Evening star., 1952-08-03
News of Music:
By Alice Eversmon

An interesting adjunct Of the
current Richard Wagner Festi-
val in Bayreuth is the Inter-
national Convention of Music
Students which began its ses-
sions Friday, continuing through
August 20. The avowed inten-
ton of the convention is Ito
promote the development Of a
new generation of apostles of
the Wagnerian tradition"
Courses and discussions de-
voted to a study of Wagner and
his works will be led by VIE
land Wagner, the composers
grandson, who is responsible for
the artistic management of the
festival, and Prof. Marcel Beau
file of Paris, author of Wagner
and Magnetism" This is the
conventions third year.
The five courses offered will
explore Richard Wagner's
world of ideas" While designed
specifically for the young music
students, the convention is open
to any one whose love for music
will be considered the chief re-
quirement for eligibility. Quite
incidentally, each national group
will be asked to provide exam
plies of the musical trend in
their country for the purpose of
discussion and analysis. Just
how the present-day music Of
various countries will be viewed
by the Wagnerites must remain
one of the intriguing points Of
the sessions.
Grondsons Cory on
The two Wagner grandsonS,
Wieland and Wolfgang, were
successful in restoring the fes-
tival last year to something of
its former grandeur. But, being
both in their early 30s, their
young viewpoint caused the up
setting of many of the old ira
ditions. Wolfgang, who is in
charge of the administrative
end of the festival, has had
nothing but praise for his work.
Wieland's new ideas, partly
stemming from a need for
economy and partly from his
own artistic trends, were
strongly criticized. A painter
himself, he designed the sets
and undertook the staging. He
relied for many Of his effects on
the lighting, much of which
was so dim as to arouse the
greatest criticism.
In defense, the young Wagner
says the world has changed
and so must the production Of
Wagner's operas. 1--WE are liv-
ing in 1851" he said last year.
mot in 1876. and we must move
with the times" He claims
further to have sought deeply
to convey the spirit Of his
grandfather's works and that
this can be done IN modern
fashion.
Wagner's "world Of ideas"
has been the subject Of study,
controversy and fanatical de.
votion since the first produc-
ton Of the ''Ring'' in 1876 at
Bayreuth made a temple of the
Festspielhaus. Since then. the
musical world as well as the
rest of the universe, has gone
a long way and seen terrible
changes. A new generation Of
musicians has grown UP and
many startling advances in
musical composition have been
made. How far the mental de-
velopment Of the young genera
tion has taken it away from the
Wagner cult remains to be seen.
Two Moin Elements
Among the many-sidedness of
Wagner'S world Of ideas" two
elements stood out starkly under
the influence of the last war.
One was his glorification Of the
Deutschland ueber allies" idea
and the other, his orchestral
speech. The first gained special
significance, perhaps wrongly,
from the Nazi theory. and the
second found challengers in the
new trend of composing. History
records a long list of famous
composers who came under
Wagner's spell during his life
time but who fought to free
themselves from his influence.
All acclaimed him a great man,
recognizing his genius, yet each
felt, after experimenting in his
idiom, that it was not for them.
The public, however, has re-