Abandoned works include a pastoral opera based on Goethe's "Die Laune des Verliebten" ("The Infatuated Lover's Caprice"), written at the age of 17, "Die Hochzeit" ("The Wedding"), on which Wagner worked in 1832, and the singspiel "Männerlist größer als Frauenlist" ("Men are More Cunning than Women", 1837–38).
Wagner je razvil nov slog kompozicije, v katerem je bil pomen orkestra enak pomenu pevcev.