Wagner's Letters

Correspondence by, to, and around Richard Wagner

Wagner’s letters form one of the great documentary records of nineteenth-century artistic life. They reveal the practical, intellectual, emotional, and ideological world behind the works: artistic plans, financial crises, theatrical battles, friendships, quarrels, patronage, exile, revolution, Bayreuth, family life, philosophical reflection, and the shifting circle of figures who helped shape Wagner’s public and private destiny.

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Showing letters involving Julie Ritter (18 total)

Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
March 22, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Bordeaux	274	Wagner writes Julie Ritter that meeting Jessie Laussot has made tangible the circle of affectionate supporters he had previously known only through imagination. He insists their bond is personal rather than merely artistic or beneficent, and longs for Julie and her family to join him in Switzerland so their lives can be shared directly.
May 11, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Dresden	201	Wagner writes Julie Ritter in a state of crisis, saying he must hurry to Bordeaux to see Eugène Laussot and that he feels poised between death and a new life. He begs Julie to come to Switzerland and await his return with Karl at Villeneuve, or to send Emilie, because he longs for the loving presence of a dear woman in what he imagines as either a final or reborn moment.
June 9, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zermatt	3,276	Writing Julie Ritter from Zermatt after the collapse of his hopes with Jessie Laussot, Wagner pours out despair over love, separation from Minna, homelessness, and the sense that Jessie lacked the strength to free herself, while recounting the Bordeaux crisis and the possible intervention of Jessie's mother with Minna. He asks Julie to remain true and question him rather than judge him, sends Karl to learn whether Minna has been slandered, abandons Wieland as artistically dead, and turns toward essays on genius and a future Achilleus once he can work again.
June 27, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Thun	999,999	Wagner tells Julie Ritter in detail how Jessie Laussot's abrupt break has left him feeling ruined, arguing that Jessie lacked the strength to free herself and suspecting that her mother may have appealed to Minna by misrepresenting his intentions. He reviews his sudden departure from Paris, Minna's attempted reconciliation, his decision not to wound her further, and Karl's mission to Zurich to discover whether Minna has been slandered, while abandoning Wieland and contemplating writings on genius and Achilleus.
July 10, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	189	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that recent events have proved Minna's love stronger than her doubts and misunderstandings of him. Even after hearing accusations from Bordeaux, Minna wants only his return and would accept support only from his own hand, making him see her as transformed and compelling him to be truly present for her.
August 1, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	122	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that Liszt hopes to secure performers and an advance commission for Siegfried at Weimar, making Wagner willing to complete the work if performance becomes genuinely possible. He is deeply moved by Liszt's tactful love and care, even though Liszt does not fully understand him.
October 13, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	228	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that he hopes to withdraw from the Zurich theatre, which he now sees mainly as a conducting school because the institution itself is too exhausted to grow without money. He praises Liszt's sustaining strength, says he has given Wieland to him, and contrasts the naturalness of his Swiss friends with the oppressive inertia of German professors and capital cities.
December 12, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	968	Wagner thanks Julie Ritter for aid and explains that the Zurich conductorship became more complicated than expected: Karl Ritter lacked practical communication skills, Wagner's own conducting drew public attention, and Bülow's quicker executive gifts altered the plan. After resigning and securing a substitute, he sees the St. Gall call as the practical opportunity he wanted for both young men, while judging Karl deeper but harder to develop and still artistically unfocused despite promise in Dietrich of Berne.
March 10, 1851	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	114	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that his deepest wish is still to become a peasant, with spring and nature offering his only comfort. He reflects that his suffering for art comes from being unable to separate art from humanity, and says he is now trying to place his manuscript Opera and Drama with a bookseller.
April 30, 1851	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	635	Wagner reassures Julie Ritter that he never assumed her sacrificial help could continue indefinitely, and explains that he refused to petition the Weimar court or turn Siegfried into a business commission because such dependence would betray his nature. He instead hopes to found a serious theatre in Zurich, pointing to recent success in awakening support for a better orchestra, and says even one more year of her support gives him unexpected relief while interest in his work grows.
August 7, 1852	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	488	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that his nerves and mind are strained, travel toward Italy briefly enchanted him but destroyed his last illusion that he can recover youthful joy, leaving art as the only force that still sustains him. He seeks self-preservation in isolation, walks, and a small lakeside house with a garden, while noting growing theatrical interest in his operas, concern for Julie's daughter Julia and her connection with Kummer, and bleak news about Otto's health.
December 29, 1852	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	447	Wagner asks Julie Ritter whether her family's support is temporary or lifelong because only secure independence would let him use opera profits to buy a small plot of land without pressuring theatres for performances regardless of quality. He says Wesendonck has offered to advance the purchase money but that Julie's income is what truly preserves his artistic freedom, while his isolated surroundings force his communicative nature inward and worsen his health.
January 20, 1854	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	421	Wagner declares his affection for Julie Ritter and says recent productions of his operas have punished him for betraying his own standards, while uncertain profits tempt him into extravagance and disappointment. He describes a luxurious but lonely Zurich routine centered on morning composition, strained domestic rhythms, walks, evenings with the Wesendoncks, dependence on letters, fleeting thoughts of seeking Saxon amnesty or imprisonment, and a return to music as his only course.
December 29, 1855	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	410	Writing to Julie Ritter, Wagner looks back on 1855 as a bleak year dominated by the misery of London, the death of his old dog Peps after his return, bad weather at Seelisberg, and months of illness in Zurich that delayed Die Walküre. He finds one consolation in Karl Ritter's arrival in Zurich, noting his escape from political homelessness and praising the young man's changed character and unusual promise.
November 30, 1856	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	442	Writing to Julie Ritter, Wagner says he feels essentially dead to the world and wants only undisturbed leisure for artistic work, even after Liszt's recent visit left him both stimulated and exhausted. He laments tension between Liszt and Karl Ritter, affirms Karl's growing importance to him, and asks Emilie for news of Jessie Laussot, whose attempt at independence may allow renewed sympathy after their earlier estrangement.
May 6, 1857	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	1,673	Writing from his new Zurich retreat to Julie Ritter, Wagner reflects emotionally on their friendship, his need for her mature sympathy, and the sorrow caused by distance and the recent family rupture. He explains that her support remains his only secure income, describes improved health but nervous exhaustion, and reports that Siegfried Act I has exceeded expectations and may become the popular gateway to the whole Nibelung cycle.
October 8, 1857	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	412	Writing to Julie Ritter, Wagner sends the Tristan poem, reports that composition has begun, and explains that its practical prospects led him to set aside the Nibelungs for a year after reaching the end of Siegfried Act II. He also warmly describes Hans and Cosima von Bülow's three-week visit, during which he read new acts of Tristan, heard much music, and found Bülow's pianism and the young couple's vitality deeply restorative.
May 11, 1858	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	254	Writing to Julie Ritter, Wagner thanks her warmly for her letter but hints at severe recent suffering, chiefly Minna's distressing health and the domestic sorrows of the winter while she is now under Dr. Erismann's care at Brestenberg. He also reports an unanswered request to Dresden for temporary permission to return to Germany, hopes the Saxon amnesty question may be settled next year, and resumes Tristan Act II while longing for undisturbed work.
No letters found.