The Perfect Wagnerite

by Shaw, George Bernard

• ISBN13: 9780486217079
• ISBN10: 0486217078
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-21
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

The famous playwright's enlightening and provocative criticism surveys the four Wagner operas known as The Ring. Shaw explores the works' philosophic and social ideology as well as Wagner's life, music drama versus grand opera, the role of the Leitmotif in unifying the cycle, Siegfried's character, and many other fascinating subjects.

Author Biography

In the course of his long and prolific career, George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) wrote 60 plays, in addition to music and literary criticism. An avid socialist, he regarded his writing as a vehicle for promoting his political and humanitarian views.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fourth Edition	p. vii
Preface to the Third Edition	p. xiii
Preface to the Second Edition	p. xvii
Preface to the First Edition	p. xix
Preliminary Encouragements	p. 1
The Niblung's Ring
The Rhine Gold	p. 7
Wagner as Revolutionist	p. 25
The Valkyrie	p. 33
Siegfried	p. 43
Back to Opera Again	p. 54
Siegfried as Protestant	p. 57
Panacea Quackery, Otherwise Idealism	p. 60
Dramatic Origin of Wotan	p. 62
The Love Panacea	p. 63
Not Love, but Life	p. 67
Anarchism No Panacea	p. 68
Siegfried Concluded	p. 69
Night Falls on the Gods	p. 71
A Wagnerian Newspaper Controversy	p. 78
Collapse of the Allegory	p. 83
Why He Changed His Mind	p. 87
Wagner's Own Explanation	p. 95
The Pessimist as Amorist	p. 99
The Music of the Ring	p. 103
The Representative Themes	p. 103
The Characterization	p. 106
The Old and the New Music	p. 111
The Nineteenth Century	p. 117
The Music of the Future	p. 123
Bayreuth	p. 127
Bayreuth in England	p. 130
Wagnerian Singers	p. 131
Wagnerism with Wagner Left Out	p. 133
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