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 purely human is the highest religion.
The redemption of the Redeemer.
Here, time becomes space.
I am different, have different nerves, must have art, life, and excitement.
The most unfailing symptom of mediocrity is the constant wish to be original.
The secret of musical form is the secret of organic life.
The artist who is not completely satisfied with the beautiful, but seeks the true, is on the path to wisdom.
The public is always right.
One must have chaos within oneself to give birth to a dancing star.
The only form of music is melody; without melody, music is unthinkable.
I am the most misunderstood of men.
The art of transition is the highest art in music.
The purpose of art is to make the unconscious conscious.
The folk-poet is the collective, anonymous voice of the people.
Love is the eternal tragedy of the world.
The most sublime victory is to conquer oneself.
I am building a theatre in Bayreuth in which I shall produce my 'Ring of the Nibelung' in a manner befitting its importance.
The musician is the most clairvoyant of artists.
The essence of the dramatic art is to know what to leave out.
The true artist creates from necessity, not for fame or reward.
Contemporaries of Richard Wagner
Other Musics born within 50 years of Richard Wagner (1813–1883).