WAGNER, (WILHELM) RICHARD, a German operatic composer; born in Leipsic, May 22, 1813. In 1836 he was conductor at Magdeburg, and after spending some time in Konigsberg, Dres den, and Riga successively, he went to Paris in 1841. Here he composed or completed his "Rienzi" and "Der flue gende Hollander" (Flying Dutchman). "Rienzi" obtained for him the post of assistant conductor (with Reissiger) at Dresden. His "Tannhauser" appeared in 1845. He spent the season of 1855 in London as conductor of the Philhar monic Society's concerts. In all his operas the words of the libretto are of his own composition, and far superior, from the poetic standpoint, to the ma jority of works intended for such use. They are treated in a declamatory style, supported by most original harmonies and instrumentation in accordance with their dramatic significance. Wagner ad vanced the importance of the orchestra accompaniment till it is almost the prime factor in the performance of his works. He was acknowledged supreme master of instrumental effects. It must be ad mitted, however, that, in his later works especially, his scoring is not unfre quently cruel to the human voice. Wag ner was a musical revolutionist and re former in many ways affecting the opera. Like other reformers and iconoclasts in other spheres and times, his methods and theories will doubtless be modified by the future. Meantime he may safely be
ranked as the greatest musician who has arisen since Beethoven, and his prob able influence on future operatic compo sitions can scarcely be overestimated. The following is a list of dates of first performances of his remaining drama tic works: "Lohengrin" (1850) ; "Tris tan and Isolde" (1865) ; "Meistersinger" (1868)) ; "Das Rheingold" (1869) ; "Die Walkiire" (1870) ; "Siegfried" (1876) ; "Die Gotterdammening" (The Dusk of the Gods) (1876) ; "Parsifal" (1882). Of the above the "Walkiire," "Siegfried" and "Gotterdammerung" constitute Wag ner's greatest work, the so-called "Trilo gie," three chapters of one story each for separate evenings. The "Rheingold" is the preface to these three, wherein the events occur whose far-reaching conse quences are developed in the subsequent evenings. The four works constitute the "Ring of the Nibelungen." Wagner's ambition was to produce a distinctively national (German) music drama. There fore his choice and adaptation of scenes from the great, almost prehistoric, epic of Germany—the "Nibelungenlied," the German "Iliad." He died in Venice, Feb. 13, 1883.