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
June 14, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	270	Wagner tells Liszt not to seek a copyist because a golden pen from Madame Wesendonck has revived his calligraphic perfectionism, making him determined to prepare Das Rheingold in an exquisitely written fair score. He says Liszt will see the work only in that worthy form, but that copying must wait because he is eager and full of Die Walküre.
June 16, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	554	Wagner dismisses the latest Berlin negotiations as dishonest nonsense, thanks Liszt for his loyal friendship, and says that refusing such prudential compromises is itself a kind of victory even if practical success never comes. He looks forward to Liszt's visit, renounces the search for a copyist, resumes work on Die Walkure while postponing the fair copy of Rheingold, and lapses again into thoughts of death and tears.
June 24, 1854*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	38	In this very brief note Liszt says Wagner's letter has struck him like a thunderbolt and that tears prevent him from reading further. He responds only with an emotional tribute, calling Wagner wholly unique and implying that the letter's full meaning is known best to Wagner himself.
July 2, 1854*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	116	Wagner thanks Liszt for rescuing him from a serious financial difficulty and says he expects his affairs to improve by the autumn. He mentions his impending trip to Valais, says that work on Die Walkure has begun in earnest, and briefly notes Brendel's surprising behavior.
July 3, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	61	Writing to Liszt, Wagner says he is leaving briefly for Valais but lacks both money and inclination for extended travel. He reports that Die Walküre has begun and that his only real pleasure is now in the forward movement of his work.
July 10, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	645	Wagner urgently asks Liszt to use his presence in Leipzig to obtain a temporary loan or advance of one thousand thalers from Hartel, secured against the opera receipts he expects later in the year, because he has exhausted all other resources. He dismisses rumors about a German journey, leaves the Berlin matter entirely in Liszt's hands, describes his disgust with the Valais festival, and says that only continued work on Die Walkure makes life bearable.
July 10, 1854	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Sitten	243	Wagner tells Minna from Sitten that he regrets being drawn away from work in Zurich for what proves to be only a poor local musical festival rather than a true federal event. He complains of bad weather, premature arrival, a small church, inadequate musicians, likely acoustic problems, and says he may hand the affair to Methfessel and leave rather than act as kapellmeister for such wretched forces.
July 19, 1854*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	635	Princess Carolyne thanks Wagner for the autograph, praises Liszt's ongoing articles on him, and urges him to trust Liszt completely with the Berlin affair while remaining confident of their shared loyalty to his art. She also says the Altenburg longs to receive his letters and the score of Rheingold, asks after the progress of Die Walkure, and sends affectionate encouragement from the whole household.
July 28, 1854	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	282	Liszt reports that attempts to secure money have again failed and that Hulsen has now definitively refused a Berlin performance of Tannhauser, though rumors from higher quarters suggest the matter may not be closed forever. He asks Wagner to explain his sudden flight from the Valais festival, mentions his recent travels and work on Faust, and regrets that he still cannot relieve Wagner's humiliation and distress.
August 1, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	399	Wagner tells Hans von Bülow that the Sitten trip and subsequent weeks away from work left him angry, bored, and convinced that only his own composition can sustain him because no external diversion helps. He reports delays in sending Rheingold because of a copyist, comments on Karl, Hornstein, and Johanna Wagner, and criticizes Bülow's Tannhäuser March arrangement for not incorporating the full melodic complex of the Minstrels and Page-boys.
August 22, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	1,279	Wagner insists that his idea of giving concerts arose solely from financial desperation and then launches into a bitter renunciation of public fame, theatrical diplomacy, and the supposed meaning of his recent operatic successes, which he now regards as misunderstandings bought at the price of self-betrayal. He tells Liszt that only money now matters in the circulation of Tannhauser and Lohengrin, declares that Liszt alone truly understands him, and vows to keep working on the Ring while abandoning all illusions about the world.
September 1, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	413	Wagner sends Hans von Bülow about half of Das Rheingold for piano arrangement, stressing secrecy from Liszt, careful return of the score, and scene-by-scene delivery while he continues Die Walküre and only slowly prepares the fair copy. He worries about money and weak winter receipts, asks Bülow to seek a possible 1000-thaler loan, comments on Hornstein, Liszt, and Bülow's prospects, and reminds him that Rheingold is meant for performance rather than reading.
September 16, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	155	Wagner asks Liszt whether concerts in Brussels and perhaps two Dutch cities could be arranged on terms that would net him ten thousand francs in cash, since he urgently needs money and sees no movement from the theatres. He says all composition has been laid aside for the moment, thanks Liszt for the medallion, and asks him to act quickly if the scheme seems viable.
September 29, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	343	Wagner asks Liszt to help arrange for his wife, then traveling in Germany, to hear Lohengrin or another of his operas at Weimar if possible, and gives detailed instructions for contacting her in Berlin or Leipzig. He also sends the completed score of Das Rheingold through intermediaries so that Liszt can finally receive the whole work, while admitting that his own misery has become so great that he despises himself for enduring it.
October 6, 1854	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Zurich	355	Wagner tells Minna that he is not surprised she visited Röckel in Waldheim because her generous heart often rises above ordinary judgments, even when her understanding of certain characters remains limited. He praises the visit as fine and gallant, and says Röckel's iron firmness matches what he already knew of him.
October 15, 1854*	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Zurich	69	No summary available.
October 26, 1854	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	871	Wagner gives Hans von Bülow a cautious critique of his compositions, saying he cannot judge fully without hearing them performed but finds strong invention, thematic breadth, and mastery of form, especially in the Orchestral Fantasy. His main concern is Bülow's apparent attraction to harmonic harshness for its own sake, though he frames this as secondary to real talent, and he closes by urging Bülow to read Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Idea and Parerga and Paralipomena.
November 1, 1854	Richard Wagner	Princess Caroline	Zurich	209	Wagner tells Princess Caroline that Die Walküre is progressing much more slowly than expected because music requires a different, more nourishing life than his dreary circumstances provide. The work's sorrows affect him so painfully that they make him ill, and he is currently in Act II at Brünnhilde's death-announcement to Siegmund while longing to reach the lighter momentum of Young Siegfried.
November 15, 1854*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	681	Wagner tells Liszt that Schopenhauer has become a decisive intellectual companion for him, because the philosopher's doctrine of renouncing the will to live gives conceptual form to Wagner's own longing for death and release from illusion. He links this mood to his artistic plans, saying he will finish the Ring, dreams of Tristan and Isolde and Young Siegfried, asks Liszt to forward Rheingold for copying, and imagines meeting him in Switzerland for future work and companionship.
December 16, 1854	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	328	Wagner tells Liszt that Schopenhauer has become a heavenly literary companion in solitude, bringing him to fuller consciousness of salvation through the negation of the will to live. He says Die Walküre has exhausted him but that he must finish the Nibelung parts for the sake of Young Siegfried, and he sketches Tristan and Isolde as a memorial to the fulfilled love he has never known before imagining death beneath its black banner.
January 1, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	506	Liszt sends Wagner new year's wishes, says he has published brief notice of Rheingold to stir public interest, promises to forward the score for copying, and advises cautious patience about Wagner's possible London engagement. He also reports on conditions at Weimar, the completion of his Faust Symphony, and his hope of bringing it to Zurich the following summer.
January 19, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	800	Wagner tells Liszt that he has accepted the conductorship of the old Philharmonic Society in London, less from artistic desire than from financial necessity and the hope that it may open a path toward staging his own works there. He outlines the terms and schedule of the engagement, discusses his revised Faust Overture and his reaction to Liszt's article on Rheingold, and asks Liszt both for clearer replies to practical questions and for a visit in London.
January 19, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	363	Wagner tells Liszt that Anderson has arranged for him to conduct eight London Philharmonic concerts from March to June 1855, a role he dislikes but accepts as a possible path toward winning English support for German opera and his own Lohengrin under his conductorship. He eagerly anticipates Liszt's completed Faust, reports a major revision and reorchestration of his own Faust Overture for Zurich performance, and closes with a bleak poetic confession of inward love and longing for death.
January 22, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	28	No summary available.
January 23, 1855	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	427	No summary available.
January 25, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	908	Liszt warmly approves Wagner's London appointment, recommends Klindworth to him, reports on recent productions at Gotha and Weimar, and asks practical questions about singers and scores. He also praises the idea of Tristan, requests the revised Faust Overture for performance, advises Wagner to establish himself patiently in London before pushing his own works there, and warns him against theatrical speculators.
February 1, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	568	Wagner sends Liszt the revised Faust Overture, asks him to compare it carefully with the earlier version, and hopes Hartel might purchase it for publication because he needs extra money before and during his London stay. He also reports on a local Tannhauser performance, says the first act of Die Walkure is nearly finished, clarifies that his deeper complaint was about unanswered inner questions rather than Berlin politics, and asks for introductions and practical help for his London lodging and piano.
February 9, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	244	Wagner asks Liszt to secure an introduction from the Weimar court, ideally through the Grand Duke, to smooth over passport and visa difficulties that still obstruct his travel through France. He plans to visit the French interior minister in Paris himself and stresses that the matter is urgent because he intends to leave within a fortnight.
February 16, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	358	Liszt tells Wagner that the Grand Duke is ill and that the passport matter cannot be settled instantly, but he promises to pursue it and hopes to send favorable news soon. He also reports on Berlioz's visit and current Weimar musical affairs, notes growing success for Lohengrin elsewhere, asks after progress on Die Walkure, and promises to forward the Rheingold score for copying.
February 16, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	76	Liszt introduces Carl Klindworth to Wagner as a devoted admirer and highly capable pianist and musician who had studied with him in Weimar and is now living in London. He warmly commends Klindworth to Wagner's protection and confidence.
February 16, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	357	Wagner sends Liszt the revised Faust Overture, asking him to compare it closely with the original because the changes reveal Wagner's acquired refinement and discarded crudities, especially in the broadened middle section while remaining focused on Faust alone. He wonders whether Härtel might publish it for needed travel money before London, and reports that Act I of Die Walküre is nearly scored and surpasses anything he has done before.
February 28, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	24	In this short note Wagner urgently reminds Liszt to send the requested letter to Erard concerning a piano for his London rooms. He promises to write more after the concert.
March 3, 1855	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Paris	291	Wagner tells Hans von Bülow that Liszt has spoken nobly of the London undertaking by refusing to treat it as a financial speculation, unlike the Brendel circle. He rejects Schumann's symphonies after renewed study as empty pseudo-profundity dependent on Beethoven where they have meaning, and asks Bülow to spare him talk of contemporary musical heroes while managing such opinions more tactfully.
March 12, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	391	Liszt asks Wagner for his precise London address, sends the promised introduction to Erard's representative, and reports that he has pursued the passport matter by obtaining support from the Grand Duke and another influential source in Paris. He also approves Wagner's revisions to the Faust Overture, offers publication through Hartel for twenty louis d'or, and mentions that he is hard at work on a large mass for the consecration of the cathedral of Gran.
March 21, 1855	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	London	1,167	Writing Otto Wesendonck from London, Wagner says the Philharmonic recognizes his conducting but offers no real artistic future for his operas or a German theatre, and he is frustrated by inadequate rehearsals, shallow concert customs, copyright losses, and the humiliation of presenting Lohengrin only in excerpts. He doubts he can ever become financially independent through art, contemplates abandoning artistic activity, yet values the devotion of the orchestra and especially Sainton, whose advocacy brought him to London, along with Klindworth as a promising young musician.
March 27, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	2,036	This unusually composite entry centers on Wagner's London depression and the Berlin Tannhauser decision: he tells Liszt that he has surrendered the opera out of financial necessity, finds comfort only in preserving his newer creations for true friends, and feels alienated from London beyond the orchestra itself, even while conducting Lohengrin excerpts and Beethoven. The same entry also includes Liszt's practical reply about Hartel, Rheingold, and his own work in Weimar, together with affectionate lines from Princess Carolyne, turning the row into a compact exchange of artistic loyalty, money worries, and mutual consolation.
April 5, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	London	151	Wagner tells Liszt that Klindworth has played Liszt's great Sonata for him in London, and that the work's beauty, nobility, and depth made him forget his misery there. He praises Klindworth as the rare pianist worthy to introduce such a work to him and longs for Liszt's physical presence so they might live beautifully together.
April 5, 1855	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	London	455	Wagner tells Wesendonck that any London applause for his music means little to him because he finds the public indiscriminate, the press corrupt, and English concert and oratorio culture dominated by conventions he despises, especially the Mendelssohn cult. London has also damaged his creative memory for Die Walküre: he has only laboriously finished Act I, hopes to complete Act II there, and regrets leaving Zurich because Act III and Young Siegfried must wait for Seelisberg.
April 16, 1855*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	1,105	Wagner apologizes for having settled the Berlin affair too abruptly, explains that sheer financial pressure forced him to surrender Tannhauser without conditions, and wonders whether a direct appeal to the King might still secure Liszt's desired role in Berlin. He then describes London as a false and exhausting environment that keeps him from his real work, complains of journalists and inadequate rehearsals, and says that only finishing Die Walkure and seeing Liszt again gives him any real hope.
April 25, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	161	Wagner tells Liszt that Klindworth has just played the new sonata to him and that the work moved him profoundly, making him forget the miseries of London for a time. He praises both the sonata's beauty and Klindworth's worthy performance, and longs for Liszt himself to be physically present so that they might sustain life together.
April 30, 1855	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	London	190	Wagner tries to cheer the ill Mathilde Wesendonck by recommending Adolf Holtzmann's Indian Sagas, especially Savitri and Usinar, whose ancient Eastern humanity he finds superior to modern culture, and says he reads Dante each morning in London. He is slowly working through Act II of Die Walküre, with Dante's Inferno accompanying Wotan's coming anguish, and says London has convinced him to withdraw from public concert conducting for years.
May 2, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	350	Liszt says he delayed writing because he had no good news and was absorbed in finishing his great mass, which he describes as something prayed rather than composed. He looks forward to bringing the mass and his printed orchestral works to Zurich in September, encourages Wagner to endure London patiently, and promises that brighter, more consoling days together will come soon.
May 4, 1855	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	London	1,276	Writing Minna from London, Wagner discusses delayed payments from Anderson and Sulzer, defends Mme. Wesendonck against gossip and Minna's suspicions, and comments wryly on domestic trust, his grey hairs, and a mistaken report of a gong stroke in the Tannhäuser Overture. He also reports mixed London concert experiences and reviews, criticizing performances of Weber and Fidelio, describing public demonstrations in his favor, and accusing Davison of hostile criticism that paradoxically spreads interest in Lohengrin through a published translation.
May 7, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	213	Princess Carolyne asks Wagner for a handwritten copy of lines from Das Rheingold that she treasures as deeply personal, asking him to sign and post them to her. She frames the request as materially small but spiritually immense, and sends him affectionate sympathy in his grief.
May 8, 1855	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	London	572	Writing from London, Wagner reports to Minna on the Philharmonic Society orchestra, praising individual players such as Sainton and the Belgian bassoonist while condemning the largely English ensemble as technically competent but mechanical and uninspired. He also describes the honor of a private quartet gathering and vents his bitterness at having to conduct English compositions he regards as correct but unimaginative.
May 16, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	London	1,045	Wagner answers that Liszt's promised September visit is the only light in his terrible London year, which he now regards as a sinful mistake that has trapped him in degrading concert routine, conventional taste, and artistic sterility. He says the position has crippled his work on Die Walkure and driven him toward thoughts of resignation, but he still longs for companionship with Liszt and news of the Princess and her child.
May 16, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	London	511	Writing to Liszt from London, Wagner describes his Philharmonic engagement as a spiritual and artistic humiliation, blaming the city, its Mendelssohn cult, and his dispiriting circumstances for stalling work on Die Walküre and Young Siegfried. He notes Klindworth's illness, the devotion of a few supporters, Klindworth's piano arrangement of the first act of Die Walküre, and his hope of hearing Liszt's new compositions in September.
May 22, 1855	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	London	406	Writing to Otto Wesendonck from London, Wagner confesses intense homesickness and restlessness while insisting that he alone bears responsibility for accepting a trip that has pulled him away from creative work. He contrasts his vocation as a creator with the world's money-making demands and mentions a tentative invitation from New York that threatens to become a second London-like expedition.
June 2, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	1,001	This composite entry begins with Wagner's complaint about the badly arranged four-hand version of his Faust Overture and his request that Liszt help set the publication right with Hartel. It then shifts to Liszt's reply from after the Dusseldorf festival, where he comments on Dante, outlines plans for a Dante Symphony, advises practical patience with Hartel, and urges Wagner to persevere and continue the Nibelungen despite public dirt and Philistinism.
June 7, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	London	2,453	Wagner marvels at Liszt's extraordinary productivity and then offers an extended philosophical response to the projected Dante Symphony, arguing that Hell and Purgatory pose no real problem but that Paradise, both in Dante and in music, becomes artistically and spiritually dubious. Drawing on Schopenhauer, Buddhism, and his own doctrine of renunciation, he contrasts common sorrow with philistine religion and expresses anxious curiosity about how Liszt will handle the final choral vision.
No letters found.

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