Bacht (King's College, U. of Cambridge, UK) compiles 14 essays by music scholars in Europe and Australia who examine the unstable relationship between music, theater, and politics in Germany
during the period of 1848 to the Third Reich. They consider the interpretation of music as political; aesthetic and political intentions of composers, critics, and historians; and the
construction of political identities through opera. They begin with the New German School and Schumann's Genoveva and Wagner's Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde. Writings by Houston Stuart
Chamberlain are examined, as well as national attitudes towards Wagner's operas and other politics of reception. Operas and theatrical music by Sch羹tz, Verdi, Schoenberg, Berg, Krenek, and
Bruckner are also analyzed. Annotation 穢2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
