THE ESOTERIC WAGNER: AN INTRODUCTION TO DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN [VOLUME FOUR]

Besack, Michael

ISBN 10: 1587900742 / ISBN 13: 9781587900747

Published by Regent Press, Oakland, 2004

About this Item

Octavo, 448 pages. In Very Good minus condition. Paperback binding. Spine off-white with black and blue lettering. Covers have slight wear including slight soiling and minor edge wear. Text block has slight wear. Illustrated. Volume four only. NOTE: Shelved in Locked Annex, Column CC. 1412848. FP New Rockville Stock.

Seller Inventory # 1412848

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE ESOTERIC WAGNER: AN INTRODUCTION TO DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN [VOLUME FOUR]
• Publisher: Regent Press, Oakland
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1587900742
• ISBN 13: 9781587900747
• Binding: Softcover
• Weight: 2 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Performing Arts
  • Books on Books & Reference

About this title

Synopsis

Wagner's "Ring" is one of the most complex dramatic creations of modern times and its stage presentation requires impossible resources. It also demands an educated audience, without which there is not much justification for a performance. The tetralogy is full of difficult narratives and dialogues that make a prior, in depth reading of the libretto a must. It is not just a matter of figuring out the plot, as in other operas, but of exploring the many levels of meaning through which the "Ring" unfolds. In addition, the cycle incorporates esoteric themes that have seldom been discussed in connection with Wagner. This background is unknown territory to most people and it is unrealistic to expect sudden enlightenment from the "Ring's" libretto alone.

Every classical journey deals with the promise of a homecoming and it is therefore not surprising that Wotan, the main protagonist in the Ring," eventually reemerges in the Land of the Grail, where he is converted into Titurel by Wagner's poetic imagination. Ernest Newman, Wagner's quintessential biographer, had already noted this odd development, but did not pause long enough to consider the startling implications.

One should not look at Wagner in disconnected, narrow ways. The dismal level of today's intellectual discourse on Tragedy makes it impossible to do justice to the composer's apocalyptic vision. In that context, it is important to address the increasingly popular contention that Wagner was Hitler's spiritual father and that the "Ring" is a dangerous anti-Semitic frantasy. The Holocaust is indeed tragic,but its reduction to a moral failure on the part of Germanic culture understates the metahistorical significance of what actually happened. C.G. Jung once tried to tackle these issue directly in his tudy of the Wotan archetype (1936), but his analysis has since been buried under the weight of more detailed but less perceptive commentaries. A vigorous reassessment is long overdue.

About the Author

Michael Besack is a computer programmer and philosopher who lives in Berkeley, California.