WAGNER'S EARLY WORKS

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is by far the most important figure in the
history of modern opera. With regard to the intrinsic beauty of his
works, and the artistic value of the theories upon which they are
constructed, there have been, and still are, two opinions; but his most
bigoted opponents can scarcely refuse to acknowledge the extent of the
influence which he has had upon contemporary and subsequent music--an
influence, in fact, which places him by the side of Monteverde and Gluck
among the great revolutionists of musical history. As in their case, the
importance of his work rests upon the fact that, although to a certain
extent an assimilation and development of the methods of his
predecessors, it embodied a deliberate revolt against existing musical
conditions.

From one point of view Wagner's revolt is even more important than that
of either of his forerunners, for they were men who, having failed to
win success under the existing conditions of music, revolted--so to
speak--in self-preservation, while he was an accomplished musician, and
the author of a successful work written in strict accordance with the
canons of art which then obtained. Had Wagner pleased, there was
nothing to hinder his writing a succession of 'Rienzis,' and ending his
days, like Spontini, rich and ennobled. To his eternal honour he
rejected the prospect, and chose the strait and narrow way which led,
through poverty and disgrace, to immortality. In spite of the
acknowledged success of 'Rienzi,' Wagner's enemies were never tired of
repeating that, like Monteverde, he had invented a new system because he
could not manipulate the old. It seems hardly possible to us that
musicians could ever have been found to deny that the composer of 'Die
Meistersinger' was a consummate master of counterpoint. Fortunately the
discovery of his Symphony in C finally put an end to all doubts relative
to the thoroughness of Wagner's musical education. In this work, which
was written at the age of eighteen, the composer showed a mastery of the
symphonic form which many of his detractors might have envied. The fact
is, that Wagner was a man of a singularly flexible habit of mind. He was
a careful student of both ancient and modern music, and a study of his
works shows us that, so far from despising what had been done by his
predecessors, he greedily assimilated all that was best in their
productions, only rejecting the narrow conventions