COMPOSER OF THE MONTH:
RICHARD WAGNER (200 YEARS OLD!!!)
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig,
Germany, and went on to become one of the world's most influential—and
controversial—composers.
Richard Wagner was famous for both his complex operas, such
as the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his
anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler. There is evidence that Wagner's music was
played at the Dachau concentration camp to "re-educate" the prisoners.
As a young boy, Wagner attended school in Dresden, Germany.
He did not show aptitude in music and, in fact, his teacher said he would
"torture the piano in a most abominable fashion." But he was
ambitious from a young age. When he was 11 years old, he wrote his first drama.
By age 16, he was writing musical compositions. Young Wagner was so confident
that some people considered him conceited.
Wagner died of a heart attack on February 13, 1883, at age
69, while vacationing in Venice, Italy for the winter. His body was shipped by
gondola and train back to Bayreuth, where he was buried.
In the 20th century, Adolf Hitler was
a fan of Wagner's music and writings, only making Wagner's legacy more
controversial.
- Wagner’s wife (Cosima Liszt) was the daughter of the pianist and composer Franz Liszt.
- Wagner’s wife held on to her husband's body for 24 hours after his death.
- Wagner composed in different ink colors.
- Wagner’s first opera, “Die Feen”, is a rarely performed opera about fairies.
- Wagner was a skilled debater.
- Wagner could barely play the Piano
- The first word of the Ring cycle (Das Rheingold scene 1) is "Weia". It's not a real word in German.
- The last word of the Ring cycle is "Ring".
Quotes
“I am the most
German being, I am the German spirit" -Wagner
“I wish I could
score everything for horns.” -Wagner
“Wagner has good
moments but awful quarters of an hour.” -Gioacchino Rossini
“I like Wagner’s
music better than any other music. It is so loud that one can talk the whole
time without people hearing what one says.” -Oscar Wilde
“For me, Wagner
is impossible… he talks without ever stopping. One can’t just talk all the
time.” -Robert Schumann
(This quote makes sense because even
Wagner's music seems to never end
Links
http://www.rwagner.net/e-frame.html--A
beautiful site with Wagner Libretti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY8zGYe5W5g--Video
of Wagner's grandson Wolfgang Wagner showing the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (The
opera house that was built to Richard Wagner's specifications)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyq0Je-FRsw--The Ring Cycle in 2.5 minutes with Leitmotifs
http://ringcycle.metoperafamily.org/leitmotifs--Metropolitan Opera's Leitmotif page
http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html--Page with almost every leitmotif. You have to scroll down quite a bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PM3evhj3Kc--FULL recording of Götterdämmerung.
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WduYrwAGews
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypisVrbqDqE
--3 Videos of Anna Russell Summarizing the Ring Cycle.
