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Richard Wagner (sketched by Corey Sweeter for MPR)

Composer Corner: Wagner

May’s composer of the month is Richard Wagner.

 

Born: May 22, 1813

Died: February 13, 1883

 

Five facts:

• As a child, Wagner had little interest or aptitude for music, and was the only one of his siblings to not take piano lessons.

• Wagner's first completed opera, Die Feen, wasn't premiered until 1888 — five years after the composer's death.

• Wagner popularized the concept of leitmotifs — themes associated with a particular person, place or idea — which later became the foundation of film scores.

• Wagner has a controversial reputation as a composer, primarily due to his association with Nazism. It is alleged that Hitler once said, "Whoever wants to understand National Socialist Germany must know Wagner."

• The composer had a love of animals (he was particularly devoted to his dogs) and swore off eating meat toward the end of his life.

 

Three important works:

• Die Walküre (1854)

• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867)

• Götterdämmerung (1869)

 

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