Letter: Hitler's debt to Wagner
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Letter: Hitler's debt to Wagner
AS Richard Wagner died years before Adolf Hitler was born, one should not call his music "fascist". But, whereas Bernard Noble (Letters, 3 May) cannot discern any "embryonic Nazism" in Parsifal, Prof P L Rose, in Wagner: Race and Revolution, detected "anti-Semitic resonances" from Schopenhauer and others during its protracted composition.
Although further analysis touches on weighty controversies about Celtic romance and Christian origins, it is certain that, even if Hitler never claimed that his own "religion" was "built" from that opera, he was ideologically influenced by Wagner. The paradox is that Parsifal not only embodies "pure blood" symbolism but also proclaims the virtue of compassion, hardly Hitler's most notable characteristic.
DLW Ashton
Sheringham, Norfolk
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments