kers in the realm of pure
music. In Beethoven, the greatest of them all, was laid the basis of the
new epoch of tone-poetry. In the immortal songs of Schubert, Schumann,
Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Franz, and the symphonies of the first four,
the vitality of the reformatory idea is richly illustrated. In the
music-drama of Wagner, it is claimed by his disciples, is found the full
flower and development of the art-work.

William Richard Wagner, the formal projector of the great changes whose
details are yet to be sketched, was born at Leipsic in 1813. As a child
he displayed no very marked artistic tastes, though his ear and memory
for music were quite remarkable. When admitted to the Kreuzschule of
Dresden, the young student, however, distinguished himself by his very
great talent for literary composition and the classical languages. To
this early culture, perhaps, we are indebted for the great poetic power
which has enabled him to compose the remarkable libretti which have
furnished the basis of his music. His first creative attempt was a
blood-thirsty drama, where forty-two characters are killed, and the few
survivors are haunted by the ghosts. Young Wagner soon devoted himself
to the study of music, and, in 1833, became a pupil of Theodor Weinlig,
a distinguished teacher of harmony and counterpoint. His four years of
study at this time were also years of activity in creative experiment,
as he composed four operas.

His first opera of note was "Rienzi," with which he went to Paris
in 1837. In spite of Meyerbeer's efforts in its favor, this work was
rejected, and laid aside for some years. Wagner supported himself by
musical criticism and other literary work, and soon was in a position
to offer another opera, "Der fliegende Hollander," to the authorities of
the Grand Opera-House. Again the directors refused the work, but were so
charmed with the beauty of the libretto that they bought it to be
reset to music. Until the year 1842, life was a trying struggle for the
indomitable young musician. "Rienzi" was then produced at Dresden, so
much to the delight of the King of Saxony that the composer was made
royal Kapellmeister and leader of the orchestra. The production of
"Der fliegende Hollander" quickly followed; next came "Tanhaeuser"
and "Lohengrin," to be swiftly succeeded by the "Meistersinger von
Nuernberg." This period of our _maestro's_ musical activity also
commenced to witness the development of his theories on the p