Siegfried Wagner

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Siegfried Wagner (6 June 1869 - 4 August 1930) was the son of Richard Wagner and Cosima von Bülow and the grandson of Franz Liszt. He was a very productive opera composer, composing more operas than his father. In 1896 he started conducting at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and around Germany. Siegfried was the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Though his works are numerous, none has entered the standard repertory.

Siegfried Wagner, who was bisexual, showed little interest in marriage.^[1] In an arranged meeting in 1914 at the Bayreuth Festival, the then 45-year-old Wagner was introduced to 17-year-old Winifred Klindworth. On 22 September 1915 they married and it was hoped that the marriage would end Siegfried's homosexual encounters and the associated costly scandals, and provide an heir to take charge of the music festival.^[1] The couple had four children:

Wieland (1917-1966)
Friedelind (1918-1991)
Wolfgang (born 1919)
Verena (born 1920)

Siegfried did have an illegitimate son, Walter Aign, by a pastor's daughter.^{[citation needed]} While Siegfried was alive, Walter was employed as a repetiteur at the Festspielhaus; after his death, when Winifred Wagner took control, she had him fired.^{[citation needed]}