Gluckist and Picciʹnists

A foolish rivalry excited in Paris (1774–1780) between the admirers of Glück and those of Picciʹni—the former a German musical composer, and the latter an Italian. Marie Antoinette was a Glückist, and consequently Young France favoured the rival claimant. In the streets, coffeehouses, private houses, and even schools, the merits of Glück and Piccinini were canvassed; and all Paris was ranged on one side or the other. This was, in fact, a contention between the relative merits of the German and Italian school of music. (See Bacbuc.)