Germanic influence

At the heart of the aesthetic revolution that France was to experience at the turn of the nineteenth century was the German composer Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck, whom Marie-Antoinette had invited to the royal court. He had a huge influence on the subsequent reform of French opera. Around 1830, French symphonic works were also strongly influenced by German composers: Beethoven first of all, and then Mendelssohn.