demusic1-5, Exercise 2: "Wagner's music is Nazi music"

Model answer (one possible assessment; check the facts):

1. What he wrote: documented. Wagner published antisemitic writings in 1850 and 1869. These are part of the record, whatever one thinks of the music.
2. What the works contain: debated. Some scholars find antisemitic caricature in particular characters, others do not, and the operas deal with myth, love, power and redemption in ways that can be read in different directions.
3. What others did: documented. The Nazi regime promoted Wagner as a national composer, and members of the Wagner family were close to Hitler. This was a use made after his death (1883), by people who chose what to take from him.

Verdict: the claim is too simple. It is right that the regime used his music and that his writings were antisemitic. It is wrong to say the music is simply "Nazi music", since that skips the dates, the debate over the works and the many other ways the music has been performed and understood since.