Richard Wagner: Biographie

by Martin Geck

Best known for the challenging four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung , Richard Wagner (1813–83) was a conductor, librettist, theater director, and essayist, in addition to being the composer of some of the most enduring operatic works in history, such as The Flying Dutchman , Tannhäuser , and Tristan and Isolde . Though his influence on the development of European music is indisputable, Wagner was also quite outspoken on the politics and culture of his time. His ideas traveled beyond musical circles into philosophy, literature, theater staging, and the visual arts. To befit such a dynamic figure, acclaimed biographer Martin Geck offers here a Wagner biography unlike any other, one that strikes a unique balance between the technical musical aspects of Wagner’s compositions and his overarching understanding of aesthetics.


Wagner has always inspired passionate admirers as well as numerous detractors, with the result that he has achieved a mythical stature nearly equal to that of the Valkyries and Viking heroes he popularized. There are few, if any, scholars today who know more about Wagner and his legacy than Geck, who builds upon his extensive research and considerable knowledge as one of the editors of the Complete Works to offer a distinctive appraisal of the composer and the operas. Using a wide range of sources, from contemporary scholars to the composer’s own words, Geck explores key ideas in Wagner’s life and works, while always keeping the music in the foreground. Geck discusses not only all the major operas, but also several unfinished operas and even the composer’s early attempts at quasi-Shakespearean drama.


Richard A Life in Music is a landmark study of one of music’s most important figures, offering something new to opera enthusiasts, Wagnerians, and anti-Wagnerians alike.

Genres: Music, Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, Germany, History

Perfect Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Martin Geck ist ein deutscher Musikwissenschaftler.

Martin Geck wuchs in einem evangelischen Pfarrhaus in Recklinghausen auf. Sein Vater Wilhelm (1892–1989) war Mitglied der Bekennenden Kirche, Pfarrer der Gustav-Adolf-Kirche in Recklinghausen und von 1949 bis 1961 Superintendent des Kirchenkreises Recklinghausen. Martin Geck legte 1955 am Gymnasium Petrinum in Recklinghausen das Abitur ab. Anschließend studierte er Musikwissenschaft, Theologie und Philosophie in Münster, Berlin und Kiel. 1962 folgte die Promotion. 1966 wurde er Gründungsredakteur der Richard-Wagner-Gesamtausgabe. 1970 war er als Lektor in einem Schulbuchverlag tätig, nachfolgend als Autor zahlreicher Musiklehrwerke. 1974 wurde er Privatdozent, 1976 schließlich ordentlicher Professor für Musikwissenschaft an der Universität Dortmund, wo er 2001 emeritiert wurde.

Geck verfasste viele Arbeiten zur Geschichte der deutschen Musik im 17., 18. und 19. Jahrhundert; aber auch der Musikpädagogik und Musiktherapie galt sein Interesse. Derzeit ist Geck vor allem in der Bachforschung tätig und Initiator der Dortmunder Bach-Symposien.

Reviews

[Michelle Curie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Wagner was a composer that revolutionised the understanding of opera and undeniably influenced all that was to come after him.



Wagner is a challenging one and while his music might be accessible, to truly understand it you have to invest time and effort. Martin Geck is one of those people who has done just that, hereby presenting a comprehensive analysis of Wagner's musical history.

This isn't a biography and if you're looking for a detailed account of Wagner's life, this isn't the one for you. Geck focusses on Wagner's work, chronologically going through his operas and unfinished pieces, while illuminating motifs and musical aspects just as well as overarching themes relating to political and social circumstances. I felt like I learned a lot and it gave me a whole new context in which I can now listen to Wagner's music. Geck refers to a wide range of sources, from scholars to diary entries by Wagner and his family.

It wasn't always an easy read, and it's probably not a good one if you are new to Wagner's work or operas in general. Geck's language is that of a musicologist and he uses a lot of musical terms to make his point. Knowledge of the plots and characters of Wagner's operas are also expected, as they aren't recounted. It'd recommend this to people who want to build on existing knowledge and already established interest more than I'd hand it to the curious looking for an introduction or starting point.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is important to point out that this is not a biography of Richard Wagner as such, there are some biographical details and it's largely set out in chronological order, but is rather a series of essays on his major works. It examines his music dramas in some detail, focussing on how they came to be written, the techniques employed and developed by Wagner, the influence and effect his works and writing had on his contemporaries and Wagner's legacy down to the present day. Wagner's notorious anti-Semitism is dealt with, expressed in various articles he wrote at several stages of his life. This is offset at the end of each chapter by portraits of the lives of well known Jewish artists, literary figures and musicians whose lives were greatly influenced by Wagner in either a positive way, as in Mahler and Schoenberg or negatively as in Meyerbeer and the damage done by Wagner to the reputation of Mendelssohn. It is remarkable to note that many eminent Jewish figures, whilst well aware of Wagner's odious views, chose to ignore them, and adore him as the monumental plenipotentiary of western musical and literary culture that he is. It is a very balanced account and a great read, gives deep insight into the philosophical context surrounding Wagner's great masterpieces and I strongly recommended it.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This superb work shows me the prehistory of The Ring, Wagner's view of the world. This musical narrative of nature, fear, resurrection, the curse, the sword, Erda (Earth Goddess), and Valhalla from Das Rheingold through Wotan's vision. The Wanderer archetype appears as an integral part of Wagner's life and music.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can I give negative stars????

Do NOT buy this book if you're interested in a biography of Richard Wagner. It bills itself as a bio. It's title, "Richard Wagner: A Life in Wagner" makes it sound like it's a biography. The other reviewers make you think it's a bio, which calls their reviews into question.

This is not a biography. Each chapter has just a very very very brief generalized paragraph of two about that stage in his life, then endless pages about the music that he generated as a result of i. And, unfortunately, it wasn't info about his writing, but more the authors (i.e. Geck's) ramblings about the psychological, sociological, and emotional underpinnings of the work. Each chapter concludes with a brief summary of the authors opinion of Wagner's opinion on major Jewish members of the musical society. All of this, coupled with the author's opinions of the place of Wagner's writings in the grand scheme of thing, makes this book a virtually unreadable piece of drivel.

[Mateicee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nein einfach nein. Es gibt nichts an dem Buch und der Person das ich mögen würde.

[Gabriel Rhenals]

One of the facets I appreciate about classical music is that it's the only major genre of music largely insulated from cults of personality or a questionable preoccupation with the personal lives of its all-too-human creators. Why? Because the creators are all long-dead.

My first sustained exposure to the music of Richard Wagner (d. 1883) occurred when I was 16. The sheer, rapturous beauty of the work would claim me as an ardent listener for the intervening years up to the present. As a long-standing tradition of mine, I listen to 'The Ring of the Nibelung', the composer's 4-part, 15-hour Gesamtkunstwerk (or total artwork), at least once a year. And a few months ago, I joined my dad at our local cineplex to see a live Metropolitan Opera broadcast of 'Lohengrin'. All the while, Wagner exists for me only where it truly matters - through his music.

This book, comprised of virtually every way to examine a musical canon, is the most intense exegesis I've ever encountered on the work of an artist. The density and intersectionality of the analysis was staggering! And although the book underlined the problematic, proto-fascist nature of Richard Wagner's personal views and polemics, I still say laurels to those whose fine art persists thunderously beyond the fleeting breath of their corporeal existence.

[Travis Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title tells all: “A Life in Music.” I didn’t take it to mean, “His Life Buried in the Music,” but alas. The Bad Boy of Western music gets a nice book, but when I wanted the tabloid run down of his badishness, I got the high cultured analysis of his musical goodies. User error, admitted.

[Flora · Rating 2 out of 5]

You need a strong music education to be able to read this one. I returned it.