Richard Wagner

Revolutionary of the total artwork whose Ring cycle and Tristan chord bent music’s course.

Core Principles & Analysis

• The four-opera Ring of the Nibelung spans some fifteen hours and demanded its own theatre at Bayreuth.
• The unresolved Tristan chord of 1859 lit the fuse that led toward tonality’s dissolution.
• His theoretical Gesamtkunstwerk fused music, drama, and staging under one author’s control.

Specifications & Metrics

• ERA: 1813 – 1883