erman Empire." So, lacking a cultural center and capital, Germany expressed its uniqueness through music more than literature, art, or political structures. The lack of national political unity also encouraged a national sense of inferiority. The Germans had the sense of nationalism, no political outlet, and were surrounded by strong unified countries such as Austria and France.By the 1830's, Wagner was convinced that he had been born to save German opera and felt he might accomplish this through Italian lessons. Wagner's thought was, at its core, wholly national. He was convinced that German opera composers had lost their ability to win over the hearts of the people. According to an article in a Leipzig magazine of 1834: "We are too intellectual, too learned, to create warm human figures. Mozart could do so, but he animated his characters with the beauty of Italian song. Since we have come to despise this, we have wandered further and further from the path that Mozart beat out for the salvation of our dramatic music. Weber never knew how to handle song, nor does Spohr understand it much better. But song is the organ through which a human being can communicate himself musically; and so long as this is not fully developed, he lacks genuine speech. This is where the Italians have an enormous advantage over us; with them, beauty of song is second nature." For Wagner and other opera composers, the ultimate form for this national cultural unity was opera and song. The ability to distinguish a national theme was a testament to the national music of a country. In this quotation, Wagner is stating that the Italians are the best for this. In other words, the Italians are the authority on creating song that is at once recognizable as Italian, much like we can recognize national melodic types today, and this is just what German music, and opera, needs. Wagner occasionally wrote blatantly nationalistic works, marches, for example,...
