<Li> 16 August 1876 Siegfried </Li> <Li> 17 August 1876 Götterdämmerung </Li> <P> Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German - language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied . The composer termed the cycle a "Bühnenfestspiel" (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by a Vorabend ("preliminary evening"). It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply The Ring . </P> <P> Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty - six years, from 1848 to 1874 . The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence: </P>

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