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After fleeing to Zurich in 1849, Wagner wrote a series of essays, most of them about the "Artwork of the Future" (''Die Kunst der Zukunft'') and what form it would take. He also wrote an essay, published in 1850 under a pseudonym (see [[K. Freigedank]]), which quickly would become infamous. The essay in question was "Jewishness in Music" (''Das Judenthum in der Musik''), and in it he railed against Jews as representing a cancerous influence on German culture, incapable of creating any real art. About Jewish religious music, he wrote "Who has not had feeings of repulsion, horror, and amusement on hearing that nonsensical gurgling, yodelling and cackling which no attempt at caricature can render more absurd than it is?" Specifically, his harshest condemnations were for the most prominent living Jewish composer, Giacomo Meyerbeer.

After fleeing to Zurich in 1849, Wagner wrote a series of essays, most of them about the "Artwork of the Future" (''Die Kunst der Zukunft'') and what form it would take. He also wrote an essay, published in 1850 under a pseudonym (see [[K. Freigedank]]), which quickly would become infamous. The essay in question was "Jewishness in Music" (''Das Judenthum in der Musik''), and in it he railed against Jews as representing a cancerous influence on German culture, incapable of creating any real art. About Jewish religious music, he wrote "Who has not had feeings of repulsion, horror, and amusement on hearing that nonsensical gurgling, yodelling and cackling which no attempt at caricature can render more absurd than it is?" Specifically, his harshest condemnations were for the most prominent living Jewish composer, Giacomo Meyerbeer.

The article's vitriol shocked many, at a time when anti-semitism was prevalent. His friends were dismayed, including the composer [[Franz Liszt]], who apparently quipped, "If only Richard had written a novel instead!" While this is the strongest statement of Wagner's anti-semitic rage, it is also clear that much of the hatred expressed was personal in origin. Wagner still bore a grudge against Meyerbeer from his days of poverty in Paris. When the young unknown composer wanted to break into the Paris opera scene, he took every opportunity to flatter the older composer, often in the most humiliatingly obsequious terms, and received little help in return. His other anti-semitic rants specifically complained about Meyerbeer and what he believed to be a cabal of other Jews who controlled the opera world internationally, and worked to keep non-Jews out. In short, all evidence paints Wagner as a German nationalist and a conspiracy theorist, and as with many conspiracy theorists he still counted members of his hated group among his best friends. <ref>Paraphrased from (Magee 2001), pp. 343-380.</ref>

The article's vitriol shocked many, at a time when anti-semitism was prevalent. His friends were dismayed, including the composer [[Franz Liszt]], who apparently quipped, "If only Richard had written a novel instead!" While this is the strongest statement of Wagner's anti-semitic rage, it is also clear that much of the hatred expressed was personal in origin. Wagner still bore a grudge against Meyerbeer from his days of poverty in Paris. When the young unknown composer wanted to break into the Paris opera scene, he took every opportunity to flatter the older composer, often in the most humiliatingly obsequious terms, and received little help in return. His other anti-semitic rants specifically complained about Meyerbeer and what he believed to be a cabal of other Jews who controlled the opera world internationally, and worked to keep non-Jews out. In short, all evidence paints Wagner as a German nationalist and a conspiracy theorist, and as with many conspiracy theorists he still counted members of his hated group among his best friends.<ref>Paraphrased from (Magee 2001), pp. 343-380.</ref>

After [[World War II]], the backlash in Germany against anything Nazi created an atmosphere where Wagner's anti-semitism was re-evaluated in the context of the [[Holocaust]]. Since Hitler was a lover of Wagner's operas, anything associated with the composer became harder to stomach. There is however no historical evidence to support the often-heard notion that Wagner's writings influenced Hitler or the Nazis. In fact, in the early 20th-century Wagner's writings were rarely reprinted or discussed outside of academic literature, making it doubtful that Hitler would have been aware of the article.<ref>See Fischer, Jens Malte. Richard Wagners ''Das Judentum in der Musik''. Frankfurt 2000.</ref> While many modern attempts have been made to locate anti-semitic caricatures or proto-Nazi symbolism in the operas themselves, this also cannot be corroborated, either in other Wagner writings (which run into the thousands of pages), or in the propaganda of the Third Reich. Moreover, Hitler's love of Wagner was not exactly shared by the Nazi officials and soldiers whom he dragged to performances at Bayreuth, and the performance of ''Parsifal'' (often dismissed as a "racist opera") was banned by the Nazis, and its content denounced as "ideologically inacceptable," in 1933.<ref>(Magee 2001), 365-66.</ref>

After [[World War II]], the backlash in Germany against anything Nazi created an atmosphere where Wagner's anti-semitism was re-evaluated in the context of the [[Holocaust]]. Since Hitler was a lover of Wagner's operas, anything associated with the composer became harder to stomach. There is however no historical evidence to support the often-heard notion that Wagner's writings influenced Hitler or the Nazis. In fact, in the early 20th-century Wagner's writings were rarely reprinted or discussed outside of academic literature, making it doubtful that Hitler would have been aware of the article.<ref>See Fischer, Jens Malte. Richard Wagners ''Das Judentum in der Musik''. Frankfurt 2000.</ref> While many modern attempts have been made to locate anti-semitic caricatures or proto-Nazi symbolism in the operas themselves, this also cannot be corroborated, either in other Wagner writings (which run into the thousands of pages), or in the propaganda of the Third Reich. Moreover, Hitler's love of Wagner was not exactly shared by the Nazi officials and soldiers whom he dragged to performances at Bayreuth, and the performance of ''Parsifal'' (often dismissed as a "racist opera") was banned by the Nazis, and its content denounced as "ideologically inacceptable," in 1933.<ref>(Magee 2001), 365-66.</ref>

* ''Parsifal'' (1882) (Last Opera)

* ''Parsifal'' (1882) (Last Opera)

== See Also ==

== See also ==

*[[Classical music]]

*[[Classical music]]

*[[K. Freigedank]]

*[[K. Freigedank]]

*Goehr, Lydia. ''The quest for voice: On music, politics and the limits of philosophy''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. (Discusses the relationship between philosophy and Wagner's music, and the tangled relationship his music has had with German history.)

*Goehr, Lydia. ''The quest for voice: On music, politics and the limits of philosophy''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. (Discusses the relationship between philosophy and Wagner's music, and the tangled relationship his music has had with German history.)

*[http://www.amazon.com/Tristan-Chord-Wagner-Philosophy/dp/080507189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264948034&sr=8-1-spell Magee, Bryan. ''The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy''], New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001. (The most in-depth English resource about Wagner's knowledge of philosophy, and the philosophy inspired by Wagner, written in a straightforward style accessible to non-musicians. The appendix, entitled "Wagner's Anti-Semitism," is also an excellent and even-handed discussion of this issue.)

*[http://www.amazon.com/Tristan-Chord-Wagner-Philosophy/dp/080507189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264948034&sr=8-1-spell Magee, Bryan. ''The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy''], New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001. (The most in-depth English resource about Wagner's knowledge of philosophy, and the philosophy inspired by Wagner, written in a straightforward style accessible to non-musicians. The appendix, entitled "Wagner's Anti-Semitism," is also an excellent and even-handed discussion of this issue.)

*Steiger, Karsten. "Liebe, Tod, Erlösung: Richard Wagners Tristan und der Einfluß Schopenhauers" in ''Schopenhauer-Jahrbuch'' 76 (1995), pp. 103-132. (Discusses how Wagner's philosophy diverges from Schopenhauer's.)  

*Steiger, Karsten. "Liebe, Tod, Erlösung: Richard Wagners Tristan und der Einfluß Schopenhauers" in ''Schopenhauer-Jahrbuch'' 76 (1995), pp.&nbsp;103–132. (Discusses how Wagner's philosophy diverges from Schopenhauer's.)  

*Weismüller, Christoph. ''Musik, Traum und Medien: Philosophie des musikdramatischen Gesamtkunstwerks--Ein medienphilosophischer Beitrag zu Richard Wagners öffentlicher Traumarbeit'' (''Music, dream, and the media: The philosophy of the musical and dramatic Gesamtkunstwerk--An essay from a philosopher of the media on Richard Wagner’s public processing of his dreams''). Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 2001. (Places Wagner's "Gesamtkunstwerk" in the context of the long history of "multimedia," stretching from the Ancient Greeks to present day multimedia conceptions.)

*Weismüller, Christoph. ''Musik, Traum und Medien: Philosophie des musikdramatischen Gesamtkunstwerks--Ein medienphilosophischer Beitrag zu Richard Wagners öffentlicher Traumarbeit'' (''Music, dream, and the media: The philosophy of the musical and dramatic Gesamtkunstwerk--An essay from a philosopher of the media on Richard Wagner’s public processing of his dreams''). Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 2001. (Places Wagner's "Gesamtkunstwerk" in the context of the long history of "multimedia," stretching from the Ancient Greeks to present day multimedia conceptions.)

*Winterbourne, Anthony. ''Speaking to our condition: Moral frameworks in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung.'' Madison, N.J.: Farleigh Dickinson University, 2000. (Discusses Wagner's Ring Cycle in the context of 19th-century post-Kantian German intellectualism.)

*Winterbourne, Anthony. ''Speaking to our condition: Moral frameworks in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung.'' Madison, N.J.: Farleigh Dickinson University, 2000. (Discusses Wagner's Ring Cycle in the context of 19th-century post-Kantian German intellectualism.)