Richard Wagner The Synthesis Of The Arts

How to create a genuine synthesis of the component elements in a musical drama: this was the central problem of Wagner's life as a theorist and as a creative artist. This is the first book which focuses attention exclusively on this problem. It extracts from Wagner's voluminous and far-ranging writings the pertinent theories on synthesis, analyzes them, and shows how the creative works reflect the successive stages of these theories. The author does not attempt to establish priority of influence for either theory or practice, but shows that they are necessarily complementary and reciprocal aspects of Wagner's creative activity, and that a precise analysis of the theory will cast new light on the nature of the musical dramas. Wagner thought consistently in terms of a union of poetry, music, and drama, but the manner in which he described and justified their union, as well as the way in which he combined them in his works, varied considerably in the successive periods of his life. In particular, his acceptance of Schopenhauer's esthetics of music in 1854, shortly after he had worked out a complete theory of art synthesis in Opera and Drama, his major essay, was an important turning point. For Schopenhauer's views were incompatible with that theory, and the result was a series of adjustments by Wagner in both theory and practice, in which he attempted to reconcile his ideas with those of Schopenhauer. The author's careful analysis of these successive stages--his discussion of the poetry, drama, and music, not as separate elements, but only in their relation to their function as part of a synthesis--is an absolutely new contribution to Wagner research. The author presents the theory and the works, particularly from The Rhinegold on, in an important new perspective. --Jacket

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Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (later called music dramas). Wagner s musical style is often considered the epitome of classical music s Romantic period, due to its unprecedented exploration of emotional expression. He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork), the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle The Ring of the Niebelung (1876). Wagner even went so far as to build his own opera-house to try to stage these works as he had imagined them. His literary friendship with Franz Liszt led to a long-lived correspondence later compiled in the two volumes of Corrrespondence of Wagner and Liszt (1889); a book that was attributed to both musicians. Among his other famous works are Tristan and Isolde, which broke important new musical ground, My Life (in two volumes) (1880), and The Flying Dutchman.

The Gesamtkunstwerk ('total work of art'), once a key concept in Wagner studies, has become problematic. This book sheds light on this conundrum by first tracing the development of the concept in the 19th century through selected examples, some of which include combinations of different art forms. It then focuses on the culmination of the Gesamtkunstwerk in Wagner's theories and in the practice of his late music dramas, of which Der Ring des Nibelungen is the most complete representation. Finally, the book contrasts the view of the Ring as a fusion of dramatic text and music with the 20th century trend towards Deconstruction in Wagnerian productions and the importance of Régie. Against this trend a case is made here for a fresh critical approach and a reconsideration of the nature and basis for the fundamental unity which has hitherto been widely perceived in Wagner's Ring. Approaches through Leitmotiv alone are no longer acceptable. However, in conjunction with another principle, Moment, which Wagner insisted on combining with Motive, these can be ingeniously 'staged' and steered to dramatic ends by means of musical dynamics and expressive devices such as accumulation. Analysis of the two Erda scenes demonstrates how this complex combination of resources acts as a powerful means of fusion of the musical and dramatic elements in the Ring and confirms its status as a Gesamtkunstwerk.