Jennifer Woodruff

Music History 2

Composer Report 1

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner was a German composer that revolutionized western music due to his

discoveries or his reactions against conventional practices at the time.

Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig. Unlike many composers, music was

encouraged in his household. Wagner’s father, Fredrich loved poetry, literature, and most of all,

the theater. Fredrick would often take Joanna, Wager’s mother to see plays. He knew every

actor and actress on the stage. He even befriended his favorite actor, Ludwig Geyer. Geyer was

welcomed into their family and when Fredrich died from illness the year Wagner was born, he

married Joanna a year later. When Wagner was two, Geyer mover the family to Dresden for

more acting opportunities. Geyer was also interested in Wagner’s education, artistic as well as

secular. He encouraged him to paint, but Wager quickly bored of it when his childish freehand

had to be replaced by studied form.1 His trips with his stepfather to the theater, however had

much longer lasting effects. He even acted in a few plays himself. He actually used a role that

had a few lines as an excuse for not doing his schoolwork. 2 Unfortunately, Geyer fell ill when

Weber was seven years old. He was called home from school to be with his family. His mother

asked him to play for his stepfather on the piano. As he did so, Geyer asked if it was possible

1
Wagner, My Life, 3
2
Wagner, My Life, 4
that Weber had musical talent. The next day Geyer died, leaving his hope that Wagner would

make something of himself. 3

The early years of Weber’s career was a little rocky. He enrolled at Leipzig University,

but Music was what he was truly passionate about. He ended up leaving the university in 1833

and became an operatic coach in Würzburg. That was where he composed his first two operas,

Die Feen, and Die Hochziet. No one in Liepzig would produce them. His third opera, Das

Liebesverbot Did get produced, but the first performance was such a disaster there were no

future performances. He had to eventually run from his creditors and he ran to Paris. It was

tough at first. Wagner scraped by as a journalist, but in 1840 He wrote Reinzi and in 1840 he

composed The Flying Dutchman.4 And in 1842 he returned to Dresden where Reinzi Was

performed and was well received. When The Flying Dutchman was produced the next year,

people weren’t too excited about it, but were interested in the innovative ways he fused music

and drama. AS he continued to rock the boat of the German music scene, he was eventually at

odds with the court opera authorities. They held the power, deciding which operas could be

performed and to them, Wagner was a threat with his nationalistic ideals. He ended up joining

the uprising at Dresden. The revolution ultimately failed and Wagner was forced to flee. He

would not be allowed to present new music for a long time.5

Even though he wasn’t composing, Wagner was writing. He wrote the poems that would

eventually become his most memorable Work, The Ring Cycle. This poem caught the eye of

King Louis II of Bavaria. He was a fan of Wager’s work and invited him to Munich. The king

3
Wagner, My Life, 5
4
Joachim Köhler. Richard Wagner, the last of the titans. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.)
5
Köhler. Richard Wagner, the last of the titans. 217-25
provided him a villa and for the next six years the first performances of some of Wagner’s most

representative works were put on: Tristan (1865), Die Meistersinger (1868), Das Rhinegold

(1869), and Die Walküre (1870). The Ring was also supposed to be premiered in Munich as

well, but Wagner decided that a new kind of theater needed to be built for his masterpiece.

And so, in Bayreuth The Ring was finally debuted in 1876. Wagner spent the rest of his life in

Bayreuth, touring Europe a few times and composing Parsifal, a sacred festival drama. He died

in 1865 of heart failure and buried in a tomb on the grounds of his home in Bayreuth. 6

Wagner created a new type of work called music drama. A music drama, according to

Wagner was supposed to be created by a single artist. That way everything fit together

perfectly. The text and music would work together to express the story. Texture would be

provided by repeating themes, called leitmotivs introduced by the vocalists and the orchestra

equally. Wagner crafted The Ring Cycle this way. He planned everything, even the theater to

make sure his vision was shared the way he wanted. And though there hasn’t been any music

drama quite like his, Wagner has inspired future composers to be their own librettists giving

their work a more cohesive feel.

The literature of Wagner is vast. Ernest Newman’s The Life of Richard Wagner is a

staple for anyone studying Wagner. The multi volume collection is broken up into sections of

Wagner’s life. The reviews all seem to be favorable as well. Another lengthy tome of knowledge

is Joachim Köhler’s Richard Wagner: The Last of the Titans, translated into English by Stewart

Spencer. Reviews seem to be in favor of this book. It is newer, coming out in 2004 and it isn’t

just a fluffy biography of Wagner’s life. The last book I want to mention is Wagner’s

6
Stanley Sadie. The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. 2nd ed. Vol. 26 (New York: Grove, 2002)
autobiography Mein Leben. Although since he created it one has to be skeptical of the validity

of his stories, it was a fascinating read. It was a picture into Wager’s mind, if nothing else and

should be read, just not used as the only source of information on Wager’s life.

In conclusion Wagner was a driven composer that was demined to carve his own path.

His innovations changed how many people created music and his legacy still lives on as some of

the most daunting yet satisfyingly challenging music in the world. He clearly made something of

himself.

Bibliography
Köhler, Joachim. Richard Wagner, the last of the titans. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
Sadie, Stanley. The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. 2nd ed. Vol. 26. New York:
Grove, 2002.
Wagner, Richard. My Life Vol. 1. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1911.