Did Richard Wagner work with samples?

Certainly not in the sense of the procedure that has become influential since the 1980s, first in hip hop and dance music, then in more and more popular and avant-garde styles.

But Richard Wagner has developed his very own technique of formulating compositional content references and references: With leitmotifs, he created characteristic short sound building blocks that formulate subtexts to the stage plot in a musical drama.

Benedikt ter Braak has selected iconic leitmotifs for his program "Wagner resampled". From the Tristan motif, the Valkyrie motif or the Fate motif he makes samples, explores their capacity for development and transformation and builds a concert set for piano, synthesizer and electronic feed. This set may not have the length of a four-hour Wagner opera, but it develops a similar power of pull: on the way into the summer night, Wagner's leitmotifs become ambient music and the musical drama becomes a unique club night.