The German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) dominated 19th century opera as a composer of monumental works who saw opera as a religion or a philosophy. He aimed to compose works which abandoned the usual operatic conventions of recitative and aria, blending orchestra, voice and words into a dramatic unity.

In the later part of his career Wagner enjoyed the support of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and established his own theatre and festival at the Bavarian town of Bayreuth. He developed the use of the Leitmotiv (leading motif) as a principle of musical unity, his dramatic musical structure depending on the interweaving of melodies or fragments of melody associated with characters, incidents or ideas in the drama. His most famous works, which occupied him for a number of years, are the four operas that form the The Ring cycle - Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (The Valkyries), Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). Other operas by Wagner include Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg), and his final work, Parsifal.