Wagner

Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was a German composer and conductor who revolutionized opera, developing the music drama concept with continuous orchestral texture, the leitmotif technique, and the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). He composed the Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal.

Transformed opera into music drama; the leitmotif technique became foundational to film music; Tristan und Isolde's harmonic innovations arguably triggered the dissolution of tonality.