Here are the top ten most popular posts on the blog at the time of writing:
1. My Critique of Joachim Köhler's Wagner's Hitler
The most in-depth and important post in the whole blog. It's a bit on the long side, but still written so as to be imminently readable for those from different backgrounds (general music lover, musicologist, philosophy, sociology, history, political studies).
2. Musicological Quackery—the Rubber Ducky in your Brain
This was part of a whole series of promo-like short posts culminating in the final critique of Köhler's book. Of these, this one has enjoyed the most endearing popularity, simply because it is extremely readable. What it lacks in comprehensive coverage of all issues, it makes up in punchiness.
3. Hitler as the Supreme Wagner Authority?
Another one of the short threads leading up to the final Wagner's Hitler critique. I used to be puzzled at why this post was so popular, perhaps because it was written fairly hastily. It also touches on rather dry issues about use of primary source bibliographic source material—the last thing you'd expect to be popular. When I read over it, in retrospect, I can see that once again it is punchy, and makes up for a lack of depth with memorability. Point taken.
4. Wotan—the Wandering Jew—and his Untergang
This is one of my personal favourites. It is only modestly well read, partly due to the depth and range of the study. I guess that reduces the punchiness a little. Still, the fact that the chief of the Germanic gods is Jewish is hardly lacking in provocativeness. The translation from Wagner's theoretical writings here are lengthy, and were hard work but the end result is some of the best English translations that render Wagner's socio-political thought accessible to the English reader anywhere in any print format. I am allowed to say I am winning the race, because there I am the only competitor in the field. It is also a good general introduction to The Ring.
5. Siegfried Bakunin—Anarchist Hero
This one is deliberately written in a direct and readable style. It also provides a good introduction to the real meaning of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. It may be too simple for some, but, again, brevity and pointedness are themselves virtues.
6. Adorno and Wagner
This one is here because it is more recent and the readership of the blog has grown. It is a follow up of the critique of Joachim Köhler's Wagner's Hitler. Köhler actually has few original thoughts of his own, and really merely elaborates exceedingly fancifully on Adorno. I like Adorno—I really do. However, he got it totally wrong when comes to Wagner—with disastrous consequences.
7. Shakespeare's Hitler
Another surprisingly popular post that asks why Shakespeare isn't banned in Israel.
8. Why is it Important to Have a Scapegoat?
One of the more in depth posts leading up to the final review of Joachim Köhler's Wagner's Hitler. It is a provocative and controversial, but thought-provoking look at why Wagner has been framed as the scapegoat, blamed for events that occurred a good half century after his death. I do warn you that you won't find it cozy reading.
9. The Banality of Evil: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
The banality of evil is, of course, a phrase I have borrowed from Hanna Arendt. She meant it in a very different way, but she would probably approved of the twist I have given it. This is another highly readable post, and sister to the Musicological Quackery post.
10. The British Nazification of Wagner's Legacy
This is a reminder that fascism was a pan-european phenomenon. It had it's adherents in the Anglo-American world too. The only difference in Spain, Italy, Croatia, and German is that they got to run the country. Rather disconcertingly, the most vile elements that tried to turn Wagner into one of their very own for propaganda purposes actually came from Britain.
Although nowhere near making the top ten, here are other posts I think deserve to be read a little more than they are:
1. An Overview and Guide of Wagner's Judaism in Music
This is an essay that people deliberately misunderstand for polemical purposes. However, there is a very good essay on ethnic tensions lurking in there, of the sort that continue to divide humanity today. The key is to read the essay in terms of the norms and ideas of the day, rather those of a hundred years afterwards. Recently revised.
2. A Detailed Analysis and Translation of the Final Paragraph of Judaism in Music
I go through it virtually word for word so as to thoroughly explode the more ridiculous interpretations that are floating around today. It is a supplement to the Overview on the essay. There is nothing anywhere in the English language that analyses this oft misquoted final paragraph in as much depth.
3. Saul Friedländer Agrees with my Interpretation of Judaism in Music
This is for whoever throws their hands up in the air, accuses me of wanton revisionism, and rants that "it's bloody obvious to any fool that Wagner is calling for the Holocaust". No less an authority on the Holocaust than Saul Friedländer has independently come to the same conclusion as I have in disagreeing with this distasteful, populist, and inflammatory view. I only found Friedländer's essay (only published in German) after I had written my posts.
4. Arnold Schoenberg also Reads Judaism in Music in the Same Manner
Not only do I and Saul Friedländer read the essay in the same way, but so too does Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg's summary of the situation really could hardly be bettered. That said, this post is really about understanding Schoenberg's relation to Wagner in historical context.
5. Wagner and Marx on the Jewish Question
If you are going to accuse Wagner of causing WWII and the Holocaust, why not accuse Marx of the same thing? What they say about the Jewish question is extremely similar in some ways. The polemic the likes of Kähler would probably run is that since Nazis were National "Socialists" that ergo all socialists are Nazis. Of course, they were phoney "socialists" and this attempt by the right to blame the rise of fascism on the political left is ridiculous. And, yes, Wagner belongs firmly with the political left, making him a favourite scapegoat of right-wing polemicists like Köhler.
6. The Fatherland Union Paper
Few people seem to bother to read this immensely rewarding document. Yet it summarises everything that Wagner ever stood for.
I sometimes find myself disconcerted with the number of Wagner posts on this blog. Fortunately, there are a growing number of posts on other composers, such as my series of 12 posts entitled Introduction to Schoenberg. I guess, I keep coming back to Wagner, because all you have to do is mention Wagner's name is you unleash a can of worms when it comes to controversy. That spills over instantly into discussion of Adorno, Feuerbach, Schopenhauer, Jung, Freud, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Hegel as well the German historical context underlying them all, and from which they cannot be separated. It demands an exemplary multi-disciplinary grasp of history, socio-political analysis, mythology (as politics, as psychology and as anthropology), musicology and philosophy that is the essence of what this blog is all about. I have yet to come across anything in print that achieves this. I even have a post planned on feminism and Wagner. Readers can be assured that I have plenty more to say, with quite a few draft posts in preparation already. However, these take time to craft and readers are asked to be patient. There are plenty of juicy, thought provoking posts to come.
Of course, I've have certainly not failed to notice that I haven't published a new post in three weeks. However, I am actually always reviewing my old posts, and occasionally rewriting them. The latest Adorno and Wagner thread has gone through several revisions since first publications. So while waiting for new posts, readers may want to re-read some of the old posts.
I thought I would finish by letting readers know that the Think Classical blog now has a Twitter presence.
https://twitter.com/ThinkClassical
I've started with a few tweets introducing the most popular threads on the blog, since it began at the start of this year.
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