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.
This archive is organized chronologically, but it is also designed as a map of Wagner’s relationships. The letters may be browsed by year and month, by sender and recipient, or by major correspondents such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Uhlig, and Franz Liszt.
Letters from Wagner should be read beside letters sent to him. The outgoing letters often show Wagner fashioning his own cause, defending his works, pleading for help, or advancing his vision of art. The incoming letters reveal how that vision was received, resisted, misunderstood, supported, or transformed by those around him.
Because the collection contains thousands of letters, the table below is intended as a finding aid rather than a replacement for the individual letter pages. Use the filters to narrow the archive by year, month, correspondent, or direction, then open a letter to read the full text.
Note: An asterisk (*) next to the date indicates an exact date for the letter was unavailable and a date has been interpolated from context and ordering.
| Date | From | To | Place | Words | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| No letters found. | |||||