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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 26, 1850 | Richard Wagner | Theodore Uhlig | Bordeaux | 111 |
Wagner tells Uhlig he cannot believe the Saxon ministry would clear him merely to please the court while harshly punishing lesser figures such as Herz. If Dresden tried to acquit and recall him to his former post, he says he would refuse both acquittal and recall to deny their maneuver any public success.
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| March 17, 1853 | Richard Wagner | Theodore Uhlig | Zurich | 999,999 |
Wagner writes to Uhlig's widow that Theodore's death has left him ill, orphaned, and still unable to believe his friend will not visit, depriving him of the one heart that answered his most intimate thoughts. He asks how he can help her and the children, reserves Theodore's copy of the Nibelungen poem for little Siegfried, requests privacy for his letters to the deceased, and offers assistance while suggesting any money of his be sent to Minna's poor parents if she will not keep it.
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| No letters found. | |||||