Parsifal:

Suffering and Redemption

De Luna Francisco Rosas Tan
Richard Wagner
- Was a German composer
born May 22, 1813, Leipzig
Germany—died February 13,
1883, Venice, Italy.
Richard Wagner
- At a young age, he showed
little interest in music.

- At 13, wrote a play called

“Leubald” which inspired him
to start studying music.
Parsifal (1882)
- Wagner’s opera Parsifal is a tale in which
suffering is celebrated, as we follow the
path of a young knight who is a ‘pure fool
made wise through pity’. Critics either love
or hate the opera, calling it sublime or
decadent.

4
Parsifal (1882)
- The five-hour-long opera tells a
grand story about
seduction and loss of innocence
in the search to reunite the Holy
Spear with the Holy Grail.
5
 1

Wagner - Parsifal - Finale

Difference of Opera and
Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre
- Script is as important as the
songs
- Singing and dancing should be
mastered by the performers
- Intensity of singing differs
- Mostly in English
Opera
- The music and singing are the
main drivers
- Singing and dancing are
separately mastered
- Intense singing throughout
- Performers need to learn
different languages
7
“ Why is art “timeless” and
“universal” but at the same
time produced in and shaped
by specific contexts
(historical, geographical,
social, cultural, political)?

8
Opera is art
● Even today, Parsifal is still
performed throughout the world.
● Key part of the Western classical
music tradition.

9
● Wagner saw opera as
‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, a
complete art form in which
he controlled not only
musical features but also
the libretto, staging,
costumes, and sets.

10
11
Influence
of Wagner
12
Friedrich Nietzsche
was a fan of Wagner
- Although he lost love for Wagner after
Parsifal and he heavily critiqued it.

13
Nietzsche, who lamented the weakening
of Germany’s ‘pure and powerful core’ by
‘foreign elements’, celebrated Wagner for
revitalizing German/European culture by
evoking primitive roots of ancient Nordic
and Teutonic mythology—using Aryan
rather than Semitic myths.

14
Influence
of Wagner
on Nazism
15
Controversy
Wagner’s work, specifically an
essay entitled “Das Judenthum in
der Musik (1869)” presented strong
anti-semitic views.
Wagner’s rabid anti-Semitic
writings were read by an admiring
Hitler, and his operas became
virtual state music for the Nazis.
This has led to his music being
unofficially banned in Israel until
quite recently.
16
“
Why does art involve
experience?

17
“Music poses hideous challenges to
singers and requires enormous
stamina and power.”

“Gesamtkunstwerk”
(total work of art)
18
“Wagner’s musical grandeur is
greatest in his expression of passion.”

19
The Wagner’s Tuba
- Exclusive instrument for the Ring
Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen)

- Unique sound

20
21
what is the
difference between
the aesthetic and
the artistic?
22
The difference of the works of John
Wagner to others

23
John Wagner’s works were
mostly themed about love
and redemption

24
Wagner was never afraid to
use the opera to show his
revolution

25
Wagner used the Ring cycle which
combined literature, visual elements,
and music in a way that would
anticipate the future film

26
Thanks!
Any questions?

27