''The Case of Wagner'' (german: Der Fall Wagner) is a book by the philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, originally published in 1888. Subtitled "A Musician's Problem".

The book is a critique of Richard Wagner and the announcement of Nietzsche's rupture with the German artist, who had involved himself too much, in Nietzsche's eyes, in the ''Völkisch'' movement and

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. His music is no longer represented as a possible "philosophical effect," and Wagner is ironically compared to Georges Bizet. However, Nietzsche presents Wagner as only a particular symptom of a broader "disease" that is affecting Europe: that is, nihilism. The book shows Nietzsche as a capable music critic and provides the setting for some of his further reflections on the nature of art and its relationship to the future health of humanity. This work is in sharp contrast with the second part of Nietzsche's ''

The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' (german: Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik) is a 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or ...

,'' wherein he praised Wagner as fulfilling a need in music to go beyond the analytic and dispassionate understanding of music. Nietzsche also praised Wagner effusively in his essay "Wagner at Bayreuth" (part of the ''

Untimely Meditations ''Untimely Meditations'' (german: Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen), also translated as ''Unfashionable Observations'' and ''Thoughts Out of Season'', consists of four works by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, started in 1873 and completed in 18 ...

''), but his disillusion with Wagner the composer and the man were first seen in his 1878 work ''

Human, All Too Human ''Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits'' (german: Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für freie Geister) is a book by 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878. A second part, ''Assorted Opinions a ...

''. One of the last works that Nietzsche wrote returned to the critical theme of ''The Case of Wagner''. In '' Nietzsche contra Wagner'', Nietzsche pulled together excerpts from his works to show that he consistently had the same thoughts about music, only that he had misapplied them to Wagner in the earliest works.

Bibliography

* Andreas Urs Sommer: Kommentar zu Nietzsches Der Fall Wagner. Götzendämmerung (= Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (ed.): Historischer und kritischer Kommentar zu Friedrich Nietzsches Werken, vol. 6/1). XVII + 698 pages. Berlin / Boston: Walter de Gruyter 2012 (). * James Kennaway: Psychiatric Philosophy in Nietzsche's „Der Fall Wagner“ and „Nietzsche Contra Wagner“, in: New German Review. A Journal of Germanic Studies 20 (2004/05), pp. 84–95.

External links

''The Case of Wagner''
at Nietzsche Source 1888 non-fiction books Books by Friedrich Nietzsche Books of music criticism Wagner studies {{philo-book-stub

Contents

Bibliography

External links