Posted on 05/25/2013 5:24:11 AM PDT by Borges
200 years after his birth, the composer's family and fans remain split on his legacy.
He was a brilliant composer, a confirmed anti-Semite and an undeniably significant influence on the history of music. And today, he would have been 200 years old.
That man, of course, was Richard Wagner.
“Only Jesus, Napoleon and Hitler had more written about them,” said the German newspaper Die Welt’s culture affairs critic Manuel Brug recently.
Wagner is considered one of the more revered and most vilified composers in the annals of the classical music. He was not only an anti-Semite; his compositions were practically the theme music for the Third Reich. In Israel, he is boycotted.
As the 200th anniversary of his birth approached, a number of books were published on Wagner, one of the more critical volumes being written by his own great-grandson. Gottfried Wagner is a 66-year-old musicologist now living in Italy. In "You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me," he claims that one can discern in Wagner's compositions a deep-rooted anti-Semitism as well as misogyny.
"His works contain a wide diversity of racist and sexist writings," Wagner recently told the AFP. "He developed his own racist theories. Given what we know today, one can no longer ignore the facts and state that ‘this is only beautiful music.’" Wagner the great-grandson has drawn up a forceful charge sheet against the composer, claiming that the time has come to strip away the idealism that has cloaked the composer for so long.
“I have no interest in besmirching him, but there is nothing to be gained by hiding the truth and by idealizing the man," he said. "People like Wagner should not be immune. I represent a moral stance. I refuse to participate in a soap opera."
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Oops should be 5/23
Classical Ping
Sorry, but Bugs Bunny forever tainted Ride of the Valkyries for me.
I doubt it. Possibly in German.
Music is made up of Pitches, Frequencies, Intervals, Harmonies, Rhythms, Tempi, Contrast between Legato and Staccato, Dynamics, and an ephemeral quality known as “soul”.
How antisemitism can be conveyed with any combination of the above is a mystery to me!
Of course, when one adds LYRICS, one can say anything!
But the music itself is neutral.
>>a deep-rooted anti-Semitism as well as misogyny.
Oh, the horrors!!! A European man born 200 years ago was guilty of those crimes against humanity. I’ll bet he wasn’t GREEN either! Let’s add that to his list of crimes.
He probably ate MEAT too.
I’m feeling a case of POUTRAGE coming on.
Magic helmet.
LOL!!!
His grandson needs to step up to the plate and edit out the anti-Semitic ones. I've always been suspicious of C flat. It's pretentious.
Vikings and bee keepers SCTV
Song near the end
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=s4B_PY2vveQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds4B_PY2vveQ
How about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn4Iuxy0X4I
C flat is indeed pernicious! It sometimes masquerades as a B!
Beginning at 04:15...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajg7FlPv0HU&list=PLCA3A295AF772AEE4&index=11
OMG! The brown note!
I never quite understood his lyrics. I feel like a real dummy finding out they were racist and sexist after all this time!
Hows this for kill da wabit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTS-PMXyE4Q but she does have Bette Davis eyes
So if we go back in the past and discover hateful, racist stuff written by other great people from the past, should we throw out all their works too? I don’t ignore Wagner’s cruddy, racist views. But if I quit listening to, viewing, or reading the works of great composers, writers, artists from the past because they had racist or objectionable views about other people, I’d have a very short list of people whose works I could use for my own enjoyment.
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