Can you recognize Wagner by ear?
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was a German opera composer, known for The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal. In Guess the Composer, you hear up to 30 seconds of music and name the composer.
How to recognize Wagner
Listen for a massive orchestra with heavy brass and long phrases that keep postponing their resolution. Recurring themes, or leitmotifs, tie to characters and ideas, and the music flows without clear breaks between numbers.
Who can Wagner be mistaken for?
Listeners may confuse this music with that of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler or Richard Strauss.
How hard is Wagner in the game?
The game has up to 92 excerpts by Wagner, depending on your country, and most are at the Medium level.
Pieces you may hear
- Lohengrin, WWV 75
- Die Walküre, WWV 86B
- Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63
- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96
- Siegfried Idyll, WWV 103
- Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, WWV 70
- Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90: Akt I
- Das Rheingold, WWV 86A
Portrait: Franz Hanfstaengl, Public domain; background removed.
