Richard Wagner
Revolutionary opera composer, Gesamtkunstwerk
Most quoted
"The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: that a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (the Drama) has been made a means."
— from Opera and Drama, 1851
"The destiny of us musicians is to be the first artists to disappear from this earth; for after all, what have we got to do with a world from which beauty is vanishing?"
— from Letter
"Where the world is nothing but a dream, there is no need for a world to be. But where the world is a dream, there is a need for a world to be dreamed."
— from Letters
All quotes by Richard Wagner (411)
The German spirit is the spirit of destiny.
Imagination creates reality.
Joy is not in things; it is in us.
I write music with an exclamation point!
The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: that a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (the Drama) has been made a means.
The destiny of us musicians is to be the first artists to disappear from this earth; for after all, what have we got to do with a world from which beauty is vanishing?
The highest, most noble, and most sublime work of art is the drama.
Only that which is necessary can be beautiful.
I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven.
The true human being is the one who feels joy and sorrow most deeply.
Music is the speech of passion.
The orchestra should be the subconscious of the drama.
The folk is the embodiment of all those who feel a common need.
I am the most German of beings. I am the German spirit.
The world exists only through my representation.
Hatred is the prolonged form of suicide.
To be German means to do a thing for its own sake.
The most absolutely necessary thing for a musician is to have heard a great deal.
The purpose of drama is to represent an idea, not to tell a story.
Wherever I go, I find a poet has been there before me.
Contemporaries of Richard Wagner
Other Musics born within 50 years of Richard Wagner (1813–1883).