Richard Wagner's Major Accomplishments

Richard Wagner was one of the most influential, if not controversial composers of his time. Born in Germany on May 22, 1813, Wagner grew up writing musical compositions and dramas from the age of eleven. He had such high of a confidence that it would be overbearing to others that he met. It is uncertain who Wagner’s father was. He could either be the “son of police actuary Friedrich Wagner” who passed away when Richard was an infant or he could be the son of Ludwig Geyer. Geyer was a painter, actor, and poet as well as his stepfather. Wagner achieved his education at a school in Dresden, Germany. His teacher stated that he would “torture the piano in a most abominable fashion.” He did not show many skills when it came to music. In 1831, Wagner attended Leipzig University. …show more content…
Die Feen (The Fairies) was written in 1834 after Wagner joined the Würzburg Theater and became a chorus master. Minna Planer became Wagner’s wife in 1863. Together they moved to Königsberg where Wagner got a job at the Magdeburg Theatre as a musical director. Then to Riga, Russia when he took the position of the “first musical director of the theater” in 1837. And finally to Paris. Wagner took any job that he could find, even working for some of the smaller theaters. Over time, Wagner produced many works: Rienzi (1842), The Flying Dutchman (1843), Tannhäuser (1845), Lohengrin (1850), Jewishnes in Music, Opera and Drama, and Ring Cycle. Wagner left his wife, Minna, because he had fallen for another, Mathilde Wesendonck, who inspired him to right Tristan and Isolde (1865). He was able to return to Germany in 1862 after eleven years. There he met Cosima, the wife of Hans van Bülow and Franz Liszt’s illegitimate daughter, had two children and eventually married in 1870. Richard Wagner passed away on February 13, 1883, at age 69, of a heart attack while he was vacationing in Venice,