Wagner's Parsifal / William Kinderman.
| Author/creator | Kinderman, William |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Oxford University Press, ©2013. |
| Description | vi, 327 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Studies in musical genesis, structure, and interpretation Studies in musical genesis, structure, and interpretation. ^A1021903 |
| Contents | Prelude: Parsifal as art and ideology -- Part 1: The process of composition -- The poem: its background and evolution. Carlo Gozzi's 'La donna serpente' ; The Paris and Dresden periods ; Parzival as wandering pilgrim in Tristan und Isolde ; Kundry as a mysterious compound being ; The prose draft of 1865 ; The completion of the text -- The genesis of the music. The "Dresden Amen" and "Excelsior!" motives ; The sketch fragments and their reconstruction ; The earliest sketches ; The "core of the whole": the music of the grail ; The relation of sketches and drafts ; Act 1 ; Act 2 ; Act 3 ; Revision after April 1879 ; The transformation music of act 1 -- Part 2: Musical form and dramatic meaning -- Wagner's late style -- Grail and anti-grail -- The sense of an ending. |
| Abstract | This detailed study of Parsifal, described by the composer as his "last card," explores the evolution of the text and music of this inexhaustible yet highly controversial music drama across Wagner's entire career, and offers a reassessment of the ideological and political history of Parsifal, shedding new light on the connection of Wagner's legacy to the rise of National Socialism in Germany. The compositional genesis is traced through many unfamiliar manuscript sources, revealing unsuspected models and veiled connections to Wagner's earlier works. Fresh analytic perspectives are revealed, casting the dramatic meaning of Parsifal in a new light. Much debated aspects of the work, such as Kundry's death at the conclusion, are discussed in the context of its stage history. Path-breaking as well is the author's analysis of the religious and ideological context of Parsifal. During the half-century after the composer's death, the Wagner family and the so-called Bayreuth circle sought to exploit Wagner's work for political purposes, thereby promoting racial nationalism and anti-Semitism. Hitherto unnoticed connections between Hitler and Wagner's legacy at Bayreuth are explored here, while differences between the composer's politics as an 1849 revolutionary and the later response of his family to National Socialism are weighed in a nuanced account. The author combines new historical research, sensitive aesthetic criticism, and probing philosophical reflection in this most intensive examination of Wagner's culminating music drama. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 302-318) and index. |
| LCCN | 2012034349 |
| ISBN | 9780195366921 |
| ISBN | 0195366921 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.W17 K56 2013 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |