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Article: The Selected Letters of Richard Wagner.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- September 2, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Selected Letters of Richard Wagner
IT IS A critical truism that Richard Wagner's influence far exceeded the worth of his music. As a composer he was long-winded, pretentious, and overblown; his "contributions" to the art were for the most part extensions of earlier musical developments. True, he has provided steady employment for busty sopranos and muscle-bound heldentenors--but the product itself tends to be on a par with German cooking. That thousands have worshipped at his shrine, both musical and ideological, is a fact--but, then, look at rock 'n' roll.
These worshippers will hail, as if it were a new edition of Pauline epistles, still another ...