(1813–83), German composer; full name Wilhelm Richard Wagner. He developed an operatic genre which he called music drama, synthesizing music, drama, verse, legend, and spectacle. Notable works: The Flying Dutchman (opera, 1841), Der Ring des Nibelungen (a cycle of four operas, 1847–74), Tristan and Isolde (music drama, 1859), and the Siegfried Idyll (1870).
Definition of Wagner, Richard in US English:
Wagner, Richard
proper nounˈväɡnər
(1813–83), German composer; full name Wilhelm Richard Wagner. He developed an operatic genre that he called music drama, synthesizing music, drama, verse, legend, and spectacle. Notable works: The Flying Dutchman (1841), Der Ring des Nibelungen (1847–74), Tristan and Isolde (1859), and the Siegfried Idyll (1870).