Richard Wagner's Essays on Conducting: A New Translation with Critical Commentary (Eastman Studies in Music 175)

Richard Wagner was one of the leading conductors of his time. Through his disciples Hans von Bülow, Hans Richter, Anton Seidl, Felix Mottl, Arthur Nikisch, and their many notable protégés, a Wagnerian art of interpretation became the norm in Europe and America until well into the twentieth century. Wagner's essays on conducting had an even longer impact, and were upheld as central to their art by later generations of conductors from Mahler to Strauss, Furtwängler, Böhm, Scherchen, and beyond. This is the first complete, modern translation of Wagner's conducting essays to appear in English, and the first-ever edition to offer extensive annotations explaining their reception and impact. The accompanying critical essay offers a detailed analysis of Wagner's conducting practices, his innovations in tempo and the art of transition, his creation of a new vocabulary to describe his art, and his success in establishing a school of conductors to promote his works and his aesthetic. A digital edition of this book is openly available thanks to generous support from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Table of Contents Introduction PART I: RICHARD WAGNER'S WRITINGS ON CONDUCTING Reminiscences of Spontini Report on the Performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Dresden in 1846 About Conducting On Performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony PART II: CRITICAL ESSAY Richard Wagner and the Art of Conducting Machine generated contents note:A Note on the Present Translation --Musical Examples --pt. IRichard Wagner's Writings on Conducting --1.Reminiscences of Spontini --2.Report on the Performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Dresden in 1846 --3.About Conducting --4.On Performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony --pt. IICritical Essay --5.Richard Wagner and the Art of Conducting --About Conducting --Wagner in Review --Wagner in the Picture --Annotated Scores and Parts --Writing on Conducting -- Mania, Helmsmen, and Theory --Berlioz the Catalyst? --Uber das Dirigieren -- Early Impact --Uber das Dirigieren -- Structure, Context, and Meta-Text --Of "Elegance" and Anti-Semitism --Wagner and the Academy --Wagner and Beethoven's Ninth --The Bayreuth Performance of Beethoven's Ninth in 1872 --Finding a Vocabulary for Conducting --Melos and the Body --Tempo Modification --Freedom, Control, and the "Two Cultures" --Charles Darwin and the Imperceptible Art of Transition --Wagner ex Cathedra --Wagner's School of Capellmeisters --Wagner in Translation --The Triumph of Time --Bibliography --Sound Recordings --Annotated Scores --Books and Articles. Richard Wagner was one of the leading conductors of his time. Through his disciples Hans von Bülow, Hans Richter, Anton Seidl, Felix Mottl, Arthur Nikisch, and their many notable protégés, a Wagnerian art of interpretation became the norm in Europe and America until well into the twentieth century. Wagner's essays on conducting had an even longer impact, and were upheld as central to their art by later generations of conductors from Mahler to Strauss, Furtwängler, Böhm, Scherchen, and beyond. This is the first complete, modern translation of Wagner's conducting essays to appear in English, and the first ever edition to offer extensive annotations explaining their reception and impact. The accompanying critical essay offers a detailed analysis of Wagner's conducting practices, his innovations in tempo and the art of transition, his creation of a new vocabulary to describe his art, and his success in establishing a school of conductors to promote his works and his aesthetic. project_muse_94324-3006942 1 project_muse_94324-3006943 2 project_muse_94324-3006944 3 project_muse_94324-3006945 4 project_muse_94324-3006946 5 project_muse_94324-3006947 6 project_muse_94324-3006948 8 project_muse_94324-3006949 10 project_muse_94324-3006950 12 project_muse_94324-3006951 15 project_muse_94324-3006952 17 project_muse_94324-3006953 19 project_muse_94324-3006955 25 project_muse_94324-3006956 33 project_muse_94324-3006957 41 project_muse_94324-3006958 109 project_muse_94324-3006959 127 project_muse_94324-3006961 161 project_muse_94324-3006962 216 project_muse_94324-3006963 268 project_muse_94324-3006964 293 project_muse_94324-3006965 309 project_muse_94324-3006966 317 The first modern English edition of Richard Wagner's essays on conducting, extensively annotated, with a critical essay on Wagner as conductor: his aesthetic, practices, vocabulary, and impact.