Theology of Wagner’s Ring Cycle I: The Genesis and Development of the Tetralogy and the Appropriation of Sources, Artists, Philosophers, and Theologians
Ebook
Overview
Wagner’s Ring is one of the greatest of all artworks of Western civilization, but what is it all about? The power and mystery of Wagner’s creation was such that he himself felt he stood before his work “as though before some puzzle.” A clue to the Ring’s greatness lies in its multiple avenues of self-disclosure and the corresponding plethora of interpretations that over the years has granted ample scope for directors and will no doubt do so well into the distant future. One possible interpretation, which Richard Bell argues should be taken seriously, is the Ring as Christian theology. In this first of two volumes, Bell considers, among other things, how the composer’s Christian interests may be detected in the “forging” of his Ring, looking at how he appropriated his sources (whether they be myths and sagas, writers, poets, or philosophers) and considering works composed around the same time, especially his Jesus of Nazareth.
“Add this to your list of essential reading! Comprehensive and
authoritative, Bell’s Theology of Wagner’s Ring Cycle I maps
the theological territories of Wagner’s wide-ranging literary,
poetic, philosophical, and musical influences. Never before has
The Ring been subject to such a sustained theological
argument and approach . . . a conceptually transformative book
bound to recalibrate our understanding of Wagner and his
intellectual world.”
—Bennett Zon, Director, Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies,
Durham University; General Editor, Nineteenth-Century Music
Review
“Applying a theological lens to familiar ground, Richard Bell
argues in these volumes that Wagner’s Ring cycle can be seen
as a Christian allegory. Through a rich account of the composer’s
intellectual world, the author unpacks such classic theological
concerns as nature and the fall; love, death, and immortality;
freedom, necessity, and providence; and redemption—to the great
benefit of both Wagnerians and theologians.”
—Stephen McClatchie, Professor of Theology & the Arts, Huron
University College, London, Ontario
“I am not aware of any more meticulous trawl of the voluminous
sources for, and influences on, the Ring, through the
ancient Greek dramas, Old Norse and Germanic myths, Dante and
Shakespeare to Goethe and Schiller. The work of the major German
Idealists—Fichte, Kant, Schelling, Hegel, Feuerbach, and
Schopenhauer—is subjected to forensic analysis for Wagner’s debt to
each. Above all, Professor Bell is concerned to demonstrate
possible influences on theological and ethical issues in the
Ring.”
—Barry Millington, Editor, The Wagner Journal; Chief Music
Critic, London Evening Standard
“In this erudite and formidably researched study, Richard Bell
situates Wagner’s Ring cycle within the context of some of
the most powerful and influential systems of thought to have shaped
the Western mind. Of interest to theologians, philosophers, and
historians alike, Bell’s challenging ideas will not only inform
current and future debates around Wagner, but stimulate and provoke
in equal measure.”
—Roger Allen, Emeritus Fellow in Music, University of
Oxford
- Title: Theology of Wagner’s Ring Cycle I: The Genesis and Development of the Tetralogy and the Appropriation of Sources, Artists, Philosophers, and Theologians
- Author: Richard H. Bell
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781498235648, 9780227177471, 9780227907467, 9781498235631, 9781498235655, 1498235646, 0227177479, 0227907469, 1498235638, 1498235654
- Resource ID: LLS:9781498235648
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-01-18T21:27:56Z