In this incisive guide to Wagnr's masterwork, Der Ring des Nibelung en, Peter Bassett explains how Wagner fashioned mythical story with music of such power and expressiveness that it influenced the course of 20th century music. During the course of its four separate dramas, this work for musical stage describes how greed and lust for power inevitably lead to destruction. However, it also points to a new beginning based on hope and love.

A Ring for the Millennium: A Guide to Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen

Arts & Photography

Bassett, Peter

Music

Wakefield Pr

"Parsifal" was Richard Wagner's last opera, and many consider it his most beautiful and moving work.  It is concerned with the belief that human salvation is to be achieved not through the satisfaction of worldly desires, but through compassion.  The story reflects Parsifal's inner journey towards his own "enlightenment through compassion" and his consequent ability to ease the moral burdens of others.  It is set amongst a Christian religious military order of knights at about the time of the Crusades.  To convey the work's subtle and mystical ideas, Wagner wrote music that was decades ahead of its time and influenced many great composers -- Mahler, Bruckner, Debussy and Richard Strauss among them.  Peter Bassett has made a special study of "Parsifal" looking particularly at the relationship between Wagner's sources and his text.  It has become fashionable in recent times to interpret "Parsifal" in terms of twentieth-century politics and late nineteenth-century theories about race.  The author shows that Wagner's text owes more to his sources than many people suspect, and he identifies important thematic connections with other works, namely "Der Ring des Nibelungen."  This guide, which includes a translation of the libretto, will be invaluable to those new to "Parsifal" but will also provide fresh insights for readers who are already familiar with Wagner's final work.

Wagner's Parsifal: The Journey of a Soul

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Wakefield Press

This accessible text guides novice and seasoned opera listeners alike through Richard Wagner's renowned Ring cycle. To aid in understanding this complex and often contradictory work, a modern-day prose translation of its four component operas is provided, as is an explanation of The Nibelung's Ring's mythological background, Wagner's creative process, and the ideas conveyed throughout each component. A section reviewing its numerous musical themes and how they bind the cycle together musically is also included. Rarely seen lithographs by artist Hugo Braune illustrate the story.

The Nibelung's Ring: A Guide to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

Wagner's Parsifal: The journey of a soul

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