How did Richard Wagner become a famous composer?

Born in Germany on May 22, 1813, Richard Wagner went on to become one of the world's most influential—and controversial—composers. read more

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany, and went on to become one of the world's most influential—and controversial—composers. Richard Wagner was famous for both his complex operas, such as the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler. read more

Richard Wagner became famous for this reason alone - he had eventually Royal patronage and somehow convinced those around him of his brilliance, but it was what he scratched out on paper that won the day. read more

Gustav Mahler was devoted to Wagner and his music; aged 15, he sought him out on his 1875 visit to Vienna, became a renowned Wagner conductor, and his compositions are seen by Richard Taruskin as extending Wagner's "maximalization" of "the temporal and the sonorous" in music to the world of the symphony. read more