Wagner, Richard

Composer of the Ring cycle: discover the life and work of opera's colossus

Published: July 22, 2013 at 9:22 am

Read on for an introduction into the life and work of the composer Richard Wagner, whose operas - including the epic Ring cycle - brought hitherto undreamed-of musical and emotional drama into the form.

Who was Wagner?

Richard Wagner revolutionised opera during the 19th century with his theory of Gesamtkunstwerk - a music drama in which the music, poetry, and dramatic elements were completely inseparable. He popularised the use of leitmotifs - musical phrases which represented specific characters - wanting a listener to be able to hear the physical dramatic action in the orchestral score.

Which are Wagner's best and most famous operas?

What are Wagner's most famous works?

Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring cycle) was completed in 1876. It was an epic story of a magic ring told in four full-length operas.

Tristan und Isolde (1865). This was based on the classic tale of two lovers.

When and where was Wagner born?

Wagner was born in 1813 in Leipzig, Germany. He was the ninth child of Johanna Rosine, the daughter of a baker, and Carl Friedrich Wagner, a police actuary.

When did he move to Dresden?

In 1822 the family moved to Dresden and Wagner started school. He showed little interest in academic study, preferring poetry and music. He began taking harmony lessons (initially in secret) at around age fifteen.

In 1831, Wagner enrolled at Leipzig University to study music. He also began private tuition with Christian Theodor Weinlig (Kantor of the Thomaskirche) for a short time.

When did Wagner get married?

In 1834 Wagner met and fell in love with Christine Wilhemine ‘Minna’ Planer, a much in demand stage actress, while working with Heinrich Bethmann’s travelling theatre company. They married two years later. Though both had affairs, the couple's marriage lasted 30 years until Minna's death in 1866.

In 1836, a new post took him to Riga in Latvia. Here, he shared a tiny apartment with Minna, her sister and a wolf cub! Then, in 1839, in debt and without passports, Wagner and Minna made their way to Paris, the home of grand opera. Unfortunately, their two and a half years there were not terribly successful. The composer was forced to make a living by way of uninspiring arrangements and music journalism.

When did Wagner start composing The Ring?

In 1848 Wagner started work on the text for what would become ‘The Ring’, an epic opera cycle of unprecedented scale and grandeur. He envisioned a music-drama linking that intrinsically links the libretto with the music.

Who was Wagner's second wife?

In 1864, he began a romantic involvement with Cosima von Burlow, daughter of Franz Lizst and wife of conductor Hans von Burlow. Their first child, Isolde, is born the following year. After Minna’s death in 1870 Cosima divorced her husband and married Wagner.

1868 Die Meistersingers von Nurumberg premieres at Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich to considerable audience acclaim.

1872 The foundation stone is laid at the theatre for what will become the Bayreuth Festival, Wagner’s own opera gala. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is played and the first official festival is announced for the following year.

1882 After the second Bayreuth Festival and a major heart attack, the composer and his family relocate to the Palazzo Vendramin,Venice.

When and how did Wagner die?

In 1883 a further heart attack proves fatal for Wagner and he died on the 13 February. His body was taken by gondola to the train station and back to Bayreuth where he was buried in a private ceremony in the grounds of his home.

We named Wagner one of the greatest composers of all time.

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