Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-08
T%HE note on which this ami
versary year has opened is
the universal desire on the

the universal desire on the
part of musicians to do
honor to the memory Of Richard
Wagner. Fifty years ago on Feb
Tuary Is at Venice he finished a
life full of hardShipS and bitter
ness for himself, crowned at last
with the realization of his dreams.
To the world he left not only the
legacy of his works but a temple
to art where the sacred fire which
,hc Kindled is kept burning from
year to year. Rayreuth today
Stands unique as q monument to
the greatness of vision and the
greatness of genius of one man,
4Richard Wagner.
What he has done for music
has as yet never been surpassed
ior equaled, in spite of all that is
NEW and complicated that have
Ibeen inspired by his radical de-
Ipartures in theme and form. The
enormity of Wagner's genius is,
in reality, only now being fully
appreciated in a thoroughly un-
Iderstanding way, due to the mu-
o1Cdl dON dl1CCI11C1lO avs y 41Oill VIZ
ytrivialitieS that held sway for so
ymany years. The persistence with
/ (which Wagner held to his ideas
during his lifetime and which
finally drew the attention and
Incorporation of such men as List
and Won BuloW has continued to
fintrude on the unreSponSlveneSS
aof the sages of music until at last
fthey have given way and accord
fhim his rights without fear OF
ymistake.
Wagner was a storm center
during his lifetime, and, lest this
turbulent aura be forever dis
pelled, there has been a recent
revival of animosity against him.
Several books have been written
supporting to prove him a man
more immersed in desire for per-
Sonal glory than the working out
of his genius. He is pointed at
as a clever charlatan who an
nexed the ideas of those greater
than himself to weave them into
a fabric of his own by his sly
manipulations. He is designated
as a man of theatrical tendencies
who made of his life play and
who could only function when in
the midst of a drama of his own
brewing. His egotism is said to
have guided him to women with
rich husbands, which he used to
his advantage through their
warm feeling for him.
Whatever the detractions of the
enviouS or coldly minded, his mu-
sic, which is the worlds only con-
Germ, has not alone stood the test
of time but grown in significance
with the passing years. He has
been our educator. His insist
ance that he be listened to, which
was so dominant in his life, seems
still to continue, so that one can
not escape giving the ear to his
melodies and the mind to his
leadership. This leadership has
made us familiar with new
music with depths of thought
that cannot be easily exhausted.
Wagner suffered in his soul for
the rebuffs he received, but he was
hard as regards his belief in him
self and had no SenSitiveneSS where
his work was concerned. He was
grateful, too. To his old friend,
who had remained true and
faithful through many misunder-
standings and adverse feeling, he
made public acknowledgement of
his indebtedness at the opening
of Bayreuth. At the banquet
after the performance, he I'm
ished a speech with these words:
Here is he who was the first to
give me his faith when no one
knew anything of me and with
out whom you would never have
heard a note of my music, my
very dear friend Franz List"
A short time before his death
Wagner wrote to a friend, i
herewith declare that next to my
family the dearest of all things
to me is Bayreuth." 1t was the
ultimate outcome of an idea that
had been firmly entrenched in
the composers mind for the last
Is years of his life. Long before
his own great theatrical works
made such a possibility seem
necessary he wrote an article on
a Project for the Organization
of a German National Theater"
and continued to hammer at this
idea whenever possible.
Wagner wrote List of his
dream "of some beautiful retreat
far from the smoke and indus
trial odors of city civilization, >
where a "theater would be erected
as simple as possible, perhaps
only of wood, with the interior
only designed for artistic pur-
poses" There would be the de
cided advantage OF an invisible
orchestra" so that the listener
would not find himself "the in
voluntary witness Of the techni-
cal evolutions caused by the un-
avoidable view of the mechanical
movements made by the must
clans and their leader" and
where artists could concentrate
"all their intellectual powers on
one style and one task
Bayreuth is the consummatlon
of the composers deSlFtS. AC tIie
opening pilgrimage, in which
List took part, he wrote: the
immense genius of Wagner has
surmounted everything. His work
(the Ring shines on the world.
The blind cannot interfere with
the light nor the deaf hinder the
music"
This year special preparations
have been made for the memo
rial celebration. New sets OF
scenery have been painted for the
background of the Ring" music
dramas and for the 'Meister-
Saenger." The famous designer
OF scenery, Prof. Emil Preetorius
of Munich, has conceived new
forms to aid in carrying out on
the enormous. scale such as Wag-
ner had invisioned. Gigantic