Email me at:
dshostakovich@yahoo.com
Evolution Questions:






Older topic: Wagner: Great or Disgrace
Topic: Richard Wagner's music and politics are inseparable, argue some, and thus his music should be condemned. Others argue that an individual's nature has multiple facets which should be considered separately, and that it is dangerous to make blanket condemnations based on one aspect of a person's personality. What is your opinion? I will moderate an open and intelligent discussion on this topic. Please post your comments to my guestbook or email me.Thanks. (It is not necessary to use your real name or email address.)

Responses:
(NAME) FR
(comments) Wagner is a situation where the extreme moral offensiveness of his political views overrides all other considerations and warrants total condemnation of everything about the man including his musical works. No matter how good or brilliant his musical works, they serve as a reminder of the more negative aspects of his life. To use an analogy, when a piece of fruit has gone moldy and rotten, it is better to throw the whole thing out than to try to salvage any small remating bits of the fruit which may be contaminated anyway.
(NAME) Jan
(comments) I agree that we should always try to look for the good in life and rejoice where ever we can find it. Enjoy Wagner's music as music. Otherwise, we risk finding fault and rejecting totally everyone and everything. Do we hate the Rose because of its thorns. Do we hate the world because bees sting and animals bite or do we find joy in a beautiful sunset.

(NAME) Dan
(comments) I think you have to look at the whole picture, and place a person in the context of his times. I don't think Wagner should be rejected outright because of his anti-Semitic views. He wrote some of the greatest music of all. J.S. Bach was a devout Christian, and it inspired his work. Should atheists, agnostics, and followers of other religions reject his music? Of course not.

(NAME) Robert
(comments) Music is expressive of nothing but itself. It is Wagner's selection and execution of literary themes and his acknowledged views on certain issues which have been the subject of so much attention. In response to FR's comments, I should say that if all were known about every composer whose music entertains and inspires us, there'd barely be a note left to play.
(NAME) Jeff (comments) I would have to agree with you. Wagner's music was ground breaking, extremely emotional, and very influential to other composers. Compare the music in Siegfred to Bernard Herrmann's music for "Journey to the Center of the Earth". You can easily tell Bernard Herrmann's inspiration was Wagner's Dragon music from Siegfred. On the other hand, I can't stand his politics. To think that his politics and music inspired Hitlor sickens my heart. Even so, we can not reject his music because it inspired so many other composers. To reject his music we would have to reject all other composers who were insired by it. Liszt, Herrmann, Chausson, Bruckner, and Richard Strauss, even Mahler conducted Wagner's Tristan. Also, many composer's rejected Wagner such as Debussy, Holst, Stravinsky, Mampou. Thus Wagner had an influence in the direction of their writing as well. Where would we be without them? As much as I hate to admit it, the musical world is a richer place because of Wagner.! We have no choice but to disagree with his views but I just can't stop enjoying his music. I must admit it, is intoxicating and I want to be intoxicated by it. That's what great music does. Draws you in and doesn't let you go.