Review (PDF) Wagner's Parsifal (Studies In Musical Genesis, Structure, And Interpretation)
William Kinderman's 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 Kinderman'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. Kinderman combines new historical research, sensitive aesthetic criticism, and probing philosophical reflection in this most intensive examination of Wagner's culminating music drama.
Series: Studies in Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (July 31, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195366921
ISBN-13: 978-0195366921
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.2 x 6.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,628,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #135 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Wagner #519 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Religious & Church Music #1238 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Opera
Plácido Domingo summarizes well the quintessence of "Parsifal" with these words: "Through suffering, understanding. Through understanding, compassion. Through compassion, love" (Parsifal, documentary film directed by Tony Palmer), a core idea that was unknown by National Socialism.Alfred Brendel called Professor Kinderman a "very rare bird" to signal his impressive versatility in philosophy, musicology and performance. Inspired by Schiller, Beethoven, and certainly, Wagner, Kinderman believes that "art brings together the thinking and the feeling sides of human experience, creating a synthesis of the rational and the sensuous." The author is the head of the Music Education Division at the University of Illinois and is also a pianist. In 2005, he and his wife Katherine R. Syer, edited the outstanding collection, "A Companion to Wagner's Parsifal." This time, Kinderman offers an in-depth analysis of this inspiring and controversial work and brings two relevant quotations by two Wagnerian scholars; one is by Dieter Borchmeyer: "As a rule, artists who were violently controversial in their own day sooner or later achieve classic status, no longer sparking dissent.... Wagner's works, together with his artistic personality, continue to provoke disagreement and militate against their becoming classics." The other comes from Michael Tanner: "Difficult as it is to believe, Parsifal, Wagner's work of peace and conciliation, has been and remains the subject of even more bitter contention than any of his other works."Kinderman addresses a central question: "How did Wagner successfully create `another main interest' in the character of Parsifal"?
Wagner's Parsifal (Studies in Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation) Richard Strauss's Elektra (Studies In Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation) El Genesis Revisado / Genesis Revisited: Estara la Sciencia Moderna Alcanzando los Conocimientos de al Antiguedad? Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge? (Spanish Edition) Interpreting Musical Gestures, Topics, and Tropes: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert (Musical Meaning and Interpretation) EKG: EKG Interpretation Made Easy: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide to 12-Lead EKG/ECG Interpretation & Arrhythmias (EKG Book, EKG Interpretation, NCLEX, NCLEX RN, NCLEX Review) Stravinsky's Piano: Genesis of a Musical Language (Music since 1900) Parsifal in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) PARSIFAL LIBRETTO GERMAN ENGLISH Quick Studies - Genesis - Deuteronomy Debussy's Late Style (Musical Meaning and Interpretation) Debussy Redux: The Impact of His Music on Popular Culture (Musical Meaning and Interpretation) Biopsy Interpretation of the Uterine Cervix and Corpus (Biopsy Interpretation Series) Polypropylene Structure, blends and composites: Volume 1 Structure and Morphology Advanced Organic Chemistry: Part A: Structure and Mechanisms: Structure and Mechanisms Pt. A Biopsy Interpretation of the Breast (Biopsy Interpretation Series) Quantitative Seismic Interpretation: Applying Rock Physics Tools to Reduce Interpretation Risk Rounding Wagner's Mountain: Richard Strauss and Modern German Opera (Cambridge Studies in Opera) Wagner Nights: An American History (California Studies in 19th-Century Music) The Genesis of Justice: Ten Stories of Biblical Injustice that Led to the Ten Commandments and Modern Morality and Law Genesis and the Big Bang: The Discovery Of Harmony Between Modern Science And The Bible
