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 September (72 total)

Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
September 13, 1834	Richard Wagner	Theodore Apel	Rudolstadt	972	Wagner writes in a depressed and restless mood about theatre work, money losses, cooled love affairs, and difficulty finishing a symphony while forced to rehearse Bellini's Romeo and Juliet in haste. In a later, brighter continuation he urges his friend to come stay with him, mentions work on Adlers Horst and the Magdeburg Bluthochzeit, and sends greetings to family and Schlesier.
September 20, 1834	Richard Wagner	Theodore Apel	Rudolstadt	506	Wagner writes in distress after reading Laube on Italian cities, lamenting his stagnation, poverty, and the mismanaged state of the theatre. He resolves to press ahead with Das Liebesverbot for production before Easter and urges his friend to finish Columbus and come to him.
September 22, 1835	Richard Wagner	Theodore Apel	Magdeburg	270	Wagner suggests that Apel's Columbus could draw poetic force from a love affair that sustains the explorer, making love rather than politics the deeper source of Spain's glory. He links this idea to his own sustaining romance, notes that he is expanding his paid musical journalism, declares he will not return to Leipzig, and asks after Mendelssohn.
September 13, 1839	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Boulogne	219	Wagner tells Avenarius that he will leave Boulogne for Paris on September 16 and asks him again to secure a sufficiently large weekly room in a furnished hotel for himself and Minna. He explains that he stayed in costly Boulogne because he unexpectedly met Meyerbeer there and has tried to attach him to his Paris plans.
September 20, 1839	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Paris	97	Newly arrived in Paris, Wagner declines Avenarius's invitation to the Italian Opera because he is exhausted after a day of meetings with Garcia, Joly, Dumersan, Meyerbeer, and others. He reports that Garcia has proved especially amiable and helpful, offering him assistance for his plans.
September 15, 1840	Richard Wagner	Heinrich Schletter	Paris	711	Wagner introduces himself to Heinrich Schletter as a Leipzig Wagner and a composer who abandoned music-directing to seek recognition in Paris. After a year of obstacles, dependence on Meyerbeer's intermittent help, the bankruptcy of the Théâtre de la Renaissance, and a new prospect at the Grand Opéra, he asks Schletter for a 1,500-franc loan to keep him in Paris.
September 20, 1840	Richard Wagner	Theodore Apel	Paris	2,649	Wagner appeals to Apel from Paris in extreme poverty, recalling their youthful friendship and acknowledging Apel's blindness while asking frankly for help. He describes years of failed artistic attempts, marriage and hardship in Riga, completion of Rienzi with hopes for Dresden through Meyerbeer, continuing hopes for The Flying Dutchman, and begs for three hundred thalers to keep himself and Minna from ruin.
September 12, 1841	Richard Wagner	Johanna Geyer	Meudon	713	Writing to his mother from Meudon, Wagner reflects that persistence has taught him he cannot conquer Paris by his own strength alone and that his past recklessness with money caused debt, estrangement, and artistic suffering. He describes living frugally on publisher's drudgery while awaiting a turn in fortune, unable to revisit Magdeburg until he clears 400 thalers of debt, and clings to maternal love as his last refuge.
September 11, 1842	Richard Wagner	Edward Avenarius	Dresden	113	Wagner jokes to Avenarius that, despite Cecilie's teasing about babies, he and Minna have no prospect of a child and must make do with dogs. He describes their new six-week-old puppy, Peps or Striezel, while wistfully saying he would rather have another Maxel, an impossibility that could happen only once.
September 21, 1843	Richard Wagner	Robert Schumann	Dresden	360	Wagner regrets not having discussed Schumann's new works, especially Peri, and reflects that the Leipzig concert hall may offer a purer refuge for serious music than the socially mixed and artistically compromised theatre. He says he has not composed since The Love-Feast but will begin Tannhäuser once settled, while hesitating over a renewed Vienna request for an opera because he distrusts that city.
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.
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.
September 6, 1848	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	133	Wagner thanks Liszt for his efforts on his behalf and reports that the planned performance of Tannhauser has been delayed. He explains that Tichatschek's illness and prior obligations to the star singer Formes will likely postpone the opera for about a week, and he sends regards to Princess Wittgenstein.
September 19, 1848	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Dresden	133	Wagner informs Liszt that Tannhauser is finally scheduled for performance in Dresden on September 24, 1848, though he doubts the notice will allow Liszt to come. He also mentions a jubilee concert for the orchestra on September 22 featuring an excerpt from Lohengrin and says he would be glad to welcome Liszt and Princess Wittgenstein.
September 16, 1849	Richard Wagner	Theodore Uhlig	Zurich	596	Wagner tells Uhlig that Zurich, Minna's presence, and temporary financial security keep him in good spirits, though unsettled lodgings have delayed creative work while he finishes The Wibelungs for Wigand after Art and Revolution. He plans The Work of Art of the Future and The Artist of the Future before returning to Siegfried, but feels trapped between Liszt's Paris-opera ambitions for him and his own conviction that happiness and freedom require following inner necessity rather than external opportunity.
September 8, 1850	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	3,314	Wagner thanks Liszt for the extraordinary labor behind the first performance of Lohengrin, but, from the reports he has received, reflects anxiously on why the work may have seemed overlong and only partly successful, especially in the singers' recitative style and dramatic truth. He argues at length that every musical detail exists for the drama, criticizes specific failures of stage action and characterization, and even suggests replacing the singer of Lohengrin if a better representative can be found.
September 9, 1850	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,470	Writing directly to Zigesar, Wagner thanks him for the care and sympathy shown to Lohengrin but argues strongly against the idea of securing success through cuts or concessions to routine operatic habits. He insists that the opera is an indivisible dramatic whole, that the real problem lies in weak dramatic delivery by the singers rather than in the work itself, and that only a reform of performance practice, not mutilation of the score, can give the piece a meaningful victory.
September 11, 1850	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	553	Wagner corrects part of his previous criticism after hearing Karl Ritter's fuller account, acknowledging that Liszt had in fact kept the recitative tempos as intended and suggesting that the real remedy lies in warmer, more vivid declamation rather than cuts. He then turns with enthusiasm to Liszt's own compositions, asking urgently for copies of the Prometheus and Tasso overtures so that he may study them and perhaps arrange a performance in Zurich.
September 16, 1850	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	924	Liszt reports that the second performance of Lohengrin confirmed his hopes and that the work will be better executed, better understood, and more effective with each repetition. He insists that Wagner's dramatic revolution requires not only retraining singers but also educating and even forcing the public beyond old habits, and while he mentions that Zigesar and Genast still have observations about cuts, he promises to carry out whatever final decision Wagner makes.
September 19, 1850	Richard Wagner	Francisca von Bülow	Zurich	987	Wagner asks Francisca von Bülow to let her son Hans abandon law for music and spend six months in Zurich learning practical conducting under Wagner alongside Karl Ritter, whose theatre post Wagner has guaranteed and will supervise. He argues that Hans's musical vocation is proven and extraordinary, that forcing legal studies would damage his character and their relationship, and that her willing support could give the world a joyful artist and preserve her son's deepest love.
September 19, 1850	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	115	Wagner urges Hans von Bülow to stand firm, read and forward Wagner's letter to his mother, and come to Zurich immediately. He says Liszt will also help, money can be managed if necessary, but hesitation or surrender would disappoint him.
September 25, 1850	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	339	Liszt tells Wagner that he is finishing a long article on Lohengrin which he hopes to publish in Paris despite the press's reluctance to praise a living foreign composer without reserve. He asks Wagner, if personal reasons permit, to revise and authenticate a German translation as well, whether for newspaper publication or as a separate pamphlet, so that the article can appear in Germany without distortion.
September 8, 1852	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,173	Wagner says his health has again collapsed and that even writing is torture, but he reports that the Berlin Tannhauser question remains unsettled and that he has tried to dispel Hulsen's misunderstanding by stressing confidence while asking only for a clear recognition of the opera's difficult position there. He sends Liszt printed performance instructions for Tannhauser, then turns passionately against the recasting of old works, arguing that Berlioz, Raff, and all serious artists must create something genuinely new rather than keep trying to revive earlier efforts.
September 12, 1852	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	514	Wagner follows his previous outburst with a calmer letter asking Liszt to forward a letter, pamphlets, and a score of Lohengrin to Rockel through Rockel's wife, giving the imprisoned friend priority over another recipient. He also asks Liszt to return the score of the Faust overture and the old Lohengrin staging instructions and designs so that he can revise, publish, and prepare improved materials for future productions, and he ends by asking again for news and for some of Liszt's own compositions.
September 12, 1852	Richard Wagner	August Rockel	Zurich	447	Wagner tells the imprisoned Röckel that his health and nerves suffer from imaginative life without satisfying reality, forcing him to abandon journalism and work slowly on a vast artistic plan: three dramas and a prelude to be called The Ring of the Nibelungs. He hopes eventually to send Röckel books, especially Feuerbach and Daumer's Hafiz, whose Eastern serenity and joy make European culture seem poor and suggest an individual path amid world disintegration.
September 25, 1852	Richard Wagner	Robert Franz	Zurich	866	Wagner thanks Robert Franz for friendship that renewed his artistic will, yet confesses that broken health and modern public art make him long to abandon an artistic life that cannot satisfy his need for love. He reflects that like-minded artists can mostly share dissatisfaction and theory because true presentation is nearly impossible, dismisses forthcoming Tannhäuser performances as likely misunderstandings, and urges Franz to visit Switzerland with Uhlig and continue sending songs.
September 28, 1852	Richard Wagner	Francisca Wagner	Zurich	326	Wagner asks Francisca for details of Johanna's Paris contract and whether she can require the right to appear in Tannhäuser there. He says Meyerbeer's attacks have made him newly interesting in Paris, rejects writing a French opera, but would consider a well-translated Grand Opéra Tannhäuser with Roger and Johanna as both an artistic opportunity and a direct challenge to Meyerbeer that might restore his failing health.
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.
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.
September 1, 1855	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	999,999	Writing to Hans von Bülow, Wagner sends the programme for the Tannhäuser Overture and notes that he has written programmes only for Beethoven's Third and Ninth symphonies. He asks whether Bülow can quickly prepare a piano arrangement of Das Rheingold, while adding that Klindworth is available if the task proves too burdensome.
September 2, 1855*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	435	Liszt forwards an American concert proposal through T. Hagen and the Mason brothers, asks Wagner for a prompt reply, and suggests that a Beethoven-centered visit to Boston might be financially worthwhile even if he doubts Wagner will accept. He also sends Weimar theatrical and family news, complains of tedious obligations, and looks ahead to their November meeting.
September 5, 1855*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	28	No summary available.
September 13, 1855	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	777	Wagner proposes postponing Liszt's visit until Christmas so that he can present the whole of Die Walkure, whose tragic completion and eventual reading through with Liszt he regards as his only true reward. He declines the New York offer with thanks, worries over money and Hanover, and imagines instead a cheap but congenial winter arrangement in Zurich where he and Liszt might work together in peace.
September 23, 1855	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	167	Liszt repeats that Wehner is still the best route for the Hanover business and promises Wagner that he will be in Zurich around Christmas. He looks forward to feasting like the gods on Rheingold and Die Walkure, while bringing some artistic hors d'oeuvre of his own.
September 1, 1856	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Zurich	366	Writing to Otto Wesendonck, Wagner confesses deep discouragement and resignation, saying he asks the world only for a quiet place and leisure to work but doubts the world has any reason to provide it. He reflects on the flawed history of princely patronage and responds to Wesendonck's offer to act in place of publisher and prince, framing such giving as a morally elevating act for them both.
September 7, 1856	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	207	Writing to Hans von Bülow, Wagner introduces the young Bavarian Count du Moulin, whose enthusiasm for music and devotion to Wagner have led him to seek instruction and experience in Berlin. Wagner asks Bülow to advise him, introduce him to Marx in Wagner's name, and later perhaps send him on to Liszt.
September 10, 1856	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Zurich	541	Writing to Otto Wesendonck, Wagner thanks him for extraordinary support but doubts that his contradictions and needs can truly be relieved. He says Zurich has become oppressive except for his bond of gratitude and friendship with the Wesendonck household, and weighs whether future financial and practical relief should center on Weimar, on refuge with Wesendonck, or on dividing his year between both.
September 11, 1856*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	60	Wagner introduces Herr Zeugherr, an architect acquaintance, as someone searching for a small villa where Wagner can compose. He hopes Liszt's influence may help inspire or advance the search.
No letters found.

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