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.
This archive is organized chronologically, but it is also designed as a map of Wagner’s relationships. The letters may be browsed by year and month, by sender and recipient, or by major correspondents such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Uhlig, and Franz Liszt.
Letters from Wagner should be read beside letters sent to him. The outgoing letters often show Wagner fashioning his own cause, defending his works, pleading for help, or advancing his vision of art. The incoming letters reveal how that vision was received, resisted, misunderstood, supported, or transformed by those around him.
Because the collection contains thousands of letters, the table below is intended as a finding aid rather than a replacement for the individual letter pages. Use the filters to narrow the archive by year, month, correspondent, or direction, then open a letter to read the full text.
Note: An asterisk (*) next to the date indicates an exact date for the letter was unavailable and a date has been interpolated from context and ordering.
| Date | From | To | Place | Words | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 23, 1858 | Richard Wagner | Franz Liszt | Venice | 99 |
Wagner reports that after a mutual plan to congratulate Liszt on his birthday was preempted by a telegram from another friend, he celebrated in Venice with a dinner of oysters and champagne in St. Mark's Square. A military band played the Rienzi overture, he drank Liszt's health, and he sends the letter as proof of the cheerful tribute.
|
| October 26, 1858 | Richard Wagner | Franz Liszt | Venice | 128 |
Wagner reports that Munich has abandoned plans for Rienzi on religious grounds, leaving him once again searching urgently for income. He asks Liszt to help him place Lohengrin, and possibly The Flying Dutchman as well, with the Cassel or Coburg managements so he can earn money and relieve his difficult position.
|
| October 10, 1859 | Richard Wagner | Mathilde Wesendonck | Paris | 1,163 |
No summary available.
|
| October 20, 1859 | Richard Wagner | Franz Liszt | Paris | 455 |
Wagner sends Liszt an intensely affectionate birthday greeting, saying Liszt's existence itself fills a void in the world and that his friendship remains an absolute necessity to Wagner's life. He then pleads for a personal meeting soon, insisting that Carlsruhe and Tristan are too uncertain to be trusted as occasions, and asks Liszt to come before his wife returns, while ending in a mood of bleak settlement without faith, love, or hope.
|
| October 21, 1859 | Richard Wagner | Mathilde Wesendonck | Paris | 148 |
No summary available.
|
| October 23, 1859 | Richard Wagner | Mathilde Wesendonck | Paris | 585 |
No summary available.
|
| October 29, 1859 | Richard Wagner | Mathilde Wesendonck | Paris | 1,845 |
No summary available.
|
| October 24, 1860 | Richard Wagner | Otto Wesendonck | Paris | 274 |
No summary available.
|
| October 17, 1863 | Richard Wagner | Otto Wesendonck | Penzing | 61 |
No summary available.
|
| No letters found. | |||||