The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music by Millington, Barry

The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music (First Edition Softcover Release)
The Unrivaled, Definitive Single-Volume Survey of the Composer's Complex Life, Character, and Oeuvre

Published in its definitive softcover format in 2001, The Wagner Compendium stands as the undisputed global standard for the single-volume academic study of Richard Wagner. Wagner remains perhaps as renowned for the immense controversies he inspired as for his monumental musical achievements. Under the elite editorial guidance of premier modern Wagner scholar Barry Millington, and featuring deep analytical contributions from seventeen global experts, this compendium presents an exhaustive, brilliantly cross-referenced survey of the man, his work, and his tumultuous era.

The text charts the complex musical, philosophical, and intellectual influences that shaped the Wagnerian canon alongside the historical landscape of German unification and Bismarck’s Reich. Moving far beyond simplistic public relations, the handbook fully examines the composer’s notoriously difficult character, his opinions, and his behavior toward women and Jews—the core elements of the dark notoriety that has dogged his legacy. A standout chapter on "Myths and Legends" wittily deconstructs decades of popular misconceptions. From detailed analyses of the major operas like Der Ring des Nibelungen to examinations of his lesser-known prose essays, piano pieces, and uncompleted projected works, this masterfully structured handbook provides the definitive tools needed to comprehend 19th-century classical music's most polarizing force.

Barry Millington is an internationally renowned British musicologist, classical music critic, and author, universally recognized as one of the world's leading contemporary authorities on the life and works of Richard Wagner. A distinguished graduate of specialized music studies, he serves as the founder and chief editor of The Wagner Journal and has functioned as a regular reviewer for major platforms like The Evening Standard and BBC Music Magazine. Millington has authored and edited numerous acclaimed texts, including The Sorcerer of Bayreuth and The Wagner Companion. His scholarly writing is widely celebrated by academics for its seamless combination of deep cultural archival precision, sharp psychoanalytical integrity, and highly accessible narrative pace.