Richard Wagner 1813 -1883: Anti-Semitism and Immigration

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Richard Wagner 1813 -1883:

Anti-Semitism and Immigration

Anton Douglas

1003774

Music Technology: Music Production

April 2015

Dissertation Studio with Christina Paine, Lewis Jones and Allan Seago.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Christina who guided me through writing this paper. Table of Contents Introduction…............................................................................................................................................p. 3. Chapter One

1.0 Wagner Contextualised…………………………………………………………………………p.7.

Chapter Two 2.0 His Jewish Problem……………………………………………………………………………p. 14. 2.1 A Breif History in Anti-Semitism…...........................................................................................p. 14. 2.2 Wagner’s Anti-Semitism in Paris………………………………………………………………p. 17.

Chapter Three 3.0 Das Judenthum in der Musik, Introduction of a Review……………………………………….p. 20.

3.1 Das Judenthum in der Musik, Review Part I…...........................................................................p. 21. 3.2 Bryan Magge Response to Das Judenthum in der Musik………………………………………p. 23. Chapter Four

4.0 Wagner’s Views Vis-à-vis Immigration Today………………………………………………p. 26 4.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………p. 29.

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………p. 31.

List of Illustrations

Figure 1: Map of Central Europe in 1860’s.

Source: Richard Wagner, My Life (Cambridge: University Press, 1983), pp. vi-vii.

Figure 2: A motif depicting Anti-Semitism, which is typically German.

The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism - From the Cross to the Swastika.

Figure 3: Prehistoric Germans depicted fighting an Orox.

Source: Hitler’s Hunting Experiment, 6:23.

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Richard Wagner 1813 -1883: Anti-Semitism and Immigration

Introduction

Richard Wagner remains one of the most controversial figures throughout musical history. He

was not only a highly accomplished and prolific composer, that some would claim a musical

genius1, but a philosopher also. Some of his philosophies had a profound impact on music and

opera, while others are shocking, brash, very questionable and deemed unacceptable – “…just as

Judaism is the evil conscience of our modern Civilisation”.2 This quote, considered along with

other statements from his essay Das Judenthum in der Musik (Judaism/Jewishness in Music),

leaves little doubt that Wagner was an anti-Semite.3 In fact, some orchestras will refuse to play

his works out of honour and respect for the Holocaust victims, as during the Third Reich, some of

the captured Jews were depicted marching to the gas chambers accompanied by Wagner’s music.4

It is important to note that Wagner died fours years before the birth of Adolf Hitler and despite

the associations some people make between Wagner and Adolf Hitler, Wagner died before the

founding of the Nazi party. Wagner used Germanic mythology as the subject matter for quite a

few of his operas. As Hitler used Germanic mythology during his own Nazi campaign, some

would hence use this as an argument for the two men’s connection. The Nazis also used the ideas

raised in “Das Judenthum in der Musik” to support their own racist ideology.5 To reiterate,

regardless of this association and connection that some people make between Wagner and Hitler,

Wagner was never a member of the Nazi party.6

Because of this perceived posthumous association with Hitler,7 Anti-Semitism has plagued

Wagner’s reputation and can engender controversy, comparable to the metaphorical pink elephant

in the room. He was a Romantic composer concerned with cultural idealisms rather than dealing

1 Gary Kahn, Hearing Wagner (Conference given in Birmingham, Saturday 22nd November 2014, 12pm-‐4pm).

2 Richard Wagner, Judaism in Music and Other Essays (University of Nebraska Press 1995), p. 100.

3 Gary Kahn, Hearing Wagner.

4 Daniel Barenboim, Wagner and the Jews (The New York Review of books, University Press Issue, June 2013, Volume 60, No.11), p. 33.

5 The narrator, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 21.40.



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with the rational or analytical mechanics of life.8 But is there anything to be learnt from his

anti-Semitic writings? After all, parallels can be drawn between what was happening in Wagner’s

nineteenth Century Germany and today’s Europe. The topics raised in Das Judenthum in der

Musik have been:

…observed during the most recent debates in Europe over integration, racist statements, wherefore against Jews, or currently against Muslims, have by no means disappeared from today’s society.9

Therefore, accounting that some consider Wagner a musical genius, we cannot disregard the

entirety of his philosophies, and as the imbalances and sensitivities of immigration still exist

today as they did in Wagner’s time (all be it in different dimensions), then its important to review

his stance on the topic - immigration. For this reason, many arguments brought up in his essay are

criticized and discussed, in the hope there are lessons to be salvaged from Wagner’s racially

perceived ideas:

The trouble, as always, is that what is marvelous about his contribution was commingled with what is repellent to such an extent that it got overlooked and rejected along with the rest. In this case the argument I salvage from his anti-Semitic writings is the baby was thrown out with the bath water. The bathwater was foul.10

It is assuredly important to account for German Nationalism when considering anti-Semitism in

regards to Wagner. Germany was fiercely anti-Semitic in the nineteenth century and his

“anti-Semitism must be seen against this background”.11 Nonetheless, it is still critical for this

enquiry, that research is carried out, that would give a deeper understanding as to why Wagner

was anti-Semitic. I have used a matter-of-fact history book, A History of Modern Germany, as this

book provides a wider more non-biased approach, when accounting for nineteenth century

German History, seldom offering an opinion. This book will be used as a main source to carry out

this research. Nationalism and Society: Germany provides deeper understanding towards the

enquiry, as it accounts for German History from the beginning of the nineteenth century, from a

Nationalistic point of view. Brining this closer to Wagner, his autobiography, Mein Leben will

also be examined to discover if any personal events happened, that may have driven him toward

anti-Semitism. All materials will be cross-referenced with one another, succinctly.

8 Joachim Köhler, Wagner’s Hitler: the Prophet and his Disciple (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000), p. 3.

9 Daniel Barenboim, p. 33.

10 Bryan Magee, Aspects of Wagner (London: Alan Ross, 1968), p. 43.


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More historical, contextual research will be discussed on the topic of anti-Semitism, to unearth

where exactly the crossover or bridge, between German Nationalism and anti-Semitism lies. It is

important, considering Wagner’s nationality, to discover if anti-Semitism was particularly

German, or if it was a wider European phenomenon. The first part of a three part documentary

entitled The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism - From the Cross to the

Swastika will be discussed, as there are several academic speakers in the documentary which, all

in all, gives a broad historical account and opinion of anti-Semitism. The book Antisemitism by

Bernard Lazare, a French Jew that lived in the nineteenth century, will also be examined

complimentary to the documentary. In the preface, he states that he “dislike[s]”12 anti-Semitism

however he has sought to write “an impartial study in [the] history and sociology”13 of

anti-Semitism. Therefore, one trusts that Lazare’s response to the subject will not only be

passionate but balanced.

Finally, the essay itself Das Judenthum in der Musik will be discussed against this contextual

backdrop. Bryan Magee, a twentieth century and present day philosopher, was the first, to give

credit and consider Wagner’s writings as philosophy.14 Although he has been quoted as saying

that he did not consider anti-Semitism a philosophy,15 he has devoted a chapter to a review on

Das Judenthum in der Musik in his book Aspects of Wagner, which will be examined as this gives

a near modern day opinion on the essay. In this book, the central argument is that Wagner has

made a certain criticism toward Judaism in Das Judenthum in der Musik, which Magee sees as

valid. Magee argues that is a shame that Wagner’s point is wrapped up with unacceptable ideas

and notions of racism. In the appendix of Wagner and Philosophy (which was the only place

Magee deemed anti-Semitism fit to discuss is in his book) will be discussed also, which

elaborates on this point.

It is important to confirm that a wide range of sources have been used when constructing this

enquiry. Whilst being careful declaring a piece of text biased or non-biased, surely a text which

Wagner has written, when considered in regards to this enquiry, given the core subject matter, is

biased compared to a history book which presents facts? In this sense, I have used biased and

non-biased text. The dates of the texts used include, original source text, dating from the 12 Bernard Lazare, Antisemitism; Its History and Causes (London: Britons Publishing, 1967), p. 7.

13 Bernard Lazare, p. 7.

14 Ralph Blumenau, Wagner and Philosophy by Bryan Magee (Philosophy Now, Issue 34, 2001, Anja Publication), p. 45.

15 Ralph Blumenau, p. 45.

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nineteenth century, to texts published in 2014. Not only do I want to give a deep understanding,

but a well-considered response, offering an opinion decided upon by many diverse arguments, to

the sensitive question - what can we learn from Das Judenthum in der Musik that is applicable to

create a peaceful, harmonious and modern society? This most crucial element to my enquiry will

be tackled head on, throughout the final section, as previously foreseen.

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Chapter One - Wagner Contextualised

To understand a titanic mind, that produced such controversial philosophies like Wagner’s, it is

firstly important to understand how that mind was conditioned, in what social space that mind had

to grow; that is, it is important firstly, to contextualise Wagner. Attention should be paid to events

or occurrences that would lead to a nationalistic Wagner, as this was such a driving force

throughout his life and his views expressed in Das Judenthum in der Musik.

Richard Wagner was the ninth child of Johanna and Carl Friedrich Wagner, born on May 22nd

1813 in Leipzig, Germany. He was not born into a particularly wealthy family, his Father working

as a clerk in a police station and his Mother, a daughter of a baker. Friedrich Wagner died of

typhus shortly after his son’s baptism. His Mother went on to have romantic relations with an

Fig.1 -‐ Map of Central Europe in 1860’s.

Source: Richard Wagner, My Life (Cambridge: University Press, 1983), pp. vi-‐vii.

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actor and playwright, Ludwig Geyer. Johanna moved her family into Geyer’s residence in

Dresden. There is much speculation as to whether Richard Wagner was the Son of Geyer,

considering that it was rumoured that his Mother had started her romantic relations with Geyer

quite a time before Friedrich Wagner’s death.16 It is almost certain that the young Wagner grew

up thinking that Geyer was his biological Father. Something else to consider is that the name

Geyer is a Jewish name (although Geyer himself was not). Wagner was obliged to sign himself so

until he was fifteen. Wagner may have been concerned that those around him were under the

assumption that he was a Jew, not considering that it was not his real name.17 It could be said that

Wagner relinquished himself of all Jewish aspects of his personage when he was finally able to

sign himself Wagner.

Political unrest was rife at the time of Wagner’s birth, which continued throughout his life. He

was born into the end of the Napoleonic Wars as Germany was just coming out of The French

Period, which lasted from 1798-1814.18 At the time of the Napoleonic war, before 1815,

Germany was politically fragmented, consisting of many disjointed states and so, she was

economically weak, socially and religiously divided.19 Napoleon Bonaparte asserted French

military, political and economical control over the country. This was the first time the country’s

political framework had changed in over one thousand years, since the country fell under the

control of Holy Roman Empire. Eventually the French were driven out of Germany and national

enthusiasts centred this victory on the battle of Leipzig. It was this sort of political instability that

would have had a profound effect on Wagner’s personage in terms of his political, racist,

nationalistic and romantic views.20 In fact, Wagner partly blames his Father’s death on this

political instability as he writes that not only did typhus kill his Father but also due to “great

exertions imposed by an overwhelming load of official divide during the wartime unrest and the

battle of Leipzig…”.21 Thus, having this view on his late Father, would have made him loathe all

that contributed to the political unrest and in turn that which “killed” his Father – the French, the

Jews etc. It is unfortunate that his Father was dead before the victory and perceived heroic

uprising in the battle of Leipzig 1816. 16 John Deathridge, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 2:56.

17 John Deathridge, 3.00.

18 Michael Hughes, Nationalism and Society: Germany 1800 – 1945, (London : Arnold Publishing, 1988), p. 39.

19 Michael Hughes, p. 30.


21 Richard Wagner, My Life, (Cambridge: University Press, 1983), p. 1.

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In Wagner’s biography Mien Leben (My Life), a picture has been painted that he was born a

musical genius, that he was a boy born with such a musical gift that it needed little nurturing to be

realised to its full potential. Even how Wagner writes throughout his autobiography, is, at times,

shockingly arrogant. Wagner thought he was born a musical Siegfried22 (a character from one of

his Operas who is portrayed as a Messiah). Considering Wagner’s over confidence in music, and

considering this was evident from an early age, one must wonder if he had a Messiah Complex,

which would help understand a lot of his behaviour and decisions in his later life. Regardless of

this, it is evident that Wagner received more musical nurturing than he would have liked us to

know. Geyer was an artistic man (being an actor and playwright) and it seems that Geyer nurtured

quite a bit of Wagner’s primary musical knowledge. In fact, at nine years old, after being

impressed by the gothic elements of the composer, Weber’s Die Freischutz, Geyer taught Wagner

how to play a chorus from the opera.23 Wagner began schooling in 1826 and was strongly

influenced by Shakespeare and Goethe. This influence would forever taint his approach to opera

as implied through his Gesamtkunstwerk philosophy.

Wagner would later express nationalism through his operas. Through writing his first masterpiece

Der Fliegende Holländer, he would find themes that worked for him – love, death and

redemption.24 These themes re-occur throughout his later operas. Wagner, along with the German

population believed that the Germans would lead the redemption of the human race,25 hence why

the theme of redemption is present in his Operas vis-à-vis nationalism. This theme of redemption

would later be exploited by the Nazis as they perceived that Hitler, the Fuhur would save and

reincarnate Deutschland into Germania. Wagner perceived that mythology was the best subject

matter for Opera as myth enshrined timeless truths like love and hate.26 Wagner researched

Germanic mythology and this became the centre of his operas. Most of the characters in his

operas have very Germanic names like Isolde, Siegfried, Alberich, Mime and many more. In fact,

his arguments and themes of German nationalism were so persuading in his Operas, that Hitler,

having seen Rienzi for the first time as a teenage exclaimed, “in that hour, it began”.27



24 Lucy Beckett, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 12.40.

25 Paul Lawrence Rose, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 20.41.

26 Patrick Carnegie, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 19:00.


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The family returned to Leipzig in 1827 where shortly after, Wagner began his lessons in harmony

with Christian Gottieb Muller. With Muller, Wagner began to appreciate the works of composers

past such as Beethoven’s 7th and 9th symphony and Mozart’s Requiem Mass. Wagner’s early

piano sonatas date around this time that Wagner was engaging with this music (around 1828). In

1831, Wagner enrolled at Leipzig University and took lessons in composition with Thomaskantor

Theodor Weinllig. Weinlig seemed to have given Wagner a fairly up to date method technique in

composing symphonies,28 which is evident in his symphony in C major. It is a Beethovenesque

work, which of course would have been a modern style at the time. Wagner’s time at the

University was indeed brief. He thought he was much too musically gifted to be taught in a school

or university. He believed he had a gift that should be shared with the world immediately. He

started to work as a chorus master in provincial opera houses where he composed his first opera

Das Liebesverbot (Forbidden Love), based on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.29

In 1830 Wagner began to read and became quite fascinated with studies concerning the Middle

Ages and the French Revolution.30 He was “appalled by the heroes of the French Revolution”31

of The French Period that Germany was just coming out of. It becomes apparent around this time

that Wagner started to develop and express political and nationalistic views. He became interested

in the revolution that was happening in the July of that year in Paris and would read about it

fanatically in special editions of a newspaper called Liepzigerzeitung. There, he read that the

people had risen up against the Bourbon regime and Charles X was driven from the throne, whilst

a certain liberal royalist called Lafayette rode on horseback through the cheering Parisian crowds

whilst waving the French flag.32 Wagner was, without a doubt in awe of this sentiment of

nationalism as he admits Lafayette had previously been “flitting through [his] imagination like

some historical fairy tale”.33 Furthermore, the Parisians were induced by Louis-Philippe of

Orlean’s “proclaimings of republican sympathies” that he became King. Without a doubt, “this

could not fail to make an impression on a boy of seventeen…”34

28 Roger Norrington, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 4.00.


30 Richard Wagner, My Life, p. 38.





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Wagner worked in a series of opera houses as a conductor. He also secured performances of his

own operas. Here, his musical career appears to have gained momentum. Through this period of

1830-1850, there was great uncertainty as to what form Germany would take,35 considering that

Germany was more of an idea than and independent country whose mechanics were smooth and

cohesive (see fig.1). On top of this instability, there was religious ambiguity. No one religion

resided over the German people. Nationalism was to become the new people’s religion.36 It was

becoming less acceptable in the nineteenth century to persecute a man over his religion and the

French sought to emancipate their Jewry. At the time, the French were in control of Western

Germany. Emancipation of the Jews was a French idea, not German and rejecting French control

also meant rejection of their culture and their progressive ideas regarding the Jewry. It was in this

way that nationalism became compound in the issue of anti-Semitism for the Germans, including

Wagner. Thus, nationalism and its anti-Semitic component, was indeed very much part of the

zeitgeist of the time.

1848 marked the beginning of events that would lead to an uprising in Germany. The uprising the

following year fuelled Wagner’s nationalistic spirit. As in 1830, it was events in Paris that would

trigger uprisings throughout Germany. Louis Philippe lost his throne and the Germans saw this

the opportune moment to defend themselves against French romanticism. This led to meetings to

discuss a united German parliament and the Grand Duke of Baden at first refused thee demands.

This being refused, the individual German states held their own elections and appointed their own

liberal ministers. Mob demonstrations spread throughout Germany, from Cologne to Berlin.

There was little violence until a crowd gathered outside the Royal Palace in Berlin to show

appreciation for an act that Frederick William IV carried out to try and dissolve the

demonstrations. This good willed gesture from the mob went horribly wrong and the next day 230

people lay dead.37 The King attended the funeral for the dead of the barricades. The newly

formed Frankfurt parliament strived to achieve constitutional parliament rule. The King refused

the crown that was offered to him “from the gutter”,38 in disgust. The parliament began to

disintegrate. All this surmounted to a newspaper reading for Wagner, who liked the idea of a

dissolved federal assembly, but who saw himself too immersed in the completion of his opera

35 Martin Kitchen, A History of Modern Germany (Wiley – Blackwell, 2012), p. 54.

36 Martin Kitchen, p. 53.

37 Martin Kitchen, p. 69.

38 Michael Hughes, page 90.

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Lohengrin, to pay these politics to much thought.39 It seems he saw this as petty politics. It

certainly does not seem he expected an uprising or to participate in it as follows.

Michael Bakunin was a Russian anarchist, a freedom, who became acquainted with Wagner

during the tale end of the previous. The men had had a brief encounter in the past, but they were

to start a friendship of sorts when Bakunin approached Wagner, disguised (as he was wanted by

the authorities40), on Palm Sunday of 1849 in an Opera House in Dresden. The men spent some

time together as Bakunin spoke of his philosophies concerning his vision of Europe. It seems

ironic that so soon after the men’s philosophical conversations, that Wagner would get so heavily

involved in the uprising considering before, it seemed his music took priority over his

country-to-be.

On May 3rd, streaming crowds through the streets made it clear to Wagner that an uprising was on

its way as Prussia still refused a united Germany. He attended a meeting of the Patriotic Union in

Dresden were talks were at boiling point over occupation in the country and the halt of a United

German state. In Mein Leben Wagner suggests that divinity played a part in his participation in

the uprising. After having heard the bells and knowing that was a sign of the start of something,

he recalls a great darkened yellow light to have plagued the square and after having seen this,

having the desire source a gun.41 Momentum grew threw the following days strengthening

barricades and protests around the city hall in Dresden, all in demonstration against Prussian

occupation.

On May 5th, the Prussian troops entered the city. Wagner acted as watchman and what would

nowadays been known as an intelligence officer. He climbed the tower of Kreuzkirche were he

saw the heavy fire of the Prussians. He reported what he saw to Bakunin at a different barricade

and ran back to his own barricade to let the rabble know what was happening.42 Four cannons

had arrived at Wagner’s barricade on May 6th. It was then that Wagner noticed that the opera

house were he met Bakunin while conducting Beethoven’s Ninth was burnt for strategic purposes.

Wagner seems to relinquish himself of all sentiment of the opera house as he claims that the opera





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house was an eyesore, as strategic purposes “predominate in the world over aesthetic

considerations”.43

After several days of fighting which saw Wagner throwing hand grenades,44 lighting cannons and

serving intelligence between leader and comrades, the provisional government had take

Bakunin’s advice to surrender.45 The uprising was a failure. Prussian authorities, along with other

anarchists, arrested Bakunin. Wagner however managed to escape to Zurich. This seems

extraordinarily lucky considering how closely Wagner brushed with the anarchist.

On reflection, it does not seem that Wagner was ardent in his approach in terms of this uprising.

He seems to follow the crowd and zeitgeist, or does what he is told by Bakunin. It is without a

doubt that Wagner was an ardent nationalist, but it is doubtful if he really was champing at the bit

to spill Prussian blood for Germany under his own violation. Fear seems to have had a part to

play as well as sentiment. For example, although in his autobiography there is evidence to suggest

he was not sentiment or emotional when he says his opera house burn, this is façade. How could

this happening not have an effect on what we know to be a highly emotional man? In fact there is

an element of relief that he as left the barricades as, when he was travelling south to escape with

Minna Planner, his wife at the time, it gave both him and his wife involuntary pleasure to see new

contingents traveling towards Dresden to fight in a battle they had already lost.46 Considering

Wagner’s later works, the nationalism that he could not express on the battlefield, he could

express with the pen or in his music dramas.


44 Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 19.53.



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Chapter Two: His Jewish problem – 2.0

As was previously briefly explained, it was very much part of the zeitgeist in nineteenth century

Germany to be anti-Semitic and Wagner was no exception to that rule. In 1850 he wrote an essay

entitled Das Judenthum in der Musik (Judaism/Jewishness in Music). It is a dark essay, which

discusses ideas on Jews as a race, which today would be considered radical and unacceptable. In

today’s modern society it is largely accepted a racist paper. Some find it difficult to ignore this

paper when considering Wagner as it is seen to personify and cement his racism in his musical

works, which before would have only been a mere speculation. Some have warned, while

deeming the paper unacceptable, that Wagner has raised valid points on to topic of immigration.

Therefore, to understand Wagner’s essay, it is important to look at a brief history of

anti-Semitism; it is important to look at Judaism as a race and examine further why Germans of

Wagner’s time were largely Anti-Semitic – why was Anti-Semitism accepted in nineteenth

century Germany at all?

2.1 His Jewish problem – A Brief History of Anti-Semitism

The explanation starts two thousand years ago just after the

Apparition of Christ. Jews were cast out from their

homelands and became different, despised, feared, unworthy

of respect and in short, the other.47 The basis of this comes

from when Christianity sprang forth from Judaism; after all,

Christianity is the daughter of Judaism.48 Jews were then

seen as murderers of God as they came before Pontius Pilate

(a Roman) with Jesus Christ in order that the Romans may

crucify him.49 In the first century, 70A.D. the Jews launched

a revolt against the pagan Romans who owned Palestine and

from this uprising, a new religion was to emerge,

47The narrator, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika (Boston: WGBH, 1991), 1:40.


49 Professor Richard Rubenstein, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 3:04.

Fig.2 A screenshot from, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism -‐ From the Cross to the Swastika.

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Christianity.50 The Romans effectively stopped the revolt and the Jews were forced into exile, out

of their country and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire51 (a large part of the world that is

known as Europe today).

Christianity flourished and became the official religion of the Roman Empire (which was

previously pagan) in the fourth century A.D.;52 the Roman Empire was well on its way to be

reinvented into Holy Roman Empire in 800 A.D.53 Both versions of Empire controlled and

owned a large part of what we know as Europe (including Germany). Therefore, the official

religion of Europe at this time was Christianity, and as that hatred for the Jews was entrenched

within the religion, it became entrenched within the ideology of the countries that were under the

control of the Empire, thus under the religious influence of Christianity.

Many figures of the Christian church continued to persecute the Jews throughout many centuries.

The Christian crusades started in 1095 and saw Jews slaughtered in Northern France, in towns

along the Rhine and the Danube and in Bohemia, all under Christian authority.54 Persecution

against the Jews ran so deep, that in the middle ages artists often portrayed Jews as devilish

characters, striking grotesque poses often depicted suckling the tit of pig-like creatures or forced

to eat the excrement, which was a typically German motif (see fi.2).55 Figure 2 is typical of the

anti-Semitic art that was rampant throughout Europe at that time. It is an example showing that

Jews were associated with the black arts, money and with all that is attributed to Satin,56 after all,

Europe (inclusive of Germany) was run by the Catholic church who blamed the Jews for the

death of Jesus, and saw such an evil act against the Saviour, only capable to come from those who

are at one with the Devil.

It seems that even around the time of the Middle Ages, Germans were ardent in their

anti-liberalist approach to the Jewry. This theory is further supported when; in 1519 Martin


51 The Narrator, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 13.35.



54 Bernard Lazare, pp. 57 – 59.


56 Dr.Margaret Brearley, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 23:20.

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Luther (a German) broke from the Catholic Church and founded the Protestant faith.57 Naturally,

the Jews refused to convert and Luther denounced them with the same fury otherwise detained for

the Pope. He called for their synagogues and homes to be set alight, their prayer books, which he

considered to be filled with lies and blasphemy, destroyed.58 Luther made many writings

explaining his stance on the Jewry. He believed Jews should be forced out of the ghetto to

integrate into German/European society, and in this way would Jewishness cease in Europe.59

For Luther, there was no good Jew, only the converted Jew.60 Furthermore, Luther saw the Jews,

along with the Turks and the Pope to be the three arms of the anti-Christ.61 It is writings such as

these that have made Luther, a German, such a powerful voice in the history of anti-Semitism.62

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Wagner was born, the Holy Roman Empire had

just been dissolved and so Europe became more secular.63 However, the Jews still remained

religiously, and as a community. This progressive secularism is evident when France called for an

emancipation of the Jews. At this time, Jews had assimilated into bourgeois society, as they did

not become peasants, workers or craftsmen.64 Instead, they followed a more academic path,

becoming bankers, journalist, publishers, financiers, thinkers,65 and of course, musicians. It

seems that as Europe’s religiously fuelled anti-Semitism from the Holy Roman Empire loosened,

Jews were able to achieve in a way that they had not before, and at a rapid pace.66 The

Rothschild’s, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Albert Einstein and many more, all


58 Voice over, a speech from Martin Luther, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 24.25.

59 Heiko A. Oberman, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 25:20.




63 The Narrator, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 28:30.



66 Robert Wistrich, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 28.47.

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emerged as successful Jews in the nineteenth century,67 and are names that have left a fabulous

legacy. They, and many other Jews, became the elite. This considered, anti-Semitism took a new

form of professional and economic envy.68

2.2 His Jewish problem – Wagner’s Anti-Semitism in Paris

Now to Wagner, Wagner certainly fell victim to feeling this professional envy. His first trip to

Paris is important, as it is accepted, as the first time Wagner was to express anti-Semitism. This

would be the worst period of deprivation and humiliation he would have to suffer in two and a

half years,69 which left a permanent impact on his life.70 In those two and a half years of failure,

the Jews got the blame. Wagner, being a megalomaniac,71 being pushed to the edge of starvation

by Parisian’s society’s total disregard for his talent, seems to have created a persecution complex,

which borders paranoid fantasies of which the Jews were the villains.72In fact, Magee will go as

far to say that Wagner did suffer from paranoid anxiety and places a lot of emphasise on the

Parisian failure, coupled with paranoia in regards the development of Wagner’s anti-Semitism.73

Michael Tanner agrees with Magee, as he embellishes that Wagner’s anti-Semitism developed

from a “mildly paranoiac state to one of obsession.”74

Paris was Europe’s most glamorous, bourgeois city and the centre of the Opera world. It seemed

natural that Wagner should move here however; life was not easy for the composer. Unable to

afford meat, potato was his staple diet.75 There were several renowned Jewish composers in Paris

at the time. Giacomo Meyerbeer offered Wagner encouragement and support.76 He tried to

encourage Wagner in the Parisian opera circles. Regardless of this, Wagner still was not able to

67 The Narrator, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 28:37.

68 Robert Wistrich, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 28:45.

69 Bryan Magee, Aspects of Wagner, p. 43.

70 Bryan Magee, Wagner and Philosophy (Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 2000), p. 345.

71 Joachim Köhler, p. 3; Bryan Magee, Aspects of Wagner, p. 38.


73 Bryan Magee, Wagner and Philosophy, p. 345.

74 Michael Tanner, Where’s that famous Anti-‐Semitism? (The Spectator, Volume 277; number 8767, year 1996), p. 38.

75 Pierre Flinois, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 9.59.


18

secure a performance of one of his operas. Wagner perceived that the Parisian opera scene was

controlled and run by a Jewish clique, himself being an outsider, did not stand a chance.77

Considering Chapter 2.1 and how anti-Semitism had become entrenched in the ideology of most

European countries (certainly Germany’s), it is difficult not to consider this as a racial excuse, for

his own musical failings at this time.

Not being able to secure performances of his own works, Wagner saw himself forced to write

piano arrangements and opera reductions for the composer Jacques Halévy. While working for

Halévy, Wagner was summoned to a meeting with the composer in the company of the press to

discuss one of his works. For the majority of the conversation Halévy and the press conversed in

French. However Wagner was unable to converse to an appropriate standard in French. At one

point in the conversation, Halévy turned to Wagner and uttered something in German. The press

were shocked that Halévy could speak German. Halevy was very much respected within the

musical circles and being able to speak German would have appeared to be yet another string to is

very accomplished boe. Schlesinger, who was present in the party, explained that ‘all Jews could

speak German.’78 Schlesinger was then asked if he was a Jew to which he freely replied that he

was a Jew but converted due to his wife. Wagner here recalls how the:

…pleasant manner of these conversations astonished [him], for in Germany any such conversation would have been anxiously avoided.79

Here, frustratingly, Wagner is suddenly in the company and under the command of Halévy, a Jew.

Considering Wagner’s later anti-Semitic writings, his fear of contamination is evident.80 He,

disliking that that he has been too close to what he eschews, Jewishness, French, decadence,

modernism and therefore, this explains, his need to always distance himself from that, but also to

define that in his musical and extra-musical works.81

After Wagner’s first failed trip to Paris, he returned to Germany and participated in the uprising,

as previously discussed. The uprising of 1849 was a failure. The German’s were not only still

under Prussian authority, but had rejected emancipation of the Jewry, seeing it as a French idea.

The Germans saw themselves hopelessly striving to create their free country, but they saw this


78 Mark Anderson, Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 10.47.




19

goal as something they had to work for. The idea of a foreign, Eastern group of people helping to

achieve that goal was not appealing as the Jews were seen to be against fundamental European

and German attributes and would tarnish that, of what the Germans saw themselves as - a pure

race upholding a distinct European culture, which will be discussed later.

20

3.0 Das Judenthum in der Musik, Introduction of a Review.

Given Wagner’s anger to the failed uprising, it comes as no surprise that only the year after, in

1850, Wagner’s essay Das Judenthum in der Musik (Judaism/Jewishness) was published. In other

words, the failed uprising made me more anti-Semitic.82 He probably started writing it in 1843,

but there were interruptions due to the politics of that time and so it was not published until

1850.83 Wagner, when giving the essay for publishing in Die Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, he used

a pseudonym – K. Freigedank (K. Freethough)84 which would suggest that Wagner knew he was

being virulent, not wanting to put his own name to his essay. I suggest, given what was happening

politically at the time, that Wagner might have used this essay as an outlet to express his anger

and frustration regarding his Parisian disaster, which he blamed on the presence of a Jewish

clique85 and the failed uprising. No doubt, the Germans would have held the Jews partly

responsible for the failure of the uprising because, as has already been discussed, the Jews were

blamed and used as a scapegoat previously in Wagner’s life and, on a wider scale, they were held

as a scapegoat for European problems by Europeans throughout history. The essay itself, although

perceived as anti-Semitic, provides an explanation of why one might feel adverse toward a

multi-cultural society in the nineteenth century. These issues around the imbalances of

immigration, discussed in the essay have been:

…observed during the most recent debates in Europe over integration, racist statements, wherefore against Jews, or currently against Muslims, have by no means disappeared from today’s society86.

Therefore, it is crucial that we look beyond perceived racism raised in Das Judenthum in der

Musik, and search for and consider critical points that can be used in a healthy way, to bring peace

and harmony to those who are affected by immigration; granted that those who are affected by

immigration are just not the immigrants themselves!

82 Great Composers: Richard Wagner, 22.12.

83 Margaret Brearley, Wagner's Musical Religion: Art, Politics, and Genocide (Seminar at

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, May 2013), 31.00.

84 Daniel Barenboim, p. 33

85 Daniel Barenboim, p. 33


21

3.1 Das Judenthum in der Musik, Review Part I.

Wagner first sets out his intention of the essay, which is to give a logical and creditable reason for

his own and his countrymen’s adversity towards to Jews, which appears to be based on race as

will be explained. Wagner states in the opening paragraphs that the hatred derived from religion

in the past had ceased87 and continues to explain his reasons, the basis of which is “a question of

Society”.88 This would suggest that Jewishness as a culture, as well as race, also plays a part in

Wagner’s aversion towards the Jews. Racial purity is an idea that Germany was known for

throughout Adolf Hitler’s regime.89 But there is

evidence to suggest that racial purity was

associated with Germany long before the Second

World War - the Roman historian, Tacitus spoke

of the Germans as the people of the forest, the

purest race in Europe that hadn’t mixed with

anyone else.90 He writes:

They are distinct unmixed race, on one but themselves with fierce blue eyes, copper colored hair and huge frames.91

Wagner, an educated man, would have known of writings such as these that would have fuelled his idea of race. This is important to account for when considering Wagner’s ideas of race, knowing that he is German, and a ferociously nationalistic German at that, as previously discussed.

It is important to note that Wagner never explicitly gives race as a reason when belittling the Jews,

but it is certainly implied. Wagner begins to argue that the Jews are unable to create credible art.92

His argument his based on that a man’s appearance will have a bearing on his art93 and as “we

87 Dr.Margaret Brearley, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism; From the Cross to the Swastika, 23:20; Richard Wagner, Judaism in Music and Other Essays, p. 79.

88 Richard Wagner, Judaism in Music and Other Essays, p. 80.

89 Discussed throughout, Hitler’s Hunting Experiment, (Channel 4, 2015).

90 Prof. Steve Jones, Hitler’s Hunting Experiment, 5.53.

91 Prof. Steve Jones, 06:00.



fig.3 Ancient Germans depicted fighting an Orox

Source: Hitler’s Hunting Experiment, 6:23.

22

wish to have nothing in common with a man who looks like that”,94 the wish is to feel no

sympathy towards his art. In this statement, Wagner has implied a generalization - a Jewish man,

will possess a certain aesthetic quality that he will share with his Jewish neighbor. Considering

chapter 2.1 and the ethnic origin of the Jew, his dispersion throughout Europe whilst only

breeding with fellow Jews due to the rejection from the dominant Christian gentile, it is easy to

see why Wagner made this racial generalization.

Taking account of this, Wagner moves to the Jew’s speech (here again making the same

generalization as previously discussed).95 He feels that this issue should have more weight put

upon it as he deems it essential to sound of point of Jewishness in music.96 He argues that

language is the base of a historical community and:

Only he who has unconsciously grown up within the bond of this community, takes also any share in its creations.97

But as he sees the Jews as speaking the European languages as an alien98 and have seen them stay

outside the gentile European community perusing their own Hebraic language unwilling to share,

they should not share in the fruits of labor of the wider European community.99 He perceives,

using this as the basis of his argument, that therefore, Jews have had no part in the evolution of

European art and civilization and have merely watched as “hostile” voyeurs.100 This idea that the

Jews were a cultural leech, was widely accepted in the nineteenth century as European figures

such as General from the French Revolution said, “to the Jew as an individual everything, to the

Jew as a community nothing”.101 Even Jews themselves are able to see part of this argument as

Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg explained, that because Jews:








101 According to Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism -‐ From the Cross to the Swastika, 1991.

23

…insisted on Hebrew, the synagogue, Yiddish, they were an irritant, because what they were saying was, we are going to live here in Germany or here in France as French Citizens, Frenchmen even but we are going to live by a different culture and by different premises.102

Lazare, another Jew, agrees with this point, as he writes that the Jewry “formed a nation among

the nations”.103 From this evidence, I deduce that Wagner was correct, assimilation or integration

did not occur from the Jewry into European society.

3.2 Bryan Magge Response to Das Judenthum in der Musik.

As for many reasons that have been previously discussed, Wagner’s anti-Semitism has been

approached with caution, care and with sensitivity. Many philosophers have overlooked Das

Judenthum in der Musik and other anti-Semitic acts by Wagner.104 In fact, only the Appendix

was devoted to the subject when Bryan Magee wrote his book Wagner and Philosophy.105

Furthermore, during a lecture at the book launch, Magee explained that he did not devote a

chapter to the subject, as he did not deem anti-Semitism as a philosophy and therefore not

requiring a place in the book.106 Magee concluded his lecture, by proclaiming that his

anti-Semitism compromised Wagner’s genius;107 he elaborated on this point in his earlier book.

However, it seems that Magee slightly skirts around the issue because, in an earlier book

published in 1969, carefully entitled Aspects of Wagner, he devotes a chapter -Jews Not Least in

Music, which is largely a review on Das Judenthum in Der Musik, and he does offer harsh

criticism towards the Wagnerian ideology.

By no means does Magee come across anti-Semitic or racist (for that matter) at all, but he does

place some weight of philosophical recognition, on points, made in Das Judenthum in Der Musik.

This makes Magee’s comment that he would later say during his book launch lecture, sound,

respectfully, somewhat hypocritical. After all, Magee makes the following point, which is crucial

in terms of this enquiry holistically –

102 According to Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism -‐ From the Cross to the Swastika, 1991.

103 Bernard Lazre, p. 108.





24

The trouble, as always, is that what is marvelous about his contribution was commingled with what is repellent to such an extent that it got overlooked and rejected along with the rest. In this case the argument I salvage from his anti-Semitic writings is the baby was thrown out with the bath water. The bathwater was foul.108

What can be deduced from this statement, in regards to this enquiry is that yes, anti-Semitism and

racism is to be denounced, but, although it be a dark village to visit, it is worth spending the time

to consider the valid pieces of theory, that can bring balance, to a practicing multi-cultural

society.

In Aspects of Wagner, Magee seeks to answer why the Jew had produced “scarcely any creative

work of the front rank until only the last century”,109 referring to the nineteenth century. Wagner

also acknowledges this point. To answer this, he firstly acknowledges Judaism as an authoritarian

culture. He denotes that existing within the cultural confines of an authoritarian religion makes

one unable to produce great works of art.110 Magee perceives that originality, is essential for the

development of creativity and so, he expands his point:

Originality in fundamentals is inimical to any closed authoritarian culture, because such cultures do not and cannot allow their basic assumptions to be questioned.111

As has been previously explored and explained, secularism had became fashionable in the

nineteenth century, and many Jews began to repudiate their religion therefore, breaking from the

cultural confined of the religion and achieving greatness. Magee gives credit to Wagner as the

first person that perceived this, but due to “his anti-Semitism, he has never been given credit for it

[by others]”.112 In other words, “the baby was thrown out with the bath water”.113

Picking up on Wagner’s point previously discussed : “only he who has unconsciously grown up

within the bond of this community, takes also any share in its creations”.114 In the appendix of

Wagner and Philosophy, Magee responds with :

So much of what makes great art comes from an unconscious level of the artist’s personality that only someone who has unconsciously matured in that society can produce great art from it.115








25

Wagner’s original point was in direct approach to language, as the conclusion was that Jews

speak European languages as an alien. If language is used as an example in regards to Magee’s

point, the same conclusion stands – those who assimilate into wider society have a share in its

cultural produce. If an immigrant carries out daily actions that are in keeping with the norm of the

wider society that the immigrant inhabits, they will have assimilated into that society. For

example, the Irishman who immigrates to Italy who actively seeks to carry out their life as an

Italian, or who lives an Italian life, will inevitably learn the Italian language quicker than the

Irishman who moves to Italy sticking and living in an Irish section of an Italian town, carrying out

their business as an Irishman as they would in Ireland. As in the former scenario, the Irishman

carrying out their business as an Italian will mean dealing with Italians in day to do life more

frequently. The Irishman would be forced to communicate in Italian, hence over a period of time,

learning the Italian language more quickly than the latter. This then proves both Wagner and

Magee correct. Again, in regards to Wagner, “the baby was thrown out with the bath water”.116

Wagner claims that language is the basis of any culture and cultural community. Therefore, in

theory, any other facet of culture could be discussed against both Magee and Wagner’s statements

and the same conclusion would reside – those who participate within the culture of the wider

society also share in its produce, but this can only happen through assimilation. This considered,

is assimilation the answer to today’s problems concerning immigration?

115 Bryan Magee, Wagner and Philosophy, p. 350.


26

4.0 Wagner’s Views Vis-à-vis Immigration Today.

Parallels can be drawn between the issues raised in Das Judenthum in Der Musik and issues that

are under debate and reformation regarding immigration:

The phenomenon of tension, regarding a predominantly Christian, white society of European

origin, having to accept and adapt to other people of a different religion or culture, which belong

to a different race, is an age old tale; but it is a topic that is heavily disputed today.117 It is well

documented that white people, more than any other race, have carried out acts of racism

throughout history. Today, in many respects, due to many races residing so close to one another,

some would see the white person forced to carry the guilt for the actions that their ancestors have

perpetrated. Considering this, it is very difficult for a white person to express a view against a

religion or culture that is associated with a person of a different race, without being accused of

racism. Could this be what Enoch Powell meant when he prophesized a time where “the black

man [would] have the whip-hand over the white man”?118 If we live in a liberal society, it is

important, regardless of our race, to be able to express an opinion against a religion or culture

when we deem fit, without having the fear of being shunned as a racist person, considering the

high consequences there are to pay for racism today. Expressing an opinion against a culture or

religion need not necessarily reflect racism, and it is unfortunate that the two different acts – an

expression against race and an expression against culture and/or religion, have become entangled

in one another.

As has already been discussed in the previous chapter, Wagner criticized a lack of assimilation

throughout his essay. More parallels between immigration in Wagner’s time and today can be

drawn: just as Jews made a distinction between themselves and the gentile in the nineteenth

century, today, many immigrants will make a distinction between themselves and the rest of the

population, creating a them and us ideology. For example, just as Jews were living in tight-knit

ghettos in Wagner’s time, today immigrants will congregate in specific areas with solely other

immigrant that are from their own father land. Take London as an example, Jews generally live in

north London – Stamford Hill and Golder’s Green,119 Turks and Cypriots generally live in

Harringey, Green Lanes,120 those from an Islamic background generally live in East London –


118 Encoh Powell

119 Trevor Philips, 2:30.

120 Trevor Philips, Things we Wont Say About Race That Are True (London: Channel 4, 2015), 2:10.

27

Whitechapel and Bethnal Green and the Irish and Afro-Caribbean’s generally live in Highbury121

and this is a blue print as to what is happening all over the UK and that is a blue print of what is

happening all over Europe. Yes these statements are generalization but, those who live in London

know this and accept this, even though it is not mentioned or discussed in society through

politeness.122 Granted these areas named are not ghettos but, again, the point is that just as Jews

stuck with Jews and “formed a nation among the nations”123 immigrants are sticking with their

own, living close to their own in the country they have moved to forming a community within a

community124. Thus, assimilation has not occurred, as the immigrant has not been forced to mix

and mold into and with the wider community.

The immigrant makes another distinction between themselves and the wider community by not

only living separately from it but by dressing differently, usually for religious reasons, which is

outlandish for Europeans. “Asserting […] religious or ethnic identities can lead to political

conflict…”125especially when two, three, four etc. different cultures are residing in such a close

space with one another. Thus, those whose roots and heritage lie in Europe are presented

something that is different. From feeling this difference it is possible to feel many emotions, but

each of them can be categorized between – 1.intreged/wanting to know more and 2. Wanting

nothing to do with the difference/rejection for the sake of ignorance. Option two is limiting and

can play a part in racism. Identifying with the first implies that one would like to know more

regarding their difference. When the enquirer is satisfied with a response, they will have realized,

that the differences between the European and the immigrant, on the immigrant’s part, derive

from an authoritarian culture and/or religion that, in today’s European society is deemed to be

oppressive. Considering the nature of the authoritarian culture and the rules its people abide by, it

is the immigrant that rejects the European, it is the immigrant that sees the European as unclean,

unfit, as the European does not abide by their culture. After all, “originality in fundamentals is

121 Channel 4 doc.

122 Trevor Philips, 2.52.

123 Bernard Lazre, p. 108.

124 According to Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti Semitism -‐ From the Cross to the Swastika, 1991; Bernard Lazre, p. 108.

125 Judy Giles and Tim Middleton, Studying Culture; A Practical Introduction; Chapter: Identity and Difference Second Edition (Blackwell Publishing, 2008) p. 49.

28

inimical to any closed authoritarian culture, because such cultures do not and can not allow their

basic assumptions to be questioned”126 - thus separation and difference occurs.

However, on the other side of the coin, even when the European accepts the difference, they feel

that their sense of national and European identity is under threat.127 Please now, take a moment to

consider the vast amount of culture and creation - musicians, thinkers, artists, inventors, writers,

conquers and the like, that Europe, and therefore her people have given us from as far back as the

Ancient Greeks. These men have helped define our nations within Europe, through their creations

and thoughts. This is a point that Wagner was deeply aware of when forming his point of giving

and taking culturally within a community, as previously discussed.128 Now consider as an

example, that an immigrant “Whose parents or grandparents came to Britain in the 1950s or the 1970s

from the Caribbean or Asia do not see themselves are wholly British or wholly West Indian or Indian”;129

I would suggest that the reason that they do not see themselves as “wholly British” is because

they feel as if they must uphold a non-European/British tradition to honor their ancestry, which of

course, is from the Caribbean or Asia, not Europe/Britain. I do not consider this an issue of race

but of culture.

Now, this the crux of the issue: when in Rome, should we do as the Romans do? Here we see the

immigrant wanting to uphold their ancestry’s traditions (not doing as the Romans do) and the

European feeling that their European identity is under threat because, subsequent to the immigrant

half identifying to the nationality of their chosen country of immigration, while still practicing

their Eastern traditions, the identity of that country is changing.130 There is nothing wrong with a

country progressing and changing, but there must be a balance and the fear is that the scales have

tipped. Just as the immigrant did not want to dishonor their family traditions, neither does the

European however; it is, in this sense, the European’s ancestry and heritage that is dishonored, as

it is their continent that is changing unequally, by a lack of assimilation. The trouble here is, that

in terms of Europe being Christian in the past, it is now secular. There is no authoritarian religion

or ideology residing over her, that her people can refer to when questioned over their character or

approach to life. This makes it more difficult for the European to stand their ground in this debate


127 Judy Giles and Tim Middleton, p. 50.

128 Richard Wagner, Judaism in Music and Other Essays, pp. 84 – 85.

129 Judy Giles and Tim Middleton, p. 50.

130 Judy Giles and Tim Middleton, pp. 50-‐52.

29

of culture, as ancestry and heritage is inherently more complex than a single book that resides

over most Easter religion/cultures.

4.1 Conclusion

All this considered, I believe that Wagner was a genius who was driven by anti-Semitism. This is

in fact, undeniable as he writes to Franz Liszt regarding anti-Semitism: “it is as vital to my being

as Gaul is to the blood”.131 However, I do believe that the very anti-Semitism that Wagner was

driven by is also the very quality that compromises his genius, which is rather paradoxical. I have

already explained what I consider to be the baby in Wagner’s Das Judenthum in Der Musik, but

now to define the dirty bath water. The dirty bathwater is the fact that he could not separate race

from religion and culture. This is even evident from a younger age when their was excitement

over signing himself Wagner and not Geyer – as the idea that Wagner himself may have had

Jewish blood in him is an idea of race, not of religion/culture. He constantly speaks of the Jew as

a race, not of people of a religion throughout his essay; granted the two are linked but there is an

expectation, considering the caliber of Wagner’s mind, that he would be able to articulate such an

idea. The only fact that protects Wagner’s reputation, as a genius is that Jews generally did not

mix and bred with the gentile until after the French revolution. This said, he did have tremendous

foresight, foreseeing and speaking of ideas that were to be repeated and enhanced upon 70 years

later by other controversial figures such as Enoch Powell.

In a pamphlet by University and College Union explaining, Why immigration is good for us all, a

persuading argument is presented, stating that immigration is great for not only Britain’s economy,

but their health service. This enquiry is not in a position to contest such information and therefore,

by default, the information must be accepted. However, this enquiry is dealing with the cultural

question of immigration, which is not addressed in the pamphlet, apart from the beginning written

by Sally Hunt:

The debate about immigration is also a debate about what kind of country we want to be. A fortress, closed to new ideas, hostile to different cultures and fearful of social change…132

I agree with Hunt, it is not good for a country economically or culturally to reject an immigrant

from immigration under the grounds that they are an immigrant. However, as has been explored,

131 Paul Lawrence Rose, Great Composers: Wagner, 22:27.

132 Sally Hunt, Why Immigration is Food for all of us (London: University and College Union, Class for Labour and Social Studies, 2014), p. 3.

30

it is when those “different cultures”133 that are bred within this European country whose

ideologies are at odds with the ideology of the country, that the problem begins. From this I

deduce that for assimilation to work, the immigrant must surrender their religious belief, or carry

out their religion while imposing less of a religious conscience, when it comes to those who do

not accept or are part of that religion. For a religious imposition is irritable to the zeitgeist of

today’s Britain and many other countries in Europe due to secularism. There must be a give and

take, to benefit from the facilities and freedoms of the European country in question, the

immigrant must become that, religiously free or freer, to assimilate into the wider society.

As have been proved and discussed throughout this enquiry, history repeats itself albeit, in this

case of immigration, in different dimensions. Society has rejected the entirety of views held by

highly intelligent men, such as Wagner’s. Other men holding similar views, of equally or higher

intelligence, such as Enoch Powell’s would also be rejected in their entirety and yet the

imbalances and therefore tensions regarding and surrounding the issue still remain. It is time for a

reformation on immigration, which considers all points of view that are inclusive of those rejected

in the past, so that both the immigrant and the national can live with each other in peace without

tension or upset. What we can learn from Wagner is that sharing parts of our cultures, like

language, is essential for assimilation, which fundamentally is the answer to the problems

surrounding immigration. Culture is not exclusive!

133 Sally Hunt, p. 3.

31

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Barenboim, Daniel, Wagner and the Jews (The New York Review of Books, Vol.60 2013) pp. 33–34.

Blumenau, Ralph, Wagner and Philosophy by Bryan Magee, (Philosophy Now, Allen Lane, 2001).

Enoch Powell Documentary, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc26aTCwyYM&feature=youtube_gdata_player).

Frontline: The Longest Hatred: A Revealing History of Anti-Semitism (WGBH Boston: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVtX4HFc78, 2004).

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Philips, Trevor, Things We Won’t Say About Race That Are True, (London: Channel 4, www.channel4.com/programmes/things-we-wont-say-about-race-that-are-true)

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———, My Life, Translated by Andrew Gray  ; Edited by Mary Whittall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

Richard Wagner 1813 -1883: Anti-Semitism and Immigration

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