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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Showing all years in August (64 total)

Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
August 5, 1831	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Leipzig	167	Wagner petitions a publishing firm for employment preparing piano revisions and arrangements, citing recent examples of his work as proof of his ability. Facing a lack of work, he offers to do unpaid trial assignments and promises punctual, exact service at modest pay if he gains their confidence.
August 21, 1835	Richard Wagner	Theodore Apel	Frankfurt	1,183	From Frankfurt, Wagner writes to Apel in tears, fearing that their former shared vitality and confidence have been lost and asking whether Apel's friendship and trust remain. He recounts recent travel, romantic disappointment, estrangement from his family, and a harsh recognition that reckless living and false reliance on others have left him dependent only on his own strength and Apel's affection.
August 7, 1836	Richard Wagner	Heinrich Dorn	Riga	616	Wagner writes respectfully to Heinrich Dorn seeking help in finding a musical post, especially whether Riga might offer an opening for the autumn season. He summarizes his recent work as music director in Magdeburg, explains the uncertainty around Königsberg and Schuberth, and notes that his betrothed Minna Planer would join him if he were placed.
August 23, 1839	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Boulogne	504	Wagner introduces himself warmly to Edward Avenarius, acknowledging obligations already incurred through his sister Cecilie and the help Avenarius has offered. After describing his hazardous voyage from Riga through London to Boulogne and his plan to finish work before entering Paris, he asks Avenarius to find a cheap furnished room in Paris for himself and Minna.
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.
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.
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.
August 4, 1849	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	373	Wagner sends Liszt a newly revised essay meant for translation and publication in Paris, saying it reflects his deepest artistic convictions without descending into mere political slogans or personal invective. He asks Liszt to forward the manuscript to Otto Wigand in Leipzig, hopes it may bring him a little income, and anxiously mentions that he still has no news from his wife.
August 7, 1849	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	352	Wagner thanks Liszt for helping his wife, forwarding his scores, and arranging the proposed dedication of Tannhauser to the Grand Duke, which he accepts without feeling that he has compromised his principles. He says he may have to pawn the score of Lohengrin for ready money, acknowledges Liszt's doubts about its stage effect, and promises that real artistic work will repay all Liszt's care if he can only be given peace.
August 9, 1849	Richard Wagner	Theodore Uhlig	Zurich	572	Wagner tells Uhlig that Liszt urges him toward a Paris opera, though his current subjects, including Siegfried and Jesus of Nazareth, do not suit French expectations and his Art and Revolution shows his distaste for Parisian art business. Settled in Zurich with Liszt's communal support, awaiting Minna and unexpectedly famous through piano arrangements, he refuses any return to his old Dresden role, worries about Heubner, Röckel, and Bakunin, and asks Uhlig to begin a piano arrangement of Lohengrin.
August 11, 1849	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Zurich	307	Wagner writes Minna that separation is painful because it leaves him constantly uncertain about her health, but Liszt's latest letter shows active support, including 100 thalers and prospects for an annual income tied to Wagner's works. He urges her to bring Natalie to Switzerland as practical help, assures her that his passport and residence permit are in order, and says refugees there are irrelevant to his situation.
August 1, 1850	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	122	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that Liszt hopes to secure performers and an advance commission for Siegfried at Weimar, making Wagner willing to complete the work if performance becomes genuinely possible. He is deeply moved by Liszt's tactful love and care, even though Liszt does not fully understand him.
August 7, 1850*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	497	Liszt forwards another anonymous hundred thalers to Wagner and says the gift comes, as before, from a hidden official source rather than from himself or Zigesar. He reports intense daily rehearsals for Lohengrin, promises that everything possible in Weimar is being done for a faithful performance, asks Wagner to send metronome markings for key passages, and suggests gracious letters afterward to Zigesar and Genast.
August 16, 1850	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,014	Wagner thanks Liszt and the anonymous benefactor again, reflects on the painful distance that keeps him from hearing Lohengrin in performance, and asks Liszt for occasional news from the rehearsals. He also promises the requested letters to Zigesar and Genast, asks for care with the printed libretto and for seats for two friends, and sends a few tempo and expression indications while insisting that Liszt's sympathy will find the right effect better than any numbers.
August 19, 1850*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	154	Wagner worries that Liszt may not have received his previous letter, since Liszt has not referred to several practical points contained in it. He asks to be told at once if the letter is missing so that he can resend the added bar for Lohengrin and make sure the intended cut and other details are not lost before the general rehearsal.
August 22, 1850	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	245	Wagner introduces his young friend Karl Ritter, praises his culture and musical gifts, and asks Liszt to be kind to him, admit him to the general rehearsal, and secure him a good place at the performances of Lohengrin. He adds that he and his wife will spend August 28 alone on the Righi, hoping the excursion made possible by Liszt's care will help his health during an emotionally charged time.
August 30, 1850*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	318	Liszt tells Wagner that Lohengrin has moved him deeply and that he regards the whole opera as an indivisible marvel, singling out the third-act duet as its highest point of beauty and truth. He reports that the first performance was relatively successful, that the court and the more intelligent listeners are full of admiration, and that articles and notices are being arranged to secure the work's standing in Weimar and beyond.
August 1, 1851*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	851	Liszt thanks Wagner for sending the Monatsschrift numbers, asks for further installments of Uhlig's articles if possible, and says he hopes to maintain his friendship with Uhlig even if they miss each other in Weimar. He also forwards the Brussels correspondence, insists again that any performance of Lohengrin must depend on Wagner's collaboration on the French text and his presence at the final rehearsals, and confirms the publication sequence of the Lohengrin and Siegfried scores that he thinks wisest.
August 23, 1851	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	43	Wagner writes only to say that Liszt has understood Lohengrin correctly while Stahr has not. He withdraws the approval he had hastily given to Stahr's interpretation and promises a fuller explanation soon.
August 24, 1851	Richard Wagner	August Rockel	Zurich	632	Wagner writes to the imprisoned August Röckel after learning that personal letters are allowed and that Röckel's condition and permission to work are better than rumored, expressing deep sympathy and continued concern. He says current art is dishonorable yet art still offers him necessary illusion, and describes his new poem Young Siegfried, its forest hero, dragon, Nibelung treasure, bird-song, and awakening of Brünnhilde, while insisting reality surpasses even this beautiful artistic illusion.
August 7, 1852	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	488	Wagner tells Julie Ritter that his nerves and mind are strained, travel toward Italy briefly enchanted him but destroyed his last illusion that he can recover youthful joy, leaving art as the only force that still sustains him. He seeks self-preservation in isolation, walks, and a small lakeside house with a garden, while noting growing theatrical interest in his operas, concern for Julie's daughter Julia and her connection with Kummer, and bleak news about Otto's health.
August 23, 1852	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	984	Liszt thanks Wagner warmly for the dedication of Lohengrin and tells him not to concern himself with petty newspaper jokes or to suspect Liszt of having caused them. He urges Wagner to publish the completed Nibelung poems without delay while the score is being finished, promises to do everything possible for a future production wherever it can be managed, states the terms under which he could assist a Berlin Tannhauser performance, and reports active Weimar plans for The Flying Dutchman and other repertory.
August 7, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Carlsbad	758	Liszt writes half-jokingly from Carlsbad that men like them should hardly write at all, yet says Wagner's rosy letters have genuinely cheered him amid the cure and the local spectacle of orchestras, actors, and exotic entertainments. He also reports seeing B. in Leipzig and hearing of a coming book with a chapter on Wagner, and says that on his travels he has renewed contact with friends of Wagner's in Dresden, taking comfort in this little church of mutual admiration.
August 13, 1853	Richard Wagner	Louis Schindelmeisser	Zurich	867	Wagner thanks Schindelmeisser for reports of excellent Lohengrin performances, but regrets printing The Ring of the Nibelungs before the music because readers discuss hypothetical technique instead of receiving the poem as the basis for new music and staging that must remain his secret. He describes a revised Tannhäuser ending, reports progress on Das Rheingold under the blessing of recent Paris experiences despite illness, and reflects uneasily on his volatile relationship with Karl Ritter and the imbalance between Ritter's capacity and Wagner's painful experience.
August 16, 1853	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,288	Wagner says he has returned from St. Moritz earlier than expected and was especially pleased by the good humor of Liszt's last letter and by the news of Liszt's triumphant day with the R. family in Dresden, which felt to him like a continuation of the Zurich days. He adds only that he must wait on the K. matter, though George now seems favorably inclined to it, giving Wagner hope that the enterprise might succeed even without his personal presence.
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.
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.
August 2, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	117	Wagner asks Liszt, whom he calls his permanent court business agent, to forward a letter to the King of Hanover through the Weimar minister because his theatrical agent has sold Lohengrin to Hanover without authorization and on poor terms. He wants Liszt to help him appeal directly to the king and reproaches him lightly for not answering an earlier question.
August 12, 1855*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	456	Liszt returns Wagner's letter to the King of Hanover, saying he has found no reliable way of reaching the monarch and advising Wagner instead to write through Joachim or Capellmeister Wehner, who is on good terms with the king. He also discusses the timing of his November or Christmas visit, mentions family and publishing news, and complains that visits and business have left him little time for work.
August 23, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	533	Wagner says Liszt's silence has made him deeply anxious because the hoped-for visit is the only thing that gives him comfort or strength, and he fears his creative source will dry up if he cannot see Liszt more often or hear his works performed. He reports that the first half of Die Walkure has at last been finished and copied, but that illness, discouragement, and artistic isolation have made further work increasingly difficult.
August 1, 1856	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	374	Liszt thanks Wagner for sending the Rheingold and Die Walkure scores, says their attraction is irresistible, and reports that he and a visitor are already pounding through Valhalla at the piano in anticipation of the full Zurich reading. He then gives travel plans for Hungary and Vienna, arranges for the Princess to hold the scores until Wagner orders them sent to Hartel, jokes about Wagner buying all Zurich with his manuscripts, and cautiously leaves the Erard question open.
August 1, 1856	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	86	No summary available.
August 7, 1856	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Mornex	131	Writing to Otto Wesendonck from Mornex, Wagner reports major health improvement under Dr. Vaillant and says he now feels more confident about managing his condition. He asks Wesendonck to keep caring for him because he still has much work to do, naming Tristan and a newly absorbing subject, The Victors.
August 11, 1856	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	414	No summary available.
August 12, 1856	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Mornex	292	Writing to Breitkopf and Härtel, Wagner welcomes the sympathetic progress of negotiations and turns to the practical question of piano arrangements without words. He explains that earlier Lohengrin arrangements misunderstood his wishes, and proposes scene-based, musically fluent reductions that preserve melodic substance while omitting recitative rhetoric unsuited to the pianist.
August 23, 1856	Richard Wagner	August Rockel	Zurich	778	Writing to August Röckel, Wagner reflects that Schopenhauer has given him concepts matching the artistic intuitions behind The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and the Ring, especially the tragic necessity of renunciation and negation of the will. He reinterprets the Nibelung poem as having moved beyond his earlier optimistic intentions toward a deeper recognition of the world's nothingness, while confessing that as an artist he still chases the peace needed simply to work.
August 31, 1856	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Paris	165	Writing to Otto Wesendonck, Wagner reports confidential news that the Grand Duke of Weimar may try to draw him to Weimar by offering the quiet dwelling he has long sought, perhaps at the Wartburg or another residence. He weighs this against his attachment to Zurich and its few irreplaceable friends, reflecting that seemingly small practical circumstances can govern the life of an artist.
August 15, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	69	No summary available.
August 1, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	6	No summary available.
August 6, 1858	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	162	Liszt says he cannot leave Weimar before the Jena University centenary and another expected visit of consequence, though he is willing to come to Zurich a few weeks earlier than first planned. He asks Wagner to confirm by return whether he will still be in Zurich on the 20th, since Liszt will only make the trip if he can be sure of spending several days with him.
August 11, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	87	Writing to Liszt, Wagner says his situation can only be understood by someone present and that he has longed for weeks to leave Zurich. He plans to depart on August 14 and confesses the pain of not having Liszt beside him during this important crisis.
August 17, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	16,819	No summary available.
August 20, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Geneva	141	Wagner asks Liszt to find out whether he could safely spend some time in Venice, which lies outside the German Confederation, without risking arrest, extradition, or other harassment. If any danger exists, he wants the Grand Duke to intercede on his behalf, since the city strongly attracts him and he plans to delay departure until he has Liszt's answer.
August 24, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Berne	542	Wagner thanks Liszt for his answer about Venice and says fresh inquiries reassure him that he presently faces no immediate danger there, though the crucial question is whether he may remain undisturbed for a longer stay. He passionately argues that Venice is the ideal place for the seclusion, silence, and practical accessibility he needs for work, and urges Liszt to have the Grand Duke intervene in Vienna at once to secure that protection.
August 26, 1858	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	674	Liszt reports that every inquiry has produced bad news about Venice, and even the Grand Duke advises Wagner against going there, recommending Genoa or Sardinia instead while holding out only limited hope for some future permission to stay temporarily in Germany. He urges Wagner to focus on finishing Tristan and use its eventual performance, perhaps through Baden or Weimar, as the best route toward a partial return, while also cautioning him not to indulge unrealistic hopes about Austria, Paris, or Italy as immediate artistic or political solutions.
August 4, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	358	No summary available.
August 8, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	286	No summary available.
No letters found.

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