C. W. Gluck
Minuet &
Dance of the Blessed Spirits
for Flute and Orchestra

Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck was born on July 2, 1714 in Erusbach and died on November 11, 1787 in Vienna, Austria. In the Classical Period of music (1750-1825), Gluck is famous for his contribution to Opera, he wrote 45 and reformed the structure of Opera in general, returning to a simpler style.

In 1580, a group of intellectuals in Florence called the Camerata envisioned a new form which would incorporate Classical Greek drama, with chorus, staging, dance and music. The first Opera was Euridice (1600) by Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), followed by Euridice (1602) by Giulio Caccini (1546-1618) and, later, by La Favola d’Orfeo (1607) by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643); Gluck’s Orpheo ed Euridice (1762) was based on the same plot, but with a happy ending (the god of love restores Euridice’s life) and was the first of his “reform” Operas.

Minuet and Dance of the Blessed Spirits

The Minuet and Dance of the Blessed Spirits is from Orphée, a French revision of the opera, which Gluck produced more than a decade later in Paris (1774).

The DANCE (3/2 section, bars 37-72) was originally in the meter of 3/4; in this arrangement all of the rhythmic values have been doubled and the meter changed to 3/2 to allow the quarter note to remain the same (i.e., quarter = 80) throughout the entire piece.

There are several slightly different tempo suggestions in various arrangements of this work; in addition to Lento, for the MINUET: Andante and Lento dolcissimo (with suggested metronome quarter = 76 to 80); and in addition to Un poco piú Lento, for the DANCE: Lento and piú Lento (with suggested metronome eighth = 80 to 96 in 3/4).

9”X12” - 8 pages - $14.95
Piano accompaniment part - 8 pages
CD - 13 Audio tracks

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