Richard Wagner's works for the stage, representing more than 50 years of creative life, comprise his 13 completed operas and a similar number of failed or abandoned projects. His first effort, begun when he was 13, was a prose drama, Leubald , but thereafter all his works were conceived as some form of musical drama. It has been suggested that Wagner's wish to add incidental music to Leubald, in the manner of Beethoven's treatment of Goethe's drama Egmont , may have been the initial stimulus that directed him to musical composition. [1]
Wagner's musical education began in 1828, and a year later he was producing his earliest compositions, writing words and music, since lost, for his first opera attempt, Die Laune des Verliebten . [2] During the subsequent decade he began several more opera projects, none of which was successful although two were completed and one was staged professionally. His first commercial success came in 1842 with Rienzi , [3] by which time he had completed Der fliegende Holländer , in which for the first time he used the device of the leitmotiv , a characteristic that became a feature of all his later works. [4]
After accepting the post of Kapellmeister at the Dresden court of the King of Saxony in February 1843, [3] Wagner continued to compose operas and plan various large-scale projects. [5] His political activities forced him to flee the city in 1849, beginning a long period of exile. In Zürich, his first refuge, he wrote the essay Die Kunst und die Revolution ("Art and the Revolution"), in which he introduced the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), or "drama-through-music". [6] This idea was developed in the extended discourse Oper und Drama ("Opera and Drama"), 1850–51. A different form of verse-setting, which Wagner termed Versmelodie, was proposed, [6] in which the music would grow out of the verse, this unification overriding such traditional operatic considerations as display arias written as showcases for the talents of individual singers. [7] According to Wagner historian Robert Gutman: "The orchestra with its many tongues would take over the traditional operatic tasks of the chorus". [8] Beginning with Das Rheingold (1853–54), the principles of Gesamtkunstwerk became the basis of all Wagner's stage work, in which, quoting Wagner chronicler Charles Osborne, "the drama presented on a conscious level by the words [...] would be pursued on a deeper, unconscious level in the orchestra." [9]
From his first attempt in the opera genre, Die Laune des Verliebten, Wagner became his own librettist and remained so throughout his creative career. [10] His practice was to create music and text simultaneously; in biographer Robert Gutman's words: "as the music proceeded it drew forth the words." [10] While working on Tannhäuser Wagner explained his technique in a letter, saying: "before starting to create a verse or even outline a scene, I must first feel intoxicated by the musical aroma of my subject." [11]
Unlike the works of many composers, those of Richard Wagner were not identified by opus numbers, and no proper attempt to create a complete catalogue was made until the 1980s. In 1983 the Wagner scholar John Deathridge, in an article in The Musical Times , outlined the need for a reliable catalogue. [12] Two years later, in conjunction with Martin Gech and Egon Voss, he produced Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis , described by fellow-scholar Michael Saffle as "perhaps the single finest and most useful of all Wagner reference works." [12] Each of Wagner's known works, whether finished or unfinished, is listed in a number sequence running from 1 to 113. The list includes all compositions and all prose drafts where the music is either lost or unwritten. [12]
Sketched work or incomplete work
WWV | Title | Genre and acts | Year of comp. | Première date | Place and theatre | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Leubald | Trauerspiel [T 1] 5 Acts | 1827–28 | 9 August 1989 | Bayreuth, Studiobühne Schützenhaus [ citation needed ] | Childhood attempt to write a grand tragedy based on Shakespearean themes. A version of the text exists, but no music survives. | [13] [14] |
6 | Die Laune des Verliebten (unfinished) English: The infatuated lover's caprice | Oper? | 1829–30 | Unperformed | – | Based on a play by Goethe. Neither text nor music survives. | [2] [15] |
31 | Die Hochzeit (unfinished) English: The Wedding | Oper | 1832 | 13 February 1938 (fragments) | Leipzig, Neues Theater | Based on a story by J.G.G. Büsching | [2] [16] [17] [18] [19] |
32 | Die Feen English: The Fairies Score [20] | Große romantische Oper 3 Acts | 1833–34 | 29 June 1888 | Munich, Hoftheater | A reworking of La donna serpente by Carlo Gozzi | [2] [21] |
38 | Das Liebesverbot English: The Ban on Love Score [22] | Große komische Oper 2 Acts | 1835–36 | 29 March 1836 | Magdeburg, Stadttheater | Loosely based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure , and described (Osborne) as "a not very successful German imitation of Italian opera buffa." | [23] [24] |
40 | Die hohe Braut English: The High-born Bride | Große Oper 4 Acts | 1836–42 | 1848 (date not recorded) | Prague | Libretto sketched by Wagner in 1836–37, completed in 1842, and eventually set to music by Jan Bedrich Kittl under the title Bianca und Giuseppe. | [25] [26] [27] |
48 | Männerlist größer als Frauenlist, oder Die glückliche Bärenfamilie (unfinished) English: Men are more cunning than women or The Happy Bear family | komische Oper | 1839 | 13 October 2007 (fragments) [28] | London, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House | Based on a tale from One Thousand and One Nights . The libretto was completed but only the first three numbers set to music. These were lost until 1994. | [16] [17] [19] [29] |
49 | Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen English: Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes Score [30] | Große tragische Oper 5 Acts | 1839–40 | 20 October 1842 | Dresden, Königliches Opernhaus | Based on a novel by Edward Bulwer Lytton | [25] [31] |
63 | Der fliegende Holländer English: The Flying Dutchman Score [32] | romantische Oper 3 Acts | 1841 | 2 January 1843 | Dresden, Königliches Opernhaus | The orchestration was revised by Wagner several times. The opera is sometimes performed in a single act, without intermissions | [33] [34] |
66 | Die Sarazenin English: The Saracen Woman | Oper 5 Acts | 1841–42 | Unperformed | – | Libretto based on the character "Manfred" from Lord Byron's drama, not set to music | [35] [36] |
68 | Die Bergwerke zu Falun English: The Mines of Falun | Oper 3 Acts | 1842 | Unperformed | – | Sketch of opera, based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann | [17] [27] [35] |
70 | Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (aka Tannhäuser) English: Tannhäuser and the Song Contest at Wartburg Score (Dresden and Paris versions) [37] | Große romantische Oper 3 Acts | 1843–45 | 19 October 1845; Revised version: 18 March 1861 | Dresden, Königliches Opernhaus (1845); Paris, Opéra (1861) | Wagner did not produce a definitive edition of the score. The Paris premiere was disrupted by political and other demonstrations. | [38] [39] |
75 | Lohengrin Score [40] | romantische Oper 3 Acts | 1846–48 | 28 August 1850 | Weimar, Hoftheater | Loosely based on the German legend of Lohengrin, as presented in medieval verse including Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival | [41] [42] |
76 | Friedrich I | Oper? 5 Acts | 1848–49 | Unperformed | – | Project on Frederick I of Prussia, possibly intended as a music drama. No libretto or music written | [5] [43] |
80 | Jesus von Nazareth English: Jesus of Nazareth | Oper? 5 Acts | 1848–49 | Unperformed | – | Prose draft only for libretto, no music written. Aspects of the sketch may have been used in the writing of Parsifal | [5] [17] [44] |
81 | Achilleus English: Achilles | Oper? | 1848–49 | Unperformed | – | Prose sketch, no music written | [5] [45] |
82 | Wieland der Schmied English: Wieland the Smith | Heldenoper [T 2] 3 Acts | 1849–50 | Unperformed | – | Prose sketch for a heroic opera, offered to and rejected by Liszt and Berlioz. Eventually adapted by O. Schlemm and set by Ján Levoslav Bella (premiere Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava, 28 April 1926) [46] | [5] [47] |
86A | Das Rheingold English: The Rhine Gold Score [48] | Bühnenfestspiel Vorabend [T 3] 1 Act | 1853–54 | 22 September 1869 | Munich, Hofoper | First part of Der Ring des Nibelungen . First performance as part of complete Ring cycle: 13 August 1876, at Bayreuth Festspielhaus | [49] |
86B | Die Walküre English: The Valkyrie Score [50] | Bühnenfestspiel erster Tag [T 4] 3 Acts | 1854–56 | 26 June 1870 | Munich, Hofoper | Second part of Der Ring des Nibelungen. First performed as part of complete Ring cycle: 14 August 1876, at Bayreuth Festspielhaus | [51] |
89 | Die Sieger English: The Victors | Oper? | 1856 | Unperformed | – | Prose outline and music sketches for an opera on a Buddhist subject; some music may have been used in later works. | [17] [52] [ clarification needed ] [53] |
90 | Tristan und Isolde English: Tristan and Isolde Score [54] | Handlung [T 5] 3 Acts | 1857–59 | 10 June 1865 | Munich, Hofoper | Based in part on Gottfried von Strassburg's medieval epic, also believed to be an idealisation of Wagner's love for Mathilde Wesendonck | [39] [55] [56] |
96 | Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg English: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg Score [57] | Oper 3 Acts | 1861–67 | 21 June 1868 | Munich, Hofoper | Wagner's only mature attempt at a comic opera, based on a draft originally written in 1845 | [58] [59] [ clarification needed ] |
99 | Luthers Hochzeit English: Luther's Wedding | Oper? | 1868 | Unperformed | – | A sketch play/libretto about Martin Luther and his decision to marry Katherina von Bora | [35] [60] |
86C | Siegfried Score [61] | Bühnenfestspiel zweiter Tag [T 6] 3 Acts | 1856–71 | 16 August 1876 | Bayreuth Festspielhaus | Third part of Der Ring des Nibelungen. The composition was interrupted for 12 years between 1857 and 1869. | [39] [62] |
86D | Götterdämmerung English: Twilight of the Gods Score [63] | Bühnenfestspiel dritter Tag [T 7] 3 Acts | 1871–74 | 17 August 1876 | Bayreuth Festspielhaus | Fourth part of Der Ring des Nibelungen. | [64] |
102 | Eine Kapitulation English: A Capitulation | Lustspiel in antiker Manier [T 8] | 1871 | Unperformed | – | A farce based on the siege of Paris, 1870. Wagner unsuccessfully asked Hans Richter to set it to music | [65] [66] [ clarification needed ] |
111 | Parsifal Score [67] | Bühnenweihfestspiel [T 9] 3 Acts | 1877–82 | 26 July 1882 | Bayreuth Festspielhaus | Under an agreement between Wagner and King Ludwig, Parsifal was only to be performed at Bayreuth, "never desecrated by contact with any profane stage". | [68] [69] |
Translation:
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity.
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. 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, by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditionally not cut. With Hans von Bülow conducting, it was first performed on 21 June 1868 at the National Theater in Munich, today home of Bavarian State Opera.
Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843.
Parsifal is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance Parzival of the Minnesänger Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Old French chivalric romance Perceval ou le Conte du Graal by the 12th-century trouvère Chrétien de Troyes, recounting different accounts of the story of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his spiritual quest for the Holy Grail.
Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered at the Königliches Hoftheater und Nationaltheater in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting. Wagner referred to the work not as an opera, but called it "eine Handlung".
Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. It premiered as a single opera at the National Theatre of Munich on 22 September 1869, and received its first performance as part of the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 13 August 1876.
Die Walküre, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on 26 June 1870, and received its first performance as part of the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 14 August 1876.
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of his era, and his piano works continue to be widely performed and recorded.
"Das Judenthum in der Musik", is an antisemitic essay by composer Richard Wagner which criticizes the influence of Jews and their "essence" on European art music, arguing that they have not contributed to its development but have rather commodified and degraded it.
Karl Klindworth was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, violinist and music publisher. He was one of Franz Liszt's pupils and later one of his closest disciples and friends, being also on friendly terms with composer Richard Wagner, of whom he was an admirer. He was highly praised by fellow musicians, including Wagner himself and Edward Dannreuther. Among his pupils were Hans von Bülow, Georgy Catoire, and Ethelbert Nevin.
Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen is an 1842 opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi. Written between July 1838 and November 1840, it was first performed at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden, on 20 October 1842, and was the composer's first success.
Tannhäuser is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner. It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centres on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work.
The German composer Richard Wagner was a controversial figure during his lifetime, and has continued to be so after his death. Even today he is associated in the minds of many with Nazism and his operas are often thought to extol the virtues of German nationalism. The writer and Wagner scholar Bryan Magee has written:
I sometimes think there are two Wagners in our culture, almost unrecognizably different from one another: the Wagner possessed by those who know his work, and the Wagner imagined by those who know him only by name and reputation.
Richard Hageman was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, and composer.
Männerlist größer als Frauenlist oder Die glückliche Bärenfamilie is an unfinished Singspiel by Richard Wagner, written between 1837 and 1838.
The Symphony in C major, WWV 29, from 1832 is the only completed symphony of Richard Wagner.
Leubald was an attempt by the youthful Richard Wagner to write a tragic drama in the Shakespearean genre. It occupied him during the years 1827-28 while he was at school, first in Dresden and later in Leipzig. The play combines elements of Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Richard III, with influences from Goethe and Heinrich von Kleist. The critic Theodor Adorno has noted:
Leubald [and Wagner's other early writings] are all of a piece with those plays of which high-school pupils are wont to write in their exercise books the title, the Dramatis Personae, and the words 'Act I'.
William Ashton Ellis was an English doctor and theosophist. He is remembered for translating the complete prose works of Richard Wagner.