How did Richard Wagner's music dramas differ from earlier operas?

Richard Wagner’s music dramas represented a significant departure from the traditional structure of earlier operas, which were typically composed as a series of enclosed musical forms such as arias, recitatives, and ensembles.1

Key differences include:

• Continuous Texture: Wagner replaced the segmented structure of traditional opera with a continuous vocal-symphonic texture, largely eliminating the distinction between recitative and aria. He utilized a flexible melodic line he referred to as "tone speech".1
• Orchestral Role: Unlike earlier operas where the orchestra often served as accompaniment, Wagner treated the orchestra as the driving force of the drama. He expanded the orchestra significantly to support this role.21
• Leitmotifs: Wagner employed a sophisticated system of leitmotifs—recurring musical themes that symbolize characters, situations, or abstract ideas. These themes are transformed and developed throughout the work to provide psychological insight and structural cohesion.234
• Gesamtkunstwerk: Wagner sought to create a Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), where he controlled all aspects of the production—including libretto, music, and staging—to ensure every element served the drama.2

These works, which Wagner often based on mythology and legend, aimed to express national human aspirations through a unified, symbolic form of musical theatre.24