Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung is one of the greatest works of
art created in modern times, and has fascinated both critics and
devotees for over a century and a half. No recent study has examined the
meaning of Wagner's masterpiece with the attention to detail and
intellectual power that Roger Scruton brings to it in this inspiring
account.The Ring of Truth is an exploration of the drama, music,
symbolism and philosophy of the Ring from a writer whose knowledge and
understanding of the Western musical tradition are the equal of his
capacities as a philosopher. Scruton shows how, through musical
connections and brilliant dramatic strokes, Wagner is able to express
truths about the human condition which few other creative artists have
been able to convey so convincingly. For Wagner, writes Scruton, the
task of art is to "show us freedom in its immediate, contingent, human
form, reminding us of what it means to us. Even if we live in a world
from which gods and heroes have disappeared we can, by imagining them,
dramatize the deep truths of our condition and renew our faith in what
we are."Love, death, sacrifice and the liberation that we win through
sacrifice--these are the great themes of the Ring, as they are of this
book. Scruton's passionate and moving interpretation allows us to
understand more fully than ever how Wagner conveys his ideas about who
we are, and why the Ring continues to be such a hypnotically absorbing
work.
