I. Background Information 1. Richard Wagner(1813-1883),the greatest composer of German opera, made a major addition to the nature of opera through his writings about and the creation of music drama music drama combines singing, orchestra, verse, story drama and spectacle Wagner's works include the"The ring of the Nibelung"(1853-1874,a set of four operas based on historical german stories for an introduction to Wagner as well as other resources on the internet please visit http://www.ffaire.com/wagner/index.htmlor http://www.yahoocom/entertainment/music/.Ⅰ. Background Information 1. Richard Wagner (1813-1883), the greatest composer of German opera, made a major addition to the nature of opera through his writings about and the creation of music drama. Music drama combines singing, orchestra, verse, story, drama and spectacle. Wagner's works include the "The Ring of the Nibelung" (1853-1874), a set of four operas based on historical German stories. For an introduction to Wagner as well as other resources on the Internet, please visit http://www.ffaire.com/wagner/index.html or http://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/