Hugo Wolf and the Wagnerian Inheritance

Wolf has been regarded as a composer who followed the style and aesthetics of Wagnerian music drama without question, while writing in a genre often seen as less challenging than the symphony or opera. This 1999 book re-examines the evidence concerning Wolf's responses to Wagner and Wagnerism and suggests ways in which he voiced his criticism through song, and his one completed opera Der Corregidor. This opens up insights into the kind of impact Wagner had on those following in his wake, and into the complexity and subtlety of the late nineteenth-century Lied. From this perspective, Wolf emerges as a persuasive and articulate figure of wide musical and artistic significance.

• The book offers fresh and specific insights into the impact of Wagner and Wagnerism on the late nineteenth century and the development of twentieth-century modernism
• Detailed comparisons with the music of Mahler, Strauss and Wagner add perspective to the discussions of Wolf's songs
• The book combines detailed analysis with broader historical and cultural perspectives