 In particular , after 1849 , Wagner resented Meyerbeer 's continuing success at a time when his own vision of German opera had little chance of prospering . After the May Uprising in Dresden of 1849 , Wagner was for some years a political refugee facing a prison sentence or worse should he return to Saxony . During his period of living in exile he had few sources of income and little opportunity of getting his own works performed . The success of Le prophète sent Wagner over the edge , and he was also deeply envious of Meyerbeer 's wealth . In reaction he published , under a pseudonym , his 1850 essay ' Jewishness in Music ' . Without specifically naming Meyerbeer , he interpreted the popular success of the latter as the undermining of German music by alleged Jewish venality and willingness to cater to the lowest tastes , and attributed the supposed poor quality of such ' Jewish music ' to Jewish speech and song patterns , which ' though the cultured son of Jewry takes untold pains to strip them off , nevertheless they shew an impertinent obstinacy in cleaving to him ' . 
