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Richard Wagner

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Thor, God of Thunder
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« Reply #15 on: July 26, 2007, 09:40:24 pm »



Antisemitism

Prior to 1850 there is little evidence that Wagner held any strong views on Jews. However, in that year he published "Das Judenthum in der Musik" (originally translated as "Judaism in Music," by which name it is still known, but better rendered as "Jewishness in Music") under a pseudonym in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. The essay began as an attack on Jewish composers, particularly Wagner's contemporaries (and rivals) Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer, but expanded to accuse Jews of being a harmful and alien element in German culture. Wagner wrote that the German people were repelled by Jews due to their alien appearance and behavior: "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, because they had no connection to the genuine spirit of the German people.

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 von Nürnberg. Wagner repeated similar views in several later articles, such as "What is German?" (1878), and subsequent memoirs of him often recorded his derogatory comments on Jews. Although many have argued that he suggested only that Jews should suppress their Jewish-ness, others have interpreted sections of his writing literally, to mean wiping out or burying the Jewish people.

Some biographers have suggested that antisemitic stereotypes also appear in his operas. The characters of Mime in the Ring, Sixtus Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger, and Klingsor in Parsifal are thought to be Jewish stereotypes, though they are not explicitly identified as such in the libretto. These claims are disputed. In all of Wagner's many writings about his works, there is no mention of an intention to caricature Jews in his operas; nor does any such notion appear in the diaries written by Cosima Wagner, which record his views on a daily basis over a period of 8 years.

Despite his disparaging views concerning Jews, Wagner continued to have Jewish friends, colleagues and supporters throughout his life.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2007, 09:43:40 pm by Thor » Report Spam   Logged
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