Organization Mailing Address Washington National Wagner Society c/o Janice F. Rosen - President 2130 P Street, N.W. #221  Richard Wagner Our 2012 Season "The Phenomenological Implications of Richard Wagner's Operatic Theories" and “Manifestations of Schopenhauerian Philosophy in the Music of Act I of Parsifal” Daniel John Carroll Graduate Student and Teaching Assistant in Musicology, University of Idaho
Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 1300 EST (1:00 P.M.)
LOCATION: Tenley Branch Library, a D.C. Public Library, near Tenleytown-AU Metro Stop DESCRIPTION: Adding to the Feuerbachian and Schopenhauerian perspectives on Wagner study, these presentations will address phenomenological descriptions of the motivations behind Wagner’s artistic agenda by discussing the relevance of this philosophical system to the gesamtkunstwerk concept, the construction of the Bayreuth theatre, and implementation of the leitmotif system. While it has been long recognized that the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer played a decisive role in the development of Wagner’s operatic reforms, including the affordance of additional prominence to the orchestra and the self-abnegation and world-renouncing inclinations of such characters as Isolde and Brünnhilde, the reflections of Schopenhauer’s tenets in the very musical structure has been hitherto unexamined. In this paper, I address key passages from the Prelude to Act I of Parsifal for their musical embodiment of Schopenhauer’s thought as expressed in his magnum opus with which Wagner was nothing short of enamored, The World as Will and Representation. Daniel John Carroll is a graduate student and teaching assistant in musicology and philosophy at the University of Idaho. He recently completed his undergraduate studies as a Research Assistant and Associate at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and has presented at musical and philosophical conferences throughout the country. -- 0 -- Past presentation  George Hastings - Presenter Wednesday, January 18, 2012 1900 Hours EST (7 P.M.) Tenley Branch Library, a D.C. Public Library, near Tenleytown-AU Metro Stop "Timetables of Wagner's Ring Cycle in Relationship to Mayan Predictions for 2012" Twenty years ago George Hastings discovered Richard Wagner’s operas were filled with secret allegories concerning the evolution of consciousness. From then on he was obsessed with learning more. His research expanded to include Homer’s epic poems, Mozart’s,The Magic Flute, and Michelangelo’s story on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, all of which contained similar esoteric insights. In Mexico, while researching the Mayan culture, George realized the timetables which led up to the Mayan predictions for 2012 were related to the same astronomical periods as were Wagner’s Ring cycle and Parsifal operas, and that, like Wagner’s operas, they were concerned with the evolution of consciousness. George’s talk, "Timetables of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Relation to Mayan Predictions for 2012” includes science, mythology, history, philosophy, and the evolution of consciousness. George has been a business man in various aspects of the construction industry for nearly all of his career. In 2007 he and his wife bought a sailboat and, after exploring the Pacific northwest waters for two years, embarked on a two year journey which eventually brought them to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. They now live inland, in Orizaba, Mexico. |
George Hastings' presentation was recorded using 3 each HD camcorders and 2 each Sampson Zoom H4n digital recording microphones. Once editing is completed the work will be made available through this website. Justin R. Swain, Videowashdc