Download or read book Richard Wagner written by Martin Geck and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-09-18 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[An] intriguing exploration of the composer’s life and thought as exemplified by his music. An excellent biography.” —Library Journal Best known for the four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner (1813–83) was a conductor, librettist, theater director, and essayist, in addition to being the composer of some of the most enduring operatic works in history. Though his influence on the development of European music is indisputable, Wagner was also quite outspoken on the politics and culture of his time. His ideas traveled beyond musical circles into philosophy, literature, theater staging, and the visual arts. To befit such a dynamic figure, acclaimed biographer Martin Geck offers here a Wagner biography unlike any other, one that strikes a unique balance between the technical musical aspects of Wagner’s compositions and his overarching understanding of aesthetics. A landmark study of one of music’s most important figures “People who would like to know more about Wagner, and people who have loved his music for years . . . will find a great deal in this book to enjoy and to admire.” —Tablet “Geck describes a Wagner who is grounded, focused and even cautious, a savvy realist and ironist rather than a flamboyant, flailing ideologue . . . Suffused with his readings of contemporary productions of the operas, Geck’s musical analyses are succinct and superb” —New York Times “As an editor of Wagner’s Complete Works, Geck brings a deep familiarity with the composer to his task.” —Weekly Standard “A thoroughly approachable yet consistently provocative study.” —Thomas S. Grey, editor of The Cambridge Companion to Wagner
Download or read book The Life of Richard Wagner written by Ernest Newman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newman's Life of Wagner, published between 1933 and 1947, the culmination of forty years' research, is a classic biography.
Download or read book Richard Wagner written by Derek Watson and published by Schirmer Trade Books. This book was released on 1981 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the events and people, successes and failures, of Wagner's life. Draws on primary sources from the Wagner family archives to show a man of great personal charm--and of overbearing egoism, selfishness and cruelty. His support for the revolutions of 1848 forced him into exile, but he easily won the fervent support of kings and emperors.
Download or read book Richard Wagner My Life written by Richard Wagner and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1987-09-24 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reprint of the first English paperback edition of Richard Wagner's autobiography.
Download or read book Opera and Drama written by Richard Wagner and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1995-01-01 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With Richard Wagner, opera reached the apex of German Romanticism. Originally published in 1851, when Wagner was in political exile, Opera and Drama outlines a new, revolutionary type of musical stage work, which would finally materialize as The Ring of the Nibelung. Wagner's music drama, as he called it, aimed at a union of poetry, drama, music, and stagecraft. ø In a rare book-length study, the composer discusses the enhancement of dramas by operatic treatment and the subjects that make the best dramas. The expected Wagnerian voltage is here: in his thinking about myths such as Oedipus, his theories about operatic goals and musical possibilities, his contempt for musical politics, his exaltation of feeling and fantasy, his reflections about genius, and his recasting of Schopenhauer. ø This edition includes the full text of volume 2 of William Ashton Ellis's 1893 translation commissioned by the London Wagner Society.
Download or read book Richard Wagner and the Jews written by Milton E. Brener and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-01-27 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is well known that Richard Wagner, the renowned and controversial 19th century composer, exhibited intense anti-Semitism. The evidence is everywhere in his writings as well as in conversations his second wife recorded in her diaries. In his infamous essay "Judaism in Music," Wagner forever cemented his unpleasant reputation with his assertion that Jews were incapable of either creating or appreciating great art. Wagner's close ties with many talented Jews, then, are surprising. Most writers have dismissed these connections as cynical manipulations and rank hypocrisy. Examination of the original sources, however, reveals something different: unmistakeable, undeniable empathy and friendship between Wagner and the Jews in his life. Indeed, the composer had warm relationships with numerous individual Jews. Two of them resided frequently over extended periods in his home. One of these, the rabbi's son Hermann Levi, conducted Wagner's final opera--Parsifal, based on Christian legend--at Wagner's request; no one, Wagner declared, understood his work so well. Even in death his Jewish friends were by his side; two were among his twelve pallbearers. The contradictions between Wagner's antipathy toward the amorphous entity "The Jews" and his genuine friendships with individual Jews are the subject of this book. Drawing on extensive sources in both German and English, including Wagner's autobiography and diary and the diaries of his second wife, this comprehensive treatment of Wagner's anti-Semitism is the first to place it in perspective with his life and work. Included in the text are portions of unpublished letters exchanged between Wagner and Hermann Levi. Altogether, the book reveals astonishing complexities in a man long known as much for his prejudice as for his epic contributions to opera.
Download or read book Wagner written by Ernest Newman and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wagnerism written by Alex Ross and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alex Ross, renowned New Yorker music critic and author of the international bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics—an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence. For better or worse, Wagner is the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Such colossal creations as The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal were models of formal daring, mythmaking, erotic freedom, and mystical speculation. A mighty procession of artists, including Virginia Woolf, Thomas Mann, Paul Cézanne, Isadora Duncan, and Luis Buñuel, felt his impact. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay-rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious antisemitism. For many, his name is now almost synonymous with artistic evil. In Wagnerism, Alex Ross restores the magnificent confusion of what it means to be a Wagnerian. A pandemonium of geniuses, madmen, charlatans, and prophets do battle over Wagner’s many-sided legacy. As readers of his brilliant articles for The New Yorker have come to expect, Ross ranges thrillingly across artistic disciplines, from the architecture of Louis Sullivan to the novels of Philip K. Dick, from the Zionist writings of Theodor Herzl to the civil-rights essays of W.E.B. Du Bois, from O Pioneers! to Apocalypse Now. In many ways, Wagnerism tells a tragic tale. An artist who might have rivaled Shakespeare in universal reach is undone by an ideology of hate. Still, his shadow lingers over twenty-first century culture, his mythic motifs coursing through superhero films and fantasy fiction. Neither apologia nor condemnation, Wagnerism is a work of passionate discovery, urging us toward a more honest idea of how art acts in the world.
Download or read book Drama and the World of Richard Wagner written by Dieter Borchmeyer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2003-11-30 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Wagner continues to be the most controversial artist in history, a perpetually troubling figure in our cultural consciousness. The unceasing debate over his works and their impact--for and against--is one reason why there has been no genuinely comprehensive modern account of his musical dramas until now. Dieter Borchmeyer's book is the first to present an overall picture of these musical dramas from the standpoint of literary and theatrical history. It extends from the composer's early works--still largely ignored--to the Ring Cycle and Parsifal, and includes Wagner's unfinished works and operas he never set to music. Through lively prose, we come to see Wagner as a librettist--and as a man of letters--rather than primarily as musical composer. Borchmeyer uncovers a vast field of cultural and historical cross-references in Wagner's works. In the first part of the book, he sets out in search of the various archetypal scenes, opening up the composer's dramatic workshop to the reader. He covers all of Wagner's operas, from early juvenilia to the canonical later works. The second part examines Wagner in relation to political figures including King Ludwig II and Bismarck, and, importantly, in light of critical reactions by literary giants--Thomas Mann, whom Borchmeyer calls "a guiding light in this exploration of the fields that Wagner tilled," and Nietzsche, whose appeal to "philology" is a key source of inspiration in attempts to grapple with Wagner's works. For more than twenty years, Borchmeyer has placed his scholarship at the service of the famed Bayreuth Festival. With this volume, he gives us a summation of decades of engagement with the phenomenon of Wagner and, at the same time, the result of an abiding critical passion for his works.
Download or read book The Darker Side of Genius written by Jacob Katz and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Wagner's anti-Semitism considered in the context of his time, place, and aspirations rather than in relation to his later appropriation by the Nazis.
Download or read book Richard Wagner written by Ronald Taylor and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ronald Taylor has set out to provide in a single volume a substantial all-round life-and-work to place alongside the many specialist and partial studies of Wagner. He essays to cover all main aspects of Wagner within a coherent biographical framework, basing his account on primary sources such as Wagner's autobiographical writings and letters, the reminiscences of Liszt, Nietzsche and other friends and associates, and the complete diary of Cosima, first published in 1977. The restless existence that Wagner led from his schooldays to the end of his life, his revolutionary activity, his love affairs, his pursuit of luxury and his perpetual debts, his extraordinary self-centredness and manipulation of others, the famous men and women around him, the heaven-sent patronage of the lonely and eccentric arch-romantic King Ludwig II of Bavaria, the building of his personal temple, the Festival Theatre in Bayreuth--this is the stuff of absorbing biography. And there can be scarcely any other composer whose life was so bound up with the events of his time, and so compellingly illustrative of them, as Wagner's. The 1830 Revolution in France and the European revolutions of 1848 and 1849, the heady radical and hedonistic notions of the Young German movement, the philosophy of Schopenhauer, the urge towards German political unification--these played crucial parts in moulding his mind. Ronald Taylor not only discusses Wagner's compositions as works of art, but shows how each of them, from Die Feen to Parsifal, is grounded in its creator's intellectual and spiritual development. He considers, for example, the allegorical significance of The Ring in terms of Wagner's views on society and human relationships, the indelible mark left by the experience of being spurned by the bourgeois taste of 1830s Paris, and demonstrates how a work which contains such nationalistic elements can at the same time be one of the overwhelming achievements in European culture. The elaborate structure of ideas and theories that surrounds Wagner's music is further revealed by succinct accounts of his political, social, and musical thinking at all periods of his career as expressed in his key writings on culture and society, the role of the artist in the community, the musical scene in nineteenth-century Europe, and many other subjects. In a postscript the main lines of the controversies--musical, philosophical and psychological--that have raged over Wagner from his lifetime onwards are shown in a balanced selection of statements by prominent, and diverse, figures such as Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Debussy, Stravinsky, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, Bruno Walter, Adorno and Boulez." --Jacket.
Download or read book Richard Wagner written by Joachim Köhler and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 726 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major new biography of Richard Wagner is iconoclastic, astringent and bold. It explores the philosophical roots of Wagner's work, which the composer himself deliberately obfuscated. It re-evaluates Wagner's relationships with his mother, step-father and - most revealingly - his wife, Cosima, standing received opinion on its head. And he meets head on, and confirms, the controversy over Wagner's anti-semitism. At the same time, and notwithstanding, Kohler profoundly acknowledges Wagner's genius.
Download or read book My Life Vol 2 written by Richard Wagner and published by Double 9 Books. This book was released on 2023-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "My Life, Volume 2," penned by the renowned composer Richard Wagner, offers a compelling autobiographical narrative that delves into the continued journey of his life and creative endeavors. This book has been deemed a classic and has been a great collection of ideas that are comprehended into a single draft to read by readers of several age groups. This volume provides a detailed account of Wagner's experiences and thoughts, and also reflections during a pivotal phase of his existence. The book chronicles Wagner's artistic evolution, shedding light on his compositions, operatic works, and the challenges he encountered in his pursuit of artistic excellence. It offers insights into his relationships, including his complex interactions with fellow artists, patrons, and critics. Wagner's deep passion for music and his relentless determination to reshape the world of opera are evident throughout the narrative. "Volume 2" also provides a window into Wagner's personal life, revealing his thoughts on philosophy, society, and politics. The author's candid reflections on his struggles and triumphs add a layer of authenticity to the narrative, giving readers a profound understanding of the man behind the music.
Download or read book The Life of Richard Wagner written by Ernest Newman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 805 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newman's Life of Wagner, published between 1933 and 1947, the culmination of forty years' research, is a classic biography.
Download or read book The Life and Times of Richard Wagner written by Jim Whiting and published by Mitchell Lane. This book was released on 2019-12-05 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nineteenth century German composer Richard Wagner s Ring of the Nibelung consists of four separate operas. Also known as the Ring Cycle, it was the crowning point of Wagner s career. Wagner was somewhat of a late bloomer in music. His first major composition was performed when he was nearly 30, and the Ring Cycle premiered when he was 53. While Wagner was among the world s greatest composers, he was not a particularly good person. He didn t repay borrowed money, he bore grudges against people who had done favors for him, amd he was unfaithful to his first wife. However he remains fascinating and controversial today.
Download or read book Richard Wagner and His World written by Thomas S. Grey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-27 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Wagner (1813-1883) aimed to be more than just a composer. He set out to redefine opera as a "total work of art" combining the highest aspirations of drama, poetry, the symphony, the visual arts, even religion and philosophy. Equally celebrated and vilified in his own time, Wagner continues to provoke debate today regarding his political legacy as well as his music and aesthetic theories. Wagner and His World examines his works in their intellectual and cultural contexts. Seven original essays investigate such topics as music drama in light of rituals of naming in the composer's works and the politics of genre; the role of leitmotif in Wagner's reception; the urge for extinction in Tristan und Isolde as psychology and symbol; Wagner as his own stage director; his conflicted relationship with pianist-composer Franz Liszt; the anti-French satire Eine Kapitulation in the context of the Franco-Prussian War; and responses of Jewish writers and musicians to Wagner's anti-Semitism. In addition to the editor, the contributors are Karol Berger, Leon Botstein, Lydia Goehr, Kenneth Hamilton, Katherine Syer, and Christian Thorau. This book also includes translations of essays, reviews, and memoirs by champions and detractors of Wagner; glimpses into his domestic sphere in Tribschen and Bayreuth; and all of Wagner's program notes to his own works. Introductions and annotations are provided by the editor and David Breckbill, Mary A. Cicora, James Deaville, Annegret Fauser, Steven Huebner, David Trippett, and Nicholas Vazsonyi.
Download or read book My Life Vol 1 written by Richard Wagner and published by Double 9 Books. This book was released on 2023-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Wagner's 'My Life' is an autobiography that provides readers with a glimpse into the life of one of the greatest composers of the 19th century. The book is divided into two parts and covers Wagner's life from his childhood in Leipzig to his death in Venice. In the first part of the book, Wagner provides readers with an account of his early life and his struggles to establish himself as a composer. He writes about his early musical education, his attempts to secure a position at a court or opera house, and his eventual breakthrough with the premiere of his opera Rienzi. The second part of the book focuses on Wagner's later life and his move to Switzerland. He writes about his friendship with Franz Liszt, his marriage to Cosima von Bülow, and his later works, including Tristan and Isolde and The Ring of the Nibelung.
