=Influence of Gluck=.—The influence exerted by Gluck was far-reaching and permanent. The reform he initiated did not create a school—it did far more; it _profoundly affected all schools_. With no immediate followers among the composers of his time he stood alone, as he stands today, one of the most commanding figures in musical history. His _Orfeo_ marks the beginning of a new era by rescuing a great and important form of art from a decadence which had robbed it of legitimate power and effect. The opera more than any other form of music is dependent upon popular favor for existence. It is therefore peculiarly susceptible to influences which tend to lower artistic standards. Gluck, however, made it impossible that it should ever again sink to the level of the mass of crudities and puerilities from which he lifted it. REFERENCE. Oxford History of Music, Vol. IV. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. Give an account of the introduction of opera into Germany. Why did German composers develop slowly? Describe the early German opera forms. Who was the chief agent in a change? Give an account of Handel’s work in connection with German opera. What had been the influence of singers? What were the influences to cause Gluck to set about opera reform? Give an account of “Orfeo.” Why did Gluck go to Paris and what success did he have there? What was the influence of Gluck upon the future of the opera? It will be noted that the Thirty Years’ War in Germany interfered with the development of the Opera. Frederick the Great’s grandfather and father laid the foundations of the Prussian kingdom. In France, Gluck’s works carry us up to the period of social and political agitation preceding the French Revolution. In England, the House of Hanover is becoming more firmly established on the throne; in America, the period is that of the struggles between the French and English colonists. LESSON XXIII. MOZART TO ROSSINI. =The Opera after Gluck=.—After Gluck the first great name is that of =Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart= (1756-1791). Haydn had indeed written a number of operas, but they were, in the main, light in character and exercised no influence whatever on the development of the form. At the age of twelve, Mozart had composed two operas, but the first to receive public performance was _Mitridate, Re di Ponto_ (Mithridates, King of Pontus), which was produced at Milan two years later under his own direction. This was followed by others, but these early works do not call for any extended mention. Though they abound in melody and show a maturity remarkable in so young a composer, they were frankly written to please the taste of the time and do not in any essentials depart from the accepted Italian style then in favor, as fixed by Scarlatti and his contemporaries.