Richard Wagner Flashcards
Wagner is said to have had a significant influence on successive generations of composers. Name three specifically.
Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Arnold Schoenberg
Who would Wagner describe as his main teachers?
Despite a University education, Wagner considered himself largely self-taught
Describe a setback in his early career
as the director for a traveling theatre company, he gained valuable conducting experience but accumulated heavy debt. He fled to Paris to escape the creditors, where he continued to compose
describe Wagner’s connection to Schumann
while waiting for success as a composer he wrote articles that were published in Schumann’s journal Neue Zeitschrift ur Musik
What was one of Wagner’s biggest lifetime achievements?
establishment of the festival theatre at Bayreuth
which work was Wagner’s first big success?
grand opera Rienzi was accepted by Dresden Hoftheater
what movement did Wagner advocate?
Music of the Future, involving the principle of Gesamtkuntswerk (total art work) in which all elements of production are given equal status
How did Wagner view language?
he was one of the few composers to write his own librettos. He used something he called “poetic speech”, in which he carefully integrated the text and music.
what did Wagner think of the traditional numbers approach?
instead, Wagner used used a more seamless, through-composed style in which the distinction between recitative and aria were blurred.
did Wagner use symmetrical phrasing?
He employed “endless melody” - a more continuous melodic flow rather than symmetrical phrasing.
Name two innovations to the orchestra by Wagner
the Wagnerian tuba, and use of an expanded orchestra for his operas.
name two Music Dramas from Wagner’s Dresden period (while engaged as conductor at the court of Saxony in Dresden).
Tannhauser, The Flying Dutchman
name three works from Wagner’s years of political exile
literary works - Art and Revolution, Artwork of the Future, Opera and Drama
Name two works from Wagner’s early years
Rienzi, Die Feen
