THE ARTWORK OF THE FUTURE, MODELED (AS ALWAYS) ON THE IMAGINED PAST
All the more ineluctable are these connections in view of Wagner's lifelong habit, which he made a point of enunciating not merely as practice but as principle, of writing his own librettos—or, as he put it, the “poems” for his “dramas.” A playwright even before he was a musician, he found this a natural enough task. But he insisted that it was a necessary prerequisite for returning drama to its true estate as the supreme artwork in which all artistic media were united. Thus it is a mistake to regard the libretto of an opera, even one by Wagner, as providing in itself a dramma per musica, to quote the old Florentine slogan—a “drama for [i.e., to be realized through] music.” Neither the words nor the music were privileged in Wagner's conception; the drama arose out of their union.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 10 Deeds of Music Made Visible (Class of 1813, I)." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 4 Jul. 2020. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-010003.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 10 Deeds of Music Made Visible (Class of 1813, I). In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 4 Jul. 2020, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-010003.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 10 Deeds of Music Made Visible (Class of 1813, I)." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 4 Jul. 2020, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-010003.xml
