Opera heard in his earlier operas such as "Der fliegende Holländer", "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin"; and he was prepared to violate accepted musical conventions, such as tonality, in his quest for greater expressivity. In his mature music dramas, "Tristan und Isolde", "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", "Der Ring des Nibelungen" and "Parsifal", he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of a seamless flow of "endless melody". Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from Germanic or Arthurian legend. Finally, Wagner built his own opera house at Bayreuth with part
Richard Wagner school of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, at the expense of Geyer's brother. At the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Weber's opera "Der Freischütz," which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright. His first creative effort, listed in the "Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis" (the standard listing of Wagner's works) as WWV 1, was a tragedy called "Leubald." Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was strongly influenced by Shakespeare and Goethe. Wagner was determined to set it to music, and persuaded his family to allow him