The first hundred years of Wagner's Tristan / by Elliott Zuckerman.
| Author/creator | Zuckerman, Elliott |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Columbia University Press, 1964. |
| Description | xiv, 235 pages ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Schopenhauer, the myth, and the music. The world as will ; "Opera and drama" revised ; Born of the spirit of music ; "Spectacle dans un fauteuil avec orchestre" ; Harmony ; The unhealthiest Eros ; Wagnerism and Tristanism -- To the first performance (1859-1865). The dangers of "Tristan" ; Renunciation ; Mathilde ; Tristanizing ; Still the music of the future ; Lola Montez the second ; "Tristan" in Munich ; The death of Tristan -- Nietzsche pro Tristan (1868-1888). The pattern of criticism ; Coming to Triebschen ; The rebirth of tragedy ; Dionysian ; Nothing but the orchestra ; Contra Wagner ; More air! ; Self-mastery and self-denial -- Wagner and Tristan in Paris (1850-1900). Lekeu and Mallarmé ; Preludes and evenings ; "Divertissement par M. Pétipa" ; Correspondences ; Wagnerites ; A Wagnerian review ; Symbolism ; Dans la forêt -- Love and death in Venice (1883-1933). Wagnerizing on the Isle of Wight ; Tristanizing along the Adriatic ; The city of music ; "Tristan" in the sanatorium ; Greatness and suffering -- To the final performance. "Tristan" electrified ; The Wagnerian decade ; The perfect Tristanite in America ; The secret of form ; World-historical music ; "Tristan" at home -- Appendix A: The dates of the first performances of Wagner's music-dramas in major operatic cities -- Appendix B: A note on Swinburne and the sea -- Appendix C: A note on Joyce and Eliot. |
| Abstract | The 'dangerous fascination' of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, most explicitly described by Nietzsche, has affected audiences and private listeners for the last hundred years. Few works of music have exercised so great an influence not only in the world of music, but on other forms of art and on people's thought and behavior as well. Elliott Zuckerman here discusses the rise and persistence of 'Tristanism,' from the time of the inception of the work to the present day. This history deals with the sources and the composition of the music drama, its first performance, its effect on the people associated with it, its critical and popular reception, its influence on composers, poets, and novelists, and its 'enshrinement' in the twentieth century. The conception of Tristan was in part the result of Wagner's conversion to the philosophy of Schopenhauer. Its composition and the early rehearsals coincided with the most famous romantic affair in Wagner's life, and with his discovery of the woman who was to become his second wife and help him build his operatic empire. Ludwig II of Bavaria sponsored the first performances. The tenor who sang the first Tristan died soon after his appearance in the role; his wife, the first Isolde, suffered from spiritualistic delusions. Nietzsche, the greatest partisan of Wagner's music, later became its fiercest critic. Sensitive young men fainted on hearing the overpowering new music, poets tried to reproduce it in poetry, and composers could not avoid writing operas that were Tristanesque. Dr. Zuckerman contrasts the influence of the music of Tristan with the influence of doctrinaire and literary Wagnerism, represented by such cultist periodicals as the Revue wagnerienne. Especially striking is the influence of Wagnerism on writers. Baudelaire, Mallarme, Gabriele D'Annunzio, D. H. Lawrence, and Thomas Mann are among the poets and novelists treated in some detail. Wagnerian elements in the works of Swinburne, Joyce, and T. S. Eliot are dealt with in appendixes. The twentieth-century career of Tristan is studied in the work of such men as the stage-designer Adolphe Appia, the American critic James Huneker, and the theorists of atonalism. Dr. Zuckerman's thoroughly documented study is enriched by generous quotation. From both biographical and artistic sources he has drawn the material for a vivid picture of the wide reaction to this music of 'shivery and sweet infinity,' of which Nietzsche further said that 'the world is poor enough for those who have never been sick enough for this 'voluptuousness of hell.'' |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical footnotes and index. |
| LCCN | 64013901 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML410.W14 Z8 1964 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |