Who was Richard Wagner?

Answer 1

Wilhelm

Answer 2

A Classical Music composer, known for many great operas (which he called "music dramas").

According to the great English poet W.H. Auden, Wagner was "perhaps the greatest genius who ever lived".

He revolutionised Opera, making each act a continuous whole. Hitherto acts had been composed of self-contained scenes or numbers strung together.

He also revolutionised music, pushing harmony to the bounds of what was possible according to conventional treatment, so that according to some accounts Schoenberg's so-called "atonality" (a term Schoenberg himself hated) had to follow. The prelude to Tristan, and especially its famous first chord, is seen as a crucial step along this road, and continues to generate discussion (and elude analysis) today.

He vastly expanded the orchestra, inventing an instrument (the two sizes of Wagner tuba, intended to have the sombreness of the Trombone but with a less incisive tone, like the French horn) for the Ring cycle, which exponentially increased the possible number of instrumental combinations. He used these so sensitively and brilliantly that, according to many, he is the greatest orchestrator who ever lived. (He himself awarded that accolade to Mozart.) By writing virtuosic music for all the orchestral instruments, he forced the orchestra as a whole to become virtuosic.

His last four works, the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg (the longest opera in the whole operatic repertoire) and Parsifal, continue to yield profound philosophical, psychological and metaphysical insights. Unlike most other composers, his works resonate far outside their ostensibly musical sphere.

The Ring cycle of four operas (or, as he preferred, three operas with a preliminary evening) is Western music's equivalent of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, St Peter's Basilica in Rome or Tolstoy's War and Peace: it's a gigantic conception that took two-and-a-half decades to fulfil, and which remains among the mightiest, most aspirational, most comprehensive works of Western art.

Answer 3

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was the famous German composer/ conductor and music theorist of the 19th century who was born on 22 May 1813 in Liepzig and died in Venice on 13 February 1883.
Leipzig, Germany.

Answer 4

Richard Wagner wasn't that famous until his third opera Rienzi premiered. From then on his fame steadily grew as he published more and more operas, until by the 1860-70s, when he was very close to King Ludwig II and preparing to stage his massive Ring Cycle, he was one of the most controversial and famous composers of Europe. At the end of his life he had a huge following, with Wagner societies all over the world, and a yearly festival dedicated to his works. So, how famous was Richard Wagner? in a word: extremely.

Answer 5

1 Richard regarded himself as 'the most of German men' or 'the German spirit'.

2 When Wagner died in 1883, more than 10.000 books and articles were written about him.

3 Wagner could barely play the piano, let alone any instrument, and was an "indifferent score reader".

4 Richard was inspired by Beethoven and other famous composers.

5 Began composing at age of 17.

6 Wrote the world's longest opera ever, The Ring Cycle, which lasts over 18 hours.

Answer 6

Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813.