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The Tristan Chord Wagner and Philosophy Bryan Magee 9780805071894 Books

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The Tristan Chord Wagner and Philosophy Bryan Magee 9780805071894 Books

I now list four *essential* Wagner books. Newman's 'Wagner Nights' and (four volume) biography and Magee's 'Aspects of Wagner' and this one. A brilliantly clear and insightful analysis of philosophers' impacts on Wagner. Schopenhauer leads the way, Feuerbach and Nietzche follow and others get featured. My only complaints (which do nothing to alter my 5-star ranking of the book) are that (i) Magee states that Wagner's discovery of Schopenhauer should not be treated as a sort of Damascene conversion, yet, in many places, he appears to do that himself and (ii) the language used is occasionally a little over the top. No author can avoid superlatives when writing about Wagner, but quite a few of Magee's could have been taken back a little. For example, I personally agree with him that Goodall is the *greatest* Meistersinger conductor I have heard, but Magee's insistence on the superlative is unnecessary for the point being made. It would be just as effective to have acknowledged Goodall as merely *great*. Similarly, his clinical analysis of Wagner's anti-semitism does not need Magee's holier-than-thou bragging about how he himself abhors anti-semitism so much more than the average anti-anti-semite.


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The Tristan Chord Wagner and Philosophy Bryan Magee 9780805071894 Books Reviews

Anyone else have this problem with their copy? One of the first few pages was a "List of Illustrations", but the illustrations/photos themselves were nowhere to be found. That was a disappointment, I nearly reduced it to 4 stars for this reason, but otherwise this was a near perfect book and I know the error is the publisher's, not the author's, so decided I would not discredit the book for that oversight. Insightful, well-written, chock full of information from cover-to-cover. I learned a lot about Wagner and his intellectual trajectory over the course of his adult life; how it changed and informed him and his works. A "must read" for any fan of Wagner. It will definitely open your eyes and bring even greater enjoyment of his operas. I read this ahead of my attendance as Seattle Opera's 2013 Ring Cycle and I am very glad I did! I am certain it will help me appreciate it even more.
I was thrilled to find this book. It's hard to find really good analysis of Wagner's amazing operas, works that dwarf anything else in the genre, with the possible exception of Mozart's operas.

Magee does an excellent job of showing just what made Wagner a genius and how his towering achievements were built up. He traces Wagner's intellectual development and argues that Wagner underwent a development similar to that of many radicals, as he aged and became somewhat disillusioned with his dreams of revolutionary change. (During the 1850's Wagner was a close associate of the Russian anarchist Bakunin!) In mid life, he discovered the philosophy of Schopenhauer, who was somewhat influenced by Hindu and Buddhist thought. This is reflected especially in Tristan and Parsifal.

In the process, Magee refutes the mistaken idea that Wagner was a right-wing proto-Fascist. He does a good job of showing how Wagner fit into contemporary thought, and how mistaken it would be to use present-day political concepts to reach an understanding of his ideas. The theme of sexual love as a liberating force, for instance, was prominent in anarchist thought, as it is in Wagner's Ring cycle.

But Magee does not soft-pedal the key issue that has caused many people to disregard or even reject Wagner's music, his anti-semitism. He shows clearly that Wagner did stand out among his friends and associates, who were often embarrassed by his hateful stance. But anti-semitism was widespread in the period notions that Jews were representatives of the worst aspects of modernity can be found even in Karl Marx. Magee makes the point that the association of Wagner's music with Hitler, who was a fan, has tarnished the composer rather unfairly. Dostoievsky also was a nasty anti-semite, but, since his work has little association with Germany under Hitler, no one suggests that we should stop reading his great novels.

My one disappointment with the book is that Magee is so concerned to show Schopenhauer's influence in Parsifal, Wagner's last opera, that he feels it necessary to downplay its Christian aspect. But, in my view, Parsifal is almost the sole work of art or drama to explore Christian imagery in an exciting way. The recent production with Jonas Kauffmann made clear how the theme of redemption through blood ("This is my blood which is given for you.") is everywhere in Parsifal.
The other day I mentioned Richard Wagner to my 16-year-old son, who is not much interested in classical music (I hope that changes soon). He replied, "Wasn't he sort of a Nazi?" Poor Wagner, tainted forever by Hitler's devotion to his music, and by two of his children's marriages to British fascists. This brilliant book takes us beyond superficial stereotypes and into the intellectual and philosophical background that underlies Wagner's music. No-one who seeks to understand the ideas behind the operas can do without this book. Of course, there are those who wish to confront music solely in aural terms, and see any such philosophical enterprise as extraneous to the music and damaging to the experience of hearing it. For some composers this may be true, but not for Wagner, a true ideologue whose ideology profoundly influenced his music. The ideology, and the music, changed over the course of Wagner's life in ways this book explains. Side benefits include chapters that might have been entitled "Schopenhauer in a Nutshell" and "A Beginner's Precis of Kant". Best of all, the book is written clearly in well-crafted English prose, including at one point a gratifying rant against the turgid incomprehensibility of "post-modern" writing, especially in academia. Western culture must be rescued from its current academic desecrators, and this book makes a significant contribution to that effort. I now want to read everything Magee has written, on any subject.
I now list four *essential* Wagner books. Newman's 'Wagner Nights' and (four volume) biography and Magee's 'Aspects of Wagner' and this one. A brilliantly clear and insightful analysis of philosophers' impacts on Wagner. Schopenhauer leads the way, Feuerbach and Nietzche follow and others get featured. My only complaints (which do nothing to alter my 5-star ranking of the book) are that (i) Magee states that Wagner's discovery of Schopenhauer should not be treated as a sort of Damascene conversion, yet, in many places, he appears to do that himself and (ii) the language used is occasionally a little over the top. No author can avoid superlatives when writing about Wagner, but quite a few of Magee's could have been taken back a little. For example, I personally agree with him that Goodall is the *greatest* Meistersinger conductor I have heard, but Magee's insistence on the superlative is unnecessary for the point being made. It would be just as effective to have acknowledged Goodall as merely *great*. Similarly, his clinical analysis of Wagner's anti-semitism does not need Magee's holier-than-thou bragging about how he himself abhors anti-semitism so much more than the average anti-anti-semite.