Chronology Wagner, Die Walküre and Der Ring des Nibelungen 1848 Wagner’s first draft of the plot for The Ring. Writes the libretto for Siegfrieds Tod (later Götterdämmerung). 1849 Revises the libretto for Siegfrieds Tod. 1851 Writes the libretto for Der Junge Siegfried (later Siegfried). 1852 Completes the libretto for Der Ring des Nibelungen - now in four parts; Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. 1854 Completion of the musical score for Das Rheingold. 1856 Completion of the musical score for Die Walküre. 1857 Work on The Ring is interrupted after the 2nd act of Siegfried. 1859 Completion of the musical score for Tristan und Isolde. 1867 Completion of the musical score for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. 1869 First performance of Das Rheingold in Munich. 1870 First performance of Die Walküre in Munich. 1871 Completion of the libretto for Siegfried. 1872 Wagner moves to Bayreuth. 1874 Completion of the libretto for Götterdämmerung. 1876 Der Ring des Nibelungen is performed for the first time in its entirety at the first Wagner Festival in the then newly constructed opera house in Bayreuth. Top   Print The four operas Read more about the four operas: Das Rheingold Die Walküre Siegfried Götterdämmerung Read more about The Ring - a small excerpt of the enormous literature available about The Ring: Lars Ole Bonde, ed.: Rundt om Ringen - veje til Wagners verdensteater. DR Multimedie, 1994 Articles in Danish by e.g. Danish author Villy Sørensen, published to coincide with the performances by the Danish National Opera. Rudolph Sabor: Der Ring des Nibelungen, 4 volumes. Phaidon Press, 1997 Outstanding introduction to The Ring with English translations of the entire libretto and analysis, etc. Deryck Cooke: I Saw the World End – A Study of Wagner’s Ring. Oxford University Press, 1979 One of the most accomplished analysis of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Unfortunately, Deryck Cooke passed away before competing chapters on the last two operas of The Ring. Robert Donington: Wagner’s "Ring" and its Symbols. Faber and Faber, 1963 Another classic of literature on The Ring. J.K. Holman: Wagner’s Ring – A Listener’s Companion & Concordance. Amadeus Press, 1996 Extensive and very useful reference book on the characters and terms pertaining to The Ring.