Once only the old spell (in my art school days, Wagner was the first composer of all time, all others were “runners up”) took possession of me, during the first part of the Parsifal prelude. Here, I thought, Wagner really saw a vision; but unfortunately he did not know when he had said enough, but went on and on interminably, so that the effect of the first part was lost. The concert ended with the “Ride of the Valkyries” an incredible piece of mechanistic writing.
     And how, since he has been canonized, every one pays tribute to his genius; speaks of him with bated breath!      Great Scott! I know he is not a supreme artist, and I know he is not fit to be in the same company with Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Gluck, Frank, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Sibelius etc. Wagner & his silly motifs - how sophomorish they sound. In the Rhine journey, the triteness of the Siegfried motif when it appears is beyond belief. When I think that for several years- 1914-1916 (?) my whole being was wrapped up in his music, it is beyond understanding. It is not so with other composers - my first introduction to Beethoven was in the spring of 1918 - since then he has grown and ever grows greater with each hearing. So it has been with Bach & Handel, Brahms, and Sibelius. So it is with all truly great artists.
     I have wondered sometimes whether my distaste for Wagner arises from the fact that I know about his leit-motifs and whether perhaps if I could hear the music without this knowledge, it would seem greater. Still, we had been told often enough of Beethoven’s supposed program for his 5th Symphony