New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-20
WAGNERIANA.
THE POET-C0MPOSERS LITERARY WORKS
STUDY OF "PARSIFAL
MIvNCKER'S BIOGRAPHY

~
RICHARD wAcNERs PROSE WORKS rt Transats %o BY
OF the Future" etc Large ovo. PIP 422 London
Kegan Paul, Trench Truebner a Co. 1902
THE PARsIFAL OF RICHARD WAGNER: Translated
iTSn ne tT[@I The Untea states Book Company
pIcuARD WAGNER Sketch OF biz Life and
Works By Franz Muncker. Translated from the
German by D. Landman E % sy the na A" i.G
Ramberc. Buchner New York Charles scribner's
Sons.
The appearance of Mr. Ellis's stout volume re-
s,inds us that there is side of Richard Wagner $
activities which is practically unknown TO inc
great majority even of cultured persons liz Ia
known very widely 1--WE shall not attempt 10 sd!
how WE'LL as dramats: and musician. Inc ea'-
ing incidents in the story of his life are, perhaps,
more familiar than those of any other composer OF
,polern times But to all intcnts AMI purposes MS
literary works are an unknown world 10 all pu' d
comnarstivelv small circle of enthusiasts and stu
dents Yet those works fill ten soodly Volumes
counting his dramatic texts and emitting some
sketches and criticisms which he seemed 10 'hhN
unworthy of preservation when he collected his
writings for uniform publication twenty years
are We do not know that the widespread ig-
norance touching them should excite any special
wonder English writer's Wagner have pald
little or no attention hitherto TO his CRITICAL ana
PHILOSOPHICAL lahors. and even now II Is Only .'e
untirinc devotion and zeal of Mr.. W. Ashton Ellis
coupled with the enterprise OF the Lonuoh oraho"
of the Wagner Society, which has made pos'lple
the scheme of publication OF the poct-coihioscr
nroac writings Commentators and critics in Eng
land and America who have touched upon the
Wagner question have found enough TO occupy
their attention in ms lyric Uranus 1t was not
ohlv an easier task but also a much more pioiita-
I'm mil
view. to discuss their nature ana values than 20
attempt 10 familiarizc the public with Wagacrs
thoughts upon the profoundest problems OF life
and art. In the best of cases studies on the SUB
1ccts which occupied Wagner's mind are not light
reading In the particular case before Us tncy
are rendered extraordinarily difficult by Dclng
written not only in foreign tongue, Dut also III
. style which is the reverse OF lucid or elegant
and as q rule with potential purpose WHICH
has now lost ts reason for existence. BOOKS Ike
"The Art Work of the Future. " Art ami keVo-
luton and Opera and Drama were written I"
nave the way for Wagncrs artistic creations and
IN acceptance of the principles which they eNei"-
plify Those creations having established them-
selves not through the ro!emics, bat ~ virtue ol
their own prissance it has seemed unnecessary
to nav much attention 10 the verbal arguments
with which their author sought to justify or eA-
plain them.
Though there is truth in this. il is vet very
narrow view to take OF Wacners literary pro
auctions Popular they can never be. Neither
is il 10 he fancied that they can ever become as
potent as the lyric dramas in stimulating seTloAs-
ness and dignity of thought and taste with refer
cnco 10 art single art work j.. Of course. worth
n library of treatises art. BIT il Is. n@verthe-
less true that complete comprehension OF the
scope and nature of Wagner's retormatory labors
is impossible without q knowledge of his philo-
sophcal and critical writings. You may dig his
theories of life out Of his dramatic texts and his
belief touching the necessary interdependcnce tc
arts out OF performance of one OF his later oramls
but when this is done, there will remain the el"-
ment Of personal equation TO DE settled with
It is true that the same may be said OF his prose
writings, intermiXcd as they are with vagares OF
all sorts, and expressed in language which Is the
DESPAIR of the native German quite often as Of
the scholarly foreigner: but there il an air Of
strength conviction and terrible earne stness about
his discussions. and occasionally an outbnrSt oil
enthusiasm which make pcrusal Of them an III
telectual refreshment They help 20 an un'cr-
standing of his life as we'll as his artistic works.
1t is sensation wholly out of the ordinary 10
contemplate man of the nineteenth century IN
bued with conception Of the saving graces oil
art absolutely Hellenic in its fcrvor, ami WORKING
his mind into white heat while pleading 10Y
such destruction Of the cOnventionalitcs OF mod
ern life, such regeneration Of the Individual
and the community, as will make pure art and
pure religion one in purpose and potency. One
may enjoy such sensation, and profit from The
contemplation of the philosopher without caring
for his texts and his music. The question OF Tie
degree in which he realized his own ideals need
not enter into the case, nor that OF I'll, efficiency
of the elements which he employed. IL Is, lndeci,
O singular thing in connection with wagner thit
he may DE contemplated in any one OF his three
aspects philosopher. dramatist and musician, 10
the exclusion of the other two, and found to he
interesting and instructive In fact there are
advocates of his cause who devote all their atten-
ton TO his philosophy, and scarcely ever refer 70
his music, there are others who insist upon |
dissocatng his musical compositions from his
PHILOSOPHY Mr. Ellis who has taken upon him
self the task of translatng all his prose works
belongs to the former class He knows, Will |
wonderful fitness of knowledge, what was the |
course of events in Wagner's outward existence
and also what influences successfully worked upon
lis intellectual life. When he can demonstrate |
that his hero promulgated Schopenhaucrian doc |
trine before he began the study Of Schopenhaucr,
he il made happier than he would lie IN hearing |
the prelude TO Tristan and Isolde Such man |
was needed fer the work undertaken, rather than |
an emotional music-lover, impatient of mcaphysi
cal distractions and methods Though Nj. Ellis
is inclined to see less of the difficulty in rendering
Wagners thoughts into English, due to his turgil |
anl awkward style. than have indicated as
existing he Yet confssses that ii is easy task
to find English equivalents for some of the words
which Wagner made to take the place of terms
used in philosophical writings. and
which have greater elasticity and, az Mr.. Ellis
suggests, a more vital play Of meaning But in
bis anxiety TO do justice to his author the trans
ator has permitted himself no be led into an art-
fetal manner which sometimes sounds affected.
lie has developed fondnces for archaic words and
reutonic forms of expression, anG, indeed, some