The ancient Germanic god that Richard Wagner resurrected in his operatic style Der Ring des Nibelungen was worshiped and feared from Greenland to Asia Minor for 1,000 years after the birth of Christ. This thesis examines the psychological aspects of Wotan as he appears in the opera.

Stephen Sondheim, famous for writing such musicals as Company, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Assassins, is often referred to as the originator of the modern concept musical. Despite varying definitions of the concept musical, it is generally agreed that the form embodies a specific identity or mood, which it communicates to an audience both emotionally and intellectually. As such it offers audience members a complete experience resembling in theory the idea of "total theatre" proposed in the nineteenth century by composer Richard Wagner. My thesis will argue that the similarity between Sondheim's concept musical and Wagner's total theatre is more than purely theoretical; it is practical as well, involving structural parallels such as leitmotif, minor chord development, and intricate lyricism. Congruently, many of Sondheim's choices describing communication with audiences on the emotional and intellectual levels also recall those utilized by Wagner over a century earlier. These similarities not withstanding, Sondheim, as a contemporary artist, creates work that has often been described in terms of theoretical movements that post-date Wagner, including "desconstructionism" and Brechtian theatre. While these terms certainly describe some differences between the work of Sondheim and Wagner, I will argue that their existence with regard to Sondheim does not preclude a Wagnerian approach to the contemporary composer's work. Elements of deconstruction and Brechtian alienation may, in fact, be linked back to Wagner in specific manners. My thesis will explore these connections, concluding that an approach to the work of Sondheim in the vein of Richard Wagner may suggest a successful method of interpreting the contemporary concept musical.

Über den genauen Zeitrahmen des Aufenthalts von Richard Wagner in Riga (1837–1839) gibt es nur wenige Zeugnisse. Eine Momentaufnahme vom Zustand Rigas zu dieser Zeit lässt sich allerdings kaum herstellen. Die Stadt veränderte sich ständig, die Jahre vor und nach Wagners Aufenthalt sind mit zu berücksichtigen, zumal Letzterer so kurz war wie in unserem Falle. Anfangs ist noch eine obligatorische, trotzdem vielleicht doch nützliche Vorbemerkung notwendig: Im Zentrum des Kulturlebens jener Zeit stand eine private Initiative von Baron Otto von Vietinghoff, genannt Scheel (1722–1792); er gründete das erste ständige Theater Rigas. Und das Theater war – unabhängig von Wagner – ein gewichtiger Schwerpunkt des Kulturlebens der Stadt damals wie später auch.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:27:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Isadora Raquel Petry.pdf: 1301552 bytes, checksum: 34ee2fa6a4e5d5bd792128a9fc25c07b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-09 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / This dissertation aims at presenting some aspects of Nietzsche's theory of décadence. It limits itself to Nietzsche's confrontation with 19th century art and focuses on the way in which Nietzsche undertakes, by means of the décadent-artists, a certain diagnosis and a certain critique of his own epoch, i.e, of modernity. In order to bring this diagnosis to light the philosopher undertakes an analysis of certain artists; among these it is Richard Wagner the one who best expresses the modern condition. In The case of Wagner, written in 1888, Nietzsche interprets the musician as a very great actor owing to Wagner's necessity to disguise, to travesty a decadent and fragmented reality into a seemingly unified and coherent form. Art is thus transformed into an art of seduction and excitement, into an attempt at escaping from reality. But if décadent art is, according to Nietzsche, the means by which to detect the dangers of the present, it is also, on the other hand, only through it that the philosopher envisages an overcoming of modernity itself and of the décadence which constitutes it. In order to introduce ourselves to the genealogic-physiologic procedures by which Nietzsche analyses décadent art, we have shown (Chapter 1) some aspects of the first form of decadence diagnosed by Nietzsche, the socratic decadence of hellenic culture such as made explicit in The Birth of Tragedy (1872). Thereupon we brought to light (Chapter 2) some elements of the historical context out of which the concept décadence emerged in the French literary milieu, thus approaching the theme of Nietzsche's reception particularly of the literary critic Paul Bourget and of the poet Charles Baudelaire. Furthermore we analysed (Chapter 3) some aspects of the décadent art departing from the nietzschean diagnosis of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk , setting as background thereto the problem of the actor and the critique of theatrocracie developed in Nietzsche's later philosophy. We concluded our dissertation by indicating how Nietzsche envisages the possibility of an immanent overcoming of décadence / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo apresentar alguns aspectos da teoria da décadence em Nietzsche, limitando-se ao seu confronto com a arte do século XIX e tendo sempre no horizonte a maneira como Nietzsche empreende, por meio dos artistas da décadence, um diagnóstico e uma crítica de sua época, i.é, da modernidade. Para realizar tal diagnóstico, o filósofo empreende uma análise de certos artistas; dentre estes, Richard Wagner será o que melhor exprime a condição moderna. Em O caso Wagner, escrito em 1888, Nietzsche reconhece o músico como um grandíssimo ator , devido à sua necessidade de disfarçar, travestir uma realidade decadente e fragmentária em uma forma aparentemente unitária e coesa. A arte se transforma numa arte da sedução e da excitação, em uma tentativa de fuga da realidade. Mas se a arte da décadence é, para Nietzsche, um meio a partir do qual é possível detectar os perigos da época, é também, por outro lado, somente a partir dela que Nietzsche vislumbra uma superação da própria modernidade e da décadence que lhe constitui. A fim de introduzirmo-nos ao procedimento genealógico-fisiológico por meio do qual Nietzsche analisa a arte da décadence, mostramos (Cap. 1) alguns aspectos da primeira forma de decadência diagnosticada por Nietzsche, a decadência socrática da cultura helênica tal como explicitada em O nascimento da tragédia (1872). Em seguida (Cap. 2), trouxemos à tona alguns elementos do contexto histórico do surgimento do conceito décadence no meio literário francês, elucidando, com isso, a recepção nietzschiana em especial do crítico literário Paul Bourget e do poeta Charles Baudelaire. No último capítulo (Cap. 3), analisamos alguns aspectos da arte da décadence a partir do diagnóstico nietzschiano da obra de arte total wagneriana, tendo como pano de fundo o problema do ator e a crítica à teatrocracia na filosofia tardia de Nietzsche. Por fim, à guisa de conclusão, tentamos mostrar como Nietzsche vislumbra a possibilidade de uma superação imanente da décadence

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Freitas Ceistutis.pdf: 889412 bytes, checksum: 2a8e71b7365fd5cabda8fb3787e3e200 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-11-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work has contributed to substantiate and systematize the use of the concept of Buddhism (and some of its features) and closeness that Wagner having with this religion, whether by his writings, or even byhis Operas, great relevance and based on the readings fulfilled by the authors of this composer s philosophy, religion, and mythology among others and his life history. The work was fed by primary literature sources (Wagner s writings and his wife), as well as comprehensive secondary literature particular to the topic. It was chosen to do a discursive and comparative analysis of sources to reach the ultimate goals / Este trabalho contribuiu para evidenciar e sistematizar o uso do conceito do budismo (e algumas de suas características) e da proximidade que Wagner teve com essa religião, quer seja por meio de seus escritos, ou até mesmo através de suas Óperas, tendo por base as leituras feitas por este compositor a autores da filosofia, da religião, da mitologia e entre outros e de seu histórico de vida. A pesquisa foi feita por fontes bibliográficas primárias (escritos de Wagner e sua esposa), bem como de ampla bibliografia secundária específica para o tema. Este trabalho optou em fazer uma análise discursiva e comparativa entre fontes para se chegar aos objetivos pretendidos

This is an analysis of the contributions of Richard Wagner's ideas to the development of Adolf Hitler as seen by various historians. This author has consulted the works of many different authors to attempt to find the ideological roots of Adolf Hitler. The ideology of Richard Wagner, as seen by some of the most pre-eminent historians of this period, has been applied to the ideas of Hitler to find any continuity between these two men. All historians consulted thought Wagner was, for some more, others, less, a contributor to the development of Adolf Hitler and National Socialism. This author has concluded that Wagner was a contributor, but that Hitler's personal environment was more important to the development of National Socialism. This thesis explores an area into which no one has really delved in depth. Hopefully, this thesis can be a springboard for further research into this area.

The Richard Wagner collection in Eisenach contains the estates of several important 19th century Wagner performers. The inheritance of the Heldentenor Joseph Tichatschek provides insight into the live and influence of the tenor. Tichatschek is considered as one of the greatest German speaking tenors of his generation and performed the leading roles in the world premieres of Richard Wagner’s Rienzi und Tannhäuser. The paper provides an introduction into the extensive networks Tichatschek apparently used to promote his own career as well as the works of composers close to him, like Richard Wagner. The study focusses on Tichatschek’s connections to the German courts, newspaper editors, and artists. The daughter of the singer, Josephine Rudolph-Tichatschek – wife to the German tenor Eduard Rudolph –, appears as a so far completely unknown figure with likewise extensive networks which helped to preserve the inheritance of her father after his death.

A rich relationship unites the composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and the history of psychology, especially if one considers his attempt to make music speak with the clarity of verbal language. Wagner's musical discourse participated in the development of psychology in the nineteenth century in three distinct areas. First, Wagner shared in the non-reductive materialist discourse on mind that characterized many of the thinkers who made psychology into an autonomous intellectual pursuit. Second, Wagner's theories and theatrical productions directly influenced two important psychologists - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Christian von Ehrenfels (1859-1932). Finally, the experiences of music achieved by Wagner at his Bayreuth festivals created greater sensitivity toward psychology, especially among the more sympathetic participants. In tracing a narrative from Wagner's first conception of a festival in 1849 to the premiere of Parsifal in 1882, one can also see several arcs in the evolution of Wagner's musical discourse. These include the shift from mnemonic to hypnotic techniques for giving music a voice, as well as the transition from a socially critical festival to one of personal affirmation. Connected to both of these augmentations of musical discourse was the volatile relationship between music and text in Wagner's compositions. Important in facilitating these transformations was not only Wagner's discovery of Schopenhauer's philosophy, but also the larger contingencies of instituting a festival in the Griinderzeit. In looking at the reception side of theatrical productions, in addition to their staging, this thesis has been able to identify psychologically-related links important to the history of music, science, and culture.

Many of Liszt’s early virtuosic works for piano are limited by a rigidified conception of thematic substance: the sonorous and harmonic impressionism in introductions and bridge passages does not disguise the finite and static treatment of themes. This problem found effective solution during the 1850s. With reference in particular to the first book of the Années de Pélérinage, it is shown how Liszt, even before Wagner, succeeded in making »his whole art [...] an art of transition« by systematic exploration of symmetrical, cyclic (octatonic, hexatonic) tonal spaces. The opening up of space within the thematic substance makes the forms of musical time themselves fluid and infinitely makes the forms of musical time themselves fluid and infinitely expandable, a potentiality exploited to the full by Wagner in Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal, and hinted at in the famously enigmatic line from the latter »Zum Raum wird hier die Zeit«. The introduction of »tonal space« as a compositional means can be logically related to an increase in the use of octatonic and hexatonic pitch collections as substitutes for diatonic tonality, a process that occurred around the turn from the 19th to the 20th century and that can be set against modernist historiographical narratives of the »dissolution of tonality« as apologia for the dodecaphonic method. Tonal space is further interpreted here as an expressive and not merely technical resource, carrying particular cultural connotations such as landscape, poetic transcendence, and magic. The importance of such meanings suggests the need to take a more interpretative and less »material« view of music history itself.