Wagner and the Creation of the Ring

Michael Downes

Part cultural history, part biography, this is the fascinating story of Richard Wagner’s life, influences, gift for storytelling, and artistic revolution, culminating in his dramatic journey to write The Ring Cycle.

The Ring Cycle is one of the most epic and compelling operas of the nineteenth century, created by a composer who was, alongside Dickens, Tolstoy, and Victor Hugo, also one of the century’s master storytellers. But the story of how Richard Wagner created the work is one full of intrigue and triumphs against unlikely odds—as well as controversy, due to the composer’s anti-semitic views and popularity with the Nazi party.

In Wagner and the Creation of the Ring, Michael Downes combines cultural history and biography to recount the colorful, fascinating, and insightful journey behind the creation of The Ring and its mythology. He tells the story of how and why this extraordinary masterpiece came into being, why it takes the form it does, why it fascinates and obsesses so many—and horrifies others—and why it still matters today.

Michael Downes is a celebrated conductor, writer, lecturer, and co-author of The Wagners: The Dramas of a Musical Dynasty (Princeton University Press) editions. He is the director of music at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Before moving to Scotland, he conducted numerous choral, operatic, orchestral, and contemporary music groups across England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"Engaging with the Ring cycle in all its rich, contradictory, and exhilarating glory. A concise, insightful, and enthusiastic foray into Wagner’s magnum opus." Kirkus Reviews

"An extremely well-researched and serious book, written in an engaging and flowing style. While it is aimed at the educated general reader, there are things here and there that even the Wagner expert might not know. Downes also has a talent for describing the music in an intensely vibrant and emotional way that is extremely satisfying to read, especially when one already knows the music and can hear it playing in one's mind while reading. This is a beautifully written book." Nicholas Vazsonyi, Wagner Notes

"His style is clear, straightforward, and articulate, and he tells a complex story engagingly and with immediacy. If the target readership is primarily newcomers, Wagner devotees will undoubtedly find insights here that are new to them as well as taking pleasure in this enjoyable journey through one of the most complex of all artistic creations." Opera Magazine 

"Perceptive and evocative. Downes writes illuminatingly about the function of the leitmotifs. Drawing on Wagner's Mein Leben and Cosima Wagner's diaries, he creates a vivid picture of the evolution of the original production, and its afterlife in America and (fatefully) in Germany. The perfect book for Wagnerite beginners."
BBC Music Magazine

"A straightforward, gripping account of making art." Financial Times

"The best introduction to The Ring out there." Gramophone (UK)

"A breathtaking account of the creation of one of the most astonishing works of art ever attempted, the work of one of the most extraordinary artists who ever lived. The revelation of Wagner's mind and temperament at work is as illuminating as it is astonishing."

Simon Callow

"The book's prose is anchored so deep in the rhythm of the Ring that if you know the music you'll hear it in your head as you read." The Spectator