| This dissertation examines various aspects of Richard Wagner's anti-Semitism, and the impact it had on German society. The introduction addresses some of the theoretical issues inevitably raised by such an undertaking, arguing that the influence the composer's ideological utterances may conceivably have had can never be adequately assessed until a more detailed knowledge of the historical facts is acquired. Following that precept, the second chapter investigates the various connections that exist between Wagner and the Prussian court chaplain Adolf Stocker, known as Germany's perhaps first political anti-Semite. Chapter Three provides a detailed analysis of the tumultuous first performances of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Vienna and Berlin in 1870, tracing the work's reception in an array of contemporary newspaper accounts. The conclusion reached is that there is very little evidence that Wagner's contemporaries perceived the alleged anti-Semitic undercurrent of the opera. Chapter Four deals with the strident anti-Semitism of Franz Liszt's Des Bohemiens et de leur musique en Hongrie, arguing that previous scholarship has failed to give an adequate account both of the nature of this work, and of its reception. Chapter Five investigates a single quote about Wagner often attributed to Adolf Hitler, "Whoever wants to understand National Socialist Germany must know Wagner." A detailed examination of the apparent sources for this statement leads us to believe that its authenticity is highly dubious. In the sixth and final chapter, it is established that the often-retold story about the young Hitler's epiphany in connection with a performance of Rienzi in Linz is apocryphal. This forces us to conclude that the memoir that has served as the principal source for this anecdote, August Kubizek's Adolf Hitler: Mein Jugendfreund, can scarcely be deemed trustworthy. |
