Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883)

Born 22 May 1813 in Leipzig, Königreich Sachsen, Rheinbund

Ancestors

Husband of Christine Wilhelmine Planer — married 24 Nov 1836 in Königsberg, Provinz Preußen, Königreich Preußen

Husband of Francesca Gaetana Cosima (Liszt) Wagner — married 25 Aug 1870 in Lucerne, Switzerland

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 1883 at age 69 in Venezia, Veneto, Regno d'Italia

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Biography

Richard Wagner is Notable.

Richard Wagner "was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesize the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realized these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)".^[1]

Richard was born as Wilhelm Richard Wagner on 22 May 1813 in Leipzig, Germany, the son of Carl Friedrich Wagner and Johanna Rosine Pätz. Richard was baptized 16 August 1813^[2] at the Lutheran St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.^[3] His father, Karl, died a few months later on 22 November 1813. "Wagner's parentage is uncertain: He is either the son of police actuary Friedrich Wagner, who died soon after Richard was born, or the son of the man he called his stepfather, the painter, actor and poet Ludwig Geyer (whom his mother married in August 1814)."^[4]

Richard was married to the singer and actress Christine Wilhelmine Planer on 24 November 1836 at Tragheim, Germany.^[5] They later separated and did not have any children. Christine died 25 January 1866.

Richard had a relationship with Cosima Liszt, the daughter of the famous pianist Franz Liszt. Three children were born to them: Isolde, born 1865; Eva, born 1866; and Siegfried, born 1869. Richard and Cosima were married 25 August 1870 in Luzern, Switzerland.

Richard's death came 13 February 1883 in Venice, Italy, at the age of 69.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ English Wikipedia article on Richard Wagner, (accessed November 11, 2015).
2. ↑ St. Thomas in Leipzig Richard Wagner Baptism Date.
3. ↑ Richard Wagner: My Life, Part 1 (1813-1842).
4. ↑ Richard Wagner Biography on Biography.com.
5. ↑ "Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPVG-7GTG : 25 March 2020), Wilhelm Richard Wagener, 24 Nov 1836; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Marriage, Königsberg, Königsberg, Ostpreußen, Preußen, Deutschland, Kaliningrad, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #2329 for Richard Wagner, (accessed November 11, 2015).

See also:

• Millington, Barry, John Deathridge, Carl Dahlhaus, and Robert Bailey. "Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard" at Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 30 Sep. 2021, Oxford Music Online[$].
• Richard Wagner on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
• German Wikipedia article on Richard Wagner
• Wikidata: Item Q1511, en:Wikipedia
• https://geneee.org/richard/wagner?lang=en
• Richard is mentioned in the book 'BOOSEY & HAWKES: THE PUBLISHING STORY' written by Helen Wallace.'Boosey & Hawkes, the Publishing Story' by Helen Wallace-1
• Beth Britten's biography of her brother Benjamin Britten the composer, entitled 'My Brother Benjamin', published by The Kensal Press in 1986 (ISBN 0-946041-40-7), includes extensive family trees. Hundreds of friends, professional connections and people in the 'music world' are also mentioned in the text.'My Brother Benjamin' by his sister Beth Britten
• 'Virginia Woolf' a biography by her nephew Quentin Bell, published by The Hogarth Press, Pimlico, London in 1996. ISBN 0 7126 7450 0, includes extensive family trees. Hundreds of friends, professional connections and people in the 'Bloomsbury set' are also mentioned in the text.'Virginia Woolf' a biography by her nephew Quentin Bell