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Richard Wagner.
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The German operatic composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was the most important seminal figure in 19th-century music. Wagner was also a crucial figure in 19th-century cultural history for both his crit...
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Almost a hundred years after Richard Wagner's death the noted musicologist Marcel Prawy wrote, "Richard Wagner wurde am 22. Mai 1813 geboren und ist niemals gestorben" (Richard Wagner was born on May ...
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In the following essay, Vergo explores how Richard Wagner's notion of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) influenced the Expressionists' view of the dichotomy between the external and in...
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In the following essay, Brown argues that the compositions of Richard Wagner have been the principal musical influence on the novel, and he illustrates how Gabriele d'Annunzio and Thomas Mann u...
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In the following essay, Morris-Keitel, Larson-Thorisch, and Dundzila offer a feminist examination of gender in Wagner's operas, concentrating on the traditionally bourgeois-capitalist gender ro...
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In the following essay, Nattiez defines Wagner's mythologized theory of the splintering and reunification of western art.
Hardly had Wagner completed the full score of Lohengrin on 28 April 184...
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In the following essay, Lindenberger identifies the Ring as “embedded in the world of its time,” while acknowledging the importance of its poetic experimentalism and epic mode of narrati...
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In the following excerpt, Weiner scrutinizes the racial implications of Wagner's depiction of the body in his operas.
There is no anti-Semite who does not basically want to imitate his mental i...
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In the following essay, Steinberg appraises Parsifal as a cultural and ideological text concerned with the crisis of modernity and the redemption of humanity.
I. the End of Music Drama
This essay is a...
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In the following essay, Zegans explores the essentially Romantic cosmology of Wagner's Ring, which he argues emphasizes the struggle between human will and the natural order.
Audiences arrive a...
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In the following essay, Hutcheon and Hutcheon interpret Wagner's theme of redemption in the Ring in terms of a modern, psychological acceptance of death.
Prelude
Richard Wagner's best-kn...
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In the following excerpted introduction, Large and Weber consider the extensive influence of Wagner's music and thought in the social, political, and intellectual movements known collectively a...
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In the following excerpt, Tietz sees in Wagner's operatic cycle a thematic “tension between power and love in society,” an emphasis on conflict, and a depiction of the ultimate di...
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In the following essay, O'Sullivan critiques George Bernard Shaw's interpretation of Wagner's Ring as a political allegory.
George Bernard Shaw's The Perfect Wagnerite1 is ...
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In the following essay, Rather chronicles Wagner's development as a prose writer and as a poet (particularly in regard to his Ring librettos). Rather concludes by noting Wagner's theorie...
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In the following excerpt, Lee probes the mythic, musical, and psychological elements of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried.
Die Walküre
act i: In a forest storm, Wotan's mo...
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In the following essay, Poster addresses several sociopolitical interpretations of the Ring and argues that the work should also be viewed in terms of its representation of gender.
In the four operas ...
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In the following essay, Corse demonstrates “how the voice of authority or power is created and subverted in the Ring,” especially through the technique of quotation.
The Ring cycle is a ...
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In the following essay, Daverio discusses the unifying structure and technique of the Ring operas.
The text which serves as the point of departure for this essay is the 116th of the fragments publishe...
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In the following essay, Koheil and Richardson present a reading of the Ring as “mythological psychology,” viewing Brünnhilde as the central protagonist of the operas as she underg...
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Wagner: The Artist and Reformer
Born in 1813 in Leipzig, Germany, Richard (Wilhelm) Wagner was destine to work in the arts. His father died while Wagner was still an infant and his mother, an actress...
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Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Critical Essay by Peter Vergo
Wagner: The Artist and Reformer
