History Music / RichardWagner

* ''Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen'' (''[[Theatre/{{Rienzi}} Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes]]'') - Written and composed between 1837 and 1840, premiered in 1842. Written in the Grand Opera style that was popular at the time, the work is usually regarded as outside Wagner's mature canon, though it is more often performed than his two earlier operas, ''Die Feen'' and ''Das Liebesverbot''.
* ''[[Theatre/TheFlyingDutchman Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (''The Flying Dutchman'') - Written and composed between 1840 and 1841, premiered in 1843. Typically regarded as the first opera with elements of Wagner's mature compositional style.
* ''Theatre/{{Tannhaeuser}} und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg'' (''Tannhäuser and the Minnesingers' Contest at the Wartburg'') - Written and composed in 1845, premiered in 1845.

* ''[[Theatre/TristanUndIsoldeWagner Tristan und Isolde]]'' - Written and composed between 1857 and 1859, premiered in 1865.
* ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' (''Theatre/TheMastersingersOfNuremberg'') - Composed between 1861 and 1867, premiered in 1868.
* ''[[Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung Der Ring Des Nibelungen]]'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), composed between 1848 and 1874, premiered[[note]]This is for the Ring Cycle as a whole; ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'' first premiered in 1869 and 1870, respectively.[[/note]] in 1876, consisting of four parts:
** ''Das Rheingold'' (''The Rhine Gold'')
** ''Die Walküre'' (''The Valkyrie'') -- includes "Music/RideOfTheValkyries"

** ''Götterdämmerung'' (''Twilight of the Gods'')

* ''Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen'' (''Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes'') - Written and composed between 1837 and 1840, premiered in 1842. Written in the Grand Opera style that was popular at the time, the work is usually regarded as outside Wagner's mature canon, though it is more often performed than his two earlier operas, ''Die Feen'' and ''Das Liebesverbot''.

* ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' (''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg'') - Composed between 1861 and 1867, premiered in 1868.

* ''Parsifal'' - Written and composed between 1857 and 1882, premiered in 1882.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Wagner_as_Siegfried.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:250: [- Richard Wagner, standing victorious over the dragon of criticism, winning a hoard of royalties. [[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grimm_Wagner_Karikatur.jpg Caricature of 1879.]] -] ]]

** ''Tristan und Isolde'', and its prelude especially, is often cited as the UrExample of the modernist departure from [[{{Scales}} tonality]]. While the work is still rooted in the traditions of German music, Wagner stretched the tonal system well beyond the limits of many listeners and critics in his day - often delaying the resolutions to dominants or not giving them at all.

** ''Tristan und Isolde'', and its prelude especially, is often cited as the UrExample of the modernist departure from tonality. While the work is still rooted in the traditions of German music, Wagner stretched the tonal system well beyond the limits of many listeners and critics in his day - often delaying the resolutions to dominants or not giving them at all.

** ''Tristan und Isolde'', and its prelude especially, is often cited as the UrExample of the modernist departure from tonality. While the work is still rooted in the traditions of German music, Wagner stretched the tonal system [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible well beyond the limits]] of many listeners and critics in his day - often delaying the resolutions to dominants or not giving them at all.

* "WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace" opens with the fanfare from the ''Meistersinger'' Overture, probably intended satirically as it was a WartimeCartoon from a time when Wagner's music was unfortunately associated more with the "[[ThoseWackyNazis Nutzi Land]]" where Franchise/DonaldDuck dreams himself to be.

%%* ''Manga/GiantRobo''

* In the ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' episode "Trick or Threat", when Larry whistles a tune from Wagner, a man accuses him of being a "self-hating Jew", as Wagner was a notorious anti-Semite. At the end of the episode, Larry takes revenge on him by hiring an orchestra and conducting them to play Wagner in front of the guy's house.

* The evil character Dietrich von Lohengrin in the anime and manga of ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' presumably derives his surname from Wagner's operatic hero.

%% * EvilSoundsDeep: As with Telramund, Klingsor (even in his... er... ''condition'', which should have him singing soprano), Alberich, and Hagen.
%% ** Also often averted, in that Landgrave Hermann, Henry the Fowler, Hans Sachs, Gurnemanz, and Titurel are all deep-voiced goodies; in ''Parsifal'' Gurnemanz stands out as one of the few instances in opera where the bass has nearly as many measures to sing as the lead tenor.
%% ** On the ''other'' other hand, Ortrud is a mezzosoprano/soprano.

* EvilSoundsDeep: As with Telramund, Klingsor (even in his... er... ''condition'', which should have him singing soprano), Alberich, and Hagen.
** Also often averted, in that Landgrave Hermann, Henry the Fowler, Hans Sachs, Gurnemanz, and Titurel are all deep-voiced goodies; in ''Parsifal'' Gurnemanz stands out as one of the few instances in opera where the bass has nearly as many measures to sing as the lead tenor.
** On the ''other'' other hand, Ortrud is a mezzosoprano/soprano.

* EvilSoundsDeep: As with Telramund, Klingsor (even in his... er... ''condition'', which should have him singing soprano), Alberich, and Hagen. On the other hand, Landgrave Hermann, Henry the Fowler, Hans Sachs, Gurnemanz, and Titurel are all deep-voiced goodies; and on the ''other'' other hand, Ortrud is a mezzosoprano/soprano.

* EvilSoundsDeep: As with Telramund and Klingsor (even in his... er... ''condition'', which should have him singing soprano). On the other hand, Landgrave Hermann, Henry the Fowler, Hans Sachs, Gurnemanz, and Titurel are all deep-voiced goodies; and on the ''other'' other hand, Ortrud is a mezzosoprano/soprano.

His extreme nationalism caused him to be adopted very soon as a symbol of UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}, particularly in its most [[UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} militaristic and]] [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany imperialist modes]], and his virulent anti-Semitism (extreme even by the standards of his time) and the fact that UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler [[HitlerAteSugar loved his music]] has made Wagner the ideal musical symbol of the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third Reich]]: depictions of the downfall of Nazi Germany are almost automatically accompanied by "Siegfried's Funeral March" from (naturally) ''Götterdämmerung''.[[note]]It is highly unlikely that Wagner would have returned Hitler's admiration, not least because Wagner was a socialist for most of his life and befriended the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin and participated in the Dresden May Uprising, which resulted in his exile by the Saxon government. Anyone actually familiar with the texts of his works will note that one of the major themes running through his work is "power is evil, love is good" - which is ''not'' a Nazi-friendly message in the slightest, and really much closer to anarchism.[[/note]] (Wagner's anti-Semitism may have been a case of [[BoomerangBigot Boomerang Bigotry]], as Ludwig Geyer, the man whom he suspected of being his biological father, was also (apparently incorrectly) reputed to be of Jewish ancestry.) Due to the aforementioned points Wagner was semi-officially banned in Israel for a long time and even today playing Wagner in Israel is a major breach of taboo and guaranteed to cause controversy. On the flip side, Bayreuth has had a festival dedicated exclusively to his music that has basically made this town of some 80,000 souls a major scene in the world of classical music. Tickets sell out ten years in advance and frequent attendees include Angela Merkel and a Who's Who of German celebrities. (Thus, while one will get into trouble for saying something positive about Wagner in Israel, one will equally get into trouble for saying something negative about him in Bayreuth.)

* ''Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen'' (''Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes'') - Written and composed between 1837 and 1840, premiered in 1842.
* ''[[Theatre/TheFlyingDutchman Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (''The Flying Dutchman'') - Written and composed between 1840 and 1841, premiered in 1843.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a UsefulNotes/{{German|y}} [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced many other pieces of music such as a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the "''[[Music/WesendonckLieder Wesendonck-Lieder]]''," as well as the "[[Music/SiegfriedIdyll Siegfried Idyll]]," a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

His extreme nationalism caused him to be adopted very soon as a symbol of UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}, particularly in its most [[UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} militaristic and]] [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany imperialist modes]], and his virulent anti-Semitism (extreme even by the standards of his time) and the fact that UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler [[HitlerAteSugar loved his music]] has made Wagner the ideal musical symbol of the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third Reich]]: depictions of the downfall of Nazi Germany are almost automatically accompanied by "Siegfried's Funeral March" from (naturally) ''Götterdämmerung''.[[note]]It is highly unlikely that Wagner would have returned Hitler's admiration, not least because Wagner was a socialist for most of his life and befriended the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin and participated in the Dresden May Uprising, which resulted in his exile by the Saxon government. Anyone actually familiar with the texts of his works will note that one of the major themes running through his work is "power is evil, love is good" - which is ''not'' a Nazi-friendly message in the slightest, and really much closer to anarchism.[[/note]] (Wagner's anti-Semitism may have been a case of [[BoomerangBigot Boomerang Bigotry]], as Ludwig Geyer, the man whom he suspected of being his biological father, was also (apparently incorrectly) reputed to be of Jewish ancestry.) Due to the aforementioned points Wagner was semi-officially banned in Israel for a long time and even today playing Wagner in Israel is a major breach of taboo and guaranteed to cause controversy. On the flip side, Bayreuth has had a festival dedicated exclusively to his music that has basically made the 80,000 soul town a major scene in the world of classical music all by itself. Tickets sell out ten years in advance and frequent attendants include Angela Merkel and the who's who of German celebrities. While you will get in trouble for saying something positive about Wagner in Israel, you will get in trouble for saying something negative about him in Bayreuth. Wagner was once close friends with Creator/FriedrichNietzsche before [[WeUsedToBeFriends they had a huge falling out]].

Wagner was the subject of a 1954 {{Biopic}}, ''Magic Fire'', and of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiDe_HruhlY Wagner]]'', a 1983 TV mini-series starring Creator/RichardBurton. Creator/TrevorHoward played him in Creator/LuchinoVisconti's ''Ludwig'' (1972).

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced many other pieces of music such as a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the "''[[Music/WesendonckLieder Wesendonck-Lieder]]''," as well as the "[[Music/SiegfriedIdyll Siegfried Idyll]]," a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the "''[[Music/WesendonckLieder Wesendonck-Lieder]]''," as well as the "[[Music/SiegfriedIdyll Siegfried Idyll]]," a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

* ThePowerOfLove: In ''Holländer'' Vanderdecken is saved from eternal maritime damnation by Senta's faithful love; in ''Tannhäuser'', Heinrich is saved from eternal intramontane damnation by Elisabeth's faithful love. On the other hand, in ''Lohengrin'' Elsa's love for the eponymous swan-knight brings causes her to ask the fateful question which drives him away. Though Walther and Eva love each other, of course, it is rather The Power of Art than ThePowerOfLove that brings about the happy ending in ''Meistersinger''. Tristan and Isolde's love brings destruction upon them. Parsifal actually ''rejects'' the love (if one can call it that) of the Flower Maidens and Kundry to become the hero. Invoked in Wagner's earlier works, this trope is more often [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in his later ones.

* MeaningfulName: Wagner makes a big deal out of Parsifal's name being Persian for "pure fool." [[CriticalResearchFailure It isn't, really.]]

* KillEmAll:
** Wagner started on the path of Everyone Dies early. His boyhood tragedy ''Leubald'' featured twenty-four deaths; by the last act, he had killed off so many that he had to bring some characters back as ghosts.
** Played out to a very literal and final conclusion in Götterdämmerung. The world is destroyed and literally everyone except the Rhine Maidens (yes, even the Gods) are killed. Alberich also survives.

* SpaceJews: Klingsor from ''Parsifal'' is generally considered to be one of these. Some would also include the Nibelungs from the ''Ring'', especially Mime, and the villainous Beckmesser from ''Meistersinger,'' though those cases are more debated. Considering Wagner's own distasteful [[GreedyJew antisemitic views]], this interpretation can have serious UnfortunateImplications, especially since Wagner [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic never actually said]] that any of his characters were meant to reflect Jewish people.

* WeekendInventor: While not a full-time musical instrument inventor such as UsefulNotes/AdolpheSax, Wagner did create the Wagner tuba for performance in his ''Ring'' cycle. They're essentially modified French horns rather then true tubas (coming in tenor and bass versions) and usually performed in concert by French horn players. Subsequent composers, most notably Music/AntonBruckner and Music/RichardStrauss, included them in their works.

* NiceHat: Besides popularizing winged (and [[HornyVikings horned]]) helmets, the composer's own characteristic large, slouched beret (see pic, above) is actually called a ''Wagnerkappe'' in German.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the "''Wesendonck-Lieder''," as well as the "Siegfried Idyll," a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the ''[[Wesendonck-Lieder]]'', as well as the ''[[Siegfried Idyll]]'', a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883) was a [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German composer, writer, stage director, and polemicist]] of the {{Romantic|ism}} era. Best known for his {{opera}}s, though he also produced a distinguished, [[TearJerker/{{Music}} melancholy]] song-cycle, the ''Wesendonck-Lieder'', as well as the ''Siegfried Idyll'', a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.