advantage over his rival of making more noise. The poor Italian was so
much distressed by the fierce contest that he and his family were in
despair on the night of the first representation. He could only say to his
weeping wife and son: "Come, my children, this is unreasonable.
Remember that we are not among savages; we are living with the
politest and kindest nation in Europe. If they do not like me as a
musician, they will at all events respect me as a man and a stranger."
To do justico to Piccini, a mild and timid man, he never took part in the
controversy, and always spoke of his opponent with profound respect
and admiration.
III.
Marie Antoinette, whom Mme. du Barry and her clique looked on as
Piccini's enemy, astonished both cabals by appointing Piccini her
singing-master, an unprofitable honor, for he received no pay, and was
obliged to give costly copies of his compositions to the royal family.
He might have