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Death-Devoted Heart

Sex and the Sacred in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde

Roger Scruton author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:26th Apr '13

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Death-Devoted Heart cover

A tale of forbidden love and inevitable death, the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde recounts the story of two lovers unknowingly drinking a magic potion and ultimately dying in one another's arms. While critics have lauded Wagner's Tristan and Isolde for the originality and subtlety of the music, they have denounced the drama as a "mere trifle"--a rendering of Wagner's forbidden love for Matilde Wesendonck, the wife of a banker who supported him during his exile in Switzerland. Death-Devoted Heart explodes this established interpretation, proving the drama to be more than just a sublimation of the composer's love for Wesendonck or a wistful romantic dream. Scruton boldly attests that Tristan and Isolde has profound religious meaning and remains as relevant today as it was to Wagner's contemporaries. He also offers keen insight into the nature of erotic love, the sacred qualities of human passion, and the peculiar place of the erotic in our culture. His argument touches on the nature of tragedy, the significance of ritual sacrifice, and the meaning of redemption, providing a fresh interpretation of Wagner's masterpiece. Roger Scruton has written an original and provocative account of Wagner's music drama, which blends philosophy, criticism, and musicology in order to show the work's importance in the twenty-first century.

superb book....can still teach much even to those who think they long ago grasped the secret of this masterpiece. * Simon Heffer, Literary Review *
(Roger Scruton's book is a deep and daunting) 'study of the most important single composition in Western music ... Scruton's examination is highly original and delves into aspects which have seldom been explored so rigorously' * Peter Porter, The Independent Books, *
a very, very, scholarly work... * Tony Hall, Royal Opera House CEO in FT Magazine *
superb analysis... * Michael Portillo, New Statesman *

ISBN: 9780199928088

Dimensions: 140mm x 216mm x 14mm

Weight: 318g

248 pages