From 1849 onwards, he urged a new concept of opera often referred to as "music drama" (although he later rejected this term), in which all musical, poetic and dramatic elements were to be fused together—the Gesamtkunstwerk.
Dende 1849 en diante, impulsou un novo concepto de ópera denominado frecuentemente como "drama musical" (aínda que posteriormente el mesmo rexeitou ese termo), nos que todos os elementos musicais, poéticos e dramáticos se fusionaron —o Gesamtkunstwerk ('obra de arte total').