View source for Richard Wagner

{{Short description|German composer (1813–1883)}}
{{Redirect|Wagner||Wagner (disambiguation)|and|Richard Wagner (disambiguation)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
<!-- per RFC there is consensus for an infobox-->
{{Infobox person
| name = Richard Wagner
| image = RichardWagner.jpg|
| caption = Wagner in 1871
| birth_place = [[Leipzig]]
| birth_date =  {{birth date|1813|05|22|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1883|02|13|1813|05|22|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Venice]]
| works = [[List of compositions by Richard Wagner|List of compositions]]
| signature=Richard Wagner Signature.svg
| signature_size=150
}}

'''Wilhelm Richard Wagner''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɑː|ɡ|n|ər}} {{respell|VAHG|nər}};<ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref> {{IPA|de|ˈʁɪçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ|lang|De-Richard Wagner.ogg}}; 22 May 1813{{spaced ndash}}13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his [[operas]] (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "[[music drama]]s"). 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"), whereby he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. The drama was to be presented as a continuously sung narrative, without conventional operatic structures like [[Aria|arias]] and [[Recitative|recitatives]]. He described this vision in a [[List of prose works by Richard Wagner|series of essays]] published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the 16-hour, four-opera cycle ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' (''The Ring of the [[Nibelung]],'' also known simply as ''The Ring'').

Wagner's compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex [[texture (music)|textures]], rich [[harmony|harmonies]] and [[orchestration]], and the elaborate use of [[leitmotif]]s—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme [[chromaticism]] and quickly shifting [[tonality|tonal centres]], greatly influenced the development of classical music; his ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' is regarded as an important precursor towards [[Modernism (music)|modern music]]. As he matured, he softened his ideological stance against traditional operatic forms (i.e., arias, ensembles and [[Choir|choruses]]), reintroducing them into his last few stage works, including ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg'') and ''[[Parsifal]]''.

To properly present his vision of the works, Wagner had his own [[opera house]] built to his specifications: the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]], which featured many innovative design elements intended to immerse the audience in the drama. The premieres of ''The Ring'' and ''Parsifal'' took place there, and his [[Bayreuth canon|most important stage works]] are performed at the annual [[Bayreuth Festival]]. The early success of the festival was secured by the efforts of his wife, [[Cosima Wagner]], and has since been maintained by [[Wagner family|their descendants]], attracting audiences from around the world.

Wagner's unorthodox operas, essays, and personal dealings engendered considerable controversy during his lifetime, and continue to do so. Declared a "genius" by some and a "disease" by others, his music is widely performed, but his views on religion, politics, and social life are debated—most notably on the extent to which his [[antisemitism]] finds expression in his stage and prose works. 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.

{{TOC limit|limit=3}}

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
[[File:Wagnerbruhl.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Wagner's birthplace, at 3, [[Brühl (Leipzig)|the Brühl]], Leipzig|alt=A building with four main storeys with an open shop to one side of an arched entrance and garret windows in the roof. A sculpted figure of an animal is above the arch.]]
Richard Wagner was born on 22 May 1813 to an [[Wagner family tree|ethnic German family]] in [[Leipzig]], then part of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. His family lived at No 3, the [[Brühl (Leipzig)|Brühl]] (''The House of the Red and White Lions'') in Leipzig's [[Jewish quarter (diaspora)|Jewish quarter]].{{refn|On the Brühl as a centre of the Jewish quarter, see e.g. the [https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/leipzig Leipzig page of the Museum of the Jewish People website], and the [https://www.lbi.org/exhibitions/our-midst-facets-jewish-life-leipzig-modern-era/ Leo Baeck Institute page] on the Jewish history of Leipzig, also the [http://germansynagogues.com/ "Destroyed German Synagogues"] site page on Leipzig, (all accessed 19 April 2020.)|group=n}} He was baptised at [[St. Thomas Church, Leipzig|St. Thomas Church]]. He was the ninth, and youngest, child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, {{ill|Johanna Rosine (née Pätz)|de|Johanna Rosine Wagner}}, the daughter of a baker.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=3}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 12}}{{refn|Of their children, two (Carl Gustave and Maria Theresia) died as infants. The others were Wagner's brothers Albert and Carl Julius, and his sisters {{ill|Rosalie Wagner|de}}, {{ill|Luise Brockhaus|de}}, Clara and Ottilie. Except for Carl Julius becoming a goldsmith, all his siblings developed careers connected with the stage. Wagner also had a younger half-sister, Caecilie, born in 1815 to his mother and her second husband Geyer.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=97}} See also [[Wagner family tree]].|group=n}} Wagner's father Carl died of [[typhoid fever]] six months after Richard's birth. Afterwards, his mother Johanna lived with Carl's friend, the actor and playwright [[Ludwig Geyer]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 6}} In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married, although no documentation of this has been found in the Leipzig church registers.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=7 and n}} She and her family moved to Geyer's residence in [[Dresden]]. Until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 9}}

Geyer's love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography [[Mein Leben (Wagner)|''Mein Leben'']] Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=5}} In late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzel's school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 32–33}} He struggled to play a proper [[Scale (music)|scale]] at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures [[Learning music by ear|by ear]]. Following Geyer's death in 1821, Richard was sent to the [[Kreuzschule]], the boarding school of the [[Dresdner Kreuzchor]], at the expense of Geyer's brother.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 45–55}} At the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] elements of [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s opera ''[[Der Freischütz]],'' which he saw Weber conduct.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=78}} At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright. His first creative effort, listed in the ''[[Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis]]'' (the standard listing of Wagner's works) as WWV 1, was a tragedy called ''[[Leubald]]''. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was strongly influenced by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]. Wagner was determined to set it to music and persuaded his family to allow him music lessons.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=25–27}}{{refn|This sketch is referred to alternatively as ''Leubald und Adelaide''.|group=n}}

By 1827, the family had returned to Leipzig. Wagner's first lessons in [[harmony]] were taken during 1828–1831 with {{ill|Christian Gottlieb Müller|de}}.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 63, 71}} In January 1828 he first heard [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|7th Symphony]] and then, in March, the same composer's [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|9th Symphony]], both at the [[Gewandhaus]]. Beethoven became a major inspiration, and Wagner wrote a piano transcription of the 9th Symphony.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=35–36}} He was also greatly impressed by a performance of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]].''{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 62}} Wagner's early [[piano sonata]]s and his first attempts at orchestral [[overture]]s date from this period.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 76–77}}

In 1829 he saw a performance by [[dramatic soprano]] [[Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient]], who became his ideal of the fusion of drama and music in opera. In ''Mein Leben'' Wagner wrote, "When I look back across my entire life I find no event to place beside this in the impression it produced on me," and claimed that the "profoundly human and ecstatic performance of this incomparable artist" kindled in him an "almost demonic fire".{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=37}}{{refn|Wagner claimed to have seen Schröder-Devrient in the title role of ''[[Fidelio]]'', but it seems more likely that he saw her performance as Romeo in [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[I Capuleti e i Montecchi]]''.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=133}}|group=n}}

In 1831, Wagner enrolled at the [[Leipzig University]], where he became a member of the Saxon [[Studentenverbindung|student fraternity]].{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=44}} He took composition lessons with the [[Thomaskantor]] [[Christian Theodor Weinlig|Theodor Weinlig]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 85–86}} Weinlig was so impressed with Wagner's musical ability that he refused any payment for his lessons. He arranged for his pupil's Piano Sonata in B-flat major (which was consequently dedicated to him) to be published as Wagner's Op. 1. A year later, Wagner composed his [[Symphony in C major (Wagner)|Symphony in C major]], a Beethovenesque work performed in Prague in 1832{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=309}} and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1833.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 95}} He then began to work on an opera, ''[[Die Hochzeit]]'' (''The Wedding''), which he never completed.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=321}}

=== Early career and marriage (1833–1842) ===
[[File:Minna.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Minna Planer|Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer]] (1835), by Alexander von Otterstedt|alt=The head and upper torso of a young white woman with dark hair done in an elaborate style. She wears a small hat, a cloak and dress that expose her shoulders and pearl earrings. On her left hand that holds the edge of the cloak, two rings are visible.]]
In 1833, Wagner's brother Albert managed to obtain for him a position as choirmaster at the theatre in [[Würzburg]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 98}} In the same year, at the age of 20, Wagner composed his first complete opera, ''[[Die Feen]]'' (''The Fairies''). This work, which imitated the style of Weber, went unproduced until half a century later, when it was premiered in [[Munich]] shortly after the composer's death in 1883.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=271–273}}

Having returned to Leipzig in 1834, Wagner held a brief appointment as musical director at the opera house in [[Magdeburg]]{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 173}} during which he wrote ''[[Das Liebesverbot]]'' (''The Ban on Love''), based on Shakespeare's ''[[Measure for Measure]]''. This was staged at Magdeburg in 1836 but closed before the second performance; this, together with the financial collapse of the theatre company employing him, left the composer in bankruptcy.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=273–274}}{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=52}} Wagner had fallen for one of the leading ladies at Magdeburg, the actress [[Minna Planer|Christine Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer]],{{sfn|Millington|2002b}} and after the disaster of ''Das Liebesverbot'' he followed her to [[Königsberg]], where she helped him to get an engagement at the theatre.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 212}} The two married in [[Tragheim Church]] on 24 November 1836.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 214}} In May 1837, Minna left Wagner for another man,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 217}} and this was only the first débâcle of a tempestuous marriage. In June 1837, Wagner moved to [[Riga]] (then in the [[Russian Empire]]), where he became music director of the local opera;{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 226–227}} having in this capacity engaged Minna's sister Amalie (also a singer) for the theatre, he presently resumed relations with Minna during 1838.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 229–231}}

By 1839, the couple had amassed such large debts that they fled Riga on the run from creditors.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 242–243}} Debts plagued Wagner for most of his life.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=116–118}} Initially the pair took a stormy sea passage to London,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 249–250}} from which Wagner drew the inspiration for his opera ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (''The Flying Dutchman''), with a plot based on a sketch by [[Heinrich Heine]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=277}} The Wagners settled in Paris in September 1839{{sfn|Millington|2002b}} and stayed there until 1842. During these years, Wagner is believed to have attended [[François Delsarte|François Delsarte's]] "Cours d'esthétique appliquée," which arguably influenced his aesthetic writings and compositional style.<ref>Bradley Hoover (2025). ''[https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009608749 The Aesthetic System of François Delsarte and Richard Wagner: Catholicism, Romanticism, and Ancient Music]''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> Wagner made a scant living by writing articles and short novelettes such as ''A pilgrimage to Beethoven'', which sketched his growing concept of "music drama", and ''An end in Paris'', where he depicts his own miseries as a German musician in the French metropolis.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 268–324}} He also provided arrangements of operas by other composers, largely on behalf of the [[Maurice Schlesinger|Schlesinger]] publishing house. During this stay he completed his third and fourth operas ''[[Rienzi]]'' and ''Der fliegende Holländer''.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 268–324}}

=== Dresden (1842–1849) ===
[[File:Richard Wagner c.1840.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Wagner {{circa|1840}}, by Ernest Benedikt Kietz|alt=The head and upper body of a young white man with dark hair receding where it is parted on the left. Sideburns run the full length of his face. He wears a cravat and his right hand is tucked between the buttons of his coat.]]
Wagner had completed ''Rienzi'' in 1840. With the strong support of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]],{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 316}} it was accepted for performance by the Dresden [[Semperoper#History|Court Theatre]] (''Hofoper'') in the [[Kingdom of Saxony]], and in 1842 Wagner moved to Dresden. His relief at returning to Germany was recorded in his "[[Autobiographic Sketch (Wagner)|Autobiographic Sketch]]" of 1842, where he wrote that, en route from Paris, "For the first time I saw the [[Rhine]]—with hot tears in my eyes, I, poor artist, swore eternal fidelity to my German fatherland."{{sfn|Wagner|1994c|p=19}} ''Rienzi'' was staged to considerable acclaim on 20 October.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=274}}

Wagner lived in Dresden for the next six years, eventually being appointed the Royal Saxon Court Conductor.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 325–509}} During this period, he staged there ''Der fliegende Holländer'' (2 January 1843){{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=276}} and [[Tannhäuser (opera)|''Tannhäuser'']] (19 October 1845),{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=279}} the first two of his three middle-period operas. Wagner also mixed with artistic circles in Dresden, including the composer [[Ferdinand Hiller]] and the architect [[Gottfried Semper]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=31}}{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=192–193}}

Wagner's involvement in [[left-wing politics]] abruptly ended his welcome in Dresden. Wagner was active among [[socialist]] German nationalists there, regularly receiving such guests as the conductor and radical editor [[August Röckel]] and the Russian [[Anarchism|anarchist]] [[Mikhail Bakunin]].{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=118}} He was also influenced by the ideas of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[Ludwig Feuerbach]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=140–144}} Widespread discontent came to a head in 1849, when the unsuccessful [[May Uprising in Dresden]] broke out, in which Wagner played a [[May Uprising in Dresden#Prominent figures amongst the revolutionaries|minor supporting role]]. Warrants were issued for the revolutionaries' arrest. Wagner had to flee, first visiting Paris and then settling in [[Zürich]]{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=417–420}}{{refn|Röckel and Bakunin failed to escape and endured long terms of imprisonment.|group=n}} where he at first took refuge with a friend, [[Alexander Müller (composer)|Alexander Müller]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |translator-last=Ellis |translator-first=William Ashton |year=1911 |title=Family Letters of Richard Wagner |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924017758073 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924017758073/page/n173 154] }}</ref>

=== In exile: Switzerland (1849–1858) ===
[[File:Richard Wagners Steckbrief 1849.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A printed notice in German with elaborate Gothic capitals. Wagner is described as 37 to 38 of middle height with brown hair and glasses.|Warrant for the arrest of Richard Wagner, issued on 16 May 1849]]
Wagner was to spend the next twelve years in exile from Germany. He had completed ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'', the last of his middle-period operas, before the Dresden uprising, and now wrote desperately to his friend [[Franz Liszt]] to have it staged in his absence. Liszt conducted the premiere in [[Weimar]] in August 1850.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagner|1987|p=199}}. Letter from Richard Wagner to Franz Liszt, 21 April 1850. See also {{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=282, 285}}</ref>

Nevertheless, Wagner was in grim personal straits, isolated from the German musical world and without any regular income. In 1850, Julie, the wife of his friend Karl Ritter, began to pay him a small pension which she maintained until 1859. With help from her friend Jessie Laussot, this was to have been augmented to an annual sum of 3,000 [[thaler]]s per year, but the plan was abandoned when Wagner began an affair with Mme. Laussot. Wagner even plotted an elopement with her in 1850, which her husband prevented.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=27, 30}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 133–56, 247–48, 404–05}} Meanwhile, Wagner's wife Minna, who had disliked the operas he had written after ''Rienzi'', was falling into a deepening [[depression (mood disorder)|depression]]. Wagner fell victim to ill health, according to [[Ernest Newman]] "largely a matter of overwrought nerves", which made it difficult for him to continue writing.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 137–38}}{{refn|Gutman records him as suffering from [[constipation]] and [[Herpes zoster|shingles]].{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=142}}|group=n}}

Wagner's primary published output during his first years in Zürich was a set of essays. In "[[The Artwork of the Future]]" (1849), he described a vision of opera as ''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]'' (total work of art), in which music, song, dance, poetry, visual arts and stagecraft were unified. "[[Judaism in Music]]" (1850){{refn|Full English translation in {{harvnb|Wagner|1995c}}|group=n}} was the first of Wagner's writings to feature [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] views.{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=197–98}} In this polemic Wagner asserted—often with vulgar, abusive language—that Jews lived as "outsiders" amid European societies and were disconnected from the national spirit ([[Geist#Volksgeist|''Volksgeist'']]) of these countries, thus capable of producing only shallow and artificial imitations of European art music, despite having achieved technical proficiency in its study. According to Wagner, Jews such as Meyerbeer commercialised music catered to the masses in order to achieve fame and financial success, rather than creating genuine works of art.{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=261–63}}

In "[[Opera and Drama]]" (1851), Wagner described the [[aesthetics]] of music drama that he was using to create the ''Ring'' cycle. Before leaving Dresden, Wagner had drafted a scenario that eventually became ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''. He initially [[Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem|wrote the libretto]] for a single opera, ''{{ill|Siegfrieds Tod|fr}}'' (''Siegfried's Death''), in 1848. After arriving in Zürich, he expanded the story with ''Der junge Siegfried'' (''Young Siegfried''), which explored the [[Sigurd|hero's]] background. He completed the text of the cycle by writing the libretti for ''[[Die Walküre]]'' (''The [[Valkyrie]]'') and ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' (''The Rhine Gold'') and revising the other libretti to conform to his new concept, completing them in 1852.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=297}} The concept of opera expressed in "Opera and Drama" and in other essays effectively renounced all the operas he had previously written through ''Lohengrin.'' Partly in an attempt to explain his change of views, Wagner published in 1851 the autobiographical "[[A Communication to My Friends]]".<ref>See {{harvnb|Treadwell|2008|pp=182–90}}</ref> This included his first public announcement of what was to become the ''Ring'' cycle:
<blockquote>I shall never write an ''Opera'' more. As I have no wish to invent an arbitrary title for my works, I will call them Dramas&nbsp;...

I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas, preceded by a lengthy Prelude (Vorspiel)....

At a specially-appointed Festival, I propose, some future time, to produce those three Dramas with their Prelude, ''in the course of three days and a fore-evening'' [emphasis in original].{{sfn|Wagner|1994c|loc=391 and n}}</blockquote>

Wagner began composing the music for ''Das Rheingold'' between November 1853 and September 1854, following it immediately with ''Die Walküre'' (written between June 1854 and March 1856).{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=289, 292}} He began work on the third ''Ring'' drama, which he now called simply ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', probably in September 1856, but by June 1857 he had completed only the first two acts. He decided to put the work aside to concentrate on a new idea: ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'',{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=289, 294, 300}} based on the [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian]] love story ''[[Tristan and Iseult]]''.

[[File:Mathilde Wesendonck by Karl Ferdinand Sohn, 1850.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Portrait of [[Mathilde Wesendonck]] (1850) by [[Karl Ferdinand Sohn]]|alt=A three-quarter length portrait of a young white woman in the open air. She wears a shawl over an elaborate long-sleeved dress that exposes her shoulders and has a hat on over her centrally parted dark hair.]]
One source of inspiration for ''Tristan und Isolde'' was the philosophy of [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], notably his ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]'', to which Wagner had been introduced in 1854 by his poet friend [[Georg Herwegh]]. Wagner later called this the most important event of his life.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=508–510}}{{refn|Others agree on the profound importance of this work to Wagner – see {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=133–34}}|group=n}} His personal circumstances certainly made him an easy convert to what he understood to be Schopenhauer's philosophy, sometimes categorised as "[[philosophical pessimism]]". He remained an adherent of Schopenhauer for the rest of his life.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=276–78}}</ref>

One of Schopenhauer's doctrines was that music held a supreme role in the arts as a direct expression of the world's essence, namely, blind, impulsive will.{{sfn|Magee|1988|pp=77–78}} This doctrine contradicted Wagner's view, expressed in "Opera and Drama", that the music in opera had to be subservient to the drama. Wagner scholars have argued that Schopenhauer's influence caused Wagner to assign a more commanding role to music in his later operas, including the latter half of the ''Ring'' cycle, which he had yet to compose.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Dahlhaus|1979}}</ref>{{refn|The influence was noted by Nietzsche in his "[[On the Genealogy of Morality]]": "[the] fascinating position of Schopenhauer on art&nbsp;... was apparently the reason Richard Wagner first moved over to Schopenhauer&nbsp;... That shift was so great that it opened up a complete theoretical contrast between his earlier and his later aesthetic beliefs."{{sfn|Nietzsche|2009|loc=III, p. 5.}}|group=n}} Aspects of Schopenhauerian doctrine found their way into Wagner's subsequent libretti.{{refn|For example, the self-renouncing cobbler-poet [[Hans Sachs]] in ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' is a "Schopenhauerian" creation; Schopenhauer asserted that goodness and salvation result from renunciation of the world, and turning against and denying one's own will.<ref>See {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=251–53}}</ref>|group=n}}

A second source of inspiration was Wagner's infatuation with the poet-writer [[Mathilde Wesendonck]], the wife of the silk merchant {{ill|Otto Wesendonck|de|Otto Wesendonck (Kaufmann)}}. Wagner met the Wesendoncks, who were both great admirers of his music, in Zürich in 1852. From May 1853 onwards Wesendonck made several loans to Wagner to finance his household expenses in Zürich,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 415–18, 516–18}} and in 1857 placed a cottage on his estate at Wagner's disposal,{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=168–69}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 508–09}} which became known as the ''Asyl'' ("asylum" or "place of rest"). During this period, Wagner's growing passion for his patron's wife inspired him to put aside work on the ''Ring'' cycle (which was not resumed for the next twelve years) and begin work on ''Tristan''.{{sfn|Millington|2001b}} While planning the opera, Wagner composed the ''[[Wesendonck Lieder]]'', five songs for voice and piano, setting poems by Mathilde. Two of these settings are explicitly subtitled by Wagner as "studies for ''Tristan und Isolde''".{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=318}}

Among the conducting engagements that Wagner undertook for revenue during this period, he gave several concerts in 1855 with the [[Royal Philharmonic Society|Philharmonic Society of London]], including one before [[Queen Victoria]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 473–76}} The Queen enjoyed his ''Tannhäuser'' overture and spoke with Wagner after the concert, writing in her diary that Wagner was "short, very quiet, wears spectacles & has a very finely-developed forehead, a hooked nose & projecting chin."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Spencer|2000|p=93}}</ref>

=== In exile: Venice and Paris (1858–1862) ===
Wagner's uneasy affair with Mathilde collapsed in 1858, when Minna intercepted a letter to Mathilde from him.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 540–542}} After the resulting confrontation with Minna, Wagner left Zürich alone, bound for [[Venice]], where he rented an apartment in the [[Palazzo Giustinian (Dorsoduro)|Palazzo Giustinian]], while Minna returned to Germany.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 559–567}} Wagner's attitude to Minna had changed; the editor of his correspondence with her, John Burk, has said that she was to him "an invalid, to be treated with kindness and consideration, but, except at a distance, [was] a menace to his peace of mind."{{sfn|Burk|1950|p=405}} Wagner continued his correspondence with Mathilde and his friendship with her husband Otto, who maintained his financial support of the composer. In an 1859 letter to Mathilde, Wagner wrote, half-satirically, of ''Tristan'': "Child! This Tristan is turning into something ''terrible''. This final act!!!—I fear the opera will be banned&nbsp;... only mediocre performances can save me! Perfectly good ones will be bound to drive people mad."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Daverio|2008|p=116}}. Letter from Richard Wagner to Mathilde Wesendonck, April 1859</ref>

[[File:Richard Wagner, Paris, 1861.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Wagner in Paris, 1861|alt=A photograph of the upper half of a man of about fifty viewed from his front right. He wears a cravat and frock coat. He has long sideburns and his dark hair is receding at the temples.]]
In November 1859, Wagner once again moved to Paris to oversee production of a new revision of ''Tannhäuser'', staged thanks to the efforts of Princess [[Pauline von Metternich]], whose husband, [[Richard von Metternich]], was the Austrian ambassador in Paris. The performances of the Paris ''Tannhäuser'' in 1861 were [[Tannhäuser (opera)#The Paris première|a notable fiasco]]. This was partly a consequence of the conservative tastes of the [[Jockey-Club de Paris|Jockey Club]], which organised demonstrations in the theatre to protest at the presentation of the ballet feature in Act&nbsp;1 (instead of its traditional location in the second act); but the opportunity was also exploited by those who wanted to use the occasion as a veiled political protest against the pro-Austrian policies of [[Napoleon III]].{{sfn|Deathridge|1984}} It was during this visit that Wagner met the French poet [[Charles Baudelaire]], who wrote an appreciative brochure, "{{Lang|fr|Richard Wagner et Tannhäuser à Paris}}".{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 8–9}} The opera was withdrawn after the third performance and Wagner left Paris soon after.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=315–320}} He had sought a reconciliation with Minna during this Paris visit, and although she joined him there, the reunion was not successful and they again parted from each other when Wagner left.{{sfn|Burk|1950|pp=378–379}}

=== Return and resurgence (1862–1871) ===
The political ban that had been placed on Wagner in the [[North German Confederation]] after he had fled Dresden was fully lifted in 1862. The composer settled in [[Biebrich (Wiesbaden)|Biebrich]], on the Rhine near [[Wiesbaden]] in [[Hesse]].{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=293–303}} Here Minna visited him for the last time: they parted irrevocably,{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=215–216}} though Wagner continued to give financial support to her while she lived in Dresden until her death in 1866.{{sfn|Burk|1950|pp=409–428}}

[[File:De 20 jarige Ludwig II in kroningsmantel door Ferdinand von Piloty 1865.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Portrait of [[Ludwig II of Bavaria]] about the time when he first met Wagner, by {{interlanguage link|Ferdinand von Piloty|de}}, 1865|alt=A young man in a dark military jacket, jodhpurs, long boots, and a voluminous ermine robe. He wears a sword at his side, a sash, a chain and a large star. Mainly hidden by his robe is a throne and behind that is a curtain with a crest with Ludwig's name and title in Latin. To one side a cushion holding a crown sits on a table.]]
In Biebrich, Wagner, at last, began work on ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', his only mature comedy. Wagner wrote a first draft of the libretto in 1845,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}} and he had resolved to develop it during a visit he had made to Venice with the Wesendoncks in 1860, where he was inspired by [[Titian]]'s painting ''[[Assumption of the Virgin (Titian)|The Assumption of the Virgin]]''.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=667}} Throughout this period (1861–1864) Wagner sought to have ''Tristan und Isolde'' produced in Vienna.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=321–330}} Despite many rehearsals, the opera remained unperformed, and gained a reputation as being "impossible" to sing, which added to Wagner's financial problems.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 147–148}}

Wagner's fortunes took a dramatic upturn in 1864, when [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|King Ludwig II]] succeeded to the throne of [[Bavaria]] at the age of 18. The young king, an ardent admirer of Wagner's operas, had the composer brought to Munich.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 212–220}} The King, who was homosexual, expressed in his correspondence a passionate personal adoration for the composer,{{refn|E.g. "My dearest Beloved!", "My beloved, my most glorious Friend" and "O Holy One, I worship you".<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=337–338}}</ref>|group=n}} and Wagner in his responses had no scruples about feigning reciprocal feelings.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=336–338}}{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=231–232}}{{refn|Wagner excused himself in 1878, when discussing this correspondence with Cosima, by saying "The tone wasn't good, but I didn't set it."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=338}}</ref>|group=n}} Ludwig settled Wagner's considerable debts{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=339}} and proposed to stage ''Tristan'', ''Die Meistersinger'', the ''Ring'', and the other operas Wagner planned.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=346}} Wagner also began to dictate his autobiography, ''Mein Leben'', at the King's request.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=741}} Wagner noted that his rescue by Ludwig coincided with news of the death of his earlier mentor (but later supposed enemy) [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], and regretted that "this operatic master, who had done me so much harm, should not have lived to see this day."{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=739}}

After grave difficulties in rehearsal, ''Tristan und Isolde'' premiered at the [[National Theatre Munich]] on 10 June 1865, the first Wagner opera premiere in almost 15 years. (The premiere had been scheduled for 15 May, but was delayed by bailiffs acting for Wagner's creditors,{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=354}} and also because the Isolde, [[Malvina Garrigues|Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld]], was hoarse and needed time to recover.) The conductor of this premiere was [[Hans von Bülow]], whose wife, [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]], had given birth in April that year to a daughter, named [[Isolde Beidler|Isolde]], a child not of Bülow but of Wagner.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 366}}

Cosima was 24 years younger than Wagner and was herself illegitimate, the daughter of the Countess [[Marie d'Agoult]], who had left her husband for [[Franz Liszt]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=32–33}} Liszt initially disapproved of his daughter's involvement with Wagner, though nevertheless the two men were friends.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 530}} The indiscreet affair scandalised Munich, and Wagner also fell into disfavour with many leading members of the court, who were suspicious of his influence on the King.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 496}} In December 1865, Ludwig was finally forced to ask the composer to leave Munich.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 499–501}} He apparently also toyed with the idea of abdicating to follow his hero into exile, but Wagner quickly dissuaded him.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 538–539}}

[[File:Fritz Luckhardt - Richard y Cosima Wagner (9 de mayo de 1872, Viena).jpg|thumb|upright|Richard and Cosima Wagner, photographed in 1872|alt=A couple is shown: On the left is a tall woman of about 30. She wears a voluminous dress and is sitting sideways in an upright chair, facing and looking up into the eyes of the man who is on the right. He is about 60, quite short, and balding at the temples. He is dressed in a suit with a tailcoat and wears a cravat. He faces and looks down at the woman. His hand rests on the back of the chair.]]
Ludwig installed Wagner at the [[Villa Tribschen]], beside Switzerland's [[Lake Lucerne]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 518–519}} ''Die Meistersinger'' was completed at Tribschen in 1867, and premiered in Munich on 21 June the following year.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}} At Ludwig's insistence, "special previews" of the first two works of the ''Ring'', ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', were performed at Munich in 1869 and 1870,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=287, 290}} but Wagner retained his dream, first expressed in "A Communication to My Friends", to present the first complete cycle at a special festival with a new, dedicated, [[opera house]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wagner|1994c|loc=391 and n}}; {{harvnb|Spotts|1994|pp=37–40}}</ref>

Minna died of a heart attack on 25 January 1866 in Dresden. Wagner did not attend the funeral.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=367}}{{refn|Wagner claimed to be unable to travel to the funeral due to an "inflamed finger".{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=262}}|group=n}} Following Minna's death Cosima wrote to Hans von Bülow several times asking him to grant her a divorce, but Bülow refused to concede this. He consented only after she had two more children with Wagner: another daughter, named [[Eva Chamberlain|Eva]], after the heroine of ''Meistersinger'', and a son [[Siegfried Wagner|Siegfried]], named after the hero of the ''Ring''. The divorce was finally sanctioned, after delays in the legal process, by a Berlin court on 18 July 1870.{{sfn|Hilmes|2011|p=118}} Richard and Cosima's wedding took place on 25 August 1870.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=17}} On Christmas Day of that year, Wagner arranged a surprise performance (its premiere) of the ''[[Siegfried Idyll]]'' for Cosima's birthday.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=311}}{{refn|Cosima's birthday was 24 December, but she usually celebrated it on Christmas Day.|group=n}} The marriage to Cosima lasted to the end of Wagner's life.

Wagner, settled into his new-found domesticity, turned his energies towards completing the ''Ring'' cycle. He had not abandoned polemics: he republished his 1850 pamphlet "Judaism in Music", originally issued under a pseudonym, under his own name in 1869, extending the introduction and adding a lengthy final section. The publication led to several public protests at early performances of ''Die Meistersinger'' in Vienna and Mannheim.{{sfn|Weiner|1997|p=123}}

=== Bayreuth (1871–1876) ===
In 1871, Wagner decided to move to [[Bayreuth]], which was to be the location of his new opera house.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=400}} The town council donated a large plot of land—the "Green Hill"—as a site for the theatre. The Wagners moved to the town the following year, and the foundation stone for the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]] ("Festival Theatre") was laid. Wagner initially announced the first Bayreuth Festival, at which for the first time the ''Ring'' cycle was presented complete, for 1873,{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=40}} but since Ludwig had declined to finance the project, the start of building was delayed and the proposed date for the festival was deferred. To raise funds for the construction, "[[International Association of Wagner Societies|Wagner societies]]" were formed in several cities,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 392–393}} and Wagner began touring Germany conducting concerts.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=409–418}} By the spring of 1873, only a third of the required funds had been raised; further pleas to Ludwig were initially ignored, but early in 1874, with the project on the verge of collapse, the King relented and provided a loan.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=418–419}}{{refn|In 1873, the King awarded Wagner the [[Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art]]; Wagner was enraged that, at the same time, the honour had been given also to Brahms.{{sfnp|Körner|1984|loc=326}}|group=n}} The full building programme included the family home, "[[Wahnfried]]", into which Wagner, with Cosima and the children, moved from their temporary accommodation on 18 April 1874.{{sfn|Marek|1981|p=156}}{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=419}} The theatre was completed in 1875, and the festival was scheduled for the following year. Commenting on the struggle to finish the building, Wagner remarked to Cosima: "Each stone is red with my blood and yours."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Spotts|1994|p=54}}</ref>

[[File:Festspielhaus Bayreuth 1900.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A building stands beyond a part-ploughed field and a row of trees. It has five sections. Farthest away, the tallest part with a v-shaped roof contains the stage. Adjoining it is the auditorium section built of patterned brick. Nearest is the royal entrance, made of stone and brick with arched windows and a portico. Two wings adjoin the auditorium.|The [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]]: [[photochrom]] print of {{circa|1895}}]]
For the design of the Festspielhaus, Wagner appropriated some of the ideas of his former colleague, Gottfried Semper, which he had previously solicited for a proposed new opera house in Munich.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=40}} Wagner was responsible for several theatrical innovations at Bayreuth; these include darkening the auditorium during performances, and placing the orchestra in a pit out of view of the audience.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=11}}

The Festspielhaus finally opened on 13 August 1876 with ''Das Rheingold'', at last taking its place as the first evening of the complete ''Ring'' cycle; the 1876 [[Bayreuth Festival]] therefore saw the premiere of the complete cycle, performed as a sequence as the composer had intended.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=287}} The 1876 Festival consisted of three full ''Ring'' cycles (under the baton of [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]]).{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=61–62}} At the end, critical reactions ranged between that of the Norwegian composer [[Edvard Grieg]], who thought the work "divinely composed", and that of the French newspaper {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}}, which called the music "the dream of a lunatic".{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=71–72}} The disillusioned included Wagner's (then) friend [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], who, having published his eulogistic essay "Richard Wagner in Bayreuth" before the festival as part of his ''[[Untimely Meditations]]'', was bitterly disappointed by what he saw as Wagner's pandering to increasingly exclusivist German nationalism; his breach with Wagner began at this time.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 517–539}} The festival firmly established Wagner as an artist of European, and indeed world, importance: attendees included [[Kaiser Wilhelm I]], the Emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil]], [[Anton Bruckner]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]].{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=66–67}}

Wagner was far from satisfied with the Festival; Cosima recorded that months later his attitude towards the productions was "Never again, never again!"{{sfn|Cosima Wagner|1994|p=270}} Moreover, the festival finished with a deficit of about 150,000 marks.<ref>{{harvnb|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 542}} This was equivalent at the time to about $37,500.</ref> The expenses of Bayreuth and of Wahnfried meant that Wagner still sought further sources of income by conducting or taking on commissions such as the ''Centennial March'' for America, for which he received $5,000.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=422}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 475}}

=== Last years (1876–1883) ===
Following the first Bayreuth Festival, Wagner began work on ''[[Parsifal]]'', his final opera. The composition took four years, much of which Wagner spent in Italy for health reasons.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=18}} From 1876 to 1878 Wagner also embarked on the last of his documented emotional liaisons, this time with [[Judith Gautier]], whom he had met at the 1876 Festival.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 605–607}} Wagner was also much troubled by problems of financing ''Parsifal'', and by the prospect of the work being performed by other theatres than Bayreuth. He was once again assisted by the liberality of King Ludwig, but was still forced by his personal financial situation in 1877 to sell the rights of several of his unpublished works (including the ''Siegfried Idyll'') to the publisher [[Schott Music|Schott]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 607–610}}

[[File:WahnfriedBayreuth11.JPG|thumb|right|The Wagner grave in the Wahnfried garden; in 1977 Cosima's ashes were placed alongside Wagner's body.|alt=Several floral tributes are laid on a flat gravestone that is in the middle of a large bed full of low leafy plants. A crazy-paved path passes either side of the bed.]]
Wagner wrote several articles in his later years, often on political topics, and often [[reactionary]] in tone, repudiating some of his earlier, more liberal, views. These include {{ill|"Religion and Art"|de|Religion und Kunst}} (1880) and "Heroism and Christianity" (1881), which were printed in the journal ''[[Bayreuther Blätter]]'', published by his supporter [[Hans von Wolzogen]].<ref>{{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=331–332, 409}} The later essays and articles are reprinted in {{harvnb|Wagner|1995e}}.</ref> Wagner's sudden interest in Christianity at this period, which infuses ''Parsifal'', was contemporary with his increasing alignment with [[German nationalism]], and required on his part, and the part of his associates, "the rewriting of some recent Wagnerian history", so as to represent, for example, the ''Ring'' as a work reflecting Christian ideals.{{sfn|Stanley|2008|pp=154–156}} Many of these later articles, including "What is German?" (1878, but based on a draft written in the 1860s),{{sfn|Wagner|1995a|pp=149–170}} repeated Wagner's antisemitic preoccupations.

Wagner completed ''Parsifal'' in January 1882, and a second Bayreuth Festival was held for the new opera, which premiered on 26 May.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=19}} Wagner was by this time extremely ill, having suffered a series of increasingly severe [[angina]] attacks.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=414–417}} During the sixteenth and final performance of ''Parsifal'' on 29 August, he entered the pit unseen during act 3, took the baton from conductor [[Hermann Levi]], and led the performance to its conclusion.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 692}}

After the festival, the Wagner family journeyed to [[Venice]] for the winter. Wagner died of a heart attack at the age of 69 on 13 February 1883 at [[Ca' Vendramin Calergi]], a 16th-century [[palazzo]] on the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 697, 711–712}} The legend that the attack was prompted by an argument with Cosima over Wagner's supposedly amorous interest in the singer [[Carrie Pringle]], who had been a Flower-maiden in ''Parsifal'' at Bayreuth, is without credible evidence.{{sfn|Cormack|2005|pp=21–25}} After a funerary [[gondola]] bore Wagner's remains over the Grand Canal, his body was taken to Germany where it was buried in the garden of the Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 714–716}}

== Works ==
{{See also|List of works for the stage by Richard Wagner|List of compositions by Richard Wagner}}

Wagner's musical output is listed by the ''Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis'' (WWV) as comprising 113 works, including fragments and projects.<ref>The WWV is [http://home.arcor.de/rww2002/rww2002/instvok/wwv.htm available online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312005752/http://home.arcor.de/rww2002/rww2002/instvok/wwv.htm |date=12 March 2007 }} in German (accessed 30 October 2012)</ref> The first complete scholarly edition of his musical works in print was commenced in 1970 under the aegis of the [[Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts]] and the [[Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur]] of [[Mainz]], and is presently under the editorship of [[Egon Voss]]. It will consist of 21 volumes (57 books) of music and 10 volumes (13 books) of relevant documents and texts. As at October 2017, three volumes remain to be published. The publisher is [[Schott Music]].{{sfn|Coleman|2017|pp=86–88}}

=== Operas ===
[[File:Siegfried leitmotif.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|[[Leitmotif]] associated with the horn-call of the hero of Wagner's opera [[Siegfried (opera)|''Siegfried'']]|alt=Musical notation showing a theme in F and in 6/8 time on a treble clef.]]

Wagner's operatic works are his primary artistic legacy. Unlike most opera composers, who generally left the task of writing the [[libretto]] (the text and lyrics) to others, Wagner wrote his own libretti, which he referred to as "poems".{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=264–268}}

From 1849 onwards, he urged a new concept of opera often referred to as "music drama" (although he later rejected this term),{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=236–237}}{{refn|In his 1872 essay "On the Designation 'Music Drama{{'"}}, he criticises the term "music drama" suggesting instead the phrase "deeds of music made visible".{{sfn|Wagner|1995b|pp=299–304}}|group=n}} in which all musical, poetic and dramatic elements were to be fused together—the ''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]''. Wagner developed a compositional style in which the importance of the orchestra is equal to that of the singers. The orchestra's dramatic role in the later operas includes the use of [[leitmotif]]s, musical phrases that can be interpreted as announcing specific characters, locales, and plot elements; their complex interweaving and evolution illuminate the progression of the drama.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=234–235}} These operas are still, despite Wagner's reservations, referred to by many writers<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Dahlhaus|1995|pp=129–136}}</ref> as "music dramas".<ref>See also {{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=236, 271}}</ref>

==== Early works (to 1842) ====
Wagner's earliest attempts at opera were often uncompleted. Abandoned works include [[Die Laune des Verliebten|a pastoral opera]] based on [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''[[:de:Die Laune des Verliebten|Die Laune des Verliebten]]'' (''The Infatuated Lover's Caprice''), written at the age of 17,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=321}} ''[[Die Hochzeit]]'' (''The Wedding''), on which Wagner worked in 1832,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=321}} and the [[singspiel]] ''[[Männerlist größer als Frauenlist]]'' (''Men are More Cunning than Women'', 1837–1838). ''[[Die Feen]]'' (''The Fairies'', 1833) was not performed in the composer's lifetime,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=271–273}} and ''[[Das Liebesverbot]]'' (''The Ban on Love'', 1836) was withdrawn after its first performance.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=273–274}} ''[[Rienzi]]'' (1842) was Wagner's first opera to be successfully staged.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=274–276}} The compositional style of these early works was conventional—the relatively more sophisticated ''Rienzi'' showing the clear influence of [[Grand Opera]] ''à la'' [[Gaspare Spontini|Spontini]] and Meyerbeer—and did not exhibit the innovations that would mark Wagner's place in musical history. Later in life, Wagner said that he did not consider these works to be part of his [[wikt:oeuvre|''oeuvre'']],{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=26}} and they have been performed only rarely in the last hundred years, although the overture to ''Rienzi'' is an occasional concert-hall piece. ''Die Feen'', ''Das Liebesverbot'', and ''Rienzi'' were performed at both Leipzig and Bayreuth in 2013 to mark the composer's bicentenary.<ref>[http://www.wagnerjahr2013.de/en/wagner_2013.html Wagnerjahr 2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207101729/http://www.wagnerjahr2013.de/en/wagner_2013.html |date=7 February 2013 }} website, accessed 14 November 2012</ref>

==== "Romantic operas" (1843–1851) ====
[[File:Der fliegende Holländer.jpg|thumb|upright|Opening of overture to ''Der fliegende Holländer'' in Wagner's hand and with his notes to the publisher|alt=Six bars of music are written across 19 pre-printed staves. The page is headed "Overture". Below the heading to the right is Wagner's name. The tempo indication is ''allegro con brio''. Several lines are written diagonally in lighter handwriting.]]
Wagner's middle stage output began with ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (''The Flying Dutchman'', 1843), followed by ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1845) and ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' (1850). These three operas are sometimes referred to as Wagner's "romantic operas".<ref>e.g. in {{harvnb|Spencer|2008|pp=67–73}} and {{harvnb|Dahlhaus|1995|pp=125–129}}</ref> They reinforced the reputation, among the public in Germany and beyond, that Wagner had begun to establish with ''Rienzi''. Although distancing himself from the style of these operas from 1849 onwards, he nevertheless reworked both ''Der fliegende Holländer'' and ''Tannhäuser'' on several occasions.{{refn|For the reworking of ''Der fliegende Holländer'', see {{harvnb|Deathridge|1982|pp=13, 25}}; for that of ''Tannhäuser'', see {{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=280–282}} which further cites Wagner's comment to Cosima three weeks before his death that he "still owes the world ''Tannhäuser''."{{sfn|Cosima Wagner|1978|loc=II, p. 996}} See also the articles on these operas in Wikipedia.|group=n}} These three operas are considered to represent a significant developmental stage in Wagner's musical and operatic maturity as regards thematic handling, portrayal of emotions and orchestration.{{sfn|von Westernhagen|1980|pp=106–107}} They are the earliest works included in the [[Bayreuth canon]], the mature operas that Cosima staged at the Bayreuth Festival after Wagner's death in accordance with his wishes.{{sfn|Skelton|2002}} All three (including the differing versions of ''Der fliegende Holländer'' and ''Tannhäuser'') continue to be regularly performed throughout the world and have been frequently recorded.{{refn|1=See performance listings by opera in [http://www.operabase.com/index.cgi?lang=en Operabase], and the Wikipedia articles [[Der fliegende Holländer discography]], [[Tannhäuser discography]] and [[Lohengrin discography]].|group=n}} They were also the operas by which his fame spread during his lifetime.{{refn|For example, ''Der fliegende Holländer'' (''Dutchman'') was first performed in London in 1870 and in the US (Philadelphia) in 1876; ''Tannhäuser'' in New York in 1859 and in London in 1876; ''Lohengrin'' in New York in 1871 and London in 1875.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=276, 279, 282–283}} For detailed performance histories including other countries, see [http://opera.stanford.edu/Wagner/ Stanford University Wagner site], under each opera.|group=n}}

==== "Music dramas" (1851–1882) ====

===== Starting the ''Ring'' =====
{{Main|Der Ring des Nibelungen|Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the music|Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem}}
[[File:Ring22.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Brünnhilde]] the [[Valkyrie]], as illustrated by [[Arthur Rackham]] (1910)|alt=A youthful [[valkyrie]], wearing armour, cloak and winged helmet and holding a spear, stands with one foot on a rock and looks intently towards the right foreground. In the background are trees and mountains.]]

Wagner's late dramas are considered his masterpieces. ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', commonly referred to as the ''Ring'' or "''Ring'' cycle", is a set of four operas based loosely on figures and elements of [[Germanic mythology]]—particularly from the later [[Norse mythology]]—notably the [[Old Norse]] ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' and ''[[Volsunga Saga]]'', and the [[Middle High German]] ''[[Nibelungenlied]]''.<ref>See {{harvnb|Millington|2001a|p=286}}; Donington (1979) 128–130, 141, 210–212.</ref> Wagner specifically developed the libretti for these operas according to his interpretation of ''[[Alliterative verse#Old High German and Old Saxon|Stabreim]]'', highly alliterative rhyming verse-pairs used in old Germanic poetry.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=239–240, 266–267}} They were also influenced by Wagner's concepts of [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] drama, in which [[tetralogy|tetralogies]] were a component of [[Athenian festivals]], and which he had amply discussed in his essay "[[Oper und Drama]]".{{sfn|Millington|2008|p=74}}

The first two components of the ''Ring'' cycle were ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' (''The Rhinegold''), which was completed in 1854, and ''[[Die Walküre]]'' (''The Valkyrie''), which was finished in 1856. In ''Das Rheingold'', with its "relentlessly talky 'realism' [and] the absence of lyrical '[[Number (music)|numbers]]{{'"}},{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=86}} Wagner came very close to the musical ideals of his 1849–1851 essays. ''Die Walküre'', which contains what is virtually a traditional [[aria]] (Siegmund's ''Winterstürme'' in the first act), and the quasi-[[choral music|choral]] appearance of the [[Valkyrie|Valkyries]] themselves, shows more "operatic" traits, but has been assessed by Barry Millington as "the music drama that most satisfactorily embodies the theoretical principles of 'Oper und Drama'...&nbsp;A thoroughgoing synthesis of poetry and music is achieved without any notable sacrifice in musical expression."{{sfn|Millington|2002c}}

===== ''Tristan und Isolde'' and ''Die Meistersinger'' =====
While composing the opera ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', the third part of the ''Ring'' cycle, Wagner interrupted work on it and between 1857 and 1864 wrote the tragic love story ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and his only mature comedy ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg''), two works that are also part of the regular operatic canon.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=294, 300, 304}}

[[File:Betz Franz.png|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Franz Betz]] (by {{ill|Fritz Luckhardt|de}}), who created the role of Hans Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger'', and sang Wotan in the first complete ''Ring'' cycle|alt= A photograph of a bearded white man with male-pattern baldness wearing glasses]]''Tristan'' is often granted a special place in musical history; many see it as the beginning of the move away from conventional [[harmony]] and [[tonality]] and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}}{{sfn|Dahlhaus|1979|p=64}}{{sfn|Deathridge|2008|p=224}} Wagner felt that his musico-dramatical theories were most perfectly realised in this work with its use of "the art of transition" between dramatic elements and the balance achieved between vocal and orchestral lines.{{sfn|Rose|1981|p=15}} Completed in 1859, the work was given its first performance in Munich, conducted by Bülow, in June 1865.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=298}}

''Die Meistersinger'' was originally conceived by Wagner in 1845 as a sort of comic pendant to ''Tannhäuser''.{{sfn|McClatchie|2008|p=134}} Like ''Tristan'', it was premiered in Munich under the baton of Bülow, on 21 June 1868, and became an immediate success.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=282–283}} Millington describes ''Meistersinger'' as "a rich, perceptive music drama widely admired for its warm humanity",{{sfn|Millington|2002a}} but its strong German [[nationalism|nationalist]] overtones have led some to cite it as an example of Wagner's reactionary politics and antisemitism.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Weiner|1997|pp=66–72}}</ref>

===== Completing the ''Ring'' =====
When Wagner returned to writing the music for the last act of ''Siegfried'' and for ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' (''Twilight of the Gods'') as the final part of the ''Ring'', his style had changed once more to something more recognisable as "operatic" than the aural world of ''Rheingold'' and ''Walküre'', though it was still thoroughly stamped with his own originality as a composer and suffused with leitmotifs.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=294–295}} This was in part because the libretti of the four ''Ring'' operas had been written in reverse order, so that the book for ''Götterdämmerung'' was conceived more "traditionally" than that of ''Rheingold'';{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=286}} still, the self-imposed strictures of the ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' had become relaxed. The differences also result from Wagner's development as a composer during the period in which he wrote ''Tristan'', ''Meistersinger'' and the Paris version of ''Tannhäuser''.{{sfn|Puffett|1984|p=43}} From Act&nbsp;3 of ''Siegfried'' onwards, the ''Ring'' becomes more [[chromaticism|chromatic]] melodically, more complex harmonically and more developmental in its treatment of leitmotifs.{{sfn|Puffett|1984|pp=48–49}}

Wagner took 26 years from writing the first draft of a libretto in 1848 until he completed ''Götterdämmerung'' in 1874. The ''Ring'' takes about 15 hours to perform{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=285}} and is the only undertaking of such size to be regularly presented on the world's stages.

===== ''Parsifal'' =====
Wagner's final opera, ''[[Parsifal]]'' (1882), which was his only work written especially for his Bayreuth Festspielhaus and which is described in the score as a "''Bühnenweihfestspiel''" ("festival play for the consecration of the stage"), has a storyline suggested by elements of the legend of the [[Holy Grail]]. It also carries elements of [[Buddhist]] renunciation suggested by Wagner's readings of Schopenhauer.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=308}} Wagner described it to Cosima as his "last card".{{sfn|Cosima Wagner|1978|loc=II, p. 647. Entry of 28 March 1881.}} It remains controversial because of its treatment of Christianity, its eroticism, and its expression, as perceived by some commentators, of German nationalism and antisemitism.{{sfn|Stanley|2008|pp=169–175}} Despite the composer's own description of the opera to King Ludwig as "this most Christian of works",{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 578. Letter from Wagner to the King of 19 September 1881.}} Ulrike Kienzle has commented that "Wagner's turn to Christian mythology, upon which the imagery and spiritual contents of ''Parsifal'' rest, is idiosyncratic and contradicts Christian [[dogma]] in many ways."{{sfn|Kienzle|2005|p=81}} Musically the opera has been held to represent a continuing development of the composer's style, and Millington describes it as "a diaphanous score of unearthly beauty and refinement".{{sfn|Millington|2002b}}

=== Non-operatic music ===
[[File:Gill Wagner.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[André Gill]] suggesting that Wagner's music was ear-splitting. Cover of ''[[L'Éclipse]]'' 18 April 1869.|alt=A cartoon showing a misshapen figure of a man with a tiny body below a head with a prominent nose and chin standing on the lobe of a human ear. The figure is hammering the sharp end of a crochet symbol into the inner part of the ear and blood pours out.]]

Apart from his operas, Wagner composed relatively few pieces of music. These include his [[Symphony in C major (Wagner)|Symphony in C major]] (written at the age of 19), the ''[[Faust Overture]]'' (the only completed part of an intended symphony on the subject), some [[concert overture]]s, and choral and piano pieces.{{sfn|von Westernhagen|1980|p=138}} His most commonly performed work that is not an extract from an opera is the ''[[Siegfried Idyll]]'' for chamber orchestra, which has several motifs in common with the ''Ring'' cycle.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=311–312}} The ''[[Wesendonck Lieder]]'' are also often performed, either in the original piano version or with orchestral accompaniment.{{refn|Normally the orchestration by [[Felix Mottl]] is used ([http://hz.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/7/73/IMSLP66082-PMLP45968-Wagner-WWV091.FS.pdf score] available at [http://www.imslp.org/ IMSLP] website), although Wagner arranged one of the songs for chamber orchestra.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=318}}|group=n}} More rarely performed are the ''American Centennial March'' (1876), and ''[[Das Liebesmahl der Apostel]]'' (''The Love Feast of the Apostles''), a piece for male choruses and orchestra composed in 1843 for the city of Dresden.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=314}}

After completing ''Parsifal'', Wagner expressed his intention to turn to the writing of symphonies,{{sfn|von Westernhagen|1980|p=111}} and several sketches dating from the late 1870s and early 1880s have been identified as work towards this end.{{sfn|Deathridge|2008|pp=189–205}} The overtures and certain orchestral passages from Wagner's middle- and late-stage operas are commonly played as concert pieces. For most of these, Wagner wrote or rewrote short passages to ensure musical coherence. The "[[Bridal Chorus]]" from ''Lohengrin'' is frequently played as the bride's processional [[wedding march]] in English-speaking countries.{{sfn|Kennedy|1980|loc=p. 701, ''Wedding March''}}

=== Prose writings ===
{{See also|List of prose works by Richard Wagner}}

Wagner was an extremely prolific writer, authoring many books, poems, and articles, as well as voluminous correspondence. His writings covered a wide range of topics, including autobiography, politics, philosophy, and detailed analyses of his own operas.

Wagner planned for a collected edition of his publications as early as 1865;{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=193}} he believed that such an edition would help the world understand his intellectual development and artistic aims.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=194}} The first such edition was published between 1871 and 1883, but was doctored to suppress or alter articles that were an embarrassment to him (e.g. those praising Meyerbeer), or by altering dates on some articles to reinforce Wagner's own account of his progress.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=194–195}} Wagner's autobiography ''Mein Leben'' was originally published for close friends only in a very small edition (15–18 copies per volume) in four volumes between 1870 and 1880. The first public edition (with many passages suppressed by Cosima) appeared in 1911; the first attempt at a full edition (in German) appeared in 1963.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=185–186}}

There have been modern complete or partial editions of Wagner's writings,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=195}} including a centennial edition in German edited by [[Dieter Borchmeyer]] (which, however, omitted the essay "[[Das Judenthum in der Musik]]" and ''Mein Leben'').{{sfn|Wagner|1983}} The English translations of Wagner's prose in eight volumes by [[William Ashton Ellis]] (1892–1899) are still in print and commonly used, despite their deficiencies.{{sfn|Treadwell|2008|p=191}} The first complete historical and critical edition of Wagner's prose works was launched in 2013 at the Institute for Music Research at the [[University of Würzburg]]; this will result in at least eight volumes of text and several volumes of commentary, totalling over 5,000 pages. It was originally anticipated that the project will be completed by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Wagner Schriften (RWS). Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe |trans-title=Richard Wagner Writings (RWS). Historical-Critical Complete Edition |publisher=[[University of Würzburg]] |language=German |url=https://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-wuerzburg.de/forschung/richard-wagner-schriften/ |access-date=5 February 2021 }}</ref>

A complete edition of Wagner's correspondence, estimated to amount to between 10,000 and 12,000 items, is underway under the supervision of the University of Würzburg. As of January 2021, 25 volumes have appeared, covering the period to 1873.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-wuerzburg.de/forschung/richard-wagner-briefausgabe/ |title=Richard-Wagner-Briefausgabe |publisher=[[Universität Würzburg]] |language=German |access-date=5 February 2021 }}</ref>

== Influence and legacy ==

=== Influence on music ===
{{Listen|type=music|image=none|help=no
| filename    = Wagner Tristan opening (orchestral).ogg
| title       = The opening of ''Tristan und Isolde'', featuring the 'Tristan chord'
| description = 
}}
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]].{{sfn|Deathridge|2008|p=114}}{{sfn|Magee|2000|pp=208–209}}

[[File:Photo of Gustav Mahler by Moritz Nähr 01.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|alt=Middle-aged man, seated, facing towards the left but head turned towards the right. He has a high forehead, rimless glasses and is wearing a dark, crumpled suit|Gustav Mahler in 1907]]
Wagner inspired great devotion. For a long period, many composers were inclined to align themselves with or against Wagner's music. [[Anton Bruckner]] and [[Hugo Wolf]] were greatly indebted to him, as were [[César Franck]], [[Henri Duparc (composer)|Henri Duparc]], [[Ernest Chausson]], [[Jules Massenet]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]], [[Hans Pfitzner]] and many others.<ref>See articles on these composers in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]''; {{harvnb|Grey|2008|pp=222–229}}; {{harvnb|Deathridge|2008|pp=231–232}}</ref> [[Gustav Mahler]] was devoted to Wagner and his music: he sought him out on his 1875 visit to Vienna at the age of 15,{{sfn|de La Grange|1973|pp=43–44}} and became a renowned Wagner conductor;{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=371}} his compositions were seen by [[Richard Taruskin]] as extending Wagner's "maximalization" of "the temporal and the sonorous" in music to the world of the symphony.{{sfn|Taruskin|2009|pp=5–8}} The harmonic revolutions of [[Claude Debussy]] and [[Arnold Schoenberg]] (both of whose ''oeuvres'' contain examples of tonal and [[atonality|atonal]] modernism) have often been traced back to ''Tristan'' and ''Parsifal''.{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=54}}{{sfn|Grey|2008|pp=228–229}} The Italian form of operatic [[Realism (theatre)|realism]] known as [[verismo]] owed much to the Wagnerian concept of musical form.{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=226}}

Wagner made a major contribution to the principles and practice of conducting. His essay "About Conducting" (1869){{sfn|Wagner|1995a|pp=289–364}} advanced [[Hector Berlioz]]'s technique of conducting and claimed that conducting was a means by which a musical work could be re-interpreted, rather than simply a mechanism for achieving orchestral unison. He exemplified this approach in his own conducting, which was significantly more flexible than the disciplined approach of [[Felix Mendelssohn]]; in his view, this also justified practices that were later frowned upon, such as the rewriting of scores.{{sfn|Westrup|1980|p=645}}{{refn|See for example Wagner's proposals for the rescoring of Beethoven's ''[[Ninth Symphony (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony]]'' in his essay on that work.{{sfn|Wagner|1995b|pp=231–253}}|group=n}} [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] felt that Wagner and Bülow, through their interpretative approach, inspired a whole new generation of conductors (including Furtwängler himself).{{sfn|von Westernhagen|1980|p=113}}

Among those from the late 20th century and beyond claiming inspiration from Wagner's music are the German band [[Rammstein]];{{sfn|Reissman|2004}} [[Jim Steinman]], who wrote songs for [[Meat Loaf]], [[Bonnie Tyler]], [[Air Supply]], [[Celine Dion]] and others;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |date=21 April 2021 |title=A Toast to Jim Steinman: The Songwriting Powder Keg Who Kept Giving Off Sparks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/jim-steinman-karaoke-total-eclipse-heart-song-1158584/ |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> and the electronic composer [[Klaus Schulze]], whose 1975 album ''[[Timewind]]'' consists of two 30-minute tracks, "Bayreuth Return" and "Wahnfried 1883". [[Joey DeMaio]] of the band [[Manowar]] has described Wagner as "the father of [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]".{{sfn|Joe|2010|loc=p. 23, n.45}} The Slovenian group [[Laibach (band)|Laibach]] created the 2009 suite ''VolksWagner'', using material from Wagner's operas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Volkswagner |publisher=Laibach |url=https://www.laibach.org/project/volkswagner/ |access-date=24 December 2012 }}</ref> [[Phil Spector]]'s [[Wall of Sound]] recording technique was, it has been claimed, heavily influenced by Wagner.{{sfn|Long|2008|p=114}}

=== Influence on literature, philosophy and the visual arts ===
[[File:Nietzsche1882.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Friedrich Nietzsche in 1882|alt=A moustachioed man in his late thirties looks to the left of the photo. His head rests on his far hand.]]
Wagner's influence on literature and philosophy is significant. Millington has commented:<blockquote>[Wagner's] protean abundance meant that he could inspire the use of literary motif in many a novel employing interior [[monologue]];&nbsp;... the [[symbolism (arts)|Symbolists]] saw him as a mystic hierophant; the [[Decadent movement|Decadents]] found many a frisson in his work.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=396}}</blockquote>[[Friedrich Nietzsche]] was a member of Wagner's inner circle during the early 1870s. Nietzsche's first published work, ''[[The Birth of Tragedy]]'', proposed Wagner's music as the [[Dionysian]] "rebirth" of European culture in opposition to [[Apollonian and Dionysian|Apollonian]] rationalist "decadence". Nietzsche broke with Wagner following the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, believing that Wagner's final phase represented a pandering to Christian pieties and a surrender to the new [[German Empire|German Reich]].{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=52}} Nevertheless, in ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'', Nietzsche alluded to Wagner as the "old sorcerer", a reference to the captivating power of Wagner's music.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Penrose |first=James F. |date=September 2020 |title=The "old sorcerer" |url=https://newcriterion.com/issues/2020/9/the-old-sorcerer |magazine=[[The New Criterion]] |location=New York |publisher=Foundation for Cultural Review |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=63 |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref> Nietzsche expressed his displeasure with the later Wagner in ''[[The Case of Wagner]]'' and ''[[Nietzsche contra Wagner]]''.{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=52}}

The poets [[Charles Baudelaire]], [[Stéphane Mallarmé]] and [[Paul Verlaine]] worshipped Wagner.{{sfn|Magee|1988|pp=49–50}} [[Édouard Dujardin]], whose influential novel ''[[Les Lauriers sont coupés]]'' is in the form of an interior monologue inspired by Wagnerian music, founded a journal dedicated to Wagner, ''[[La Revue wagnérienne]]'', to which [[J. K. Huysmans]] and [[Téodor de Wyzewa]] contributed.{{sfn|Grey|2008|pp=372–387}} In a list of major cultural figures influenced by Wagner, [[Bryan Magee]] includes [[D. H. Lawrence]], [[Aubrey Beardsley]], [[Romain Rolland]], [[Gérard de Nerval]], [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], [[Rainer Maria Rilke]] and several others.{{sfn|Magee|1988|pp=47–56}}

In the 20th century, [[W. H. Auden]] once called Wagner "perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived",<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Magee|1988|p=48}}</ref> while [[Thomas Mann]]{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=52}} and [[Marcel Proust]]{{sfn|Painter|1983|p=163}} were heavily influenced by him and discussed Wagner in their novels. He is also discussed in some of the works of [[James Joyce]],{{sfn|Martin|1992|loc=''passim''}} as well as [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], who featured ''Lohengrin'' in ''[[The Souls of Black Folk]]''.{{sfn|Ross|2008|p=136}} Wagnerian themes inhabit [[T. S. Eliot]]'s ''[[The Waste Land]]'', which contains lines from ''Tristan und Isolde'' and ''Götterdämmerung''; and Verlaine's poem on ''Parsifal''.{{sfn|Magee|1988|p=47}}

Many of Wagner's concepts, including his speculation about dreams, predated their investigation by [[Sigmund Freud]].{{sfn|Horton|1999}} Wagner had publicly analysed the Oedipus myth before Freud was born in terms of its psychological significance, insisting that incestuous desires are natural and normal, and perceptively exhibiting the relationship between sexuality and anxiety.{{sfn|Magee|2000|p=85}} [[Georg Groddeck]] considered the ''Ring'' as the first manual of psychoanalysis.{{sfn|Picard|2010|p=759}}

=== Influence on cinema ===
{{see also|List of films using the music of Richard Wagner}}

Wagner's concept of the use of leitmotifs and the integrated musical expression which they can enable has influenced many 20th and 21st century [[film score]]s. The critic [[Theodor Adorno]] has noted that the Wagnerian leitmotif "leads directly to [[film music|cinema music]] where the sole function of the leitmotif is to announce heroes or situations so as to allow the audience to orient itself more easily".{{sfnp|Adorno|2009|pp=34–36}} Film scores citing Wagnerian themes include the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short ''[[What's Opera, Doc?]]'' and [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', which both feature a version of the [[Ride of the Valkyries]];<ref>{{cite journal | last=Zenk | first=Christina | title=Die "Walküren" und kein Ende: Eine Systematisierung von Referenztypen in Filmen | journal=Archiv für Musikwissenschaft | volume=74 | issue=2 | year=2017 | issn=0003-9292 | jstor=26332326 | pages=78–102 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26332326 | access-date=19 May 2023 | language=German}}</ref> [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]]'s soundtrack to [[John Boorman]]'s film [[Excalibur (film)|''Excalibur'']];{{sfn|Grant|1999}} and the 2011 films ''[[A Dangerous Method]]'' (dir. [[David Cronenberg]]) and ''[[Melancholia (2011 film)|Melancholia]]'' (dir. [[Lars von Trier]]).<ref>{{cite web |last=Giovetti |first=Olivia |date=10 December 2011 |title=Silver Screen Wagner Vies for Oscar Gold |publisher=[[WQXR-FM]] |url=http://www.wqxr.org/story/174538-silver-screen-wagner-vies-oscar-gold/ |access-date=15 April 2012 }}</ref> [[Hans-Jürgen Syberberg]]'s 1977 film ''[[Hitler: A Film from Germany]]''{{'}}s visual style and set design are strongly inspired by ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', musical excerpts from which are frequently used in the film's soundtrack.<ref>{{harvnb|Sontag|1980}}; {{harvnb|Kaes|1989|pp=44, 63}}</ref>

=== Opponents and supporters ===
{{further|War of the Romantics|New German School}}
[[File:Hanslick.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Eduard Hanslick|alt=A balding white man aged about 40 with a moustache]]
Not all reaction to Wagner was positive. For a time, German musical life divided into two factions, supporters of Wagner and supporters of [[Johannes Brahms]]; the latter, with the support of the powerful critic [[Eduard Hanslick]] (of whom Beckmesser in ''Meistersinger'' is in part a caricature), championed traditional forms and led the conservative front against Wagnerian innovations.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=26, 127}} They were supported by the conservative leanings of some German music schools, including the [[Music school|conservatories]] at [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig|Leipzig]] under [[Ignaz Moscheles]] and at [[Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln|Cologne]] under the direction of Ferdinand Hiller.{{sfn|Sietz|Wiegandt|2001}} Another Wagner detractor was the French composer [[Charles-Valentin Alkan]], who wrote to Hiller after attending Wagner's Paris concert on 25 January 1860, at which Wagner conducted the overtures to ''Der fliegende Holländer'' and ''Tannhäuser'', the preludes to ''Lohengrin'' and ''Tristan und Isolde'', and six other extracts from ''Tannhäuser'' and ''Lohengrin'': "I had imagined that I was going to meet music of an innovative kind but was astonished to find a pale imitation of Berlioz&nbsp;... I do not like all the music of Berlioz while appreciating his marvellous understanding of certain instrumental effects&nbsp;... but here he was imitated and caricatured&nbsp;... Wagner is not a musician, he is a disease."<ref>{{harvnb|François-Sappey|1991|p=198}}. Letter from Alkan to Hiller 31 January 1860.</ref>

Even those who, like Debussy, opposed Wagner ("this old poisoner")<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Lockspeiser|1978|p=179}}. Letter from Claude Debussy to [[Pierre Louÿs]], 17 January 1896</ref> could not deny his influence. Indeed, Debussy was one of many composers, including Tchaikovsky, who felt the need to break with Wagner precisely because his influence was so unmistakable and overwhelming. "Golliwogg's Cakewalk" from Debussy's ''[[Children's Corner]]'' piano suite contains a deliberately tongue-in-cheek quotation from the opening bars of ''Tristan''.{{sfn|Ross|2008|p=101}} Others who proved resistant to Wagner's operas included [[Gioachino Rossini]], who said "Wagner has wonderful moments, and dreadful quarters of an hour."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Michotte|1968|pp=135–136}}; conversation between Rossini and Emile Naumann, recorded in {{harvnb|Naumann|1876|loc=IV, p. 5}}</ref> In the 20th century Wagner's music was parodied by [[Paul Hindemith]]{{refn|See ''[[Ouvertüre zum "Fliegenden Holländer", wie sie eine schlechte Kurkapelle morgens um 7 am Brunnen vom Blatt spielt]]''|group=n}} and [[Hanns Eisler]], among others.{{sfn|Deathridge|2008|p=228}}

Wagner's followers (known as Wagnerians or Wagnerites)<ref>cf. {{harvnb|Shaw|1898}}</ref> have formed many societies dedicated to Wagner's life and work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard-Wagner-Verband-International |publisher=International Association of the Wagner Societies |url=http://www.richard-wagner-verband.de/english/index.html |access-date=1 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605042325/http://www.richard-wagner-verband.de/english/index.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Film and stage portrayals ===
{{Main|List of films about Richard Wagner}}

Wagner has been the subject of many biographical films. The earliest was a silent film made by [[Carl Froelich]] in 1913 and featured in the title role the composer [[Giuseppe Becce]], who also wrote the score for the film (as Wagner's music, still in copyright, was not available).{{sfn|Warshaw|2012|pp=77–78}} Other film portrayals of Wagner include: [[Alan Badel]] in ''[[Magic Fire]]'' (1955), [[Lyndon Brook]] in ''[[Song Without End]]'' (1960), [[Trevor Howard]] in ''[[Ludwig (film)|Ludwig]]'' (1972), [[Paul Nicholas]] in ''[[Lisztomania (film)|Lisztomania]]'' (1975), and [[Richard Burton]] in ''[[Wagner (film)|Wagner]]'' (1983).<ref>See entries for these films at the [https://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database (IMDb)].</ref>

[[Jonathan Harvey (composer)|Jonathan Harvey]]'s opera ''[[Wagner Dream]]'' (2007) intertwines the events surrounding Wagner's death with the story of Wagner's uncompleted opera outline ''[[Die Sieger]] (The Victors)''.{{sfn|Faber Music News|2007|p=2}}

=== Bayreuth Festival ===
{{Main|Bayreuth Festival}}
Since Wagner's death, the Bayreuth Festival, which has become an annual event, has been successively directed by his widow, his son Siegfried, the latter's widow [[Winifred Wagner]], their two sons [[Wieland Wagner|Wieland]] and [[Wolfgang Wagner]], and, presently, two of the composer's great-granddaughters, [[Eva Wagner-Pasquier]] and [[Katharina Wagner]].<ref>[http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb_en/leitungen.htm Management record] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128172032/http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb_en/leitungen.htm |date=28 January 2013 }} at Bayreuth Festival website, accessed 26 January 2013.</ref> Since 1973, the festival has been overseen by the [[Richard Wagner Foundation|Richard-Wagner-Stiftung]] (Richard Wagner Foundation), the members of which include some of Wagner's descendants.<ref>[http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/rechtsform_und_finanzierung/stiftungsurkunde_143.html Statutes of the Foundation (in German)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017093914/http://bayreuther-festspiele.de/rechtsform_und_finanzierung/stiftungsurkunde_143.html |date=17 October 2010 }} at Bayreuth Festival website, accessed 26 January 2013.</ref>

== Views ==
<!-- This is a SUMMARY. Please do not add new information or details here, but instead at the main article [[Controversies surrounding Richard Wagner]]! -->

{{Main|Controversies surrounding Richard Wagner}}

Wagner's operas, writings, politics, beliefs and unorthodox lifestyle made him a controversial figure during his lifetime.{{sfn|Magee|2000|pp=11–14}} Following his death, debate about his ideas and their interpretation, particularly in Germany during the 20th century, has continued.

=== Racism and antisemitism ===
[[File:Wagnerclic.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Caricature of Wagner by Karl Clic in the Viennese satirical magazine ''Humoristische Blätter'' (1873). The exaggerated features refer to rumours of Wagner's Jewish ancestry.|alt=A cartoon figure holding a baton, stands next to a music stand in front of some musicians. The figure has a large nose and a prominent forehead. His sideburns turn into a wispy beard under his chin.]]

Wagner's hostile writings on Jews, including [[Das Judenthum in der Musik|''Jewishness in Music'']], correspond to some existing trends of thought in Germany during the 19th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Weiner|1997|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Katz|1986|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Conway|2012|pp=258–264}}; {{harvnb|Vaszonyi|2010|pp=90–95}}</ref> Despite his very public views on this topic, throughout his life Wagner had Jewish friends, colleagues and supporters.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=164}}{{sfn|Conway|2012|p=198}} There have been frequent suggestions that [[antisemitic]] stereotypes are represented in Wagner's operas. The characters of [[Alberich]] and Mime in the ''Ring'', Sixtus Beckmesser in ''Die Meistersinger'', and Klingsor in ''Parsifal'' are sometimes claimed as Jewish representations, though they are not identified as such in the librettos of these operas.<ref>See {{harvnb|Gutman|1990}} and {{harvnb|Adorno|2009|pp=12–13}}</ref>{{refn|{{harvnb|Weiner|1997}} gives very detailed allegations of antisemitism in Wagner's music and characterisations.|group=n}} The topic is further complicated by claims, which may have been credited by Wagner, that he himself was of Jewish ancestry, via his supposed father Geyer; however, there is no evidence that Geyer had Jewish ancestors.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=4}}{{sfn|Conway|2002}}

Some biographers have noted that Wagner in his final years developed an interest in the [[racialist]] philosophy of [[Arthur de Gobineau]], notably Gobineau's belief that Western society was doomed because of [[miscegenation]] between "superior" and "inferior" races.{{sfnp|Everett|2020}} According to Robert Gutman, this theme is reflected in the opera ''Parsifal''.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=418 ff}} Other biographers (such as Lucy Beckett) believe that this is not true, as the original drafts of the story date back to 1857 and Wagner had completed the libretto for ''Parsifal'' by 1877,{{sfn|Beckett|1981}} but he displayed no significant public interest in Gobineau until 1880.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=406}}

=== Other interpretations ===
Wagner's ideas are amenable to socialist interpretations; many of his ideas on art were being formulated at the time of his revolutionary inclinations in the 1840s. Thus, for example, [[George Bernard Shaw]] wrote in ''[[The Perfect Wagnerite]]'' (1883):

<blockquote>[Wagner's] picture of Niblunghome{{refn|Shaw's anglicization of ''Nibelheim'', the empire of Alberich in the ''Ring'' cycle.|group=n}} under the reign of Alberic is a poetic vision of unregulated industrial capitalism as it was made known in Germany in the middle of the 19th century by [[Engels]]'s book ''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England]]''.{{sfn|Shaw|1898|loc=Introduction}}</blockquote>

Left-wing interpretations of Wagner also inform the writings of [[Theodor Adorno]] among other Wagner critics.{{refn|See {{harvnb|Žižek|2009|p=viii}}: "[In this book] for the first time the Marxist reading of a musical work of art&nbsp;... was combined with the highest musicological analysis."|group=n}} [[Walter Benjamin]] gave Wagner as an example of "bourgeois false consciousness", alienating art from its social context.{{sfn|Millington|2008|p=81}} [[György Lukács]] contended that the ideas of the early Wagner represented the ideology of the "true socialists" (''wahre Sozialisten''), a movement referenced in [[Karl Marx]]'s ''[[Communist Manifesto]]'' as belonging to the left wing of German [[bourgeois radicalism]] and associated with [[Feuerbachianism]] and [[Karl Theodor Ferdinand Grün]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Литературные теории XIX века и марксизм" (Nineteenth Century Literary Theories and Marxism)|last=Lukacs|first=György|publisher=State Publishing House of the USSR|year=1937|publication-place=Moscow|chapter=Richard Wagner as a “True Socialist”|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/1937/richard-wagner.htm|translator-last=P.|translator-first=Anton}}</ref> while [[Anatoly Lunacharsky]] said about the later Wagner: "The circle is complete. The revolutionary has become a reactionary. The rebellious petty bourgeois now kisses the slipper of the Pope, the keeper of order."<ref>{{Cite book|title=On Literature and Art|last=Lunacharsky|first=Anatoly|author-link=Anatoly Lunacharsky|year=1965|orig-year=1933|chapter=Richard Wagner (On the 50th Anniversary of His Death)|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lunachar/1933/wagner.htm|publisher=Progress Publishers|publication-place=Moscow|translator-last=Pyman|translator-first=Avril}}</ref>

The writer [[Robert Donington]] has produced a detailed, if controversial, [[Jungian interpretation]] of the ''Ring'' cycle, described as "an approach to Wagner by way of his symbols", which, for example, sees the character of the goddess Fricka as part of her husband Wotan's "inner femininity".{{sfn|Donington|1979|pp=31, 72–75}} Millington notes that [[Jean-Jacques Nattiez]] has also applied [[psychoanalytical]] techniques in an evaluation of Wagner's life and works.{{sfn|Nattiez|1993}}{{sfn|Millington|2008|pp=82–83}}

=== Nazi appropriation ===
[[Adolf Hitler]] was an admirer of Wagner's music and saw in his operas an embodiment of his own vision of the German nation; in a 1922 speech he claimed that Wagner's works glorified "the heroic Teutonic nature&nbsp;... Greatness lies in the heroic."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Spotts|1994|p=141}}</ref> Hitler visited Bayreuth frequently from 1923 onwards and attended the productions at the theatre.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=140, 198}} There continues to be debate about the extent to which Wagner's views might have influenced [[Nazi]] thinking.{{refn|The claim that Hitler, in his maturity, commented that "it [i.e. his political career] all began" after seeing a performance of ''Rienzi'' in his youth, has been disproved.<ref>See {{harvnb|Karlsson|2012|pp=35–52}}</ref>|group=n}} [[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]] (1855–1927), who married Wagner's daughter Eva in 1908 but never met Wagner, was the author of ''[[The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century]]'', approved by the Nazi movement.{{sfn|Carr|2007|pp=108–109}}{{refn|The book is described by Roger Allen as "a toxic mix of world history and racially inspired anthropology".{{sfn|Allen|2013|p=80}} Chamberlain is described by [[Michael D. Biddiss]], in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', as a "racialist writer".<ref>[[Michael Biddiss|Biddiss, Michael]] (n.d.) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32349 "Chamberlain, Houston Stewart"] in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''</ref> |group=n}} Chamberlain met Hitler several times between 1923 and 1927 in Bayreuth, but cannot credibly be regarded as a conduit of Wagner's own views.<ref>{{harvnb|Carr|2007|pp=109–110}}. See also {{harvnb|Field|1981}}.</ref> The Nazis used those parts of Wagner's thought that were useful for propaganda and ignored or suppressed the rest.<ref>See {{harvnb|Potter|2008|loc=''passim''}}</ref>

While Bayreuth presented a useful front for Nazi culture, and Wagner's music was used at many Nazi events,<ref>{{harvnb|Calico|2002|pp=200–2001}}; {{harvnb|Grey|2002|pp=93–94}}</ref> the Nazi hierarchy as a whole did not share Hitler's enthusiasm for Wagner's operas and resented attending these lengthy epics at Hitler's insistence.{{sfn|Carr|2007|p=184}} Some Nazi ideologists, most notably [[Alfred Rosenberg]], rejected ''Parsifal'' as excessively Christian and pacifist.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chandler |first1=Andrew |last2=Stokłosa |first2=Katarzyna |last3=Vinzent |first3=Jutta |title=Exile and Patronage: Cross-cultural Negotiations Beyond the Third Reich |publisher=[[LIT Verlag]] |location=Münster |page=4 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6lj6gkIUzBsC}} }}</ref>

{{ill|Guido Fackler|de}} has researched evidence that indicates that it is possible that Wagner's music was used at the [[Dachau concentration camp]] in 1933–1934 to "reeducate" [[political prisoner]]s by exposure to "national music".<ref>{{harvnb|Fackler|2007}}. See also the [http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/camps/ Music and the Holocaust] website.</ref> There has been no evidence to support claims, sometimes made,<ref>E.g. in {{harvnb|Walsh|1992}}</ref> that his music was played at [[Extermination camp|Nazi death camps]] during the [[Second World War]], and Pamela Potter has noted that Wagner's music was explicitly off-limits in the camps.{{refn|See e.g. {{harvp|John|2004}} for a detailed essay on music in the Nazi death camps, which nowhere mentions Wagner. See also {{harvp|Potter|2008|p=244}}: "We know from testimonies that concentration camp orchestras played [all sorts of] music&nbsp;... but that Wagner was explicitly off-limits. However, after the war, unsubstantiated claims that Wagner's music accompanied Jews to their death took on momentum."|group=n}}

Because of the associations of Wagner with antisemitism and Nazism, the [[Wagner's music in Israel|performance of his music in the State of Israel]] has been a source of controversy.<ref>See {{harvnb|Bruen|1993}}</ref>

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=30em}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
====Primary====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |editor-last1=Borchmeyer |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-link=Dieter Borchmeyer |year=1983 |title=Richard Wagner Dichtungen und Schriften |trans-title=Richard Wagner Seals and Writings |type=10 vols. |publisher=[[Insel Verlag]] |location=Berlin }}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |editor-last1=Spencer |editor-first1=Stewart |editor-last2=Millington |editor-first2=Barry |translator-last1=Spencer |translator-first1=Stewart |translator-last2=Millington |translator-first2=Barry |year=1987 |title=Selected Letters of Richard Wagner |publisher=[[J. M. Dent|Dent]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-393-02500-2 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Nietzsche |first1=Friedrich | author-link1=Friedrich Nietzsche |last2=Wagner |first2=Richard | author-link2= |editor-last1=Foerster-Nietzsche |editor-first1=Elizabeth |editor-link1=Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche  |translator-last1=Kerr |translator-first1=Caroline V.|translator-link=Caroline V. Kerr |others=[[H.L. Mencken|Introduction by H.L. Mencken]]  |title=The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence  |title-link= |url=https://archive.org/details/nietzschewagnerc00nietiala/page/n7/mode/2up  |publication-place=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Boni & Liveright]] |publication-date=1921 |asin= B000HFOAGI  }}
* {{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Richard  |translator-last1=Kerr |translator-first1=Caroline V.|translator-link=Caroline V. Kerr |title=The Story of Bayreuth as Told in the Bayreuth Letters of Richard Wagner  |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.85202/page/n7/mode/2up  |publication-place=[[Boston]] |publisher=[[Small, Maynard & Company]] |publication-date=1912  |asin= B000KWL6SI  }}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |translator-last=Gray |translator-first=Andrew |year=1992 |title=[[Mein Leben (Wagner)|My Life]] |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-306-80481-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |translator-last=Ellis |translator-first=W. Ashton |translator-link=William Ashton Ellis |year=1992 |title=Collected Prose Works |ref=no }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1994c |title=[[The Artwork of the Future]] and Other Works |volume=1 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9752-4 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1995d |title=[[Opera and Drama]] |volume=2 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9765-4 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1995c |title=Judaism in Music and Other Essays |volume=3 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9766-1 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1995a |title=Art and Politics |volume=4 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9774-6 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1995b |title=Actors and Singers |volume=5 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9773-9 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1994a |title=Religion and Art |volume=6 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9764-7 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1994b |title=Pilgrimage to Beethoven and Other Essays |volume=7 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9763-0 }}
** {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |year=1995e |title=Jesus of Nazareth and Other Writings |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |volume=8 |location=Lincoln (NE) and London |isbn=978-0-8032-9780-7 }}
{{refend}}

====Secondary====
==== Books and chapters ====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Adorno |first=Theodor |author-link=Theodor W. Adorno |translator=Rodney Livingstone |year=2009 |title=In Search of Wagner |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84467-344-5}}
** {{harvc |last=Žižek |first=Slavoj |author-link=Slavoj Žižek |year=2009 |chapter=Foreword: Why is Wagner Worth Saving |in=Adorno |pages=viii–xxvii }}
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=Roger |editor-last=Vazsonyi |editor-first=Nicholas |year=2013 |chapter=Chamberlain, Houston Stewart |title=The Cambridge Wagner Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |pages=78–81 |isbn=978-1-107-00425-2 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Applegate |first1=Celia |authorlink1=Celia Applegate |last2=Potter |first2=Pamela |year=2002 |title=Music & German National Identity |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-02131-7 }}
** {{harvc |last=Calico |first=Joy Haslam |year=2002 |author-link=Joy H. Calico |chapter=Für eine neue deutsche Nationaloper |in1=Applegate |in2=Potter |pp=190–204 }}
** {{harvc |last=Grey |first=Thomas S. |year=2002 |author-link=Joy H. Calico |chapter=Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger'' as National Opera (1868–1945) |in1=Applegate |in2=Potter |pp=78–104 }}
* {{cite book |last=Beckett |first=Lucy |year=1981 |title=Richard Wagner: Parsifal |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-29662-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Burk |first=John N. |year=1950 |title=Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection |publisher=[[The Macmillan Company]] |location=New York }}
* {{cite book |last=Carr |first=Jonathan |year=2007 |title=The Wagner Clan |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-20790-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Conway |first=David |year=2012 |author-link=David Conway (music historian)|title=Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-107-01538-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Dahlhaus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Dahlhaus |translator=Mary Whittall |year=1979 |title=Richard Wagner's Music Dramas |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-22397-3 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Dahlhaus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Dahlhaus |year=1995 |entry=Wagner: (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner |encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |volume=20 |pages=115–136 |isbn=978-0-333-23111-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Deathridge |first=John |author-link=John Deathridge |year=1984 |title=The New Grove Wagner |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-36065-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Deathridge |first=John |author-link=John Deathridge |year=1982 |editor-last=John |editor-first=Nicholas |chapter=An Introduction to ''The Flying Dutchman'' |title=English National Opera/The Royal Opera House Opera Guide 12: Der Fliegende Holländer/The Flying Dutchman |pages=13–26 |publisher=[[John Calder]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7145-3920-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Deathridge |first=John |author-link=John Deathridge |year=2008 |title=Wagner Beyond Good and Evil |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-25453-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Donington |first=Robert |authorlink=Robert Donington |year=1979 |title=Wagner's ''Ring'' and its Symbols |publisher=Faber Paperbacks |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-04818-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Field |first=Geoffrey G. |year=1981 |title=Evangelist of Race: The Germanic Vision of Houston Stewart Chamberlain |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-04860-6 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=François-Sappey |editor-first=Brigitte |editor-link=Brigitte François-Sappey |year=1991 |title=Charles Valentin Alkan |publisher=[[Fayard]] |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-213-02779-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=de La Grange |first=Henri-Louis |author-link=Henry-Louis de La Grange |year=1973 |title=Mahler: Volume One |publisher=[[Victor Gollancz]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-575-01672-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gregor-Dellin |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gregor-Dellin |year=1983 |title=Richard Wagner – His Life, His Work, His Century |publisher=[[Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-15-177151-6 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Grey |editor-first=Thomas S. |year=2008 |title=[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to Wagner]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-64439-6 }}
** {{harvc |last=Daverio |first=John |authorlink=John Daverio |year=2008 |chapter=''Tristan und Isolde'': essence and appearance |in=Grey |pp=115–133 }}
** {{harvc |last=McClatchie |first=Stephen |year=2008 |chapter=Performing Germany in Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' |in=Grey |pp=134–150 }}
** {{harvc |last=Millington |first=Barry |year=2008 |chapter=''Der Ring des Nibelungen'': conception and interpretation |in=Grey |pp=74–84 }}
** {{harvc |last=Spencer |first=Stewart |year=2008 |chapter=The 'Romantic operas' and the turn to myth |in=Grey |pp=67–73 }}
** {{harvc |last=Stanley |first=Glenn |year=2008 |chapter=Parsifal: redemption and Kunstreligion |in=Grey |pp=151–175 }}
** {{harvc |last=Treadwell |first=James |year=2008 |chapter=The Urge to Communicate |in=Grey |pp=179–191 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gutman |first=Robert W. |year=1990 |title=Wagner – The Man, His Mind and His Music |publisher=[[Harvest Books]] |location=Orlando |isbn=978-0-15-677615-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hilmes |first=Oliver |author-link=Oliver Hilmes |year=2011 |title=Cosima Wagner: The Lady of Bayreuth |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-17090-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Joe |first=Jeongwon |editor-last1=Joe |editor-first1=Jeongwon |editor-last2=Gilman |editor-first2=Sander L. |year=2010 |title=Wagner and Cinema |chapter=Why Wagner and Cinema? Tolkien was wrong |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-22163-6 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=lGI5X1eEVokC}} }}
* {{cite book |last=John |first=Eckhardt |year=2004 |editor-last=Huynh |editor-first=Pascal |title=Le troisième Reich et la musique |trans-title=The Third Reich and Music |chapter=La musique dans la système concentrationnaire nazi |trans-chapter=Music in the Nazi Concentration Camp System |language=French |publisher=[[Fayard]] |location=Paris |pages=219–228 |isbn=978-2-213-62135-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kaes |first=Anton |year=1989 |title=From Hitler to Heimat: The Return of History as Film |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-32456-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Katz |first=Jacob |year=1986 |title=The Darker Side of Genius: Richard Wagner's Anti-Semitism |publisher=Brandeis |location=Hanover and London |isbn=978-0-87451-368-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Kennedy (music critic) |year=1980 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-311320-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kienzle |first=Ulrike |editor-last1=Kinderman |editor-first1=William |editor-link1=William Kinderman |editor-last2=Syer |editor-first2=Katherine Rae |year=2005 |title=A Companion To Wagner's Parsifal |chapter=''Parsifal'' and Religion: A Christian Music Drama? |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer]] |location=Woodbridge |pages=81–132 |isbn=978-1-57113-457-8 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=qhBBRn3i9zsC}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Lockspeiser |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Lockspeiser |year=1978 |title=Debussy, his Life and Mind: Volume 1, 1862–1902 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-22053-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Long |first=Michael |year=2008 |title=Beautiful Monsters: Imagining the Classic in Musical Media |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-25720-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Magee |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Magee |year=1988 |title=Aspects of Wagner |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-284012-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Magee |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Magee |year=2000 |title=Wagner and Philosophy |publisher=Allen Lanes |location=London |isbn=978-0-7139-9480-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Marek |first=George R. |author-link=George Richard Marek |year=1981 |title=Cosima Wagner |publisher=Julia MacRae Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-86203-120-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=T. P. |year=1992 |title=Joyce and Wagner: A Study in Influence |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-39487-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Michotte |first=Edmond |author-link=Edmond Michotte |editor-last=Weinstock |editor-first=Herbert |editor-link=Herbert Weinstock |translator-last=Weinstock |translator-first=Herbert |year=1968 |title=Richard Wagner's Visit to Rossini (Paris 1860): and an Evening at Rossini's in Beau-Sejour (Passy) 1858 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-52442-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Millington |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Millington |year=2001a|orig-year=1992|title=The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music |edition=Revised |publisher=Thames and Hudson Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-0-50-028274-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Nattiez |first=Jean-Jacques |author-link=Jean-Jacques Nattiez |translator-last=Spencer |translator-first=Stewart |year=1993 |title=Wagner Androgyne: A Study in Interpretation |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-04832-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Naumann |first=Emil |year=1876 |title=Italienische Tondichter, von Palestrina bis auf die Gegenwart |trans-title=Italian Composers, From Palestrina to the Present Day |publisher=R. Oppenheim |location=Berlin |language=German |oclc=12378618 }}
* {{cite book |last=Newman |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Newman |year=1976 |title=The Life of Richard Wagner |type=4 vols. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge }}
* {{cite book |last=Newman |first=Ernest |year=1949 |title=Wagner Nights |publisher=Putnam & Co. |location=London }}
* {{cite web |last=Nietzsche |first=Friedrich |translator-last=Johnston |translator-first=Ian C. |translator-link=Ian C. Johnston |year=2009 |orig-year=1887 |title=On the Genealogy of Morals&nbsp;– A Polemical Tract |website=records.viu.ca |access-date=14 March 2014 |url=http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/Nietzsche/genealogy3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808151242/http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/Nietzsche/genealogy3.htm |archive-date=8 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last=Painter |first=George D. |author-link=George D. Painter |year=1983 |title=Marcel Proust |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=978-0-14-006512-1 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Picard |editor-first=T. |year=2010 |language=French |title=Dictionnaire encyclopédique Wagner |trans-title=Dictionnaire encyclopédique Wagner |publisher=Actes Sud |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-7427-7843-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Potter |first=Pamela R. |year=2008 |title=Wagner and the Third Reich: myths and realities}} (In {{harvnb|Grey|2008}}).
* {{cite book |last=Puffett |first=Derrick |editor-last=John |editor-first=Nicholas |year=1984 |title=Siegfried: Opera Guide 28 |chapter=''Siegfried'' in the Context of Wagner's Operatic Writing |publisher=[[Calder Publishing]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7145-4040-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rose |first=John Luke |editor-last=John |editor-first=Nicholas |year=1981 |title=Tristan and Isolde: English National Opera Guide 6 |chapter=A Landmark in Musical History |publisher=[[Calder Publishing]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7145-3849-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ross |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Ross (music critic) |year=2008 |title=[[The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century]] |publisher=Fourth Estate |location=London |isbn=978-1-84115-475-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shaw |first=George Bernard |author-link=George Bernard Shaw |year=1898 |title=The Perfect Wagnerite |publisher=[[Grant Richards (publishing house)|Grant Richards]] |location=London }} [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1487/1487-h/1487-h.htm#2H_4_0011 Online version at Gutenberg], Retrieved 20 July 2010.
* {{cite journal |last=Sontag |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Sontag |date=21 February 1980 |title=Eye of the Storm |journal=[[The New York Review of Books]] |volume=XXVII |issue=2 |pages=36–43 |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1980/feb/21/eye-of-the-storm/ }} [http://www.syberberg.de/Syberberg4_2010/Susan-Sontag-Syberbergs-Hitler-engl.html Reprinted] as {{cite book |year=1980 |title=[[Under the Sign of Saturn]] |chapter=Syberberg's Hitler |publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] |location=New York |pages=137–165 |isbn=978-0-86316-052-3 |ref=no }}
* {{cite book |last=Spencer |first=Stewart |year=2000 |title=Wagner Remembered |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-19653-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Spotts |first=Frederic |author-link=Frederic Spotts |year=1994 |title=Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-06665-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Taruskin |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Taruskin |year=2009 |title=Music in the Early Twentieth Century |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-691-10290-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Vaszonyi |first=Nicholas |year=2010 |title=Richard Wagner: Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-51996-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Cosima |author-link=Cosima Wagner |translator-last=Skelton |translator-first=Geoffrey |translator-link=Geoffrey Skelton |year=1978 |title=Diaries |type=2 vols |publisher=Dent |location=London |isbn=978-0-15-122635-1 |ref={{sfnRef|Cosima Wagner|1978}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Cosima |editor-last=Skelton |editor-first=Geoffrey |editor-link=Geoffrey Skelton |translator-last=Skelton |translator-first=Geoffrey |year=1994 |title=Cosima Wagner's Diaries: an Abridgement |publisher=Pimlico Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7126-5952-9 |ref={{sfnRef|Cosima Wagner|1994}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Weiner |first=Marc A. |year=1997 |title=Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |location=Lincoln |isbn=978-0-8032-9792-0 }}

====Journal and encyclopaedia articles====
* {{cite journal |last=Bruen |first=Hanan |date=Spring 1993 |title=Wagner in Israel: A conflict among Aesthetic, Historical, Psychological and Social Considerations |journal=Journal of Aesthetic Education |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=99–103 |jstor=3333345 |doi=10.2307/3333345 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Coleman |first=Jeremy |date=2017 |title=The Body in the Library |journal=The Wagner Journal |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=86–92 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Cormack |first=David |date=Spring 2005 |title='Wir welken und sterben dahinnen': Carrie Pringle and the Solo Flowermaidens of 1882 |journal=The Musical Times |publisher=Musical Times Publications Ltd. |volume=146 |issue=1890 |pages=16–31 |jstor=30044066 |doi=10.2307/30044066 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Fackler |first=Guido |translator=Peter Logan |date=Winter 2007 |title=Music in Concentration Camps 1933–1945 |journal=Music and Politics |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=http://www.music.ucsb.edu/projects/musicandpolitics/archive/2007-1/fackler.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621010305/http://www.music.ucsb.edu/projects/musicandpolitics/archive/2007-1/fackler.html |archive-date=21 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last=Horton |first=Paul C. |editor-last=Feder |editor-first=Stuart |date=July 1999 |title=Review of ''Psychoanalytic Explorations in Music: Second Series'' |journal=[[The American Journal of Psychiatry]] |volume=156 |issue=1109–1110 |pages= |url=http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=173586 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Karlsson |first=Jonas |date=2012 |title='In that hour it began'? Hitler, ''Rienzi'', and the Trustworthiness of August Kubizek's ''The Young Hitler I Knew'' |journal=The Wagner Journal |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=33–47 |issn=1755-0173 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Grant |first=John |editor-last1=Clute |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Grant |editor-first2=John |year=1999 |entry=Excalibur: US movie |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]] |publisher=[[Orbit Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-85723-893-8 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Körner |first=Hans |title=Der Bayerische Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst und seine Mitglieder |journal=Zeitschrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte |volume=47 |year=1984 |pages=299–398 |url=http://periodika.digitale-sammlungen.de/zblg/kapitel/zblg47_kap28 |access-date=26 February 2018 |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719105503/http://periodika.digitale-sammlungen.de/zblg/kapitel/zblg47_kap28 |archive-date=19 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Millington |first=Barry |year=2001b |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Wesendonck [Wesendonk; née Luckemeyer], Mathilde |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30144 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000030144 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Millington |first=Barry |year=2002a |orig-year=1992 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O003512 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000003512 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Millington |first=Barry |year=2002b |orig-year=1992 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Parsifal |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O002803 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000002803 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Millington |first=Barry |year=2002c |orig-year=1992 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Walküre, Die |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O003661 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000003661 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Reissman |first=Carla S. |date=17 February 2004 |title=Rammstein meets Wagner |magazine=[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]] |access-date=31 October 2012 |url=https://www.stern.de/kultur/musik/crossover-projekt-rammstein-meets-wagner-3075340.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119134312/http://www.stern.de/kultur/musik/crossover-projekt-rammstein-meets-wagner-520361.html |archive-date=19 January 2015 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sietz |first1=Reinhold |last2=Wiegandt |first2=Matthias |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Hiller, Ferdinand |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13041 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013041 |access-date=23 July 2010 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Skelton |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Skelton |year=2002 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Bayreuth |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40950 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040950 |access-date=20 December 2009 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite journal |last=Warshaw |first=Hilary |date=2012 |title=No Sound of Music |journal=The Wagner Journal |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=77–79 |issn=1755-0173 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=von Westernhagen |first=Kurt |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |editor-link=Stanley Sadie |year=1980 |title=(Wilhelm) Richard Wagner |volume=20 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=London }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Westrup |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Westrup |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |year=1980 |title=Conducting |volume=4 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=London }}

====Online====
* {{cite web |last=Conway |first=David |year=2002 |title=A Vulture is Almost an Eagle'&nbsp;... The Jewishness of Richard Wagner |website=Jewry in Music |url=http://www.smerus.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vulture_.htm |access-date=23 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203090712/http://www.smerus.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vulture_.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 December 2012 }}
* {{cite web |last=Everett |first=Derrick |date=18 April 2020 |title=''Parsifal'' and Race – claims and refutations: Wagner, Gobineau and ''Parsifal'' – Gobineau as the inspiration for ''Parsifal'' |url=http://www.monsalvat.no/racism.htm |access-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319203717/https://www.monsalvat.no/racism.htm |archive-date=19 March 2022 }}
* {{cite web |title=Faber Music News |date=Autumn 2007 |website=[[Faber Music]] |url=http://www.fabermusic.com/resources/pdfs/FFAutumn2007.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402110100/http://www.fabermusic.com/resources/pdfs/ffautumn2007.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2016 |url-status=dead |ref={{sfnRef|Faber Music News|2007}} }}
* {{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Walsh (author) |date=13 January 1992 |orig-date= |title=The Case of Wagner – Again |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,974661,00.html|access-date=4 September 2021 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Borchmeyer|first=Dieter|authorlink=Dieter Borchmeyer|year=2003|title=Drama and the World of Richard Wagner|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton|isbn=978-0-691-11497-2|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Burbidge|editor-first1=Peter|editor-last2=Sutton|editor-first2=Richard|year=1979|title=The Wagner Companion|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29657-1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Garten|first=H. F.|year=1977|title=Wagner the Dramatist|publisher=John Calder|location=London|isbn=978-0-71453-620-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Lee|first=M. Owen|author-link=M. Owen Lee|year=1998|title=Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto|isbn=978-0-8020-4721-2|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Overvold |first=Liselotte Z. |date=1976 |title=Wagner's American Centennial March: Genesis and Reception |journal=Monatshefte |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin]] |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=179–187 |jstor=30156682 |ref=no }}
* {{cite book |last=Rose |first=Paul Lawrence |author-link=Paul Lawrence Rose |year=1996 |title=Wagner: Race and Revolution |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-17888-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Scruton |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Scruton |year=2003 |title=Death-Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-516691-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Tanner |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Tanner|year=1995 |title=Wagner |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-10290-0 }}
*{{cite book |last=Vernon |first=David |year=2021 |title=Disturbing the Universe: Wagner's Musikdrama |publisher=Candle Row Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1527299245|ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Richard Wagner }}

'''Operas'''
* [http://www.wagneropera.net/ Richard Wagner Opera], Richard Wagner operas, Wagner interviews, CDs, DVDs, Wagner calendar, Bayreuth Festival
* [http://www.wagneroperas.com/ Wagner Operas], site featuring photographs, video, MIDI files, scores, libretti, and commentary
* [http://opera.stanford.edu/Wagner/ ''Wilhelm Richard Wagner''] site by Stanford University
* [http://www.the-wagnerian.com/ The Wagnerian], Richard Wagner news, operas, reviews, articles.

'''Writings'''
* [http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/ The Wagner Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221013908/http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/ |date=21 February 2011 }}. English translations of Wagner's prose works, including some of Wagner's more notable essays.
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1325| name=Richard Wagner}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Richard Wagner}}
* {{Librivox author|id=8906}}

'''Scores'''
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Wagner, Richard|cname=Richard Wagner}}

'''Other'''
* {{BBC composer page|wagner|Wagner}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523055553/http://www.wagnermuseum.de/national_archives/information_34.html The National Archive] of the [[Richard Wagner Foundation]]
* [http://www.richard-wagner-museum.ch/ Richard Wagner Museum] in the country manor Triebschen near Lucerne, Switzerland, where Wagner and Cosima lived and worked from 1866 to 1872. (In German).
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548gv "Wagner"], BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Deathridge, Lucy Beckett and Michael Tanner (''In Our Time'', 20 June 2002)

{{Richard Wagner}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Links to related articles
|list1=
{{Der Ring des Nibelungen}}
{{Romantic music}}
{{Romanticism}}
}}
{{Subject bar
| portal1  = Biography
| portal2  = Classical music
| portal3  = Germany
| portal4  = Music
| portal5  = Opera
| commons  = y
| q        = y
| s        = y
| s-search = Author:Richard Wagner
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Richard}}
[[Category:Richard Wagner| ]]
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century German conductors (music)]]
[[Category:19th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:19th-century theatre]]
[[Category:German autobiographers]]
[[Category:19th-century German essayists]]
[[Category:German expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:German expatriates in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:German male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:German music critics]]
[[Category:German nationalism]]
[[Category:German opera composers]]
[[Category:German opera directors]]
[[Category:German opera librettists]]
[[Category:German opera managers]]
[[Category:German Romantic composers]]
[[Category:German theatre directors]]
[[Category:Leipzig University alumni]]
[[Category:German male opera composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Bavaria]]
[[Category:Composers from Dresden]]
[[Category:Musicians from Leipzig]]
[[Category:People educated at the Kreuzschule]]
[[Category:People educated at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig]]
[[Category:German people of the Revolutions of 1848]]
[[Category:Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Wagner family|Richard]]
[[Category:German male essayists]]
[[Category:Chief conductors of the Staatskapelle Dresden]]
[[Category:Lieder composers]]
[[Category:Choral composers]]