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
August 25, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Berne	538	Wagner writes from the first stage of his Italian journey that everything now depends on making their Paris rendezvous possible, but the French minister has refused him a visa and he therefore begs Liszt to intervene with the French minister at Weimar and, if possible, through the Grand Duke as well. He explains that the French official at Berne has promised to support him from his side, asks Liszt also to alert Berlioz in case Paris makes inquiries, and adds some brief notes about the delayed Karlsruhe festival, the Leipzig Lohengrin matter, and his uneasy, sleepless state on the road to Turin.
September 12, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	591	Wagner reports that his attempted Italian journey has collapsed into illness, fear, and disappointment, driving him back to Zurich feeling ready either to die or to compose, with nothing else left to him. He is deeply unsettled by not hearing from Liszt about the French visa and their possible meeting, grows wary of Paris and Berlioz in imagination, asks Liszt to decide for him whether Engel's proposed concert-platform Tannhauser in Berlin should be accepted or refused, and closes in a mood of exhaustion, loneliness, and bitter indifference toward public criticism.
September 13, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	77	Wagner introduces a young Frenchman living in Florence whose interest in Wagner's music has been awakened by Liszt's pamphlet and who has traveled partly in hopes of hearing the operas. He asks Liszt to show the young man some kindness as a reward for that zeal.
September 15, 1853*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	50	No summary available.
September 20, 1853	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Carlsruhe	597	Liszt says they will meet again in a fortnight or so at Basle or Paris and urgently asks Wagner to send his passport at once so that Liszt can secure the needed French visa himself if Berne has not already done so. He also reports useful recent time in Dresden, says Leipzig now appears conquered for Lohengrin and likely to welcome it warmly when performed, and keeps the Engel/Kroll and broader Berlin matters in his own hands while even considering, under the right conditions, a Berlin repetition of Wagner's Zurich concert program.
September 22, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	433	Wagner sends Liszt the requested passport at once and says it will be valuable to obtain the French visa even if the immediate Paris meeting were to fail, since he is willing to guarantee complete political harmlessness and a return to Switzerland. He thanks Liszt for his latest reports from Leipzig and Berlin, asks what is happening at Karlsruhe in light of financial worries there, gives a small but precise instruction for one difficult male chorus, and closes by saying that his true life lies where Liszt is, not in his present isolation.
September 25, 1853	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	456	Liszt says he has found a way to settle the passport question without needing to keep Wagner's passport in hand, returns it, and urges Wagner to seek Fenelon's French visa again while planning to start for Paris around October 5. He insists that Wagner be at Basle on the evening of October 6 for their meeting, perhaps with Pohl and others present, updates him on the hectic Karlsruhe rehearsals and social obligations, and asks Wagner not to mistake brief letters or silence for any waning of love or devotion.
September 29, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	308	Wagner thanks Liszt, says he has at once reapplied to Fenelon with the passport, but confesses that the whole French visa affair now irritates him and gives him little confidence of success. He agrees completely with Liszt's plan for the Basle meeting before any possible Paris trip, longs for the day to arrive, suggests the Drei Konige as their hotel, and admits once more that only intense work keeps his otherwise unbearable life from sinking into a living death.
September 29, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	127	Wagner adds a brief practical note that he discovered one tempo marking missing in Lohengrin only when he conducted it himself. In the Bridal Song in D major, after the second solo passage of the eight women and just before the tempo primo, he wants the tempo taken considerably slower than before so that the impression is one of solemn emotion.
October 2, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	75	Wagner asks Liszt to leave word at Karlsruhe that the concert score of the Lohengrin pieces is to be sent immediately after the last concert to Apt in Prague, while the parts are to be returned to Zurich. He adds that he is with Liszt in spirit at the general rehearsal and counts the days until their imminent meeting.
October 26, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Paris	137	Wagner writes from the immediate aftermath of parting, saying that he can only stand in silence after Liszt and that words would do violence to feeling. He adds only a few practical notes, namely that he will return home the next day, hopes still to see Liszt's children first, failed to find Madame Kalergy at home, and will write again from Zurich.
October 30, 1853*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	409	Wagner assumes Liszt has little to write, then recounts how on Liszt's birthday he played Tannhauser and Lohengrin in Paris for a tiny circle of old friends on a grand piano lent by Erard, far more passionately than anyone around him could understand. He adds that a Paris policeman formally assured him he could stay a month, that he has now returned to Zurich where Peps welcomed him joyfully, and that even in dull, rainy Strasbourg he still clings to the sense of a guiding star above him.
October 31, 1853	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	514	Liszt says that with a new Flying Dutchman performance he has returned to the conductor's desk after months away, and he openly declares that his passion for Wagner's tone- and word-poems is the chief reason he continues this work at all. He reports a planned Wagner week in Weimar, renewed care for The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser, and Lohengrin, hopes for a specially cast court performance of Lohengrin with Tichatschek and Johanna, briefly alludes to the Princess's burdens, and urges Wagner to press on with the Ring because work remains the only earthly salvation.
November 16, 1853	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Zurich	2,074	Wagner tells Liszt that work is finally going so well and doing so much for both his music and his health that he must free himself from the humiliating uncertainty of irregular theatrical royalties, and he therefore asks Liszt to help persuade the Hartels to buy out the Lohengrin theatrical and related rights for a substantial lump sum payable by Christmas. He supports the proposal with detailed calculations about future theatre fees, separate vocal and piano extracts, librettos, and foreign prospects, arguing that only a decisive financial settlement will protect the next years of his life and labor from the petty anxieties that now constantly threaten his artistic concentration.
November 25, 1853	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	315	Writing to Hans von Bülow, Wagner recalls Paris as spiritually elevating, says a child has become a holy blessing over him and his composition, and reports that illness has not prevented him from nearly finishing the first half of Das Rheingold. He also analyzes his troubled dealings with Karl Ritter, regretting his own harsh replies while arguing that Ritter's claim of equality ignores Wagner's deeper experience and leads to repeated misunderstanding.
December 13, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Weimar	696	Liszt returns from Leipzig with a cold and the unwelcome task of forwarding Hartel's refusal to Wagner's proposal, explaining that despite his own efforts the publishers would not meet the request and may have been alienated by other tensions and literary alliances. Against this he sets encouraging theatrical news: Lohengrin at Leipzig appears carefully prepared and likely to succeed decisively, Tannhauser at Weimar will soon be given with important restorations, and he urges Wagner in spite of everything to keep his courage and continue work on the Ring.
December 15, 1853*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	94	No summary available.
December 17, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	251	Wagner apologizes for burdening Liszt with the failed Hartel affair and promises that he will hear no more of that Jewish business from him, even though Wagner admits the refusal leaves him in an awkward situation. He asks after Liszt's own composing, says that after five years without writing music he is now deep in Nibelheim and has just sketched Mime's complaint, and confesses that while illness and dark thoughts still trouble him, they do not shake his determination to continue the work.
December 25, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	151	Wagner thanks Liszt for arriving like a bringer of Christmas cheer and says he has placed the gift on his worktable like an altar because it came to him when he was very lonely. He adds that he can hardly write of the inner events of his life at all, since what matters to him must be felt or acted rather than put into words.
December 29, 1853	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	1,107	Liszt reports that his attempt to catch the Leipzig Lohengrin rehearsal and first performance has been thwarted by a chain of illnesses, missing instruments, and shifting plans, though he still hopes to return and report on the eventual performance if possible. He also tells Wagner that two recent Weimar Tannhauser evenings with Liebert were strikingly successful, advises him to keep relations with Hartel and H. workable in the Lohengrin piano-piece matter, and says that Weimar is steadily strengthening its claim to be the theatre most faithfully devoted to Wagner's works while waiting for the impossible to be supplied by the coming Rhinegold.
January 8, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	599	Liszt reports on the first Leipzig performance of Lohengrin, praising the work's public success while judging the execution inferior to Weimar because of weak singers, staging flaws, and overly fast choral tempi. He urges Wagner to respond graciously to Leipzig, notes upcoming Weimar performances and possible casting, commends Tichatschek's loyalty, and mentions that Hartel has sent three hundred thalers for nine pieces from the opera.
January 15, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	1,456	Wagner tells Liszt that he has finished Das Rheingold but is overwhelmed by despair, financial anxiety, humiliation over the Leipzig Lohengrin performance, and recurring thoughts of suicide. He begs Liszt to secure substantial money or a Berlin arrangement against his opera rights so he can continue living and working, describing the score of Rheingold as the product of fury, suffering, and artistic extremity.
January 15, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	685	Wagner tells Liszt that Das Rheingold is finished but that he himself is physically, emotionally, and financially exhausted, feeling trapped by an unsuitable marriage, lovelessness, exile, and the need to use art as a makeshift for life. He asks Liszt for urgent help raising several thousand thalers, possibly against future opera income, so he can continue the Nibelung project, describing Rheingold as born in faith but completed in despair and filled with horrors and sublimities.
January 16, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	332	Wagner thanks Hans von Bülow for news but vents anger over the failed Leipzig Lohengrin, blaming Liszt for not acting as his alter ego with veto power and for avoiding the necessary quarrel with Rietz and the Leipzig authorities. He regrets allowing his operas to be performed at all under such conditions and bitterly notes that Das Rheingold is finished, ironically written for Leipzig.
January 20, 1854	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	421	Wagner declares his affection for Julie Ritter and says recent productions of his operas have punished him for betraying his own standards, while uncertain profits tempt him into extravagance and disappointment. He describes a luxurious but lonely Zurich routine centered on morning composition, strained domestic rhythms, walks, evenings with the Wesendoncks, dependence on letters, fleeting thoughts of seeking Saxon amnesty or imprisonment, and a return to music as his only course.
January 25, 1854	Richard Wagner	August Rockel	Zurich	2,087	Wagner writes Röckel a long philosophical explanation of freedom as integrity, truth as loving surrender to reality, and love between man and woman as the fullest form of human understanding, linking these ideas to the meaning of the Nibelung drama. He interprets the Ring as a drama of fear, lovelessness, Wotan's willing self-destruction, Siegfried and Brünnhilde's redemptive union, and the restoration of the gold to nature, while noting that Das Rheingold's music has become a tightly motivated unity and imagining a future production with young performers trained over years.
January 26, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	1,039	Wagner writes again from a state of intense mental and financial distress, rejecting fantasies of flight to America or political appeals as impractical while insisting that only completion of the Nibelungen gives his life purpose. He implores Liszt to arrange a friendly sale of his opera rights or other decisive help, warning that without outside intervention he may collapse entirely under suffering and nervous illness.
February 3, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	250	Wagner tells Hans von Bülow that only the promise of making music still holds back his growing desire for death, since he wants to show music beyond what Bülow may imagine. He also reports that Härtel will publish Lohengrin piano pieces only anonymously, fearing amateurs will avoid anything bearing a virtuoso's name, and asks Bülow to prepare them soon with assurance of payment.
February 7, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	118	Wagner asks why Liszt's Kunstler chorus and the Faust Symphony have not yet arrived and reports that he is now scoring Das Rheingold in full because the opening could not be sketched clearly. He thanks the Princess for her kindness, says he is indifferent to how matters may turn out, and asks Liszt for a sympathetic reply as a sign of friendship.
February 7, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	57	Wagner tells Liszt that he is scoring Das Rheingold directly with full orchestration because he could not clearly sketch the prelude, the Depths of the Rhine, in outline. He notes that this approach will slow completion and that his head is somewhat confused.
February 21, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	527	Liszt sends Wagner his Kunstler chorus, speaks affectionately of finishing the Faust Symphony, and asks to see the completed score of Das Rheingold as soon as Wagner can spare it. He says he is quietly pursuing Wagner's financial interests, asks for exact information about his debts and income, hints at a possible Berlin opportunity, and advises calm about the Leipzig Lohengrin affair.
March 4, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,071	Wagner gives Liszt a candid, initially resistant reaction to the Kunstler chorus, explaining how his own musical development toward a new treatment of verse, melody, and harmonic breadth shaped his response before he came to admire the work's force and artistic intention. He then asks Liszt to find a skilled copyist or secretary for the Nibelungen project, arguing that such practical help and financial support are essential if he is to finish the work while continuing to endure his melancholy.
March 4, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	703	Wagner thanks Liszt for The Artists, explaining that Schiller's didactic verse and concert-choir form initially clashed with his current musical thinking, especially his new relation to speech and the radically simple E-flat basis of the Rheingold prelude, but that he ultimately grasped the work as a noble artistic call rooted in Liszt's own life. He says he is working under great pressure, urgently needs a skilled copyist to turn wild pencil scores into fair copy, and asks Liszt for a 5000-franc loan to escape pressing debts and relieve Sulzer.
March 16, 1854	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	32	No summary available.
April 1, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	163	Wagner tells Hans von Bülow that the orchestration of Das Rheingold is half finished in pencil and that he will send the fair copy in sections so Bülow can quickly make a piano arrangement for private demonstration. He reports uncertainty around a delayed musical festival and Joachim's attendance, vents about Zurich, and says he survives by retreating into work, scenery, and the company of a dear lady.
April 4, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Gotha	419	Liszt tells Wagner that his own affairs are troubled and prevent him from offering immediate financial help, but he reports an important Berlin conversation with von Hulsen about possible performances of Tannhauser and Lohengrin. He urges Wagner not to weaken his previous position, asks how the matter stands, and warns him about a rumored Konigsberg production of Tannhauser in Berlin.
April 9, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,099	Wagner asks Liszt to veto any Berlin performance by the Konigsberg troupe and to act as his sole representative with von Hulsen, insisting that all negotiations over his operas in Berlin must pass through Liszt. He also seeks Liszt's help in pressing Dingelstedt for a substantial Munich payment for Tannhauser, reflects tenderly on Liszt's domestic troubles, and reports progress on orchestrating Das Rheingold.
April 9, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	137	Wagner tells Liszt that a fully understanding woman's soul would make worldly distractions and recent frippery unnecessary, revealing the emotional despair beneath them. He reports that the orchestration of Das Rheingold has reached Nibelheim and should be finished in May, though the pencil draft is illegible and Die Walküre must begin in June.
April 17, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	99	In this brief note Wagner asks whether a letter from him to the King of Saxony, forwarded confidentially through the Grand Duke of Weimar, might help secure relief or amnesty. He says something must be attempted so he can escape his ordinary condition from time to time, and he anxiously asks after Liszt.
April 24, 1854*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	521	Liszt writes from bed with illness, says he has already pressed Dingelstedt to answer Wagner directly and hopes Munich will deal honorably with him, and reports successful Weimar performances of Lohengrin and Tannhauser. Responding to Wagner's distress, he agrees to try once more for Saxon clemency, asks Wagner to send an open letter for the King, continues searching for a competent copyist for the Nibelungen, and reassures him about his own health.
May 2, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,122	Wagner tells Liszt that he is ashamed of burdening him with complaints and now wants to turn his sympathy toward Liszt's own hidden troubles, resolving to set aside the proposed letter to the King of Saxony and to concentrate on finishing the Nibelungen. He clarifies the limited truth about his role in the Valais Musical Festival, discusses Munich, Berlin, and Lohengrin matters with some resignation, and concludes that he will probably have to prepare his own fair copies after all.
May 2, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	308	Wagner explains to Liszt that he refused to conduct the Valais Federal Musical Festival as a whole and only agreed to lead Beethoven's A-major Symphony if another conductor handled the festival, though the organizers misleadingly advertised joint direction with Methfessel. He expects little musically from the event because of uncertain orchestra, choir, and rehearsal conditions, and adds that he may have to make the fair copy of his own score because his sketches are too confused for anyone else.
May 20, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	874	This letter sets out Liszt's proposed terms for Berlin performances of Wagner's Tannhauser and Lohengrin, insisting on dignified casting, proper rehearsals, and his own authority to negotiate on Wagner's behalf. Liszt offers to come to Berlin to settle artistic arrangements, assures the manager that Wagner's financial demands will be reasonable, and reserves for later decision the question of whether he himself will conduct.
May 26, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	94	Wagner sends a short but urgent reply approving Liszt's draft to Berlin and insisting that the only acceptable payment model is royalties rather than a lump sum. He argues that generous, honorable treatment of the manager is the best way to secure frequent performances and lasting benefit from his operas.
June 1, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	18	No summary available.
June 2, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	20	No summary available.
June 3, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	700	Liszt replies firmly to the Berlin intendant that Wagner's operas cannot simply be mounted like ordinary repertory pieces and that their success depends on special artistic care and his active participation, just as other important works have benefited from direct authorial guidance. He therefore asks the management either to accept the arrangement already proposed, including his presence at rehearsals and performance, or to leave the matter in its present state.
June 3, 1854	Richard Wagner	Princess Caroline	Zurich	235	Wagner writes Princess Caroline in admiration of Liszt, praising his deeds, artistic range, programme writings, symphonic poems, and essays for Brendel's journal as poetic and brilliantly logical expressions of genius. He is moved that Liszt still honors The Flying Dutchman and reports that the Rhine Maidens are progressing, while he longs to begin Die Walküre.
June 7, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	370	Wagner thanks Liszt for energetically defending his interests with Hulsen, advises that no further reply is needed, and asks him to secure a piano score of Tannhauser for Roger, whom he hopes may become the ideal singer for the title role. He also warmly invites Liszt, the Princess, and the child to join him around the Valais festival and reports that he has put aside copying Rheingold in order to begin work on Die Walkure.
June 8, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	147	Liszt sends Wagner the latest evasive communication in the Berlin matter together with the outline of his simple answer, remarking that the real obstacles lie deeper than the named intermediaries and that further delays are likely. He adds that he hopes soon to bring Wagner his symphonic poems in person and urges patience and faithfulness in difficult times.
No letters found.

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