Wagner handbook. / edited by Ulrich Muller, Peter Wapnewski ; translation edited by John Deathridge.

Translation of : Richard-Wagner-Handbuch. Table of Contents Introduction Note on Citations Works: The Dramatist 1 The Operas as Literary Works Biography and Reception: History, Ideology, Research 2 Wagner's Place in the History of Music 3 Wagner in the History of Psychology 4 The Revolutionary of 1848-49 5 The Question of Anti-Semitism 6 The Political Influence and Appropriation of Wagner 7 A Brief History of Wagner Research Works: Sources, Influences, Aesthetics 8 Wagner and Antiquity 9 Wagner's Middle Ages 10 The Dramatic Texts 11 Wagner and Schopenhauer 12 The Music Biography and Reception: Decadence and the Dawn of "Wagnerism" 13 The Patronage of King Ludwig II 14 Wagner and Nietzsche 15 Wagnerism as Concept and Phenomenon 16 Wagner and the Visual Arts 17 Wagner in Literature and Film Works: The Composer 18 The Musical Works Biography and Reception: Bayreuth, Performance, Musical Influence 19 The Bayreuth Festival and the Wagner Family 20 Performance History: A Brief Survey 21 Sprechgesang or Bel Canto: Toward a History of Singing Wagner 22 Wagner's Musical Influence Works: The Writer 23 The Prose Writings Bibliographical Abbreviations

he influenced a whole generation of conductors, took part in a revolution, counseled kings and diplomats, and organized the building of the Bayreuth festival theater. His writings on a wide variety of subjects fill sixteen substantial volumes, and his thousands of personal letters document a wildly eventful private life. The Wagner Handbook addresses all of these aspects of the composer's life and achievement. Central chapters include an account of Wagner's place in music history by Carl Dahlhaus

Isolde Vetter's chapter on Wagner in the history of psychology

Peter Wapnewski's discussion of Wagner's operatic works as literature

surveys of performance questions over the years by Jens Malte Fischer and Oswald Bauer.

Werner Breig's treatment of individual musical works

Richard Wagner: Rarely has anyone in the history of Western culture stirred such deep, contrary, and enduring passions. A proposal to perform his work ignites controversy in Israel. Wagner's The Ride of the Valkyries blares from helicopters slicing the air of Apocalypse Now. His name leads a list of Germany's spiritual heroes against a flaming backdrop in Anselm Kiefer's largest work. Idolized by Nietzsche, appropriated by Hitler, defended by writers from Mann to Adorno, emulated by countless composers, interpreted by artists and filmmakers, Wagner has left us a legacy as complicated as it is profound. To this day the sheer magnitude of his accomplishment retains its power to overwhelm. This book is a measure of that magnitude, an unprecedented attempt to bring together in one volume what is known about the composer's life, his work, and his influence. Unparalleled in its scope and depth, this remarkable compendium offers readers a unique opportunity to understand what this prodigious man has meant to the Western world. Described by Brahms as a man of "colossal industry and horrendous energy," Wagner composed dozens of works, many of them towering masterpieces