The German musicians were, nevertheless, earlier than the German
poets, animated with a desire to extirpate the foreign and degenerate
mode fostered by the vanity of the German princes, and to give free
scope to their original and native talent. This regeneration was
effected by the despised and simple organists of the Protestant
churches. In 1717, Schroeder, a native of Hohenstein in Saxony,
invented the pianoforte and improved the organ. Sebastian Bach, in his
colossal fugues, like to a pillared dome dissolved in melody,[3]
raised music by his compositions to a height unattained by any of his
successors. He was one of the most extraordinary geniuses that ever
appeared on earth. Handel, whose glorious melodies entranced the
senses, produced the grand oratorio of the "Messiah," which is still
performed in both Protestant and Catholic cathedrals; and Graun, with
whom Frederick the Great played the flute, brought private singing
into vogue by his musical compositions. Gluck was the first composer
who introduced the depth and pathos of more solemn music into the
opera. He gained a complete triumph at Paris over Piccini, the
celebrated Italian musician, in his contest respecting the comparative
excellencies of the German and Italian schools. Haydn introduced the
variety and melody of the opera into the oratorio, of which his
"Creation" is a standing proof. In the latter half of the foregoing
century, sacred music has gradually yielded to the opera. Mozart
brought the operatic style to perfection in the wonderful compositions
that eternalize his fame.

The German theatre was, owing to the Gallomania of the period, merely
a bad imitation of the French stage. Gottsched,[4] who greatly
contributed toward the reformation of German literature, still
retained the stilted Alexandrine and the pseudo-Gallic imitation of
the ancient dramatists to which Lessing put an end. Lessing wrote his