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
October 22, 1843	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	657	Wagner tells Cecilie that Berlin's opera-house fire has made him unwilling to allow his works there for now, and that illness and cramped lodgings have kept him from composing since the Dresden choral festival. He describes settling into a spacious Ostra Allee home as a lasting comfort for Minna, sends Cecilie affectionate encouragement before childbirth, and also presses for a reply about publishing The Love-Feast of the Apostles so he can adjust the harp part in time.
October 29, 1843	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Dresden	101	Wagner asks Breitkopf and Härtel for a prompt reply to his inquiry about publishing the full score of The Love-Feast of the Apostles. He needs to know soon because he must decide the title and, if they publish the work complete, make a small alteration to the harp part in good time.
January 8, 1844	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Berlin	525	Wagner gives Minna a vivid account of The Flying Dutchman's Berlin performance, describing his initial anxiety before an unfamiliar audience and the gradual transformation of curiosity into overwhelming enthusiasm by the second act. He celebrates the singers, orchestra, staging, royal approval, and warm congratulations from Mendelssohn, while noting forthcoming social meetings with Meyerbeer and Kistner.
January 10, 1844	Richard Wagner	Felix Mendelssohn	Berlin	33	Wagner writes affectionately to Mendelssohn after his Berlin visit, expressing pleasure that Mendelssohn feels kindly toward him. He says that coming somewhat closer to Mendelssohn has been the happiest event of the entire trip.
January 30, 1844	Richard Wagner	Karl Gaillard	Dresden	563	Wagner explains to Karl Gaillard why he writes his own libretti, arguing that his musical and poetic conception arises together and that composing another person's text would divide the act of inspiration. He distinguishes opera from spoken drama by assigning opera to legendary, musically transformable subjects, and presents Tannhäuser, joined with the Wartburg song contest, as the kind of material only a musician could properly handle.
February 15, 1844	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	207	Wagner tells Avenarius that he is publishing his operas with Meser under favorable terms and wants to protect future French and English copyright. For France, he asks whether Avenarius or another trustworthy Paris contact could act as provisional copyright holder by displaying advance copies of a piano arrangement under a French title on the German publication date.
March 11, 1844	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	1,034	Before leaving for Hamburg, Wagner writes Lüttichau that the proposed appointment of Röckel and the court's diminished confidence in Wagner's conducting touch both Röckel's future and Wagner's own honor. He says that if the court truly lacks confidence in him, he would petition to be relieved of active orchestral direction, arguing that Dresden needs a fully trusted and substantial conductor able to reform the orchestra rather than a compromise appointment.
March 22, 1844	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Hamburg	196	Wagner tells Minna that Rienzi has triumphed again in Hamburg despite the absence of Tichatschek and the wooden performance of Wurda in the title role. He takes pride that the opera itself carried the success, praises most of the singing and choruses, notes the enthusiasm of musicians and singers, and anticipates substantial royalties from many projected performances.
July 28, 1844	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	241	Wagner tells Cecilie that publication work on the piano scores of Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman has consumed months and delayed Tannhäuser, so he hopes to take country leave in August to finish the new opera. He says he has abandoned complicated French copyright plans, notes Beale's London interest in an English production, and reports that Albert is doing well and Johanna has excelled as Irene in Rienzi.
September 3, 1844	Richard Wagner	Max von Weber	Dresden	191	Wagner writes about the planned transfer of Carl Maria von Weber's ashes to Dresden, saying the local circle considers it an honor to bear the modest expenses while Max von Weber is in London. He also sends an affectionate welcome to returning relatives, explaining that duties around Weber's remains and the coming production of Marschner's Adolf von Nassau make it impossible for him to leave Dresden.
December 12, 1844	Richard Wagner	Cecilie Avenarius	Dresden	999,999	Wagner welcomes Cecilie and her family back to Germany with warmth, regretting that duties around Weber's ashes and Marschner's Adolf von Nassau keep him from leaving Dresden. Writing also for Minna, he urges Cecilie to come with both children and, if needed, a nurse, while explaining Minna's silence as dread of letter-writing rather than any lack of affection.
January 9, 1845	Richard Wagner	Max von Weber	Dresden	149	Wagner writes on Minna's behalf, asking the recipient to forgive her delayed reply as a result of her dread of letter-writing rather than any coolness of feeling. He warmly invites the visit with both children and, if necessary, the nurse, adding that Natalie is staying with them and could help care for the little ones.
February 4, 1845	Richard Wagner	Louis Spohr	Dresden	355	Wagner writes reverently to Spohr about arranging the Dresden performance of Spohr's new dramatic work, The Crusades, ideally with the composer present. He uses the occasion to criticize younger German opera composers for chasing cosmopolitan surface appeal through French and Italian mannerisms, and welcomes Spohr's new work as a needed assertion of German artistic seriousness.
June 5, 1845	Richard Wagner	Karl Gaillard	Dresden	1,336	Wagner tells Gaillard that after his Dresden breakthrough he feels blocked by Berlin's mishandling of The Flying Dutchman, delays around Rienzi, and Dresden criticism that ignores his successes, reforms, Marschner productions, choral festival work, orchestral improvements, and Weber reburial. He sends Tannhäuser as a thoroughly German work that has possessed him creatively, hopes it will win German audiences more fully, and reflects that future operas such as the newly tempting Lohengrin must arise from deeper cultural ripening rather than mere productivity.
June 29, 1845	Richard Wagner	Otto Karl Claudius	Naumburg	372	Wagner writes Otto Karl Claudius that he values much of the music in Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer, especially passages whose Romantic character he praises highly. For the sake of stage success, however, he urges a major concentration and rearrangement of the libretto, criticizing its excess of characters and scenes and advising a return closer to Schiller's ballad rather than Holbein's diffuse version.
August 4, 1845	Richard Wagner	Albert Wagner	Marienbad	398	From Marienbad, Wagner tells Albert that the cure seems to have helped both him and Minna, though his mind remains restless enough that he has completed a detailed plan for Lohengrin. He is proud of rescuing the saga from a poor old German poem into an operatic subject he finds rich, moving, and well suited to Johanna, while hoping he can resist composing it immediately and focus on reforms at the Royal Saxon Opera.
August 5, 1845	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Marienbad	463	Wagner urges Liszt to support fund-raising for a Dresden monument to Weber, noting Liszt's influence amid the Beethoven monument efforts. He describes the project's current progress and fears that, without Liszt's help in stirring wider enthusiasm, Weber will receive an unworthy memorial.
November 3, 1845	Richard Wagner	Karl Gaillard	Dresden	282	Wagner tells Gaillard that Tannhäuser has triumphed after a precarious start, with delays, hostile talk, and a thin second-performance audience giving way to growing understanding and enthusiastic calls for singers and composer. He regrets that Gaillard attended the unsatisfactory first performance and that his own stunned state made him a poor host, especially since later performances, including Tichatschek's, were far stronger.
November 6, 1845	Richard Wagner	Professor Dr. Lowe	Dresden	260	Wagner informs Professor Lowe that although he expects to be re-elected director of the Liedertafel, he can no longer serve as choir conductor because the society needs more time and attention than his official duties allow. He recommends Ferdinand Hiller, then in Dresden without an appointment, as an artistically capable replacement who could devote himself more fully to the post.
December 12, 1845	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Dresden	221	Wagner reports to Minna from Berlin that Kistner wants to stage Rienzi the following September and that Count Redern hopes the king will commission Wagner's next opera, Lohengrin, for Berlin. He explains that no opera of his can be mounted there before Easter, describes Redern's attempt to arrange a royal reading of the new libretto, and notes Mme. Meyerbeer's strong support pending Meyerbeer's return.
December 27, 1845	Richard Wagner	Alwine Frommann	Dresden	174	Wagner tells Alwine Frommann that he has abandoned the idea of writing Lohengrin for Berlin because he doubts the available singers could realize it properly. Persuaded by his Dresden intendant and royal praise, he is writing the opera for Dresden instead, while asking Meyerbeer to help secure a Berlin Rienzi because it is more practical there and would bring needed income.
March 2, 1846	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	255	Wagner sends Lüttichau his memorandum Of the Royal Orchestra, explaining that it distills three years of office and three months of careful revision into an evidential statement on needed reforms. He stresses that the work is secret, independently conceived, and undertaken as a matter of conscience and loyalty to the king, hoping it will receive serious consideration because the royal orchestra should function as a sound whole.
March 4, 1846	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	266	Wagner petitions Lüttichau about the old Opera House platform, arguing that its semicircular, shallow orchestral arrangement makes accurate ensemble and full sonority nearly impossible for oratorio and symphony performance. With engineer Hanel he has prepared a practical plan for better accommodation, and he notes that Lipinski supports it and expects Reissiger will not seriously object.
March 16, 1846	Richard Wagner	Anton Pusinelli	Dresden	270	Wagner answers Pusinelli's suggestion that he act against damaging town gossip by saying he will meet it with contempt rather than proceedings, citing Goethe's indifference to malicious rumors. He believes the absurdity of the stories must soon exhaust itself, though he recognizes that such inventions about his private affairs could under some circumstances harm him, and permits publication of his reflections if useful.
March 22, 1846	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	411	Wagner thanks Liszt for supporting him and candidly asks him to use his influence in Vienna on behalf of a performance of Rienzi. He suspects personal intrigue and professional jealousy are stalling the production, and he sends the scores of Rienzi and Tannhauser in hopes of winning Liszt's stronger sympathy.
May 17, 1846	Richard Wagner	Louis Spohr	Gross-Graupe	289	From Gross-Graupe, Wagner tells Spohr that Lüttichau has granted him a three-month freedom from duties, yet he cannot help condemning the intendant's rude treatment of Spohr. He sympathizes with Spohr's insult, criticizes aristocratic theatre administrators who mishandle artists, and hopes later to offer some Dresden service that can offset the offense.
May 30, 1846	Richard Wagner	Hermann Franck	Gross-Graupe	495	Wagner writes Hermann Franck that renewed reflection has confirmed separation as the necessary punishment and dramatic core of Lohengrin, because Elsa's forbidden question makes continued union impossible. He explains the saga's symbolic meaning as the failure of lasting contact between the supernatural and human nature, and says Franck's doubts helped him see the need to clarify Lohengrin's own share in the tragic ending.
October 9, 1846	Richard Wagner	Alwine Frommann	Dresden	139	Wagner tells Alwine Frommann that he is unwell, creatively stalled, and hungry for joyful news that might restore his health more than medical regimens. He describes a new warm friendship with Auerbach, who read him a tale and heard the story of Tannhäuser, and envies the apparent happiness of literary creation compared with opera composition.
January 1, 1847	Richard Wagner	Edward Hanslick	Dresden	923	Wagner thanks Hanslick for a favorable and serious essay on Tannhäuser, while describing how painfully exposed he feels before both praise and blame and explaining his aim to create complete dramatic beings whose poetry, music, and stage realization are inseparable. He discusses the Song Contest as evidence of opera's higher possibilities, measures his experiments against Gluck, Mozart, Spontini, and Weber, and rejects Hanslick's admiration for Meyerbeer as an example of superficial operatic effect divorced from spiritual substance.
July 9, 1847	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	805	Wagner complains to Lüttichau that Gutzkow's growing influence over Dresden theatrical affairs, especially opera, is ignorant, clique-ridden, and destructive of confidence. He asks that Gutzkow be barred from operatic interference and that opera management be restored to Wagner, otherwise he will seek a revised role under the king that uses his artistic capacities without making him responsible for management he cannot conscientiously control.
August 6, 1847	Richard Wagner	Ferdinand Heine	Dresden	230	Wagner tells Ferdinand Heine that contempt for the current theatre and his break with Lüttichau over Gutzkow have made him wish to be free of Dresden theatrical affairs. More happily, he has finished composing Lohengrin, hopes it may follow Rienzi in Berlin, and reports renewed Dresden attention to Rienzi and a successful packed performance of Tannhäuser with its new ending.
August 10, 1847	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	172	Wagner formally asks Lüttichau to recognize his wish to retire as kapellmeister as justified by recent circumstances and experiences. While promising not to act rashly because of unsettled affairs and obligations to a benefactor, he requests relief from official duties during the matter's resolution and insists he has not neglected his essential responsibilities.
September 2, 1847	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Dresden	81	Wagner writes encouragingly to Hans von Bülow after examining his works, saying they pleased him greatly and deserve a personal word before being returned through Ritter. He declines detailed criticism, trusting that Bülow's evident talent will soon make him able to judge the weaknesses of his early attempts for himself.
September 20, 1847	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Berlin	161	Wagner tells Minna from Berlin that preparations for Rienzi appear favorable, with Pfister eager and humble about his role and Taubert reasonable, well disposed, and zealous on Wagner's behalf. He believes the king's command has given him unusual leverage over Küstner and the theatre administration, making his position in Berlin stronger than ever.
September 22, 1847	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Berlin	366	Wagner reports to Minna that the first Berlin ensemble rehearsal for Rienzi went well, with Taubert prepared, Mme. Koster diligent, strong choruses, and Pfister willing though technically untaught compared with Tichatschek. He describes unexpected proximity to the Koster family, conversations with Koster, an attempted call on Meyerbeer, and his sense that Berlin offers a more powerful platform for his work than Dresden.
September 26, 1847	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Berlin	278	Wagner tells Minna that Berlin rehearsals are going exceptionally well, with punctual, serious singers and the prospect of a strong Rienzi ensemble, especially an excellent Irene and Mme. Koster as a singer he imagines for Elsa. He notes interest in reviving The Flying Dutchman with Koster, manages the devoted Pfister carefully, and plans to visit Tieck at Potsdam while still not having seen Meyerbeer.
October 6, 1847	Richard Wagner	Ferdinand Hiller	Berlin	639	Wagner assures Hiller that rumors of his seeking a Berlin kapellmeistership are false, saying he would rather bear the Dresden post than take one in Berlin unless he could live on a pension and study freely. He also mentions illness, malicious gossip after Mendelssohn's death, and gives detailed objections to changes in Die hohe Braut, especially the softened ending, while asking that his name not appear on the bills for Kittl's setting.
January 4, 1848	Richard Wagner	Johann Kittl	Dresden	999,999	Wagner reassures Johann Kittl that he is not pursuing a Berlin kapellmeistership and has dealt there only with Kistner, managers, and singers. He says he would prefer remaining kapellmeister in Dresden unless he could live on a modest pension for study, and notes that although Hennig may be near retirement, Lachner is rumored as the likely Berlin candidate through Kistner.
January 30, 1848	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	148	Wagner sends Liszt his Faust overture after hearing that Liszt wants it, despite his own dissatisfaction with the piece. He gives Liszt permission to use it as he sees fit, while asking to have the manuscript returned from time to time and commiserating with the burdens of conducting.
May 16, 1848	Richard Wagner	Martin Oberlander	Dresden	212	Wagner asks Martin Oberländer for an urgent hour-long hearing about an institution whose future he says is important to the country's honor and usefulness. Because he is unsure which department has authority, he also asks that Minister von der Pfordten attend so the matter can be judged by the ministers of the interior and religion.
May 19, 1848	Richard Wagner	Wigard	Dresden	476	Wagner urges Wigard to press the Frankfurt Parliament toward decisive revolutionary measures: dissolve the old Federal Diet, concentrate constitutional power in Parliament, arm the people, and ally offensively and defensively with France. He argues that German unity requires redrawing the states into viable populations, confronting hostile princes historically and politically, and clearing this ground before any useful constitution can be made.
June 17, 1848	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Dresden	389	Wagner offers Breitkopf and Härtel the publishing concern for Rienzi, The Flying Dutchman, and Tannhäuser, explaining that self-publication has become a burden because creditors now demand capital and he needs peace for his art. He argues that wider theatrical prospects, especially Vienna opening after censorship barriers, make the operas commercially promising, and proposes that the firm take over unsold copies and costs without paying him an author's honorarium.
June 18, 1848	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	1,067	Wagner asks Lüttichau for leave in Dresden to treat gastric trouble, while explaining and defending his recent political pamphlet and public reading before a progressive association. He says he sought to reconcile republican aspirations with preservation of the monarchy by stripping away obsolete court forms, but now fears both popular radicalization and royal misunderstanding, and apologizes if his attempt at mediation caused offense.
June 19, 1848	Richard Wagner	Edward Devrient	Dresden	172	Wagner tells Edward Devrient that he regrets the heated public presentation of his pamphlet because it has been badly misunderstood and may be damaging his standing with the king. He asks Devrient to use his persuasive presence at court to defend Wagner's intentions and help prevent any harmful action against him.
June 20, 1848	Richard Wagner	Baron von Lüttichau	Dresden	181	Wagner writes emotionally to Lüttichau after receiving reassuring news through Edward Devrient, saying he now sees Lüttichau's nobility and true capacity for reconciliation. He apologetically drops formal address in the intensity of gratitude, explaining that the reassurance has deeply moved him.
June 23, 1848	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	319	Wagner confesses that he is in a financial crisis because he borrowed money to publish his three operas and can no longer repay his creditors. He asks Liszt to raise or provide 5,000 thalers, even in exchange for the copyrights, arguing that the rescue would free him to live and work as an artist again.
July 1, 1848	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	194	Wagner tells Liszt that his financial situation has become desperate and that Liszt's influence may be his last hope of setting his affairs in order. He urgently begs Liszt to come to Dresden in person, offering him eventual ownership of his operas if his intervention can save him.
July 4, 1848	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	94	Liszt reports that he has already written to Herr von Villen to discuss Wagner's matter with Wagner's lawyer and with Meser. He says he cannot come to Dresden at present but is trying to obtain a definite arrangement and answer from a distance.
July 11, 1848	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Vienna	714	Wagner writes Minna from Vienna about an arduous journey through Breslau and a city transformed by revolutionary democratic energy, German colors, National Guard life, and a recently overthrown ministry. He meets Bauernfeld, then finds stronger support in Fischhof, who understands his artistic aims and plans to introduce him to Education Minister Exner so that Wagner's theatre or cultural scheme may gain official recognition and possible funding around the Kärntnertor-Theater.
July 15, 1848	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Vienna	273	Wagner tells Minna that his Vienna plans are advancing well, with a meeting arranged at Fischhof's and support from figures such as Dr. Bacher and Vesque von Püttlingen, who want ministers to see the proposal. He says advisers believe he could obtain the Kärntnertor-Theater only by leaving Dresden to reorganize and manage it, and he contrasts Vienna's unified radical atmosphere with party friction elsewhere.
No letters found.

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