• 1. Richard Wagner (1813–1883): His Life
o German composer, mostly self-taught
o Abandoned studies at the University of Leipzig for a music career
o Gained practical experience conducting on provincial theaters
o Produced his early operas
▪ Wagner wrote his own librettos
▪ Composed grand operas, nationalistic operas
o After the success of Rienzi moved to Dresden
o After failed revolution in 1849, fled to Switzerland
▪ Wrote literary works Art and Revolution, The Art Work of the Future, and Opera and Drama while in exile
▪ Developed theory of music drama, an opera that integrated theater and music completely
o Most famous work is the four-opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung
o Ludwig II summoned Wagner back to Germany
o Festival Theater at Bayreuth was built specifically for presentation of music dramas
o Married Cosima Liszt (daughter of Franz Liszt)
o Last work, Parsifal, was based on the legend of the Holy Grail
o Died at age 70, buried at Bayreuth
• 2. Wagner's Music
o Music dramas are not sectional but continuous
o "Endless melody" was molded to the natural inflections of the German language
o His concept was that of a total artwork, Gesamtkunstwerk, in which music, poetry, drama, and visual spectacle were fused
o Orchestra is the unifying element in the music drama
o Unified by leitmotifs, or recurring themes that represent a person, place, or thing
o Emotional quality is heightened by his extensive use of chromatic dissonance
o The story of the cycle of music dramas, The Ring of the Nibelung, centers on the gold that lies in the Rhine River, guarded by three Rhine Maidens
▪ The gold is powerful and is made into a ring
▪ The cycle follows the path of the ring and its...