Wagner’s reform of opera into musical drama introduced new formal solutions, which have been sparking discussions between analysts from the moment Wagner’s mature works (Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal) premiered. It was Friedrich Nietzsche who formulated the most famous critique of Wagner’s alleged inability to handle great forms, which stems from miniaturism as the principal compositional characteristic, or even as the main symptom of Wagner’s decadent style. Drawing from Karol Berger’s book Beyond Reason, this paper will look at the historical context of Nietzsche’s reproach, question its adequacy, and lastly illuminate the paths and problems the artist and the philosopher faced while exploring new ways of thinking and creating in the times of crisis brought on by the decline of the Enlightenment’s faith in the power of reason.Nove oblikoslovne rešitve (ali manko le-teh), ki jih je prinesla reforma opere v glasbeno dramo, burijo duhove že od samega nastanka zrelih Wagnerjevih del (Nibelungov prstan, Tristan in Izolda, Mojstri pevci nürnberški, Parsifal). Najbolj slavno formulacijo očitka dozdevne skladateljeve pomanjkljive veščine obvladovanja velikih form je artikuliral Friedrich Nietzsche, ki v Primeru Wagner poda diagnozo miniaturizma kot glavne kompozicijske značilnosti ali pa kar splošnega simptoma Wagnerjevega dekadentnega sloga. V prispevku se bomo s pomočjo analiz, ki jih najdemo v zajetni študiji muzikologa Karola Bergerja, ozrli na zgodovinski kontekst te pripombe, pretehtali njeno splošno ustreznost ter nazadnje osvetlili pot in zagate umetnika in filozofa, ki v drugi polovici 19. stoletja vsak na svoj način iščeta nova bežišča po zatonu razsvetljenske vere v moč razuma
