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Pro and Contra Wagner
This volume brings together Thomas Mann's reflections of a lifetime on the composer to whom he felt closest. The novelist's admiration for Wagner was, however, by no means uncritical. Following Nietzsche, Mann knew that one had a duty to be both 'pro and contra Wagner'–hence the title of this collection.
Its centerpiece, 'The Sorrows and Grandeur of Richard Wagner', is one of the most revealing essays on the composer ever written. Delivered as a lecture in Munich within two weeks of Hitler having become Chancellor. Mann's blasphemous view of Wagner's art as 'dilettantism raised to the level of genius', was the immediate cause of his long exile from German soil.
This and the other major essay in this book (on the Ring) have long been out of print. They are presented here in wholly new translations which capture more faithfully than previous renderings the tone and literary distinction of the original texts. The forty-four other items, written between 1902 and 1951, include many which have never before been available in English.
As Erich Heller says in his introduction, these incomparable writings are 'an essential fragment of the novelist's intellectual autobiography'.
Its centerpiece, 'The Sorrows and Grandeur of Richard Wagner', is one of the most revealing essays on the composer ever written. Delivered as a lecture in Munich within two weeks of Hitler having become Chancellor. Mann's blasphemous view of Wagner's art as 'dilettantism raised to the level of genius', was the immediate cause of his long exile from German soil.
This and the other major essay in this book (on the Ring) have long been out of print. They are presented here in wholly new translations which capture more faithfully than previous renderings the tone and literary distinction of the original texts. The forty-four other items, written between 1902 and 1951, include many which have never before been available in English.
As Erich Heller says in his introduction, these incomparable writings are 'an essential fragment of the novelist's intellectual autobiography'.
- GenresMusicGerman Literature
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
About the author
Thomas Mann
2,177 books5,534 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
See also:
Serbian: Tomas Man
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate in 1929, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual. His analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modernized German and Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Goethe, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer. His older brother was the radical writer Heinrich Mann, and three of his six children, Erika Mann, Klaus Mann and Golo Mann, also became important German writers. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Mann fled to Switzerland. When World War II broke out in 1939, he emigrated to the United States, from where he returned to Switzerland in 1952. Thomas Mann is one of the best-known exponents of the so-called Exilliteratur.
See also:
Serbian: Tomas Man
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate in 1929, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual. His analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modernized German and Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Goethe, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer. His older brother was the radical writer Heinrich Mann, and three of his six children, Erika Mann, Klaus Mann and Golo Mann, also became important German writers. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Mann fled to Switzerland. When World War II broke out in 1939, he emigrated to the United States, from where he returned to Switzerland in 1952. Thomas Mann is one of the best-known exponents of the so-called Exilliteratur.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 8, 2022
Interesante para fanáticos del genial compositor alemán.
December 27, 2019
Thomas Mann no escribió un libro sobre Wagner, pero Wagner está muy presente en la obra de Thomas Mann. Además, Mann dio conferencias sobre el compositor, escribió artículos y generó correspondencia sobre él. Este libro recoge todo ese material (edición a cargo de su hija, Erika Mann) para que el lector lo tenga todo más o menos a mano. Ahora bien, hay que entender que son textos fuera de contexto, fragmentos de cartas, artículos dispersos que lo que ofrecen no es tanto un material para entender a Wagner y su obra, sino para entender lo que Wagner significaba para Thomas Mann. Dicho de otro modo, no tengo muy claro que el lector acabe sabiendo algo nuevo sobre Wagner al leer este libro (además, algunos textos son muy densos), pero sí podrá conocer algo más sobre Thomas Mann. No es una joya de libro, pero genera y sacia cierta curiosidad.
March 11, 2020
No se trata tanto de un libro que nos ayude a entender a Wagner sino de una colección de artículos, cartas y conferencias que nos ayudan a conocer mucho mejor a Thomas Mann y, eso sí, el impacto que la música i el pensamiento de Wagner (y Nietzsche) tuvo en el primer tercio del siglo XX.
December 26, 2019
This book has a lot of good insight into artistic inspo & what it means to act on it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews