The Perfect Wagnerite (Dover Books on Music)

The Perfect Wagnerite (Dover Books on Music)
by George Bernard Shaw

The Perfect Wagnerite (Dover Books on Music)
List Price: $7.95
Our Price: $2.99
You Save: $4.96 (62%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: George Bernard Shaw
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2010-07-21
ISBN: 0486217078
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Dover Publications

Book Reviews of The Perfect Wagnerite (Dover Books on Music)

Book Review: WIT, PERCEPTION AND INFURIATING DIDACTICISM
Summary: 5 Stars

Wagner, it's often said, has had more books written about him than anyone in history with the exceptions of Napoleon and Jesus Christ. This is one of the most fascinating, coming as it does from George Bernard Shaw, a penetrating music critic under the pen-name Corno di Bassetto as well as the familiar dramatist.

This is GBS's take on Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. It is a predictable mix of Shavian wit, perception and frustratingly obstinate didacticism. There is no doubt about the seriousness with which Shaw takes this massive work. He clearly sees it, still fairly fresh in people's experience as it was when his book was written, as one of the seminal works of his time. He writes to prove how much deeper its philosophy was than the simple charming fairy tale many took it for at the time. That he sees it essentially as a Shavian/Fabian fable is hardly surprising. If the book has a weakness it is, as Deryck Cooke points out in his excellent `I Saw the World End', that the whole argument is too narrow, too one-track to accommodate the many facets and many different interpretations that can all, quite justifiably, be placed on the Ring. This of all operatic works is bigger than any of its commentators. Even Shaw was aware of that.

"Only those of wider consciousness can follow it breathlessly, seeing in it the whole tragedy of human history and the whole horror of the dilemmas from which the world is shrinking today," he wrote.

When he wrote the book, Shaw intended it for the Wagner novice, helping them to a fuller understanding of the work - or, at least, how he saw it. It perhaps shouldn't be recommended for that purpose these days, but it still remains an essential read for anyone who has already started down the road to becoming a Perfect Wagnerite. Chances are you won't agree with some/most/any of it. But it is still a fascinating read for anyone with a serious interest in Wagner's works.

Summary of The Perfect Wagnerite (Dover Books on Music)

The famous playwright's enlightening and provocative criticism surveys the four Wagner operas known as The Ring. Shaw explores the works' philosophic and social ideology as well as Wagner's life, music drama versus grand opera, the role of the Leitmotif in unifying the cycle, Siegfried's character, and many other fascinating subjects.

Reference Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Reference Books
The Great Song Thesaurus ImageThe Great Song Thesaurus
by Roger Lax, Frederick Smith
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1989-02-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $174.48
The New Oxford History of Music: Volume IV: The Age of Humanism 1540-1630 ImageThe New Oxford History of Music: Volume IV: The Age of Humanism 1540-1630
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1968-12-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $102.77
Price in other shops: $312.00
The Oxford Companion to Popular Music ImageThe Oxford Companion to Popular Music
by Peter Gammond
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1991-04-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.89
Price in other shops: $55.00
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford Paperback Reference) ImageThe Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford Paperback Reference)
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1996-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.75
Price in other shops: $17.95
Musical Involvement: A Guide to Perceptive Listening ImageMusical Involvement: A Guide to Perceptive Listening
by Donald J. Funes, Stephen E. Squires
Harcourt College Pub; Published: 1991-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $101.94
Compact Discs Yearbook 2000/1, The Penguin Guide to (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music) ImageCompact Discs Yearbook 2000/ 1, The Penguin Guide to (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music)
by Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-10-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: $20.00
Listening to Music ImageListening to Music
by Jay Zorn
Prentice Hall College Div; Published: 1994-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops: $57.00
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Guitar (2nd Edition) ImageThe Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Guitar (2nd Edition)
by Frederick Noad
Alpha; Published: 2001-08-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops: $21.95
DJing for Dummies ImageDJing for Dummies
by John Steventon
For Dummies; Published: 2007-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops: $19.99
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession ImageThis Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
by Daniel J. Levitin
Penguin Audio; Published: 2007-08-16; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar Books and other products
Wagner ImageWagner
by Barry Millington
Princeton University Press; Published: 1992-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.55
Price in other shops: $26.95
An Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen ImageAn Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen
WAGNER,R.; Release date: 2005-09-13; Music CD
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops: $23.98
Aspects of Wagner, Second Edition, revised and enlarged ImageAspects of Wagner, Second Edition, revised and enlarged
by Bryan Magee
Oxford University Press; Published: 1988; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.97
Price in other shops: $19.99
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Complete Ring Cycle (Levine, Metropolitan Opera) ImageWagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Complete Ring Cycle (Levine, Metropolitan Opera)
Release date: 2002-11-12; Published: 2011-10-24; DVD
Best price: $74.16
Price in other shops: $119.98
The Ring of the Nibelung ImageThe Ring of the Nibelung
by Richard Wagner
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1977-08-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.63
Price in other shops: $19.95
Tristan: With the Surviving Fragments of the 'Tristran of Thomas' (Penguin Classics) ImageTristan: With the Surviving Fragments of the 'Tristran of Thomas' (Penguin Classics)
by Gottfried von Strassburg
Penguin Classics; Published: 1960-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.45
Price in other shops: $17.00
Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung ImageWagner's Ring of the Nibelung
by Stewart Spencer, Barry Millington, Richard Wagner
Thames & Hudson; Published: 2010-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.06
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Power of Myth ImageThe Power of Myth
by Joseph Campbell
Anchor; Published: 1991-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
Price in other shops: $15.95
Tristan und Isolde in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) ImageTristan und Isolde in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores)
by Richard Wagner, Opera and Choral Scores
Alfred Publishing; Dover Publications; Published: 1973-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.80
Price in other shops: $44.95
Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round ImageWagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round
by M. Owen Lee
Limelight Editions; Limelight Editions; Published: 1994; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops: $12.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories