Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of January 12, 1876

Overview

There was no dictation today, and R. was absorbed by business troubles, especially his irritation at being sent to the Reichstag after appealing to the Emperor’s grace. Conversation after lunch turned to Tannhduser and the long chain of hardships attached to the work’s fate. The evening ended in a bleak mood, deepened by the note about Pusinelli’s unpaid debt and the duty to make amends to his heirs.

Content

Wednesday, January 12:

No dictation today! R. is thinking of business matters; he is deeply annoyed at being referred to the Reichstag, when he had appealed to the Emperor’s grace.

After lunch we come to the subject of Tannhäuser — how the fate of this work is linked with an unbroken series of experiences of the most wretched kind.

[In the margin: “I am very shocked to learn that Pusinelli was never paid (about 5,000 thalers), and here I solemnly say to my son Siegfried that it is his duty, should he ever be in possession of a fairly large amount of capital, to pay off this debt to Dr. Pusinelli’s heirs.”]

Despondent mood in the evening.