9. Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner or Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German music theorist, playwright, essayist, poet, conductor and composer. He was initially known as a talented composer with works like Tannhäuser and The Flying Dutchman. He developed the Gesamtkunstwerk concept or “total work of art”, which combined theatrical performance, visuals, music and poet. The concept was developed between 1849 and 1952, it resulted in a famous tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen. His ideas about the relationship between theater and music further developed when he reintroduced some elements of traditional Europe opera in The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Wagner’s works were notable for elaborate uses of leitmotifs, orchestration, harmony, rich color and contrapuntal texture.