cess 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 quoted from the Latin poet in regard to this favor from
Marie Antoinette, whose faction in music, among other names, was known
as the Greek party, "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." *

* I fear the Greeks, though offering gifts.

Beaumarchais, the brilliant author of "Figaro," had found the same
inconvenience when acting as court teacher to the daughters of Louis XV.
The French kings were parsimonious except when lavishing money on their
vices.

The action of the dauphiness, however, paved the way for a
reconciliation between Piccini and Gluck. Berton, the manager of the
opera, gave a luxurious banquet, and the musicians, side by side,
pledged each other in libations of champagne. Gluck got confidential
in his cups. "These French," he said, "are good enough people, but they
make me laugh. They want us to write songs for them, and they can't
sing." In fact the quarrel was not between the musicians but their
adherents. In his own heart Piccini knew his inferiority to Gluck.

De Vismes, Berton's successor, proposed that both should write operas on
the same subject, "Iphigenia in Tauris," and gave him a libretto. "The
French public will have for the first time," he said, "the pleasure of
hearing two operas on the same theme, with the same incidents, the
same characters, but composed by two great masters of totally different
scho