Richard Wagner is identified as one of the most influential and controversial figures throughout the history of opera. He is also responsible for the creation of a new type of singer, influencing the development of the orchestra, producing new instruments as well as a number of developments in theater. Wagner is responsible for the dissolution and destruction of tonality. Wagner wrote 13 very successful operas. His methods of composition show a move away from major and minor keys and the typical classical key relationships. This is especially relevant in his later works. This brought a new type of musical language and structure based on a musical theme called a leitmotif as its basic building block. Wagner was not only a musician and a composer, but he was also a musical dramatist. If you were to separate his music from the drama you would miss so much of the magic that is brought out in the opera's entirety.
             Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany on the 22 of May 1813, to his mother Johanna and his father, Carl Friedrich Wagner. Although Carl was labelled his 'official' father, it is unknown if he or the actor/painter Ludwig Geyer is the real father. 'The parentage of Richard Wagner is still a mater of dubiety.' Ludwig is considered Wagner's adopted father who 'took responsibility for the child on Carl Friedrich's death in November 1813, may possibly have been the real father.' Wagner was involved in theater and drama from an early age. He spent his early years between Dresden and Leipzig. During his teens Wagner became interested in music causing his grades in other subjects to suffer. In 1831, after studying harmony with a local teacher, Wagner studied music in Leipzig University. Many of Wagner's talents were self-taught and this is evident from his autobiography where Wagner wrote about his musical education 'in order to cultivate the notion of the untutored geniu...