Richard Wagner: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
A realistic analysis of Wagner’s complex character is presented in Ernest Newman, The Life of Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1933–47). Ronald Taylor, Richard Wagner: The Life, Art and Thought (1979), emphasizes the historical background of his life; Charles Osborne, Wagner and His World (1977), is a brief introductory biography. Important sources include The Diary of Richard Wagner, ed. by Joachim Bergfeld (1980); Cosima Wagner’s Diaries, ed. by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack (1978– ); and Wagner’s Mein Leben, 2 vol. (1870–81; Eng. trans., My Life, 1911). The official German and English biographies are C.F. Glasenapp, Das Leben Richard Wagners, 6 vol. (1894–1911); and W.A. Ellis, Life of Richard Wagner, 6 vol. (1900–08). Robert W. Gutman, Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His Music (1968), is a largely hostile biography.
An analytical introduction to Wagner’s music dramas is Ernest Newman, The Wagner Operas (1949; republished with the title Wagner Nights, 1950). A detailed study of Wagner’s development as a musical dramatist is Jack M. Stein, Richard Wagner and the Synthesis of the Arts (1960). A.O. Lorenz, Das Geheimnis der Form bei Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1924–33), provides an exhaustive bar-by-bar analysis of the musical construction of his major works. George Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite, 4th ed. (1922, reprinted 1967), has much of value to say about the social, political, and economic ideas behind The Ring; Jungian interpretation of the same work is Robert Donington, Wagner’s Ring and Its Symbols, 2nd ed. (1969).
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- Deryck V. Cooke
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modified link of Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Richard Wagner and the 19th Century Music Drama. | Oct 08, 2026 | ||
| Anniversary information added. | May 18, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: NPR - Extreme Drama: The Life and Music of Richard Wagner. | May 07, 2026 | ||
| Anniversary information added. | Feb 09, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: CORE - Richard Wagner and the Politics of Music-Drama (PDF). | Nov 13, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: CedarCommons - Total Artwork: Wagner's Philosophies on Art and Music in the Ring Cycle (PDF). | Sep 27, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Kennedy Center - Richard Wagner. | Apr 15, 2025 | ||
| Changed spelling of “anti-Semitism” to “antisemitism.” | Mar 06, 2025 | ||
| Questions and answers added. | Feb 13, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Richard Wagner and the 19th Century Music Drama. | Jul 16, 2024 | ||
| First paragraph modernization. | Apr 15, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Guardian - Wagner: where to start with his music. | Mar 28, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Richard Wagner. | Oct 20, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: The International Association of Wagner Societies - The Man: Richard Wagner. | Jun 29, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: San Francisco Classical Voice - Richard Wagner. | May 09, 2023 | ||
| Changed the “London Philharmonic” to the “Philharmonic Society of London (later the Royal Philharmonic Society).” | Mar 17, 2021 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Feb 09, 2021 | ||
| Add new Web site: Royal Opera House - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Jan 23, 2019 | ||
| Add new Web site: English National Opera - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Jan 23, 2019 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Sep 28, 2018 | ||
| Media added. | Jan 06, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: Making Music Fun! - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Dec 15, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: Classical Archives - Biography of Richard Wagner. | May 20, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: Classical Net - Biography of Richard Wagner. | May 20, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: DSO Kids - Biography of Richard Wagner. | May 20, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: Classics For Kids - Biography of Richard Wagner. | May 19, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: AllMusic - Richard Wagner. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: DSO Kids - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: Virginia Tech Department of Music - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Dec 27, 2012 | ||
| Changed spelling of "leitmotiv" to "leitmotif." | Oct 25, 2012 | ||
| Added undated photograph of Richard Wagner. | Jun 29, 2010 | ||
| Added passage on Wagner's anti-Semitism. | Jul 09, 2009 | ||
| Media added. | May 15, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Classical Music Pages - Biography of Richard Wagner. | Aug 24, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: Naxos Classical Music - Biography of Richard Wagner. | May 17, 2007 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |