Wagnerism

"This book is emphatically not a biography of one of music’s most notable – and notorious – figures. Rather, it’s a sweeping and often surprising history of just how pivotal composer Richard Wagner’s work has been across many realms, including the visual arts, literature and politics. (Among Wagner’s ardent fans: W.E.B Du Bois, Willa Cather, Luis Buñuel, Philip K. Dick, Theodor Herzl and, infamously, Hitler.) Even if you feel no particular affinity for Wagner’s music or for opera more generally, Ross will draw you into a world of modernism that he persuasively argues was actively shaped by Wagner and those influenced by his music, ideas and aesthetics."

"I loved Alex Ross's "Wagnerism.""