<P> Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( / ˈvɑːɡnər / ; German : ( ˈʁiçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ ) ( listen ) ; 22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883 ) was a German composer , theatre director , polemicist , and conductor who is primarily known for his operas ( or , as some of his later works were later known , `` music dramas '' ) . 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 Weber and Meyerbeer , Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ( `` total work of art '' ) , 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 ( The Ring of the Nibelung ) . </P>
<P> Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( / ˈvɑːɡnər / ; German : ( ˈʁiçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ ) ( listen ) ; 22 May 1813 -- 13 February 1883 ) was a German composer , theatre director , polemicist , and conductor who is primarily known for his operas ( or , as some of his later works were later known , `` music dramas '' ) . 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 Weber and Meyerbeer , Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ( `` total work of art '' ) , 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 ( The Ring of the Nibelung ) . </P>
who wrote the texts or libretti of richard wagner 's music dramas
who wrote the texts or libretti of richard wagner 's music dramas
Wilhelm Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner