Richard Wagner died on 13 February 1883 in Venice, aged 69. A German composer, conductor and theorist, Wagner transformed opera by treating it as a total work of art in which music, poetry and staging were unified. His mature works use leitmotifs, recurring musical themes linked to characters and ideas, and include The Flying Dutchman, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger and the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. With the support of King Ludwig II of Bavaria he built the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, where his works are still performed each summer. His harmonic daring influenced later music, while his antisemitic writings and the use of his work by the Nazis make his legacy controversial.
Before and after
- 1883Construction of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
- 1883Publication of The Adventures of Pinocchio
- 3 January 1883Birth of Clement Attlee
- 6 January 1883Birth of Kahlil Gibran
- 13 February 1883Death of Richard Wagner
- 14 March 1883Death of Karl Marx
- 30 April 1883Death of Édouard Manet
- from May 1883 to December 1885First Madagascar expedition
- 16 May 1883Birth of Celâl Bayar
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1792Publication of Dream of the Red Chamber
- 7 April 1837Publication of The Little Mermaid
- 21 February 1848Publication of The Communist Manifesto
- 18 September 1851Founding of The New York Times
- 1857Rise of Symbolism
- 28 December 1895The Lumiere brothers hold the first public film screening
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.