Wagner’s Parsifal

"It is impossible to overstate the profundity, insight, and illumination of this extraordinary study. Richard Bell combines his detailed knowledge of Wagner's music and writings with his professional expertise as theologian to offer a series of theological reflections on the composer's last masterpiece, culminating in a view of its revelatory nature. The book represents a major contribution to Wagner studies and is simply a must for all lovers of the composer."

--Robert Pascall, Honorary Professor of Music Philology, University of Cambridge.



"Richard Bell has done Wagner scholarship an enduring service. Wagner's theology is an aspect of the composer's intellectual universe that is seldom even acknowledged, let alone researched or understood; yet as Professor Bell demonstrates beyond any doubt, it is crucial to an understanding of Parsifal. . . . Bell is an eloquent and sure-footed guide through the labyrinth of theological and philosophical discourses that nourished Wagner's final opera."

--Roger Allen, Fellow and Tutor in Music and Dean of St Peter's College, Oxford



"Whoever may be interested in Richard Wagner's music will appreciate this book, full of biographical, historical, philosophical, and musicological background information on the origins of his final stage work, Parsifal. But for a theologian interested in Wagner . . . this book can be an eye-opener. It demonstrates convincingly how many of Wagner's literary motifs and musical/dramatic ideas have been deeply rooted in biblical tradition and Christian faith."

--Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Professor for New Testament Studies, University of Jena, Germany