Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 in Leipzig – February 13, 1883 in Venice) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his groundbreaking symphonic-operas (or "music dramas"). His compositions are notable for their continuous contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: themes associated with specific characters or situations. Wagner's chromatic musical language prefigured later developments in European classical music, including extreme chromaticism and atonality. He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total art-work"), epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876). His concept of leitmotif and integrated musical expression was a strong influence on many 20th century film scores. Wagner is also an extremely controversial figure, both because of his musical and dramatic innovations, and because he was a very public proponent of anti-semitic ideas.

Anti-Semitism and Nazi appropriation

During the 20th century, the public perception of Wagner increasingly centered on his anti-semitism, largely due to the appropriation of his music by elements of the Nazi hierarchy.

Related Topics:
20th century - Anti-semitism - Nazi

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Wagner promulgated many anti-semitic views over the course of his life, through both conversation and numerous writings. He frequently accused Jews, and in particular Jewish musicians, of being a harmful foreign element in Germany, and called for the abandonment of Jewish culture and their assimilation into German culture. Some scholars have argued that his operas also contain hidden anti-Semitic messages, but this claim is disputed.

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Wagner's first and most controversial anti-Semitic essay was "Das Judenthum in der Musik", originally published in 1850 in the Neue Zeitschrift under the pen-name "K. Freigedenk" ("free thought"). The essay purported to explain "popular dislike" of the music of Jewish composers such as Wagner's contemporaries, Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer. Wagner wrote that the German people were repelled by Jews due to their alien appearance and behavior — "freaks of Nature" blabbering in "creaking, squeaking, buzzing" voices — so that "with all our speaking and writing in favour of the Jews' emancipation, we always felt instinctively repelled by any actual, operative contact with them." He argued that Jewish musicians were only capable of producing music that was shallow and artificial, a parroting of true music, for they had no connection to "the genuine spirit of the Folk". In the conclusion to the essay, he wrote of the Jews that "only one thing can redeem you from the burden of your curse: the redemption of Ahasuerus – going under!" Although this has been taken to mean actual physical annihilation, in the context of the essay it refers to the eradication of Judaism and the conversion of Jews to Christianity; in essence he called for the complete assimilation of the Jews into mainstream German culture.

Related Topics:
Das Judenthum in der Musik - 1850 - Felix Mendelssohn - Giacomo Meyerbeer - Ahasuerus

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The initial publication of the article attracted little attention, but Wagner republished it as a pamphlet under his own name in 1869, leading to several public protests at performances of Die Meistersinger.

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Wagner attacked the Jews in several other essays. In "What is German?" (1878), for example, he wrote that

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:The Jew... German intellectual labour into his own hands; and thus we see an odious travesty of the German spirit upheld to-day before the German Folk, as its imputed likeness. It is to be feared, ere long the nation may really take this simulacrum for its mirrored image: then one of the finest natural dispositions in all the human race were done to death, perchance for ever.

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In spite of his anti-Semitic writings, Wagner had an extensive network of Jewish friends and colleagues. The most notable of these was Hermann Levi, a practicing Jew whom Wagner chose to conduct the premiere of Parsifal, his last opera. Initially, Wagner wanted Levi to become baptized before conducting Parsifal, presumably due to the religious content of the opera, but he later dropped the issue. Levi maintained a close friendship with Wagner, and was asked to be a pallbearer at the composer's funeral. Historian Will Durant pointedly states that Wagner himself was Jewish, however there is no evidence of this. Nevertheless, during his childhood Wagner was known by the surname of his step-father, Ludwig Geyer. Geyer is a common surname among German Jews, though Ludwig himself had no known Jewish ancestors. Wagner may not have known this. His own physiognomy was later caricatured in a manner that resembles anti-Semitic images of the time (hooked nose and over-large head). The possibility that Geyer may have been his real father combined with sensitivity about his looks may have been a motive for Wagner's intense desire to stress his rejection of Jewishness and commitment to Germanness.

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After Wagner's death in 1883, Bayreuth became a meeting place for a group of extreme right-wing Wagner fans that came to be known as the Bayreuth circle, endorsed by Cosima, who was much more anti-Semitic than Richard. After the death of Cosima and Siegfried Wagner in 1930, the operation of the Festival fell to Siegfried's widow, English born Winifred, who was a personal friend of Adolf Hitler, a fan of Wagner's music. The Nazis frequently played Wagner during their rallies. Certain scholars have argued that Wagner's views, particularly his anti-Semitism, influenced the Nazis, but these claims remain controversial. Many aspects of Wagner's worldview would certainly have been unappealing to the Nazis, such as his pacifism and calls for assimilation.

Related Topics:
1883 - Right-wing - Bayreuth circle - 1930 - Winifred - Adolf Hitler - Pacifism

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Wagner's works have been blacklisted in the modern state of Israel, and what few performances have occurred have evoked much controversy. Although they are commonly broadcast on government-owned radio and television stations, attempts at staging public performances have been halted by protests, especially by Holocaust survivors. For instance, after Daniel Barenboim conducted a passage from Tristan and Isolde as an encore at the 2001 Israel Festival, a parliamentary committee urged a boycott of the conductor, and an initially scheduled performance of Die Walküre had to be withdrawn. On another occasion, Zubin Mehta played Wagner in Israel in spite of walkouts and jeers from the audience.

Related Topics:
Israel - Holocaust - Daniel Barenboim - 2001 - Zubin Mehta

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That said, it is difficult to criticise someone for the views someone later in history had upon them. Hitler's admiration for Wagner was not returned, considering that Wagner died six years and two months before Hitler was even born (on April 20, 1889). His overall religious views are somewhat ambiguous, not in nature or of his devotion, but of what he believed. Wagner was an enthusiast for Jesus Christ, but insisted he was of Greek origin and not Jewish. He also insisted the Old Testament of the Bible had nothing to do with the New Testament, and that the God of Israel was not the same God he believed was the father of Jesus. Wagner criticised the Ten Commandants, claiming it lacked the mercy and love of Christian teachings. But, with some strong Christian values, many Christian friends, and numerous Jewish friends, he did attach himself to many vehement atheists. Most of his atheistic philosopher friends insisted, upon hearing he was working upon an opera titled Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus appear as a weak character. Overall, Richard Wagner is hard not to find anti-Semitic, but had varied religious views over his life and an odd mix of beliefs and friends.

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