 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) is the most important major Western composer to have left a sizable body of philosophical writings on music. In addition to the intrinsic interest of his own views and their relation to the composer’s musical production, Wagner’s place in the history of the philosophy of music is secured by the influence Schopenhauer exercised on him, and by the one he in turn had on another major philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche (see  §1.2  and  §1.5).