Product Description

The man whom W.H. Auden called `perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived' has inspired extremes of adulation and loathing. In this penetrating analysis, Bryan Magee outlines the range and depth of Wagner's achievement, and shows how his sensational and erotic music expresses the repressed and highly charged contents of the psyche. He also examines Wagner's detailed stage directions, and the prose works in which he formulated his ideas, and sheds interesting new light on his anti-semitism. This new edition has been extensively revised. It includes a fresh chapter, `Wagner as Music'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124031 in Books
• Published on: 1988-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Music and Musicians
`Original and stimulating...the most lucid attempt I have yet read to explain the reasons for the continuing Wagner's music over friend and foe alike.'

Review
`Original and stimulating...the most lucid attempt I have yet read to explain the reasons for the continuing Wagner's music over friend and foe alike.' Music and Musicians

About the Author
Writer, critic, broadcaster, author of Men of Ideas (OPB) and The Great Philosophers, Bryan Magee is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the History of Ideas at King's College, London.

Customer Reviews

A 'must read' book for anyone interested in Wagner.
The story that more books have been written about Wagner than about anyone other than Jesus or Napoleon is undoubtedly apocryphal, nevertheless there are an awful lot to choose from! This is one of the shortest, and also, I believe, one of the best. Bryan Magee tackles head on some of the most striking and perplexing issues surrounding Wagner and his works. He traces the quite phenomenal influence that Wagner has had on music and also in the arts more widely. He describes, and attempts to account for, the extreme love ("Wagnerolatry") and loathing ("Wagnerphobia") that Wagner and his works have inspired and continue to inspire. He also sheds some light on the important and disturbing question of Wagner's anti-Semitism. One chapter is devoted to the controversial question of how to stage Wagner's operas today. Perhaps most interestingly of all he offers an explanation for the uncanny potency of Wagner's music: how it induces in some feelings of ecstasy, sometimes likened to being in love, and in others feelings of disgust, whilst it has (allegedly) driven some people to madness. If you want to know more about Wagner's music and its influence, read this book.

A Lovely Litle Book. A Perfect Introduction to Wagner and Opera
This little book is just about as important now as it was at the time of publishing. It sets the scene for not just Wagner, but the current state of the performing arts, although particularly opera. It whets the appetite for anyone who has just discovered opera, or who already has a thirst for the richness of the musical arts. It provides simple insights into the way the combination of disparate art forms such as drama, music and staging can result in an art that is far greater than the sum of its parts, and its approachable style (and size) make it ideal even for a beginner. In a few areas it is amusingly out of date, praising the LP Vinyl Record for its role in surpassing the limitations of its 78 rpm forebears, when it is now possible to contain the whole `Ring' cycle, in MP3 format, on a single, relatively minuscule CD, but the message presented thereby holds even more securely. A lovely little book; a minor treasure.