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Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (/ˈvɑːɡnər/ VAHG-nər;[1][2] German: [ˈʁɪçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ] ; 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

"Wagner" redirects here. For other uses, see Wagner (disambiguation) and Richard Wagner (disambiguation).

Richard Wagner

(1813-05-22)22 May 1813

13 February 1883(1883-02-13) (aged 69)

His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music.


Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, which was galvanized by the efforts of his wife Cosima Wagner and the family's descendants. His thoughts on the relative contributions of music and drama in opera were to change again, and he reintroduced some traditional forms into his last few stage works, including Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).


Until his final years, Wagner's life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment – particularly since the late 20th century, as they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century; his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and theatre.

Influence and legacy[edit]

Influence on music[edit]

Wagner's later musical style introduced new ideas in harmony, melodic process (leitmotif) and operatic structure. Notably from Tristan und Isolde onwards, he explored the limits of the traditional tonal system, which gave keys and chords their identity, pointing the way to atonality in the 20th century. Some music historians date the beginning of modern classical music to the first notes of Tristan, which include the so-called Tristan chord.[205][206]

(2003). Drama and the World of Richard Wagner. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11497-2.

Borchmeyer, Dieter

Burbidge, Peter; Sutton, Richard, eds. (1979). The Wagner Companion. Cambridge University Press.  978-0-521-29657-1.

ISBN

Garten, H. F. (1977). Wagner the Dramatist. London: John Calder.  978-0-71453-620-0.

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(1998). Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-4721-2.

Lee, M. Owen

Overvold, Liselotte Z. (1976). "Wagner's American Centennial March: Genesis and Reception". Monatshefte. 68 (2). : 179–187. JSTOR 30156682.

University of Wisconsin

(1996). Wagner: Race and Revolution. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-17888-9.

Rose, Paul Lawrence

(2003). Death-Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516691-0.

Scruton, Roger

(1995). Wagner. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-10290-0.

Tanner, Michael

Vernon, David (2021). Disturbing the Universe: Wagner's Musikdrama. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press.  978-1527299245.

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Richard Wagner operas, Wagner interviews, CDs, DVDs, Wagner calendar, Bayreuth Festival

Richard Wagner Opera

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Wilhelm Richard Wagner

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