Nietzsche's Critique of Musical Decadence: The Case of Wagner in Historical Perspective

Although philosophical and biographical accounts of Nietzsche and Wagner abound, the musical issues at stake in his late text Der Fall Wagner (The Case of Wagner, 1888) have rarely been addressed within their wider cultural context. This article explores the nineteenth-century concepts of decadence and degeneration as relevant for understanding the ambivalence of Nietzsche’s late critique of Wagner. Emphasising his affinity with contemporary French criticism, it argues that his late texts advance a theory of decadence pertinent to current music history and criticism. It locates The Case of Wagner within the larger discourse of degeneration, probing similarities and differences with surrounding critics of Wagnerism. Nietzsche’s critique combines a condemnation of Wagner’s music with a more positive appreciation of the composer’s historical relevance. Yet his writings also reveal a fundamental conflict between his personal involvement with Wagner’s music and his philosophical quest to analyse this music as expressive of modernity.