Richard Wagner's essays on conducting : a new translation with critical commentary / Chris Walton.

This volume contains four writings by Wagner about conducting, and a critical essay on his thoughts and practices. With an author's note, introduction, bibliography, and index. Figures.

Includes bibliographical references.

A Note on the Present Translation -- Musical Examples -- 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 -- Critical Essay -- 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. Chris Walton is an honorary professor at Africa Open Institute, Stellenbosch University, and a research associate at the Bern University of the Arts.

COPYRIGHT NOT covered - Click this link to request copyright permission:

https://lib.ciu.edu/copyright-request-form