Wihelm Richard Wagner's Accomplishments

Wihelm Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig Germany. There is much controversy surrounding Wagner as his works are both celebrated for their complexity while also being critiqued due to his anti-Semitic writings, which made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler. Wagner attended school in Dresden, Germany and by the age of sixteen was composing his own music. In 1831 Wagner attended Leipzig University and in 1833 his first symphony was performed. Wagner then married Minna Planer, a singer and actress, in 1836 and they moved to Königsberg where Wagener became the musical director at the Magdeburg Theater. He created a method called “Gesamtunkstwerk” which combined Germanic myths with larger, more versatile themes of love and redemption.

During this time he wrote numerous criticisms against Jewish artists including an incredibly and notoriously anti-Semitic pamphlet Jewishness in Music in which he wrote that Jews are "incapable ... of artistic expression, neither through [their] outer appearance, nor through [their] language and least of all through [their] singing." (http://www.dw.de/the-hateful-side-of-wagners-musical-genius/a-16850818) Wagner’s influence and name helped to bring anti-Semitic ideas and writings to the European and particularly German middle class. Wagner’s views eventually influenced Adolf Hitler who greatly admired Wagner’s music which was adopted and appropriated by the Nazi party. Jens Malte Fisher, a literary and artistic historian, writes that "[Wagner] carried over the hatred of Jews of his era into the area of culture and - in particular - that of music." (http://www.dw.de/the-hateful-side-of-wagners-musical-genius/a-16850818). Wagner’s controversial viewpoints bring forth an equally controversial question: can a society accept a thing of beauty – art, literature, or music – while at the same time condemning the views of the creator. Is it morally acceptable to laud the creation despite the heinous sentiments of the artist? Can we as a society separate the ethical complications of an artist’s views from our appreciation of their works? In an attempt to answer this question New

The Ring Cycle was revolutionary to music in that it “combined literature, visual elements and music in a way that would anticipate the future of film” (http://www.biography.com/people/richard-wagner-9521202). It would eventually influence modern film scores such as the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies. Wagner eventually separated from his wife after falling in love with the married Mathilde Wesendonck, who inspired him to write Tristan and Isolde. Wagner did not classify Tristan and Isolde as an opera but instead called it an eine Handlung, which translates from German as “a drama”. Wagner was finally able to return to Germany in 1862 when King Ludwig II invited Wagner to stay in Bavaria. There he met Cosima van Bülow with whom he began an affair and fathered two illegitimate children until they finally married in 1870. Wagner’s last opera Parsifal was completed in 1882. Wagner died February 13, 1883 of a heart attack at the age of 69. He was buried in