Wagner descendant comes clean

New book describes composer's and family's anti-Semitic past, Nazi ties

ERIC DELSON
Special to Jewish News

Gottfried Wagner, great-grandson of the famous composer, says Richard Wagner's works were infused with his dark ideologies.

Photo courtesy of St. Martin's Press.

A Wagnerian is a person who sees Richard Wagner and his (works) as the center of the world," says the great 19th century German composer's great-grandson, Gottfried Wagner, "but it's not only the music."

The intensity with which Gottfried Wagner makes his point equals that of his great-grandfather's music and philosophy. Piercing blue eyes that would have been "approved" by the Nazi regime convey the passion for the duty he feels in acknowledging, confronting and reprimanding the deep anti-Semitism that pervades his heritage.

In his new autobiography, "Twilight of the Wagners," which will soon be available in English from St. Martin Press & Picador, Gottfried Wagner poignantly describes his family's intimate ties to Nazi power. He documents the correspondences, friendships and loyalty between Hitler, or "Uncle Wolf" as he was known, and the Wagner clan. This "heir apparent" to the Wagner dynasty has chosen instead to cast a harsh light on the purveyors of anti-Semitism and reject the familial birthright, the guardianship of the Wagner legacy.

Local ensembles keep composer's ideology separate from his music

At the center of this legacy lies the question of Wagner's music versus his philosophy. Is each a separate entity with its followers, proponents or detractors? Or are they bound inextricably, one complementing and elucidating the other? To the younger Wagner, the answer is clear: "I can not split up dark sides from brilliant sides."

He explains: "(Richard Wagner's) political and ideological thought enters ... the work itself. So you can not say it's only such wonderful, beautiful music which has nothing to do with his ideology. This is extremely important to observe."

His shock of gray hair accentuating the rhythm of his words, Gottfried contends, "His music is another form of language. He is sometimes abusing the beauty of his music to influence ideologically, and for me in a very doubtful even sometimes dangerous way." His voice lowers, yet intensifies: "The more beautiful Wagner gets, the more suspicious I get."

Anti-Semitic artistry is not unique to Richard Wagner. Kandinsky, Eliot and even Shakespeare are guilty of denigrating, or at the very least demeaning, Jews. Many composers, writers, poets and painters have been accused of anti-Semitism or have professed it openly. But perhaps no artist's bigotries have been so thoroughly discussed as those of Richard Wagner.

As Hitler's preferred composer, Richard Wagner and his legacy have come to symbolize the dark side of the "German artistic spirit." The operas of Wagner, though known for their groundbreaking musical and artistic substance, are also known for their bombast, chauvinism, nationalistic symbolism, and for what Gottfried Wagner calls "seductive beauty" - characteristics that found a steady patron in Hitler. It is for these and other reasons that Gottfried Wagner believes that Bayreuth leads to Theriesenstadt, which leads to Auschwitz.

Early writings

Richard Wagner first published anti-Semitic writings under the name Freigedank (German for "free thought") in 1850, though the author's beliefs, which were known to many, betrayed his attempted anonymity. It would be almost 20 years before he would attach his own name to these essays, which were entitled "Das Judentum in der Musik" (Judaism in Music). In them, he maliciously assailed the likes of Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer, among others, for infecting German music with Jewish inflections. Many musicologists point to the influence of these great composers on Wagner's own music as an interesting irony.

In 1876, King Ludwig II of Bavaria acted as proud patron of the first performances of Wagner's "Ring" cycle of operas at Bayreuth. Built specifically to present the works of Wagner, Bayreuth is constructed with its orchestra pit under the stage, obstructing the audience's view of the orchestra and directing all attention toward the stage action. The music, according to Gottfried Wagner, becomes part of the "subconscious seduction."

Bayreuth today is one of the opera world's most prominent festivals, currently under the artistic direction of Daniel Barenboim. "I think (Barenboim) will go into the history of Bayreuth Festival as the greatest opportunist ever," comments Gottfried.

Past responsibilities

Quoting the Sanhedrin in the forward to his book, Gottfried asks if children are responsible for the crimes of their parents. His answer: a resounding "yes." In today's Germany, scholars, historians and ordinary Germans are struggling with the actions of their ancestors.

German writer and philosopher Martin Walser recently commented publicly that that the current cultural expectation for Germans to continually repeat their apologies renders them practically meaningless, and that new ways need to be found to deal with the guilt and pain of the Holocaust. Walser's exhortation was met with astonishment and some dismay by many Germans, chief among them Ignatz Bubis, president of the Jewish Central Council in Germany, who joined Walser in a televised debate.

Although many Holocaust scholars have criticized Daniel Goldhagen's 1996 controversial publication, "Hitler's Willing Executioners," Gottfried says that Goldhagen's message is similar to his own: "not to hide yourself in the collective." He echoes Goldhagen with pointed simplicity: "Look - people became murderers."

Claiming that "the German past is a huge shadow," Gottfried says that most Germans, "did not talk about it. There were very few German families in which this topic was discussed. How can you trust the parent's and grandparent's generation? How can you trust them if they don't talk about it? ... After the Shoah I think there should have come a time in which this generation should have reflected seriously about their very personal ethics."

Gottfried contends that members of his family, like a number of postwar German families, have been handed a democratic form of government but "have omitted the discussion of shame."

Building dialogue

In 1994, together with Abraham Peck, professor of German contemporary history and Jewish culture, and director of the Jewish-American Archives in Cincinnati, Gottfried founded the Post-Holocaust Discussion Group, designed to bring together the "children of the victims and the children of the criminals."

He believes that "the Jewish-German, German-Jewish (situation) is an extreme case which can really serve as a model for other groups in conflict."

Given that 80 percent of Peck's family perished in the Holocaust, Gottfried says he was deeply moved by "the compassion in (Peck's) soul to say, 'The children of Nazi victimizers might have also a rather hard time' - linking us with the common bonds of history."

Gottfried Wagner's main aim, through his writings and his lectures, is to "reach a public which is able to reflect on the human being in a self-critical way. I'm interested (in reaching) people who are interested in resolving group conflicts."

To that end he asks himself, "What can I do in my daily realization of my individual responsibility?" and hopes others will ask the same of themselves.

He concedes that for all the good his group may do, there are no "Hollywood happy endings - they do not exist." Still, he hopes to contribute something meaningful, powerful and lasting to the children of this very violent century.

Referring to the controversial, soon-to-be built Holocaust memorial in Berlin, but perhaps speaking metaphorically of his own work he asks, "Is it possible to create a monument which can express the Holocaust? - I don't believe that. Whatever you will do, the 'Himalaya' of the dead bodies always will be. It never will disappear, never."

Eric Delson has a doctorate from Boston University in music composition and is a freelance writer and composer living in Brussels, Belgium.

Home