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Richard Wagner was one of the most revolutionary figures in music, and dominated the development of classical music from about 1850 to 1875, a quarter-century, significantly, in which not a single new symphony was produced that entered the permanent standard repertoire. Wagner, like all the composers in this article, was also a "theatre man, " with virtually all his important work being for the operatic stage. He did write a pair of youthful symphonies, an overture, some egregiously cheap commemorative works on commission, a masterly song cycle, and a lovely chamber piece. But his reputation rests only on his operas, and his presence in concert halls consists vitually without exception of overtures, preludes, and other excerpts from his operas. However, his music is so symphonic in nature, that he is the only opera composer whose operatic excerpts you are more likely to encounter at the symphony rather than at vocal recitals. His advances in harmonic thinking, in particular, unalterabl...