Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas" as he later came to call them). Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner always wrote the scenario and libretto for his works himself.   Wagner pioneered advances in musical language including extreme chromaticism and atonality which greatly influenced the development of European classical music.