The conductor's gift does not always go hand in hand with that of composition; indeed, the union is found much more seldom than is popularly believed.

Wagner then sent him to Vienna to stage Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (the last two Ring dramas) there. 9 "From the New World" which greatly influenced the direction of American classical music. He also had a significant role in the genesis of Edvard Grieg's Lyric Suite.