عنوان

Opera through Varying Theological Lenses

LA126609

انگلیسی

Opera through Varying Theological Lenses

[Article]

Frederick Hale

Leiden

Brill

Although a great deal of scholarly attention has been devoted to Richard Wagner and his renowned works since the nineteenth century, and considerable attention has been given to Christian interpretations of them from continental European perspectives, many theological perspectives on the man and his operas in the English-speaking world have remained unilluminated. The present article seeks to redress aspects of that neglect by examining how two theologically educated British Nonconformists, namely P.T. Forsyth and Ramsden Balmforth (the latter of whose ministerial career was in Cape Town from 1897 until 1937) understood Wagner's opera about the Holy Grail, Parsifal. It is argued that Forsyth's interpretation was informed in large measure by his evolving understanding of the meaning of the Atonement and redemption, while Balmforth's was shaped to a considerable degree by his Fabian socialism. Although a great deal of scholarly attention has been devoted to Richard Wagner and his renowned works since the nineteenth century, and considerable attention has been given to Christian interpretations of them from continental European perspectives, many theological perspectives on the man and his operas in the English-speaking world have remained unilluminated. The present article seeks to redress aspects of that neglect by examining how two theologically educated British Nonconformists, namely P.T. Forsyth and Ramsden Balmforth (the latter of whose ministerial career was in Cape Town from 1897 until 1937) understood Wagner's opera about the Holy Grail, Parsifal. It is argued that Forsyth's interpretation was informed in large measure by his evolving understanding of the meaning of the Atonement and redemption, while Balmforth's was shaped to a considerable degree by his Fabian socialism.

2015

301-327

Religion and Theology

22/3-4

1574-3012

British Nonconformists

Fabian Society

Parsival

Richard Wagner

spiritual regeneration

Frederick Hale

10.1163/15743012-02203008

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y