Although the name of Richard Wagner conjures many ideas and images--anti-Semitism, Naziism, misogyny, operatic innovation, musical brilliance, and more--Wagner, whose birthday is today, is ultimately a profound, albeit troubling, portrait of the human ability to create.  To this day, opera houses around the world endeavor to perform the various parts of his so-called "Ring Cycle," his complex tale of quest, war, and passion among the gods.  Similarly, many groups of musicians in all parts of the planet strive to present the fullness of Wagner's countless compositions, digging deeply into his efforts to portray the German philosopher Arthur Schoenpenhauer's notion of the world as, in the final analysis, blind and pure will.  Who are we, Wagner's music often seems to say, if we are nothing more than movements of will, indifferent to and unaware of any other essences or dimensions of that complicated experience we call existence?
     Indeed.  As Sartre pointed out many decades later, we humans are, in truth, creatures of passion, beings of profound will and imagination, entities who daily endeavor to break through our visible boundaries.  We live to leap, to explore, to be.  And whatever else we may wish to say about Wagner's music (and there is much to say!), we recognize his rich insight into the human condition.  Whether we embrace or struggle with God, be it one of our own making or one who is actually there, we constantly confront the truth about our humanness:  apart from our passion, we cannot really live.