In 2013, the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth, I launched a blog called Wagner Tripping. Subtitled In search of ecstasy, perspective, and dissonance resolution in the composer’s bicentennial birth year, it began—as the title hints—with a personal story: how I came to Wagner through opera, through passion, and, yes, through LSD.
This project is now being updated. I’m fixing broken links, bad fonts, typos, and grammar, and making sure the footnotes and references actually work. I’m also weaving in new material, but the core structure remains the same—eight sections that build toward a conclusion, followed by a set of appendices with supplemental material. Each section can stand alone, but I’ve arranged them to build a cumulative argument.
Here’s the map:
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Wagner’s Musical Effects – Why his music is so emotionally powerful.
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The Character Assassination of Richard Wagner – A look at his personality, to sort justified criticism from caricature.
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Wagner’s Anti-Semitism – Explored in historical and psychological context, including broader reflections on the roots of prejudice.
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His Abnormal Mind – Enough said.
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His Cultural Influence – Immense, strange, and still unfolding.
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A Feminist Critique of the Feminist Critique – Yes, that’s what I mean.
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Wagner and Hunter S. Thompson – Parallel lives, a century apart.
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Conclusion – Reclaiming Wagner as a full and remarkable human being.
This is not an academic blog, but I’ve done a lot of reading, listening, and thinking over the years. I’m especially writing for those who say, “I love Wagner’s music but I hate him.” To me, that’s a nonsensical position. Wagner’s music was a window into his soul—he was bound to it in a way unique among opera composers. That’s the case I’ll be making across these posts.
My journey with Wagner began on a road trip to see my first Ring Cycle in Seattle in 2001. While driving, random thoughts about him kept bubbling up, and I scribbled them down at rest stops or red lights. (Not the safest method, I’ll admit, but I kept my eyes on the road—though my handwriting paid the price.) Since then, Wagner has continued to accompany me—especially on long journeys, though these days I’m more likely to fly.
When I first encountered Wagner’s music, I assumed that anyone who could write such profound and beautiful work must be, in some sense, a profound and beautiful person. Then I started reading. What a letdown! “A monster,” “a dreadful human being,” “arrogant, dishonest, jealous, hypocritical, racist, sexist, and passionately anti-Semitic.” Was he really that bad?
After years of reflection, my answer is: no, not remotely. What we’ve inherited is a flattened, negative caricature—stripped of context and complexity. That’s what I try to correct in Section Two.
This blog was born from my frustration with the way Wagner has been treated—often with intellectual laziness, distortion, or just plain meanness. Some criticisms are fair. Many are not. And very few make any serious effort to understand the man in his own time or on his own terms.
Today, you don’t get credit for writing a fair or balanced book about Wagner. (Yes, I used that phrase long before Fox News co-opted it, and no, I won’t give it up.) Anything short of condemnation is dismissed as an “apology,” as if striving for perspective were a moral failing. That’s absurd. Historical clarity isn’t exoneration. It’s just honesty—and Wagner deserves at least that.
In my final post of the original blog, I tried to bring it all together—to reclaim Wagner not as a saint, but as a full, brilliant, flawed, fascinating human being. I’m very glad he was born 200 years ago, and I hope this updated blog helps others see why.