Celebrated today for his historical significance as the one composer who did most to effect the transition between baroque and classical opera, Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) was, in his lifetime, both controversial and colourful. The documents portray a man of enormous physical energy, relish for good food and good company, and passion for his art.

Patricia Howard draws on a variety of contemporary sources in an attempt to construct a portrait of one of the most interesting musicians of the eighteenth century.

The basis of the book is the body of letters to and from Gluck. Also included are a wealth of factual documents and informal anecdotes, not easily accessible in the original German, French, or Italian, and almost none of which has ever been translated. The material has been arranged with the aim of providing readers with a lively, continuous narrative of Gluck's life, while at the same time indicating the principal locations of the published and unpublished sources.