Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna.

Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning.

Italian Text:

O del mio dolce ardor
Bramato oggetto,
L’aura che tu respiri,
Alfin respiro.

Ovunque il guardo io giro,
Le tue vaghe sembianze
Amore in me dipinge:
Il mio pensier si finge
Le più liete speranze;
E nel desio che così
M’empie il petto
Cerco te, chiamo te, spero e sospiro

English Translation:

Oh, of my sweet ardor
You desired object!
The air which you breathe,
At last I will breathe.

Wherever my glance I turn
Your lovely features
Love for me paint a picture:
My thoughts imagine
The most happy hopes,
And in the longing which
Thus fills my breast
I seek you, I call you, I hope, and I sigh. Ah!

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