Language:
English
Year of publication:
2001
Titel der Quelle:
19th-Century Music
Angaben zur Quelle:
25,2-3 (2001-2002) 190-211
Keywords:
Wagner, Richard,
;
Wagner, Richard,
;
Liszt, Franz,
;
Antisemitism in music
Abstract:
Elucidates the question of antisemitism in Wagner's operas. Although the presence of antisemitism is not overt, a number of interpretations have made a connection between the composer's undeniable antisemitic ideology and his works. The case of the prelude to "Lohengrin" is paradigmatic. The opera has no antisemitic subtext. However, Wagner repeatedly reinterpreted this opera. He wrote a program for the Prelude in 1851, where he described the work in terms parallel with expressions of his in "Judaism in Music" (1850). However, the Prelude has been understood, first and emphatically by Liszt (in his correspondence with Wagner and in an essay he published on "Lohengrin") as oblivious of or even an antidote to antisemitism. This view was made explicit in the use of this music in Charlie Chaplin's film "The Great Dictator". Liszt's and Chaplin's readings are an antidote to social injustice in general and antisemitism in particular.
DOI:
10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.190
URL:
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