The horrible Genius - 200 years Richard Wagner

[Something completely different]

Next month, 200 years ago, Richard Wagner was born.

I think one can considere him to be the most controversial german artist of all time, if not the most controversial artist. From artistic viewpoint there is not much to be critizised about him, he was without any doubt one of the most influencial composers of the 19th century who changed the expressions of music of the romantic period and his works are known worldwide. For him, art should be used to convey a message rather than simply be entertainment.


What makes him so controversial, were his political views. He was a nationalist who tried to destroy the "decadent art for simple entertainment" of the romantic period, he wrote operas which had dramatic plots and conveyed a message to the viewer, which was a message of german nationalism intent to cause revolution which would unite germany as one nation.

Most controversial of all, probably was his antisemitism, he clearly saw the jewish people as a section of german sociaty which tried to prohibit germany from unifying and doing so by controling the world of art - which he saw as deeply conected with politics. Not only did he see the jews as a controling conspiracy but also as infirior and due to their language and culture incapable to produce "good" art.
He expressed these views in his publication: "Das Judentum in der Musik" - "Jews in Music"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Judenthum_in_der_Musik

Wagner would end up being the national socialists favorite composer and an artist whos works are today viewed with alot of controversy. The Beireut festival in which his musical work is celibrated is often surrounded by controversy due to the ways in which the operea is staged or because of the actors which perform.
In foreign countries he has become pritty much a symbol of art coming from germanies 19th - 20th century militarism, and is often assosiated with militaristic german stereotyps. Some contries such as Israel completly boycott his music all together.
If one listens to wagners music on youtube it is very likely to fint the top rated comment being something like:

"Listening to this makes me want to invade Poland"

Can one enjoy art, which was made by an evil man?

[Minimalist]

I have no trouble listening to the music of Handel, Bach, and Mozart even though all of them were idiot xtians. It has nothing to do with art.

But Wagner's music is bombastic to the point of tedium.

[Rev. Rye]

For what it's worth, for my Prose Forms class, I wrote a letter trying to discourage him from airing his dirty laundry like he did in "Jewishness in Music."

Dear Richard Wagner,
First off, I must congratulate you on your success with Lohengrin. It's the best opera you've composed so far. I hope this message finds you well. It wasn't easy to send this message to you. It's not easy to send a letter 162 years into the past.
While I admit that I am a big fan of your operas, there is one thing I've had that I simply must write to you about; If my calculations are correct, this letter will have reached you in September 1850. Hopefully, by the time you read this letter, there will still be time to stop you from publishing that little essay you've been writing. You know the one, “Jewishness in Music.”
If it hasn't already been sent to the NZM yet, I must advise you to burn that essay. Don't send it. Don't throw it away. Don't keep it in a drawer for safekeeping. I said burn it. If you must know why I urge you to do so, I will sum it up in five words: Posterity will never forgive you.
If you want to know why posterity will never forgive you, well, I'll tell you; in about 100 years, antisemitism, especially of the order you propose in the essay, will become socially unacceptable, and, even though, much to your credit, you have succeeded in keeping your attitudes towards Jews out of your operas (which is more than I can say for Shakespeare and J.S. Bach), this essay will still taint your operas in the eyes of many people. Otherwise intelligent people will dismiss you as just another Jew-hater to be avoided at all costs.
But I know what you're thinking: What the Hell caused this paradigm shift? I'll tell you: after you publish this essay, a young man named Adolf Hitler, a big fan of yours, will read it, and he'll read that closing section of your essay, you know the one, the one where you call for the downfall of Jews, and he will turn Germany (yes, it's been unified; It will be done in your lifetime) into a society, where Jews or anyone who doesn't fit in with his idea of Germany gets killed.
I could tell you more about the sort of things that will happen to Jews: I could tell you about how they'll completely separate the Jews from everyone else. I could tell you how Hitler's followers used every possible excuse to make life a living hell for Jews, from vandalising their businesses, breaking windows and destroying buildings due to a diplomat being assassinated by resistance fighters to sending them off to camps to be exterminated.
These camps are horrific in their own right. Emaciated bodies stacked like cordwood, diseased men and children looking for a shower only to get a lung full of poison gas, a mad doctor with a fondness for twins and dissecting people alive, starving people being worked to the last atom of your strength. But I know that whatever you're imagining, the reality is much, much worse. Even anti-Semites who advocated the total destruction of Jews will be so appalled by it that, to this day, some refuse to believe it even happened.
But here's where I think you might be affected, something that might help you begin to recognise that this man isn't a kindred spirit: remember the revolutions of 1848? Remember how all of Europe was caught up in a blaze because people like you wanted some progress? Remember how that's why you're in Zurich now? Yeah, even before targeting the Jews, the Revolutionaries of 1933 will be the first to go. He may be a big fan of yours, but he will stifle progress (in all conceivable areas, except perhaps technology) for 12 years before the other nations of the world conspired to bring him down. The revolutionary ideas of today become the reactionary ones of tomorrow. Everyone who might have created some progress in the arts in Germany during the period before Hitler (and believe me, there will be quite a bit of Jews among them) will either leave the country or will get persecuted for their ideas. It should be noted that the one piece of music to come out of Germany during this period, a cantata based on a book of Roman Poetry will sound like it could have easily been written 50 years prior.
And what's more, because he will identify so strongly with your work and the masterpieces yet to come, when Hitler falls, he will bring your reputation down with him. You will become a major part of Nazi æsthetics. And Beethoven will be subjected to the same treatment as well; but he will be rehabilitated more clearly, but, then, he never wrote an essay advocating the destruction of the Jews. The ancient elements that you are so fond of putting into your operas will become utterly unrecognisable; in fact, in my time, the latest production supervised by your descendants of Lohengrin takes place in a sewer and the chorus is dressed in rat-suits. Rat-suits, Richard! All in the name of distancing themselves from your views on the Jews!
And while I'm sure that, while your music may be less popular now than that of composers like Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer, I can assure you that your work is far better than either of those two composers; in fact, in 2012, Meyerbeer is known almost exclusively within the context of your life. I recognise that the anger you feel at Meyerbeer's betrayal of your artistic principles is something that you may need to get out of your system, like a letter never sent to someone you just fought with, but don't we usually burn those letters, Richard?
But, for the record, while it may seem like Jews are stifling the creativity of music to you, it must be noted that their time will come; within half a century's time, Jews will, in fact, be at the vanguard of what's new in music, and art. And, at least until the rise of Hitler, many of them will be fans of yours. I could give many names, but I'm sure that a list like this will be longer than the letter so far, and none of these names will be recognisable to you. The vast majority of them haven't even been born yet. Some of them will be luminaries in a field that won't be invented for 40 more years. But, for better or for worse, in 99.9% of all marriages performed in the western world, the bridal chorus from Lohengrin and the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's “Midsummer Night's Dream” will be performed side by side. Yes, you read that correctly, the music that sets the stage for Lohengrin and Elsa's disastrous marriage will be used for many couples. But I digress.
What I'm trying to say is that, if you publish “Jewishness in Music” the person most hurt by its publication won't be Mendelssohn. It won't be Meyerbeer. It won't even necessarily be the Jews of the world. It will be you. I can't expect you to do a 180 on your views on the Jews, but I can expect you, to, for the sake of your own reputation, keep your opinion of the Jews out of your work.
Hoping the best for your next operas,
(Real Name Redacted)