Translated by Edwin Evans (4 results)

Hardback. No Dustjacket. No Statement Of Later Printing On Copyright Page. Small owners name to the front endpaper, otherwise a Tight sound unmarked copy in Good condition with some browning to the pages and a clean glue repair to the back hinge.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good ++. Dust Jacket Condition: Dustjacket Very Good. Reprint. 173 pages + 16 page publisher's catalogue. White background dustjacket with light wear to edges and corners of dustjacket. Very clean hardback binding. Pages very clean.

Hardcover. Condition: Poor. XVI + 95 pages. This copy was donated to the YMHA a century ago by Joseph Jacobs, the Jewish writer, historian and folklorist. There is a YMHA bookplate to that effect. This book was at some point deaccessioned by the YMHA, attested to by their rubber stamp markings. Many of the leaves are loose in the binding, six are stained in the blank margins. Several leaves are chipped in the blank corner. The binding is he original maroon hardcover, brittle paper. "Das Judenthum in der Musik" (German for Judaism in Music, but perhaps more accurately understood in contemporary language as Jewishness in Music, is an antisemitic essay by composer Richard Wagner which criticizes the influence of Jews and their "essence" on European art music, arguing that they have not contributed to its development but have rather commodified and degraded it. It alleges that Jews infiltrated the music industry not through their artistic capabilities, but because of their control over financial resources. In particular it discusses the music of Jewish composers Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer, acknowledging its technical proficiency but criticizing it as lacking genuine artistic passion. According to Wagner, authentic art is rooted in immersion within the organic life of a culture, and Jews, indicated as being outsiders to this culture, are capable of only making artificial or superficial contributions. It was first published under a pseudonym in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (NZM) of Leipzig in September 1850. It was republished in 1869, this time bearing Wagner's name, with expanded commentary on the original publication's purpose, response and the purported negative impact on Wagner and his associates' careers. There is debate over the translation of the title, Das Judenthum in der Musik, into English. The article's first translator, William Ashton Ellis, gave it the title Judaism in Music. "Judaism" in modern English tends to refer to the Abrahamic religion of the Jews. "Judenthum" however in 19th-century Germany carried a much broader meaning, including the culture and social practices of the Jews. It also carried a pejorative sense associating Jews with money-making. Karl Marx in his 1843 essay On the Jewish Question uses the word in this sense, in which he associates Jews intrinsically with capitalist enterprise. Wagner also intended this latter dual meaning, given the context of the essay in which he uses "Judenthum" almost synonymously with "commercialism"; this usage is also reflected in his personal letters. Wagner's essay primarily attacks Jewish culture, artistic taste, and alleged economic power and commercialism, rather than the Jewish race or religion. In the essay Wagner speaks of the need to emancipate both Jews and non-Jews from "Judenthum". For this reason, alternative translations of the title have been given, including Jewishness in Music and Jewry in Music. The essay was written during his exile in Zürich after participating in the May Uprising in Dresden, part of the Revolutions of 1848. It follows Art and Revolution and The Artwork of the Future in a series of polemical essays intended to provoke controversy and discussion over the purpose and future direction of European art. Wagner had a radical mindset at the time, and was formulating what would become his magnum opus, the 16-hour long music drama Der Ring des Nibelungen, with which he intended to revitalize German art and society, which he perceived to be in decline. In these previous essays, Wagner criticized the perceived shallowness of the then-popular French grand opera, such as that of the celebrated Jewish composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Wagner was emboldened to write again on the subject, this time from a fully antisemitic perspective, after learning of the great success of Meyerbeer's 1849 opera Le prophete, and reading a series of essays written by his close associate Theodor Uhlig, criticizing Le prophet. . . .…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Editions Thus. Hardbacks. 8vos. pp xxiii, 418 + pp xvii, 419 - 732. pp 44 publishers advertisements. Translated into English by Edwin Evans, Senr. [1913], Original publisher's bright salmon pink cloth, bright gilt lettering to spines. in 3 parts 1 Opera and the Essence of Music 2 The Stageplay and Dramatical Poetic art in the Abstract 3 Poetry and Music in the Drama of the Future. Near Fine. Uncommon.…