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 Robert Schumann (11 total)

Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
April 19, 1836	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Leipzig	236	Wagner sends Schumann a report on Magdeburg musical life and allows him to alter it, explaining that he has mentioned Schumann carefully and without compromising him. He defends including himself and Das Liebesverbot in the article because his official role made omission artificial and because no one else was discussing the opera.
May 28, 1836	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Berlin	1,093	From Berlin, Wagner sends Schumann an anonymous article for his journal, explaining that he will continue contributing under the name Wilhelm Drach and reflecting ruefully on German composers being forced into criticism and speculation. He outlines a possible temporary post at the Königstadt opera where he hopes to mount Das Liebesverbot, asks for notice in the paper, and seeks paid work while apologizing for leaving Leipzig without farewell.
December 3, 1836	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Konigsberg	759	From Königsberg, Wagner tells Schumann that isolation has made him cling to hopes in Germany and asks for practical advice on reaching Paris. He describes Das Liebesverbot, based on Measure for Measure, as ill-suited to German conditions and asks how to approach the Opéra Comique, mentioning that he has also sent Scribe a plan for Die hohe Braut.
December 29, 1840	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Paris	318	Wagner writes Schumann a playful, ironic letter from Paris, joking that he is about to become famous and fantastically claiming that his French setting of Heine's Grenadiers has won him honors from Louis Philippe. He privately rededicates his own setting to Schumann, accepts Schumann's implied dedication in return, and adds a serious postscript asking him not to attack Meyerbeer, whom Wagner credits with crucial support.
December 16, 1841	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Paris	246	Wagner tells Schumann that a notice in the Zeitschrift für Musik has taught him how little publicity arises without direct effort, even for his forthcoming Dresden production. He resolves to keep Schumann informed of important projects and asks for support, while sending an unsigned piece for the journal because Paris circumstances make anonymity useful.
November 3, 1842	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	1,197	Wagner reports that Dresden now wants to stage The Flying Dutchman immediately after Rienzi, whose extraordinary success has brought full houses, intense public attention, and a disappointing but larger-than-usual honorarium that must first go to debts and necessities. He also reflects on suddenly being in demand, the possible Dresden kapellmeistership after Rastrelli's death, his desire to remain creatively free, and prospects for helping family members and Paris creditors once further income arrives.
January 3, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	149	Wagner tells Schumann with joy that The Flying Dutchman has achieved a triumphant first performance in Dresden, a success he values even more than Rienzi because it follows a new artistic path. He says the immediate audience acclaim exceeded expectations, with enthusiastic calls after the later acts and a particularly powerful performance by Devrient.
January 27, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	351	Wagner sends Schumann the score of The Flying Dutchman before forwarding it to Berlin, hoping Schumann will grasp his artistic direction and perhaps write about it, while proposing an exchange of scores and criticism between them. He also reports that he now belongs in Dresden as kapellmeister on full salary, criticizes Berlin's artistic demoralization, and asks about Leipzig and its music school.
February 25, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	841	Wagner tells Schumann that Dresden's musical taste has moved beyond Bellini and Italian-opera dominance, with audiences increasingly receptive to serious German works despite weak concert institutions. He cites the growing success of The Flying Dutchman, rejects Schumann's suggestion of a Meyerbeer flavor as a damaging misunderstanding, and praises Schumann's quintet while affirming their shared aim of beauty.
May 12, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	999,999	Wagner tells Schumann that after eighteen months without composing he is preparing a large choral work for the Dresden men's choir festival, The Love-Feast of the Apostles. He also plans to shorten Rienzi for provincial theatres and says he has completed the three-act libretto for a new opera combining the Tannhäuser legend with the Wartburg song contest, to be composed that summer.
September 21, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	360	Wagner regrets not having discussed Schumann's new works, especially Peri, and reflects that the Leipzig concert hall may offer a purer refuge for serious music than the socially mixed and artistically compromised theatre. He says he has not composed since The Love-Feast but will begin Tannhäuser once settled, while hesitating over a renewed Vienna request for an opera because he distrusts that city.
No letters found.