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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Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
December 4, 1840	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Paris	488	Wagner writes to Baron von Lüttichau as Dresden court-theatre intendant, acknowledging that he is little known in Saxony but emphasizing his Paris negotiations with the Académie Royale de Musique. He submits the score and libretto of Rienzi for a Dresden premiere, arguing that its roles suit Dresden singers and that its scenic scale would fit the city's new theatre.
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.
March 13, 1841	Richard Wagner	Heinrich Laube	Paris	490	Wagner tells Laube that spring has again brought financial anxiety: his work is ending, debts remain, a lodging mistake has spoiled plans for a cheap summer, and journalism pays little. Unable to see a clear musical path in Paris, he considers a major Conservatoire concert to introduce his works and asks about publishers for a proposed Beethoven biography using materials gathered by the librarian Anders.
March 18, 1841	Richard Wagner	Ferdinand Heine	Paris	480	Wagner tells Ferdinand Heine that reports from Laube and Devrient confirm Catholic objections to the text of Rienzi, prompting him to send Winkler proposed alterations. He argues that the Pope is treated as a temporal ruler rather than a doctrinal authority, offers possible substitutions if church language must be removed, and complains that Dresden officials will not communicate with him directly.
March 23, 1841	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Paris	345	Wagner follows up with Lüttichau about Rienzi after learning from Winkler that Dresden's consideration may have stalled because no libretto had arrived. He sends another copy and raises the possible sensitivity of ecclesiastical elements at the Catholic Saxon court, noting that he has prepared modifications to remove objections.
March 24, 1841	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Paris	219	Wagner reminds Liszt of their brief Paris meeting and writes in hopes of benefiting from Liszt's kindness and influence. He explains that Heinrich Laube had asked one of Liszt's Hungarian friends to introduce him and anxiously asks whether that promise was ever fulfilled.
April 1, 1841	Richard Wagner	August Lewald	Paris	213	Wagner sends August Lewald Parisian news and three musical pieces for Europa, assuming Lewald still welcomes such contributions. He also asks Lewald to interest Cotta or another capable publisher in a proposed Beethoven biography that would present Beethoven's artistic periods in an entertaining, non-pedantic manner.
April 8, 1841	Richard Wagner	Theodore Winkler	Paris	194	Wagner tells Theodore Winkler that he was surprised to learn Rienzi had scarcely advanced because management lacked a libretto, so he sent Lüttichau a new copy by stagecoach. He used the opportunity to incorporate changes meant to satisfy Catholic objections and reports encouraging interest from Reissiger after his study of the score.
April 27, 1841	Richard Wagner	Maurice Schlesinger	Paris	220	Wagner humorously asks Maurice Schlesinger for a 100-franc advance, dramatizing the shame of refusing aid to the future famous composer as he prepares a journey toward Russia and Asia. He promises valuable aphorisms and stories for the Gazette musicale by the following month and says the money would let him make the attempted departure.
June 27, 1841	Richard Wagner	Count Wilhelm von Redern	Paris	268	Wagner petitions Count Wilhelm von Redern for a Berlin Royal Court Theatre premiere of The Flying Dutchman, describing it as a shorter opera to be paired with another stage work. Acknowledging that his name may be unknown, he cites Meyerbeer as a reference and asks for a late-autumn performance date so he can send the completed score by summer's end.
September 12, 1841	Richard Wagner	Johanna Geyer	Meudon	713	Writing to his mother from Meudon, Wagner reflects that persistence has taught him he cannot conquer Paris by his own strength alone and that his past recklessness with money caused debt, estrangement, and artistic suffering. He describes living frugally on publisher's drudgery while awaiting a turn in fortune, unable to revisit Magdeburg until he clears 400 thalers of debt, and clings to maternal love as his last refuge.
October 14, 1841	Richard Wagner	Wilhelm Fischer	Meudon	250	Wagner advises Wilhelm Fischer on practical performance difficulties in Rienzi, especially the need to divide the male chorus into populace and nobles and to use the Kreuzschule choir for offstage effects. He also discusses staging the second-act tragic pantomime with actors from spoken drama and gives detailed cautions about maintaining pitch in the unaccompanied women's chorus of the heralds of peace.
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.
March 12, 1842	Richard Wagner	Theodore Winkler	Paris	96	Wagner complains to Theodore Winkler that the current Paris production of Der Freischütz has deteriorated into a careless stopgap despite his public criticism. He says his proposal for an improved benefit performance for Weber's heirs failed because those responsible never understood the work's artistic value.
March 16, 1842	Richard Wagner	Ferdinand Heine	Paris	313	Wagner tells Ferdinand Heine that Paris no longer suits him and that Minna's health requires a summer trip to the Teplitz baths, which would also place him nearer Dresden. He hopes rehearsals for his opera will begin when Devrient returns, but is troubled by Reissiger's silence despite repeated letters and a favorable notice in the Gazette musicale.
April 21, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Berlin	374	From Berlin, Wagner writes Avenarius that leaving Paris and its friendships has been far harder than the hardships endured there, especially for Minna, who longs to return. He says little can yet be done about his Berlin opera prospects until Küstner arrives and Redern can act, leaving him uncertain how he will live through the summer and emotionally fixed on the friends left behind.
May 2, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	461	Wagner reports to Avenarius that Berlin gave no firm date for The Flying Dutchman, but Redern provisionally arranged rehearsals after The Huguenots and Mendelssohn encouraged him about Redern's influence and Küstner's likely support. In Dresden, family members have arranged financial support for the next half-year, Rienzi is fixed for August with rehearsals in July, and Wagner is welcomed enthusiastically though he distrusts leaving the artistic production solely to Reissiger.
May 17, 1842	Richard Wagner	Karl Theodor von Küstner	Dresden	600	Wagner urges Küstner to hasten the Berlin production of The Flying Dutchman because a Paris opera, Le Vaisseau Fantôme, is about to appear from a libretto he says plagiarizes his own scenario. He argues that an earlier Berlin staging would assert the priority and value of a German work, protect his artistic interests, and serve the broader cause of German opera against rapid French theatrical imports.
June 12, 1842	Richard Wagner	Samuel Lehrs	Teplitz	321	From Teplitz, Wagner responds warmly to Samuel Lehrs, praising the independence he sees in Lehrs's turn to paid children's books while mocking his own fruitless journalism for the Dresdener Abendzeitung. He reflects bitterly on social ambition, Laube, theatrical authorities, Paris, Dresden, and Saxon patriotism, concluding that he wants nature and friends more than any particular city or fatherland.
June 13, 1842	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Paris	168	Wagner writes Cecilie Avenarius from Teplitz, delighting in the countryside and saying that his mother and Minna have met there for the first time with apparent happiness. He also reports a visit to Albert in Halle, finding him better than expected, financially secure for the moment, and training Johanna, whose acting and voice give Wagner hopes.
June 14, 1842	Richard Wagner	Karl Theodor von Küstner	Teplitz	315	Wagner tactfully acknowledges Küstner's likely priority of staging Lachner's Catarina Cornaro in Berlin, while proposing The Flying Dutchman as a modest interim novelty. He argues that its brevity, limited ensembles, manageable casting, and relatively light rehearsal demands would allow a first performance as early as late August or September.
July 25, 1842	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	93	Wagner tells Minna that he has won Reissiger's enthusiasm by giving him the operatic subject Die hohe Braut and expects diligence from him in return. He also reports receiving a costly letter from Troupenas in Paris about musical arrangements, which prompted him to work late and finish them.
July 28, 1842	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	438	Wagner writes tenderly and anxiously to Minna, saying Dresden feels empty without her and urging that they should not remain separated. He challenges her suggestion that a longer separation may be necessary by recalling how she stayed with him through far worse dangers after leaving Russia, when she could have sought safety elsewhere.
September 11, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	113	Wagner jokes to Avenarius that, despite Cecilie's teasing about babies, he and Minna have no prospect of a child and must make do with dogs. He describes their new six-week-old puppy, Peps or Striezel, while wistfully saying he would rather have another Maxel, an impossibility that could happen only once.
October 8, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	267	Wagner tells Avenarius that the forthcoming Rienzi premiere on October 19 is being prepared with extraordinary enthusiasm and that he expects a major success. He praises the singers, orchestra, Devrient, Tichatschek, and even Reissiger for their commitment, noting that he has encountered no ill-will and that public anticipation is growing.
October 21, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	137	Wagner reports to Avenarius that Rienzi has triumphed in Dresden with unprecedented enthusiasm, repeated calls for the composer, and citywide excitement. Exhausted but exultant, he says the second performance is imminent, a third is already sold out, and the singing and staging reached a level he believes Dresden had not known before.
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.
November 6, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	999,999	Wagner writes to his Paris friends through Avenarius about Rienzi's sustained Dresden success, emphasizing packed houses, attentive audiences, and singers so devoted that they resist cuts despite exhaustion. He contrasts rumors of large earnings with the actual 300-thaler honorarium, explaining that debts and basic needs consume it while promising that future income from performances, publishers, or score sales should help his Paris creditors.
December 3, 1842	Richard Wagner	Albert Wagner	Dresden	999,999	Wagner tells Albert that his Dresden success has made him fashionable, overwhelmed by invitations and business letters, and a possible successor after Rastrelli's death. He weighs the security and artistic resources of a Dresden kapellmeistership against his desire for creative freedom, while asking about Albert's family and Johanna's repertoire in case she might seek notice in Dresden.
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 5, 1843	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	457	Wagner tells Cecilie that Lüttichau has offered a Dresden post only after a lower-paid probationary year, which he has refused because he will sacrifice freedom only for a truly significant appointment. He describes Devrient's generous 1000-thaler loan for Paris and Magdeburg debts, notes Rienzi's continued success through a plan to divide it over two evenings, and discusses bringing Natalie to Dresden before sending her to Zwickau.
January 9, 1843	Richard Wagner	J. R. Samuel Schmidt	Dresden	247	Wagner gives J. R. Samuel Schmidt an account of The Flying Dutchman after its third Dresden performance, stressing how sharply its simple saga-based dramatic design differs from Rienzi and from conventional opera. He contrasts his treatment with a French plagiarism that he says spoiled the legend with stock episodes, and expresses delight that a work he expected audiences to need time to understand won immediate success.
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.
April 7, 1843	Richard Wagner	Samuel Lehrs	Dresden	980	Wagner tells Lehrs that his Dresden appointment has given him security, respect, and unusual authority to reorganize musical life, citing praise for his rehearsal of Gluck's Armide and the king's approval. He reflects on the slow German uptake of Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman, rejects returning to Paris, criticizes Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn's circle, and Berlioz, and says the libretto of Venusberg is finished for composition that summer.
April 8, 1843	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	509	Wagner urges Cecilie to send Natalie back from Paris to Leipzig as soon as possible, arguing that Paris was a mistake for her and that Charlotte Tröger's home offers a more suitable future than chasing French language accomplishments. He also discusses efforts to place Albert as a singing teacher after Pohlenz's death, Albert's reluctance to leave theatrical life, and Wagner's hopes for Johanna's development and possible Dresden prospects.
May 2, 1843	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	921	Wagner writes Lüttichau to clarify his undertaking to avoid orchestral disputes, promising not to alter established tempos in older operas during Lüttichau's absence while reserving artistic judgment for newer works. He defends himself against Lipinski's accusations over Don Juan by arguing that local traditions can corrupt composers' intentions, cites Weber authorities for Euryanthe, and attributes the orchestra's hostility largely to envy and Lipinski's wounded vanity.
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.
May 20, 1843	Richard Wagner	The Royal and Imperial Court	Dresden	330	Wagner replies to Vienna court-opera interest by explaining that his next new opera is already promised to Dresden, though he has another fresh and censor-safe subject that he could compose for Vienna in the 1844-45 season. For the nearer term, he recommends a rapid Viennese production of Rienzi, noting its suitability to local taste and resources and that he has sent a censorship-adapted libretto to Adalbert Prix.
June 2, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	348	Wagner tells Minna that Lipinski has reconciled with him and that Lindenau brought news that the king personally played through and enjoyed his composition. He describes the pressure of organizing the unveiling music, composing for the choral festival, conducting operas, and church duties, while deciding to take a mineral-water cure for his health despite feeling generally restored.
June 3, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	62	Wagner tells Minna that the ceremony succeeded and that his chorus was judged decisively superior to Mendelssohn's, including by Lindenau and the court. He now must hurry work on The Love-Feast of the Apostles, while dismissing the evening's Norma with Mme. Werthmüller as tedious.
June 14, 1843	Richard Wagner	Albert Wagner	Dresden	250	Wagner sympathizes with Albert's difficulties and says his chief concern is Johanna, whom he believes could soon be useful in Dresden because the women singers and opera forces are weak, especially without Devrient. He reports Minna's stay at the Teplitz baths, a moving birthday serenade from the local choral society, and near completion of his choral-festival composition, inviting Albert to the July performances.
June 14, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	282	Wagner tells Minna that The Flying Dutchman has won over the famously difficult Spohr, and that this success in Kassel gives him an important advantage. He reassures her about his health, describes heavy duties with opera, the Liedertafel, court and church appearances, and says his nearly finished choral composition should make a thrilling impression.
June 30, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	199	Wagner tells Minna that he has finished the instrumentation of The Love-Feast of the Apostles and that its first choral rehearsal already drew enthusiastic applause from about 200 singers. He also describes public excitement around Rienzi in Dresden, with its Peace chorus and overture repeatedly requested and applauded in the Brühlschen Gardens restaurant.
July 1, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	80	Wagner tells Minna that before the choral festival he wants to finish adapting Rienzi into a single-evening version, a task he has already begun and hopes to complete quickly. If he receives leave afterward, he wants this work behind him so he can devote himself fully to his new opera, Tannhäuser.
July 12, 1843	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	75	Wagner excitedly tells Minna that Lüttichau has granted his leave and behaved toward him very graciously. He cannot depart until the following Monday or Tuesday because he must conduct an opera again, attend Lüttichau's Sunday invitation, and finish writing out the Rienzi adaptation.
July 13, 1843	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	481	Wagner explains to Cecilie that two months of overwhelming Dresden duties, Reissiger's absence, royal commissions, and the rushed composition and rehearsal of The Love-Feast of the Apostles have made leave necessary for his health. He celebrates the festival performance by 1200 male voices and orchestra in the Frauenkirche as a triumph, but says news of Lehrs's death left him stunned and darkened his memory of Paris as destructive to noble spirits.
July 27, 1843	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Teplitz	272	Wagner tells Breitkopf and Härtel that he is surprised they deem The Flying Dutchman worth publishing but not worth their customary opera honorarium. He reads this as proof that German publishers still value even dubious French works above original German opera, and declares he will withhold the score until theatrical success raises its value enough to command substantial payment.
August 1, 1843	Richard Wagner	Anton Pusinelli	Dresden	120	Wagner tells Anton Pusinelli that Tannhäuser is barely begun and that he lacks the quiet and inward ease needed to advance it. He describes a scattered, discordant state and longs not for idleness but for focused restlessness, while feeling that years may be needed to repair the consequences of his past decade.
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.

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