Klarinet Archive - Posting 000006.txt from 1998/10

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Wagner
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 12:24:30 -0400

Didn't Wagner die before Hitler was born?
I think we are in great danger of merging personal views with political
ideology. There are clearly racist elements in the "Ring", but can
someone
please point out how are they specifically anti-Semitic?
Roger Shilcock

On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 14:43:21 -0500 (CDT)
> From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Wagner
>
> In 1992, I had been doing some reading about Wagner, and had rediscovered
> and reviewed some of the information about his racism and antisemitism.
> Then, in the summer of that year, I went to Europe, primarily for the
> purpose of attending the International Double Reed Society conference in
> Frankfurt. While there, we travelled around a bit, and visited Bayreuth.
> We toured the opera house which was constructed there according to
> Wagner's design specifications. We couldn't get tickets to a performance,
> in part because they are so expensive, but I do have a photograph of
> myself sitting in the principal bassoonist's chair in the orchestra pit.
>
> Then, we visited Wagner's home in Bayreuth, which is called Wanfried. It
> has been converted into a museum. The house suffered some damage during
> the last days of WWII, but has been rebuilt and restored. Here we can
> walk the same hallways and rooms that Wagner walked. Unfortunately, I was
> also thinking of the fact that Wagner was very much a champion of Hitler,
> and Hitler returned that high esteeme to Wagner. It is known that Hitler
> also had trod those same rooms. The house is almost a religious shrine to
> Wagner and his beliefs. One can sit in the dining room, where his music
> is always being played, and can look out into the back yard of the house,
> where Wagner and his wife, Cosima Liszt are buried, and where some people
> go to pay homage.
>
> When I was there, the music which was being played was Parsifal, which has
> a religious meaning, at least to some, and which had been one of my
> favorites during my younger days. I still think it is beautiful music.
> But, knowing what I did about Wagner's viewpoints concerning Judaism and
> the Jews, I could not reconcile my thoughts about that and about his
> music. It made for a very surreal and somehow poignant experience. Since
> that day, I have hardly listened to any music of Wagner. I'll try it
> again someday, because the fact that he was a rather despicable character
> does not alter the fact that he also was a very capable and innovative
> composer.
>
> I think that attitudes about Wagner are undergoing a significant change
> presently. It will be very interesting to see how he will come to be
> regarded during the next 20 years or so.
>
> Ed Lacy
> el2@-----.edu
>
>
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