Throughout
history, nationalism has affected the music of many composers. Defined as
“devotion and loyalty to one’s own country,” nationalism takes on many guises
in music. While some composers use folk songs from their native lands, some may
write music to reflect the visual images of their homeland. A pride in one’s
homeland can also convey itself in negative ways. One such example we will
discuss today, the German-nationalistic Richard Wagner, and the anti-Semitism
result.
In addition to
his musical output, Richard Wagner is known for his writings. Throughout his
life, Wagner wrote many essays on subjects ranging from music, literature,
drama, politics, and morality. A true German nationalist, Wagner believed that
German art was pure and true and only people who shared ethnicity could be part
of a nation. Jews, he believed, could not be German because Hebrew (a dead
language) was their real language. He claimed the Jewish people mimicked other
European nations in speaking their languages as foreigners.
In his 1850 essay
Judaism in Music, Wagner attacks the
Jewish people, specifically his former friend and influence, Giacomo Meyerbeer.
Though Meyerbeer had helped Wagner get his start, this anti-Semitic writing
attacks the Jewish composer, claiming that because of his Jewish heritage, he
is weak and lacks a nationalistic style. According to musicologists, this
writing was sparked when a critic wrote that Wagner’s music had Meyerbeer
influences, a statement that offended the independent composer. Wagner also
went on to attack Mendelssohn’s Jewish roots although, like Meyerbeer, Wagner
once admired his work.
During the 20th-century,
Wagner’s anti-Semitic writings gained popularity among the Nazis and Hitler.
His views supporting Hitler’s own, Wagner became his favorite composer.
Next time, join
me as I continue looking at Wagner’s anti-Semitism by exploring where it
appears in his music.
