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)
My art is for the people, not for the elite.
I have found my home in your heart.
The true artist must suffer.
My music is the language of my soul.
I am a revolutionary in art, not in politics.
The Ring is a work of the future.
My art is a confession.
Only love can create.
I live only for my art.
The world will understand me someday.
My art is a bridge between the visible and the invisible.
I am a German artist, and I am proud of it.
You are my destiny, my muse, my life.
Bayreuth is the temple of my art.
My art is for humanity.
My art is a struggle for truth.
I am a poet, a musician, a dramatist.
The Ring is my life's work.
My art is a mirror of my soul.
Love is the only reality.
Contemporaries of Richard Wagner
Other Musics born within 50 years of Richard Wagner (1813–1883).