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 27, 1849 | Richard Wagner | Theodore Uhlig | Zurich | 721 |
Wagner tells Uhlig that sympathy from women such as Frau Ritter, Frau Laussot, and an unnamed Dresden helper strengthens his sense that freedom comes through loving association, and he prepares to go to Paris with overtures, the plan for Wieland the Smith, and a determination to challenge French grand-opera conventions. He reflects on The Work of Art of the Future as preparation for a revolutionary destruction of obsolete artistic conditions, and argues that the true theatrical revolutionary would unite performer, poet, and composer rather than remain trapped in abstract writing and composing.
|
| No letters found. | |||||