1. 1
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.

2. 2
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.

3. 3
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
22
nd
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.
6
Gary
Kahn,
Hearing
Wagner.
7
Gary
Kahn,
Hearing
Wagner.

4. 4
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.
11
Daniel
Barenboim,
p.
33.

5. 5
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.

6. 6
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.

7. 7
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.

8. 8
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.
20
Gary
Kahn,
Hearing
Wagner.
21
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
(Cambridge:
University
Press,
1983),
p.
1.

9. 9
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
22
John
Deathridge,
3.39.
23
John
Deathridge,
3.15.
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.
27
Gary
Kahn,
Hearing
Wagner.

10. 10
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.
29
The
narrator,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
4.50.
30
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
38.
31
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
39.
32
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
39.
33
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
39.
34
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
39.

11. 11
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.

12. 12
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
39
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
361.
40
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
348.
41
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
392.
42
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
398.

13. 13
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.
43
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
400.
44
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
19.53.
45
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
402.
46
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
403.

14. 14
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,
47
The
narrator,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika
(Boston:
WGBH,
1991),
1:40.
48
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
29.
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.

15. 15
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
50
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
39.
51
The
Narrator,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
13.35.
52
The
Narrator,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
14.00.
53
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
56.
54
Bernard
Lazare,
pp.
57
–
59.
55
The
Narrator,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
22.45.
56
Dr.Margaret
Brearley,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
23:20.

16. 16
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
57
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
76.
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.
60
Heiko
A.
Oberman,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
25:25.
61
Heiko
A.
Oberman,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
26:35.
62
Heiko
A.
Oberman,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
25:30.
63
The
Narrator,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
28:30.
64
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
154.
65
Bernard
Lazare,
p.
154.
66
Robert
Wistrich,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism;
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
28.47.

17. 17
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.72
In 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.
72
Bryan
Magee,
Aspects
of
Wagner,
p.
44.
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.
76
The
narrator,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
10.28.

18. 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
77
The
narrator,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
10.35.
78
Mark
Anderson,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
10.47.
79
Richard
Wagner,
My
Life,
p.
208.
80
Mark
Anderson,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
11.40.
81
Mark
Anderson,
Great
Composers:
Richard
Wagner,
10.47.

19. 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. 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
86
Daniel
Barenboim,
p.
33.

21. 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.
92
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
83.
93
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
83.
fig.3
Ancient
Germans
depicted
fighting
an
Orox
Source:
Hitler’s
Hunting
Experiment,
6:23.

22. 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:
94
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
83.
95
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
96
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
97
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
98
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
99
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
100
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.
101
According
to
Rabbi
Arthur
Hertzberg,
The
Longest
Hatred:
A
Revealing
History
of
Anti
Semitism
-­‐
From
the
Cross
to
the
Swastika,
1991.

23. 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.
104
Bryan
Magee,
Aspects
of
Wagner,
p.
44.
105
Ralph
Blumenau,
p.
45.
106
Ralph
Blumenau,
p.
45.
107
Ralph
Blumenau,
p.
45.

24. 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
108
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
43.
109
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
34.
110
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
37.
111
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
37.
112
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
38.
113
Bryan
Magee,
Aspects
of
Wagner,
p.
43.
114
Richard
Wagner,
Judaism
in
Music
and
Other
Essays,
p.
84.

25. 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.
116
Bryan
Magee,
Aspects
of
Wagner,
p.
43.

26. 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 –
117
Daniel
Barenboim,
p.
33.
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. 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…”125
especially 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. 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
126
Bryan
Magee,
Aspects
of
Wagner,
p.
37.
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. 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. 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. 31
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