''Leubald'' was an attempt by the youthful Richard Wagner to write a tragic drama in the

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

genre. It occupied him during the years 1827-28 while he was at school, first in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

and later in

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. The play combines elements of ''Hamlet'', ''King Lear'', '' Macbeth'' and ''Richard III'', with influences from

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

and

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

. The critic

Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...

has noted:

''Leubald'' nd Wagner's other early writingsare all of a piece with those plays of which high-school pupils are wont to write in their exercise books the title, the
Dramatis Personae Dramatis personae (Latin: 'persons of the drama') are the main characters in a dramatic work written in a list. Such lists are commonly employed in various forms of theatre, and also on screen. Typically, off-stage characters are not considere ...
, and the words 'Act I'.

It is unclear whether, or in what manner, Wagner intended to set this text to music, but the desire to do so may have been the factor which led him to begin the study of composition. No music for ''Leubald'' has survived, but the text of the play exists. It has been suggested that the character of Adriano in Wagner's later opera ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rie ...

'' is recognisably based on that of Leubald in the earlier drama.Gutman, p. 124

Notes and references

Sources

*Adorno, Theodor (2009), tr. Rodney Livingstone, ''In Search of Wagner'', Verso, London *Gutman, Robert W. (1971): ''Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His Music'', Penguin Books, London *Millington, Barry (2001)
''(Wilhelm) Richard Wagner''
in Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. Retrieved on 20 March 2009 (subscription required) {{Richard Wagner Libretti by Richard Wagner

See also

Notes and references

Sources