What kind of person is born when endless desire and immense talent combine?
Everything about Wagner, the problematic man who opened up new horizons in music.

Wagner's life was as dramatic and contradictory as his music.
He was a romantic and an opportunist, a supporter of socialism while coveting the influence of capital, and a man who sang of ideal love while having affairs with many women.
He stirred controversy with works such as Anti-Semitism in Music, and after his death he became an idol of Hitler.
This complex and contradictory life has given rise to exaggerated and distorted impressions.
That is why Wagner is a figure who continues to be the subject of much analysis and research even today.
This 『Wagner Biography』 is a supplement to the previous work 『Human Wagner』, and is a long-standing work that strives to portray a more objective picture of Wagner.
This book, which can be considered the first comprehensive study of Wagner in Korea, will allow readers to simultaneously explore his complex humanity, boundless desire, and genius musicality.

Wagner, along with Luther and Nietzsche, is called the most German figure.
They are all confident, charismatic and possess a mysterious magic.
In particular, Wagner resembles Luther in courage and cunning, and in addition to being respected and envied by Nietzsche, he is also considered the essence of the Germanic spirit in that he has a strong nationalistic tendency.
Didn't Nietzsche say, "The Bayreuth Theater is the true symbol of Germany?"
--- p.9

He had no hesitation in borrowing money he could not afford.
The collateral was the copyright to an unfinished opera, but of course he added his wit and humor to it.
The solution was to wait for the debts to snowball and run away from creditors, as was the case in July 1839 (at the age of 26) when he fled from Riga, Latvia, where he was working as a conductor, to England and Paris.
At the time, there was a debt detention law that forced debt repayment, so it must have been desperate for him.
Instead, he paid the price for his 24-day escape, which included a near-shipwreck and a carriage overturning and landing in a manure heap.

--- p.30

Wagner was not a prodigy.
He had no formal musical training until 1831, when he began studying at the University of Leipzig.
Even then, he dropped out and did not complete all the regular courses.
For those born with genius, education is merely the process of polishing a rough stone into a jewel.
During this time, he acquired knowledge of the musical canon through private lessons and self-study, so he began his musical training as a so-called dilettante (a person with knowledge comparable to that of an expert).
--- p.80

Wagner's philosophical thinking underwent a dramatic change in 1854 when he encountered the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860).
It was an intellectual shock, an awakening to new ideas and a conversion of worldview.
His ideas were a strong link between Wagner and Nietzsche, each supporting the other's music and philosophy.
[...] If Wagner had not been influenced by Schopenhauer, the libretto for Tristan und Isolde would have been different, and the "Wahn monologue" sung by Hans Sachs in Act 3 of the Nuremberg Meistersinger would not have been included.
In particular, the themes of atonement and salvation in Parsifal are core motifs based on Schopenhauer's thought.
My perspective on the characters in 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' also changed while writing the script.
In other words, Feuerbach's position that humanity is based on morality and the relationship between you and me is based on reciprocity was reconstructed into Schopenhauer's position that humanity is inherently evil and my will is selfish toward you.
So the characters became more three-dimensional and the events became more dramatic.
--- p.102~103

The evocative motif is the key to dramatic music that easily unravels the chain of events through auditory images.
It also creates tension in the play, hints at a twist, and foreshadows catastrophe, so it is a guide that leads the way in the forest of evil drama.
First, the eliciting motif creates the expectation of something interesting or reminds the listener of something new by placing a signal melody that catches the listener's ear in the element.
Second, it arouses interest by hinting at events and helps the audience understand by realistically conveying emotions, feelings, and atmosphere.
Third, it adds life to the background and characters.
Additionally, the inductive motive has three functions:
One is anticipation, which is the motive that a character, event, or sign will appear.
The two are Recollection, a motif that brings back memories.
The third is Reminiscence, which is a motive that makes us chew over memories such as recollection, reflection, and resentment.
So, the inductive motif is a memory device and a precursor device that is explained through music.

--- p.137

Wagner's duality is also a characteristic of genius.
In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Nietzsche divided art into Dionysian (emotional: impulsive, optimistic) and Apollonian (rational: logical, intellectual) types and compared them.
He cited Wagner as an example of an artist who knows how to harmoniously use these two types to produce great works.
That is, he viewed Wagner's operas as 'Apollonian works born from the spirit of Dionysus', and as if to prove Nietzsche's claim, he wrote in his memoirs, "I am a mixture of Hamlet (Apollonian, reflective ego) and Don Quixote (Dionysian, action-oriented ego)."12
In that respect, Wagner's conflicting tendencies were a flaw as a human being, but a desirable quality as an artist.

--- p.167

In particular, Judaism in Music is more than just a musician's malicious writings about Jews.
This was a mistake for Wagner, a misfortune for the Jews, and a shame for the Germans.
In fact, “music is the enemy of the devil, and the best gift from God.” (Martin Luther) However, music sometimes becomes the devil’s ally because of its emotionally arousing enthusiasm.

--- p.200

In the end, Cosima was the best sacrifice that Bülow could offer to his Zeus (Wagner).
The reason why Bülow could not easily accept Cosima's divorce proposal was probably because he was anxious that it might completely cut off his relationship with Wagner.
That's why I see it that way, because he publicly pretended not to know.
The circumstances can be inferred from the fact that Bülow declared the day after Wagner's funeral that "the 19th century gave birth to three outstanding figures: Napoleon, Bismarck, and Wagner."
In the end, thanks to Bülow's consideration, Wagner received the best gift of three children to run the Bayreuth Theater, and thanks to Wagner's consideration, Bülow received the best gift of opera to perform.

--- p.258~259

How much did Wagner contribute to the Dresden Uprising?
In "My Life," he wrote that although he sympathized with the spirit of revolution, his own position and attitude were closer to that of a bystander.
In his autobiography, he did not hesitate to minimize or distort topics that were unfavorable to him or that would cause him trouble.
So the part about the uprising is not credible.
He may have wanted to hide his rebellion against the monarchy from his future patron, Louis II.
However, if we look at Wagner's activities at the time, the extent of his involvement is clearly revealed.
Together with Röckel, he ordered 1,500 hand grenades from a brass manufacturer, and separately from Bakunin, he encouraged the demonstrators and incited the Saxon army to revolt, printed propaganda materials and distributed them, and monitored enemy movements from the watchtower of the Cross Church and reported the situation to Bakunin and Huebner at the city hall, acting as both a leader and an agent.
The scope of his involvement was all-encompassing, his movements reached the front lines, and his life was left to chance.
Therefore, Wagner appeared to be a collaborator with the mastermind group, but in reality he was the general leader who manipulated Bakunin and Röckel.
For him, conducting a revolution was like conducting an opera.

--- p.353~354

Was it unfortunate that King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Ludwig Otto Wilhelm (1845-1886), was born with artistic talent rather than political acumen?
If he had been a wise ruler who was indifferent to art, it would have been beneficial to the kingdom and a blessing to his subjects.
But if he had not had power, would he have been able to support Wagner and build the Bayreuth Festival Theatre and Neuschwanstein Castle, which still attracts people to this day?
If he had not been a ruler who loved the arts and was also good at ruling, I would rather have been an incompetent ruler who loved the arts than a competent ruler who did not know the arts.
Because power belongs to one person, but influence belongs to all.

--- p.439

It is more correct to view Nietzsche's resistance to Wagner as another expression of his love and hate for him, mixed with his admiration for Cosima.
Nietzsche's sensitive and vulnerable sensibility manifested itself in madness during his conflict with Wagner, and his madness deepened as he wrote his book attacking Wagner.
The fact that Nietzsche's sentences became increasingly aggressive and rigid is also due to this influence.
However, it is not known whether his antipathy toward Wagner caused his mental illness or whether the symptoms of his mental illness influenced his antipathy toward Wagner.
In any case, it is certain that Nietzsche's severance of ties with Wagner was a disguised expression of his love for him.

Even after Nietzsche ultimately rejected Wagner, Wagner remained a Dionysus he could not overcome, and Wagner's wife, Cosima, was Nietzsche's eternal Ariadne.
However, as his mental illness became more severe, he began to believe that he was Dionysus, and thus Ariadne was soon his wife.
When he was admitted to the psychiatric hospital affiliated with the University of Jena, he answered the director, Otto Ludwig Binswanger, who asked him who had brought him there:

“My wife, Kojima, brought me here.”

Also, one day when his sister Elisabeth was reading to him at the Villa Silberblick in Weimar, which was his final resting place from 1897, he stopped reading when he heard the name Wagner.
Then he said:

“Isn’t that right? I truly loved him, wasn’t I?”
--- p.478

In early April of that year, Nietzsche visited Bayreuth and stayed for a few days.
Wagner was happy to see him, but he was so worried that he could not speak.
If it were any other time, I would have been talking nonsense, bordering on chitchat.
Nietzsche thought he was being treated unfairly.
At that time, Wagner was not only serving as general director of the Festival Theatre, but was also working on the score of "Die Twilight".
However, in April, he went on another concert tour to Cologne, Kassel, Leipzig, and other places to raise money for the construction of the theater.
On May 3rd, the prologue and part of Act 1 of "Twilight of the Gods" were completed.
His fighting spirit was driving his stamina.
He was Siegfried, who fought against the dragon Bayreuth, and Hercules, who fought alone against all odds.
At the same time, he was also, as his contemporaries called him, 'the money-grubbing monster of Bayreuth'.
--- p.493

For reference, the general interpretation comparing the roles of the four-part Ring series to the social conditions of the time is as follows.
Alberich refers to the Jews, a new capitalist class that controlled the German financial world, and Wotan (an imperfect god) is like the pre-modern church that reigned over dwarfs, giants, and humans, but was no different from them.
Fafner is like a feudal lord with serfs, as he has the ability (land and labor) to build the castle of Valhalla for Wotan.
He is also likened to Prussia, which led the unification, and his younger brother Fasolt to Austria in name only.
Humans are the citizen class and the leading force that leads the future.


The realm of the Ring tetralogy is a world created by Wagner, so it can be connected to any era, class, or group.
Around the time this play was performed (1876), capitalism was in full bloom due to the Industrial Revolution, and the controversial theory of evolution was influencing society and politics.
Of course, the side effects were severe, with workers forced into poor working conditions, and as a result, the socialist movement spread widely.
Also, following the logic of the theory of evolution, the law of the jungle, each country became obsessed with acquiring colonies.
Therefore, it is up to the reader to decide whether to interpret this play as a text based on a script or as a context reflecting the times.

--- p.524~525

Finally, the day Wagner had been waiting for, August 13, 1876, arrived.
That day was the first Bayreuth Festival, the inauguration of the Bayreuth Theatre, and the premiere of Das Rheingold.
He sent a special message to all the performers ahead of the festival, asking them to keep in mind some things.
A long procession of carriages lined the street leading to the theater, and the theater's front yard was bustling with guests who had flocked in an hour before the opening.
Among the invited guests were 57 royals including Emperor Wilhelm I of a unified Germany and Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, many nobles, politicians, and local dignitaries, as well as cultural figures such as Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Bruckner, Mahler, Damrosch, Renoir, and the Nietzsche siblings (Friedrich and Elisabeth), the Wesendoncks, Mathilde Mayer and Judith Gautier, whom he once loved, Franz von Lenbach, who painted portraits of Wagner, Adolf Menzel, famous for his historical paintings, and key members of Bayreuth such as Levi, Neumann, and Wolzogen.

--- p.539~540

Kundry is the character to which Wagner was most attached.
She is a character who adds dramatic fun and tension to the musical.
This is because it serves to restrain the villain Klingsor and awaken Parsifal.
Kundry is a character who wants to shed the mask of a seductress and also has a maternal side.
It is said that she was modeled after Judith Gautier, whom Wagner loved, but in fact she is a character that is a composite of the images of her mother, her older sister Rosalie, the soprano Wilhelmine Schröderprint, and Judith Gautier.
Therefore, she is the most three-dimensional character with self-development and a split-ego heroine in the entire opera.
It is also a difficult role that requires acting along with singing, and requires the ability to sing to convey a desperate story and a variety of emotions, as well as acting to comfort, plead, appeal, and threaten.

--- p.561

A black-painted gondola carrying Wagner's remains headed for land.
His body was carried by gondola to the tomb in Bayreuth, but his soul was crossing the Rialto Bridge on earth and heading to Valhalla in heaven.

--- p.632