Wagner, Richard. A popular German composer. Born in Leipzig in 1813. Became chapel master at Dresden in 1843, and later took up his residence at Munich, upon the invitation of his admirer and patron, the King of Bavaria. His well-known operas, "Rienzi," "Tannhauser," and "Lohengrin," have elicited praise. Wagner wrote his own librettos, and his aesthetic theories on music and dramatic art involved him in much critical controversy. Richard Wagner died in 1883.

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