Wagner: A Biography de Curt von Westernhagen

Wagner: A Biography

Curt von Westernhagen

Mary Whittall

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 29 apr 1981

Originally published in 1981, this is a one-volume paperback edition of Dr von Westernhagen's distinguished biography, first published in English by Cambridge University Press as a hardcover edition in two volumes. Its distinction was that it made use of fresh archive material, and took as its starting point the supreme greatness of Wagner's artistry. Dr von Westerhagen quotes extensively from letters and diaries to throw light, for example, on Wagner's estrangement from Nietzsche. The author also consulted the contents of the composer's Dresden library and teenage composition exercises written for his teacher, Theodor Weinlig, to establish early influences upon him. Particularly useful features of this study are the appendices which include a chronological summary of Wagner's life, a complete list of his musical and literary compositions and a large bibliography. This is a definitive biography which stands beside Newman's classic work as an indispensable reference book for all studies of Wagner.

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Volume 1: List of illustrations; Preface; Postscript to the preface; Acknowledgements; Summary bibliography; Part I. The Early Years (1813–1840): 1. The Wagner family; 2. Wagner's mother; 3. Boyhood; 4. Beethoven; 5. Studiosus musicae; 6. The first three operas; 7. Rienzi; Part II. The First Creative Period (1841–1848): 8. Der Fliegende Holländer; 9. Tannhäuser; 10. Hofkapellmeister in Dresden; 11. Germanic myth and Greek Tragedy; 12. Lohengrin; 13. Money troubles; Part III. The Revolutionary (1848–1852): 14. Revolutionary ideas; 15. Wieland der Schmied; 16. From heroic opera to mythic drama; Part IV. Der Ring des Niebelungen (I) (1853–1857): 17. The vision of La Spezia; 18. The myth becomes music; 19. The London inferno; 20. The Ring crisis; Part V. Tristan and Die Meistersinger (1857–1868): 21. In Asyl; 22. Venice and Lucerne; 23. Tannhäuser in Paris; 24. Odyssey; Notes to volume 1. Volume 2: 25. Munich; 26. Die Meistersinger; Part VI. Der Ring des Niebelungen (II) (1868–1877): 27. From Tribschen to Bayreuth; 28. The first festival; 29. Nietzche in Bayreuth; 30. The nation's thanks; Part VII. Parsifal (1877–1883): 31. 'My Farewell to the World'; 32. La lugubre gondola; Appendices; Chronological summary of Wagner's life and work; List of works; Correspondence of Richard and Cosina Wagner; Notes to volume 2; Bibliography; Index to volumes 1 and 2.