Richard Wagner's day of birth was May 22, 1813. That was more than a century ago! More than twelve hundred months!
Since that time, music has changed very greatly. When Wagner was born, much of the music that was being written had to follow certain patterns or models just as architects follow certain patterns in building a house. Now the composer when he writes music feels a great deal freer as he knows that he can make his own patterns, that he is not held in by any such hard laws as those which held back such composers as Mozart, Bach, Haydn and Handel. It was Wagner who did much to set music free from the old barriers. This does not mean that music today is better than music that was written by Haydn and Beethoven. Indeed it often is not nearly so good, but it is freer, less held down by rule.

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