New Course
MLL/MUSC 331
Richard Wagner’s Role in German Culture
Fall 1999
Tu/Th: 2:30-3:45 Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing
Instructor: Dr. Edward Larkey GFR designation:C
Office: ACIV B-Wing, Room 129 Offered in English
Tel: 410-455-2109/2104
Office Hours: Tu/Th 11-12 am or by appt.
Email: larkey@umbc.edu
Syllabus
Objectives
This course will look at the complex relationships of an enigmatic figure of German cultural life, drawing from a variety of different viewpoints to discuss the diverse and ambivalent position of Wagner with regard to other institutions, artists and ideas circulating in German cultural life both during his lifetime as well as in the subsequent decades. Students will become familiar with different disciplinary approaches to evaluating Wagner – history, music, philosophy and literature. Students will learn how German culture can simultaneously embody cultural progress and artistic achievement, while propagating some of the most inhumane and racist ideas.
Class Work
We will delve into important aspects of Wagner’s life – his conflict with Nietzsche, his idiosyncratic use of traditions for defining German identity, the Bayreuth festival, , his Anti-Semitism, and the Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy.
In addition to class readings for each meeting of class about Wagner by the leading experts in the disciplines, we will be reading selections from Wagner’s essays and prose explaining his viewpoints as well, in order to gain insights into his unique way of thinking and his positioning vis-a-vís society.
You will be expected to listen to the music of the Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy before and outside of class time on your own.
Grades:
Grading will consist of two exams during the semester (50%), class participation (15%) and one final exam (35%). If the need arises, unannounced quizzes will be given intermittently to ensure that the readings are done. These will add to your class participation grade.
Honors Projects:
Students may earn Honors credit for a project consisting of a presentation of one of the readings and a term paper (10-15 pages) on a topic related to a particular class. Please sign up within the first two weeks of class.
Readings
In Bookstore
David C. Large, William Weber (Eds.), 1984. Wagnerism in European Culture and Politics, Cornell University Press.
Ullrich Müller, Peter Wapnewski (Eds.), 1992. Wagner Handbook, Harvard University Press.
Rudolph Sabor, 1997. Der Ring des Nibelungen: A Companion. Phaidon Press
|
Wagner’s Writings on Library Reserve |
Other Writings on Library Reserve |
|
Beethoven |
Friedrich Nietzsche, Birth of Tragedgy |
|
Judaism in Music |
Amanda Glauert, The Reception of Wagner in Vienna 1860-1900 |
|
What is German |
Thomas Mann, Pro and Contra Wagner |
|
Opera and Drama |
Hermann Hesse, Klein und Wagner |
|
The Public and Popularity |
Robert Hartford, Richard Wagner and the Idea of the Festival |
|
The Work of Art in the Future |
Millington, Spencer (Eds), Wagner in Performance |
|
On Conducting |
Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea |
Audio-Visual Reserves:
The Ring of the Nibelungs will be available as a music cassette or CD as well as a videocassette of the performances in the AV area of the library
Schedule of Classes (Subject to adjustment during the semester)
|
Day |
Topic |
Readings |
|
Th Sept. 2 |
Introduction |
Weber & Large, Introduction Pp. 15-27 Koppen (HB), Wagnerism as Concept and Phenomenon. Pp. 343-353. |
|
Tu Sept. 7 |
Philosophical Roots |
Weber, Wagner, Wagnerism, & Musical Idealism, Pp. 28-72 |
|
Th Sept 9 |
Philosophical Roots |
Wagner, The Work of Art in the Future |
|
Tu Sept. 14 |
Philosophical Roots |
Nietzsche, Birth of Tragedy |
|
Th Sept. 16 |
Philosophical Roots |
Hartmut Reinhart, Wagner and Schopenhauer, Pp. 287-296. |
|
Tu Sept 21 |
Sources-Traditions-Stylistic Syncretisms |
Dahlhaus, Wagner´s place in the History of Music, Pp. 99-117 |
|
Th Sept 23 |
Sources-Traditions-Stylistic Syncretisms |
Müller, Wagner and Antiquity, Pp. 227-235 |
|
Tu Sept 28 |
Sources-Traditions-Stylistic Syncretisms |
Volker Mertens, Wagner´s Middle Ages, Pp. 236-268 |
|
Th Sept 30 |
Sources-Traditions-Stylistic Syncretisms |
Wagner, Beethoven (1870) |
|
Tu Oct 5 |
Exam No. 1 |
Wagner´s Aesthetic and Philosophical Roots |
|
Th Oct 7 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Werner Breig, The Musical Works, Pp. 397-484. |
|
Tu Oct 12 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Discussion: Ring/Das Rheingold |
|
Th Oct 14 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Oswald Bauer, Performance History: A Brief Survey. Pp. 502-523. |
|
Tu Oct 19 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Discussion: Ring/Die Walküre |
|
Th Oct 21 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Jens Malte Fischer, Sprechgesang or Bel Canto., Pp. 524-546 |
|
Tu Oct 26 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Discussion: Ring/Siegfried |
|
Th Oct 28 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Selections from Wagner: Opera and Drama |
|
Tu Nov 2 |
Libretti, Composition and Performance Practice |
Discussion: Ring/Die Götterdämmerung |
|
Th Nov 4 |
Exam No. 2: |
Music Compositions and Libretti |
|
Tu Nov 9 |
Wagners Bayreuth Project |
Manfred Eger, The Bayreuth Festival and the Wagner Family, Pp. 485-501. |
|
Th Nov 11 |
Wagners Bayreuth Project |
Robert Hartford, Richard Wagner and the Idea of the Festival, Introduction to Bayreuth, the Early Years. Pp. 15-41. |
|
Tu Nov 16 |
Wagners Bayreuth Project |
Wagner, Public and Popularity |
|
Th Nov 18 |
Wagner´s Bayreuth Project |
David C. Large, Wagner´s Bayreuth Disciples, Pp. 72-133. |
|
Tu Nov 22 |
German and Austrian Reactions to Wagner |
Amanda Glauert, The Reception of Wagner in Vienna, 1860-1900. In Millington and Spencer, Wagner in Performance, Pp. 120-129 |
|
Th Nov 24 |
Thanksgiving |
|
|
Tu Nov 29 |
German and Austrian Reactions to Wagner |
Thomas Mann, Selections from Pro and Contra Wagner |
|
Th Dec 2 |
German and Austrian Reactions to Wagner |
Hermann Hesse, Klein und Wagner Johann Nestroy, Tannhäuser Parody |
|
Tu Dec 7 |
Wagner and Nazi Culture |
Readings TBA |
|
Th Dec 9 |
Wagner´s Anti-Semitism |
Dieter Borchmeyer, The Question of Anti-Semitism, Pp. 166-185. |
|
Tu Dec 13 |
Wagner´s Anti-Semitism |
Wagner: Judaism in Music Wagner, What is German? |
|
|
Final Exam |
Wagner and Tradition |
Possible Projects Topics
Music:
Comparative Performance Practices
Ring Works
Non-Ring Works
Music Traditions
Philsophy
Wagner and Nietzsche
Wagner and Schopenhauer
History
Wagner in France
Wagner in US
Wagner in Russia
Wagner in Great Britain
Wagner in Italy
Wagner in Israel
German:
Literary Heritage
Reception in Literature
Reception in Film