The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music

by Barry Millington (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $21.79

  Wagner is perhaps as renowned for controversy he inspires as for his music. The Wagner Compendium presents a comprehensive survey of the man, his ocuvre and his times. The musical and intellectual background and influences which helped shape the Wagnerian canon are considered along with the historical context of German unification and the creation of Bismarck's Reich. Wagner's character, opinions, and his behaviour towards women and Jews - the principal sources of the notoriety which has dogged him - are fully examined, and there is a special chapter on 'Myths and Legends' wittily correcting the extraordinary misconceptions with which Wagner has become associated. The operas, orchestral and choral music are analysed together with the lesser-known works for solo voice, the piano music, and the projected operas - intriguingly left uncompleted. Wagner's musical and literary style are treated in depth, as are the sources that throw light on both the man and his work. Chapters on orchestration and Wagner in performance are complemented by accounts of the reception and influence of his music. A detailed bibliography accompanies the most complete list ever published of his writings, speeches, open letters and reviews, as well as a glossary explaining the meanings and significance of Wagnerian terms, a calendar of his life and a Who's Who of his contemporaries.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1992

  $20.28

  Wagner is almost as famous for the controversy he inspires as for his music. His work and his attitudes have elicited both devotion and revulsion; his polemical writings and struggle to create the complete work of art -- the Gesamtkunstwerk -- have generated impassioned argument. His influence on music and on other disciplines has been incalculable.The Wagner Compendium presents a comprehensive survey of the man, his oeuvre, and his times. The musical and intellectual background and influences that helped shape the Wagnerian canon are considered along with the historical context of German unification and the creation of Bismarck's Reich. Wagner's character and opinions are examined, and there is a special chapter on Myths and Legends wittily correcting the extraordinary misconceptions with which Wagner has become associated. The operas, orchestral, and choral music are analyzed together with the lesser-know works. Chapters on orchestration and Wagner in performance are complemented by accounts of the reception and influence of his music. A detailed bibliography accompanies the most complete list ever published of his writings, speeches, open letters, and reviews, as well as a glossary explaining the meanings and significance of Wagnerian terms, a calendar of his life, and a Who's Who of his contemporaries.As an authoritative compilation of data and a corrective to common misunderstandings, The Wagner Compendium provides any music-lover with an inexhaustible fund of reference.