Brewer's: Gluckist and Piccinists

A foolish rivalry excited in Paris (1774-1780) between the admirers of Glück and those of Piccini—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.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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