SUPPLEMENTARY READING
| THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG | By G. Kobbé |
| GUIDE TO THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG | By H. von Wolrogen |
| RICHARD WAGNER | By Adolphe Jullien |
| 2 Vols. Fully illustrated | |
| STUDIES IN THE WAGNERIAN DRAMA | By H. E. Krehbiel |
| RICHARD WAGNER | By W. J. Henderson |
| WAGNER AND HIS WORKS | By H. T. Finck |
| A STUDY OF WAGNER | By Ernest Newman |
| LIFE OF WAGNER | By Houston S. Chamberlain |
| Fully illustrated | |
| THE MUSIC DRAMAS OF R. WAGNER AND HIS FESTIVAL THEATER IN BAYREUTH | By Albert Lavignac |
THE OPEN LETTER
Dear Mrs. B—n:
I know exactly how you feel about Wagner’s music. You write me that your club is to devote several afternoons to Wagner and that the preparatory study that you have to give to it is “too much like hard work.” You ask, “Why must it be so? Cannot Wagner’s music be appreciated without having to master a system of things as puzzling and difficult as bezique?”
A very good question. It has been asked many times. It was answered in a way some years ago when a very eminent New York music critic found a young friend at a Wagner Music Drama poring over a commentary and busily memorizing the leading motives instead of listening to the music. “Go as far with that as your enthusiasm will carry you,” said the critic. “Then forget it all—and let the music tell you its own story.” “But,” was the answer, “I want to listen intelligently and not miss any of the meaning of the music or the text.”