Editing Richard Wagner (section)

=== 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composer's lifetime,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=271–273}} and ''[[Das Liebesverbot]]'' (''The Ban on Love'', 1836) was withdrawn after its first performance.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=273–274}} ''[[Rienzi]]'' (1842) was Wagner's first opera to be successfully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}}