Naphtali Wagner

Biographical Note

Naphtali Wagner is an emeritus professor in the musicology department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His major research projects were analysis of Western tonal music, based primarily on the theory of Heinrich Schenker; Richard Wagner’s leading motifs and their communicative power; rock music (characterization of the Beatles’ repertoire); music education (developing courseware for teaching harmony, rhythm, ear-training and more); and developing a methodology for analyzing the relations between prosody and music. His current research engaged the representation of music in fiction. In the 1970s and 1980s, Naphtali Wagner was an active composer, composing music for theater, television programs, and song cycles.