Book Description
Many music lovers find Wagner's operas inexpressibly beautiful and richly satisfying, while others find them revolting, dangerous, self-indulgent, and immoral. The man who W.H. Auden once called "perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived" has inspired both greater adulation and greater loathing than any other composer. Bryan Magee presents a penetrating analysis of Wagner's work, concentrating on how his sensational and deeply erotic music uniquely expresses the repressed and highly charged contents of the psyche. He examines not only Wagner's music and detailed stage directions but also the prose works in which he formulated his ideas, as well as shedding new light on his anti-semitism and the way in which the Nazis twisted his theories to suit their own purposes. Outlining the astonishing range and depth of Wagner's influence on our culture, Magee reveals how profoundly he continues to shock and inspire musicians, poets, novelists, painters, philosophers, and politicians today.
Aspects of Wagner ANNOTATION
A penetrating analysis of Wagner's work, concentrating on his sensational and deeply erotic music expresses the highly charged contents of the psyche.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Why has Wagner always provoked such passionately strong feelings? Described by W. H. Auden as 'perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived', he continues to inspire greater adulation and loathing than any other composer. In this penetrating analysis of Wagner's work Bryan Magee examines both Wagner's music and detailed stage directions, together with the prose works in which he formulated his ideas. He outlines the astonishing range and depth of Wagner's influence on the culture of our age, showing its profound effects upon musicians, poets, novelists, painters, philosophers, and politicians.
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