LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 GERALD HOWLAND
 
 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER
 
 Richard to Minna 
 Wagner 
 
 LETTERS TO HIS FIRST WIFE 
 TRANSLATED, PREFACED, ETC. 
 
 By William Ashton Ellis 
 
 VOL. I 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT OF MINNA WAGNER 
 
 New York: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 153-157 Fifth Avenue ^ 4 * 1909
 
 All rights reserved.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 IN my Introduction to the letters of RICHARD WAGNER To 
 MATHILDE WESENDONCK (Eng. ed. 1905) I dealt so fully 
 with the home-relations of his first marriage, that, apart 
 from the more intimate light now thrown on them by the 
 present collection itself, I need do little more than recall 
 to mind the barest skeleton of material facts. 
 
 WILHELM RICHARD WAGNER, youngest of nine 
 children, was born to his father, Magistrates' Clerk at 
 Leipzig,* May 22, 1813. At the age of 21, beyond a few 
 smaller pieces, there stood to his credit four overtures, 
 one of them performed once at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, 
 a Symphony, likewise played once there, and an opera, 
 Die Fccn, destined never to be mounted until five years 
 after his death ; he had held the position of chorus-master 
 at the Wurzburg theatre for the best part of a twelve- 
 month, and just secured that of operatic conductor at 
 
 * Even though a passage in one of Richard Wagner's own " family 
 letters" of considerably later date than the present collection suggests 
 a sentimental preference for the idea that Ludvvig Geyer, his mother's 
 second husband and father of sister Cecilie (to whom the letter is 
 addressed), may have been his actual progenitor a fancy first blurted into 
 the public ear as fact by F. Nietzsche a few years after the master's 
 death the best authorities have never lent it serious credence ; the like- 
 ness to his eldest brother, Albert, and through him to his paternal uncle, 
 is far too striking for such a theory, whereas there is not one line of 
 resemblance in the portraits of either Albert or Richard Wagner to the 
 almost effeminate features of their artist stepfather. W. A. E,
 
 vi TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 Magdeburg, entering on his duties in that town in the 
 autumn of 1834. Here he first met "Minna," a pretty 
 actress then engaged for ' ' young heroine ' ' parts at the 
 same theatre. 
 
 CHRISTINE WILHELMINE PLANER, described as her 
 parents' "3rd daughter," was born at Oederan, half-way 
 between Dresden and Zwickau, the 5th of September 
 1809, her father being a mechanic of some sort and, as we 
 learn from page 496, so ignorantly opposed to the march 
 of education that he refused to have his daughters taught 
 to write. Though Minna, as she always was called, must 
 have acquired that elementary art in his despite at some 
 period of her adolescence, or she could scarcely have 
 obtained the various stage engagements we know she did, 
 yet this early illiterateness is of equal ultimate importance 
 with her three-and-a-half-year seniority to the husband 
 she married at Konigsberg, while he was temporarily out 
 of employment, on the 24th of November 1836. In letter 
 172 which I strongly recommend for prompt perusal 
 we shall find Richard Wagner alluding to his " young 
 wife, ' ' whilst certain other references in these letters (e. g. , 
 no. 239) suggest that even so late as the early 'sixties she 
 left him under the delusion that her birth had occurred 
 in the year 1813, as stated on the marriage certificate ; 
 which would have made her a few months younger 
 than her husband, and only just turned 23, instead of 
 the actual relation of 27^- years on Minna's side to 
 23^- on Richard's. A man of his eternal "juvenility" 
 (ff' P- 55) oll ght never to have married at so " in- 
 experienced " an age (p. 502), as he recognised himself in
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE vii 
 
 later life ; and when he did marry, his bride should have 
 been some years his junior, not one whose character and 
 narrow views were already set past all transmuting. But 
 a still greater misfortune was the barrenness of this wed- 
 lock ; there was nothing in the home, beyond the husband, 
 to keep or turn the woman's heart young, and it is plain 
 as day that from the first she arrogated to herself the part 
 of mentor. 
 
 True, quite early in the history of Richard and Minna 
 Wagner's wedded life we catch glimpses of a juvenile 
 third member of the household, and her name is of 
 constant recurrence down to the end of the 'fifties ; but 
 how little this NETTE, or Natalie, contributed toward 
 brightening the home, at least for its head, these pages 
 will eventually reveal. Strange to say, however, in them- 
 selves they never afford us the smallest direct hint as to 
 who this Nette really was. Once, and only once, Wagner 
 refers to " my N." (p. 23), but that is obviously a mere 
 faqon dc parlcr ; for he follows it up in a sense that 
 proves Minna the young girl's accepted guardian, whilst 
 we know for certain, even did these letters not clearly 
 imply it, that Nette was no blood-relation of his. Her 
 relationship to Minna is much more puzzling. Though 
 Richard writes to his half-sister Cecilie at the same 
 conjuncture, that a provisional home has been " found for 
 Natalie with her sister Charlotte," and six years later 
 denotes her to friend Uhlig "my sister-in-law," yet not 
 one of the numberless allusions in our present collection 
 styles Natalie either "your sister" or if I may broach 
 a now current tradition " your child" ; the nearest we
 
 viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 get to a suggestion of kinship is that on page 592, where 
 Minna is told that, " if one could manage with N.," and 
 " provided it were offered her," this young person " could 
 have no other choice whatever, than to attend to you 
 and share our home. In the case supposed, that is her 
 plainly-destined natural vocation, from which she at 
 utmost could escape by marriage." But not even Minna, 
 indisputably her relative in some way, ' ' could manage 
 with Nette ' ' for long at a stretch when the girl turned to 
 termagant woman ; and as to exactly what became of 
 Nette after the second migration to Paris we are. left in 
 darkness, albeit Minna's husband magnanimously under- 
 took to pay a modest annual stipend to this Natalie Planer 
 who had come into the world at least a year or two before 
 he first met Minna herself. 
 
 In the same connection, another reference in the first 
 edition of my Introduction aforesaid needs a trifling 
 amendment. There I called Natalie " the youngest of 
 the old Planers' three daughters " ; but, whether she was 
 their actual daughter or not, it is now evident that, 
 besides a married son who died in early manhood (pp. 29 
 and 409), they had four other children : viz. our Minna and 
 her sisters Charlotte Troger, Amalie von Meek, and "Jette," 
 the last-named apparently dying a spinster (p. 116). 
 
 Beyond the above small corrections, there is not a 
 syllable to retract from that Introduction ; in fact, I can 
 honestly say that our present collection of letters proves 
 me rather to have under-rated Wagner's kindness and 
 affection toward a helpmate who really would have been 
 happier, not " with a lesser man," but with a sterner and
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE ix 
 
 less indulgent. Had she only chosen, no childless union 
 could ever have been cheerier than theirs ; whilst, the first 
 promptings of a natural jealousy once subdued, even the 
 blameless episode with Madame Wesendonck might have 
 shewn poor peevish Minna what a treasure of love she 
 had spurned at her feet, and how she had only to stretch 
 forth her hand, to gather it into her bosom, for her 
 husband's letters to her from after that episode should 
 have melted any save a heart of stone. No : it certainly 
 was not the fault of RICHARD Wagner, that this first 
 marriage of his became more and more of a chastisement 
 as years rolled on, till finally that year which might have 
 seen the joyful celebration of a Silver Wedding, saw 
 nothing but one forlorn attempt to re-establish a hearth 
 the foundations of which had been sapped by the wife's 
 own lack of sympathy long, long before those emotional 
 events which led to abandonment of the Asyl near 
 Zurich. In January 1866, just three weeks before Minna's 
 sudden demise after a virtual separation of something like 
 four years, Wagner tells his eldest surviving sister, Luise 
 Brockhaus, that he has begun to write his private 
 Memoirs, and already reached his one-and-twentieth year 
 with them : " Down to that epoch in my life I have been 
 able to employ a cheerful tone, even while recording my 
 errors ; from that time forth (and this is still reserved for 
 me !) my life becomes serious and bitter, and I'm afraid 
 the cheerful tone will now forsake me, my marriage 
 looms ! Not a soul knows what I have suffered through 
 that ! " How wise was his friend Pusinelli, the Dresden 
 physician who had studied Minna's mental condition at
 
 x TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 close quarters, when lie set his face against this ill- 
 matched pair's reunion in 1859 (letter 194) ! With a wife 
 who, after an absence of fifteen months, could suspect her 
 husband of merely "studying his own convenience" in 
 an itinerary thoughtfully drawn up for her journey to 
 Paris in comfort (see pp. 596, 599), what hope was there 
 of any further dwelling together in peace and concord ? 
 That one little trait is even more convincing than any 
 of the big. 
 
 Let it not be presupposed, however, that these 
 volumes constitute a chronicle of marital laments and 
 reproaches ; only at rare intervals, thrown off his kindly 
 guard by some particularly wounding "thrust" (cf. 
 p. 692), does Richard Wagner lay his bosom bare : but 
 then we see, as under an electric flash, the misery 
 inflicted on a temperament so keenly sensitive by a wife 
 who had next to no personal knowledge of " the feeling 
 of true love " (cf. pp. 502, 715). I have already sug- 
 gested that letter 172 should be read first of this whole 
 collection : it gives an illuminating glimpse of their 
 courtship and marriage, with its first fatal breach, in 
 language whose every sentence bears the stamp of 
 charitably-mitigated truth. Then let the reader take 
 letter 3, and he will find the story briefly brought, in 
 more attractive colours, down to the commencement of 
 the Dresden period, when Minna suddenly shews restive- 
 ness again, perhaps to be explained by fears for her 
 own health. Letter 36, with which should be combined 
 letter 28 of eight months earlier, will then carry the 
 tale of domestic variance (under Natalie's malign in-
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE xi 
 
 fluence now, be it said) down to the first year of exile, 
 more than a twelvemonth before the Wesendoncks set 
 foot in Zurich ; whilst letter 46 written at the time 
 when the new-fledged plan of the RING DES NIBELUNGEN 
 was under discussion on paper with Liszt and Uhlig, 
 and must have been mooted by mouth to the wife, 
 though it is conspicuous by its total absence from the 
 Albisbrunn group will shew that the same domestic 
 opposition to all his views and projects, which had 
 embittered the latter half of the Dresden period, is 
 still rife at Zurich. 
 
 Letter 50, of July 1853, is matched by letter 71, 
 of Sept. '54, and letters 82 and 90, April and May 
 '55 (from London), with the same tale of doubt and 
 suspicion in quite ordinary matters on Minna's part. 
 Then we come to no. 104, with its revelation of such 
 "eternal scoldings" between Minna and Nette, that 
 Richard insists on the latter's departure, -a letter which 
 should be taken in conjunction with no. 195, of three 
 years later, when Minna actually proposes re-introducing 
 that undesirable female into the household by bringing 
 her to Paris, but luckily changes her unstable mind. 
 The next landmark of importance, and indeed of such 
 importance as to form a watershed, is supplied by letters 
 1 20 to 123 : a specific jealousy foretokened in no. 88, 
 of three years previously, though meantime lulled to 
 rest, has broken out at last in fullest fury ; and how 
 entirely imbecile was Minna's handling of a very 
 plausible weapon, is proved by no. 134, where her 
 husband bids her "Be gentle, kind and patient; you
 
 xii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 can't believe what power it gives you over me. Your 
 tears and laments that last night in our house touched 
 me more than any argument." She had only to appeal 
 to his pity, and no more devoted husband could be 
 found on earth, as evidenced by the last two letters 
 in vol. I. ; but she could neither forgive nor forget, 
 except her own shortcomings, and behind the whole 
 remainder of the correspondence her side of which we 
 can ' reconstitute ' almost as though it lay before us, 
 especially with the aid of those few letters of hers 
 addressed to others which we do possess there lurks 
 the spectre of that Asyl episode, ready at any moment 
 to scare away a patched-up peace. Thus when they 
 came together in Paris again, it was a foregone conclusion 
 that domestic concord would never last for long ; and 
 to what a terrible pitch the poison of unreasoning 
 jealousy still rankled in the woman's breast, is demon- 
 strated by that profoundly sad and eloquent epistle from 
 Vienna 1861, no. 217, which at the same time supplies 
 the last possible word on Richard Wagner's relations with 
 Mathilde Wesendonck, little though Minna allowed it 
 to pass as such, as will be seen from no. 247, of the 
 ensuing summer. 
 
 If letter 242 proves that even in the matter of choice 
 of residence the wife's social tastes were no longer 
 compatible with the husband's creative needs, our crucial 
 no. 248 attests that after her ill-fated flying visit to his 
 temporary retreat at Biebrich, end of winter 1861-2, 
 Wagner's farthest-sighted friend and Minna's doctor saw 
 still more plainly than himself that the breach had now
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE xiii 
 
 become irreparable. And yet it was not without another 
 desperate effort, November 1862, between letters 260 and 
 261, the long-suffering husband finally convinced himself 
 that even the spending of two nights beneath the same 
 roof as his wife spelt ruin to his peace of mind hence- 
 forth, the devastation of his art. In the previous May 
 he plaintively had told her : " My child, decidedly 
 you have too few real cares, too little occupation, since 
 you always find so much leisure to think of yourself 
 and wrongs done or possibly still to be done you," and 
 entreated her not to be " for ever upsetting the mind of 
 your husband, who does not belong to you alone, but 
 to his art, to the world and posterity " (pp. 736, 738) ; 
 yet in December 1862, their brief Dresden meeting past, 
 he again has to beg her : " Ah, good Minna, you really 
 ought to take a little thought to make things lighter 
 for me . ., but you abide by a constant illusion about me 
 and my mode of life, from which nothing seems able to 
 tear you " (p. 775) ; whilst in the ensuing month the 
 conclusive situation is thus summed up in words 
 impossible for any unbiassed reader not to countersign : 
 " That you should always put the worst construction 
 on what I do or leave undone, as also on my motives 
 for it, is your misfortune. ; I am used to it. But how 
 you can dream of drawing me to you thereby, would be 
 a marvel to anyone who did not know you " (p. 7/8). 
 
 There was one excuse for Minna ; only one. Richard 
 Wagner repeatedly advances it, but nowhere more 
 heroically than in that dreary Paris winter of his solitude 
 when the signal fiasco of his French Tannhanscr had
 
 xiv TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 been capped with a Viennese frustration of his certain 
 hopes of Tristan, and he was already engaged on the 
 poem for a u lighter, easier work," Die Meistersinger , to 
 mend his lot : " Allow me this time, surely, to excuse 
 your reprimand on the sole plea that you still are 
 ailing ; for which I profoundly pity you and more 
 than you'll believe ! " (p. 691). Her health his 
 solicitude for which is testified even by the space it 
 fills up in my Index had gone from bad to worse 
 in one direction, that of uncontrollable nerve-storms : 
 and really we can but infer that her reason had 
 begun to totter, when we see how often in the later 
 years she reads into his letters the diametric opposite 
 of their plain and obvious meaning. And to be mated 
 with this poor wreck and wrecker, was the fate of 
 the genius who cries from that forsaken Paris winter : 
 ' ' A quiet home-life ! ! nothing beyond on this earth ! 
 why should it not be granted me, of all men, who 
 need it so ? " (see page 680) ! 
 
 I have thus drawn attention to the more tragic 
 passages and letters in our collection since they are 
 liable to be missed on a mere hasty perusal, buried as 
 they often are beneath a mass of business and domestic 
 details of great biographic, but far less psychologic or 
 intellectual interest than is furnished by most other 
 published volumes of the master's correspondence. For, 
 in itself it is symptomatic of the recipient's mental 
 calibre, that her husband very rarely touches deeper 
 subjects than those concerning personal relations and
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE xv 
 
 worldly fortunes in his letters to Minna. One by one, 
 she had erected a pale round all such loftier or deeper 
 topics, until we find him writing to Cornelius in that 
 letter from which I quote on pages 714-5 : " My good 
 will was so great, that I gladly resumed towards her 
 that peculiarly simpering language one uses to a child, 
 and listened with ostensible interest to things quite off 
 my plane and often most distasteful to me." We see 
 him constantly in search of things on her plane where- 
 with to fill those copious letters she manifestly grumbled 
 at unless they brought the flattering tribute of uncommon 
 length. Thus the gaiety exhibited is often forced, and 
 we must be on our guard against taking too much in 
 earnest many a remark merely meant as a joke. Yet 
 there are two letters, seventeen years apart, nos. 16 
 and 205, in which the spontaneous overflow of joy is 
 supremely moving, and in each of these instances the 
 strongest note is one of wistful sorrow that the wife 
 should not be at his side to share it. His Flying 
 Dutchman'' s first performance in Berlin, his own first 
 hearing of long-famous Lohengrin, are the occasions of 
 these letters, which surely none can read with eye 
 unmoistened or heart that does not leap out to their 
 writer. Yes, reader, neglect awhile my previous admo- 
 nition, and take those letters first. 
 
 A word in conclusion on the more technical aspect. 
 
 The German issue of the present collection, first 
 published March last year, bears neither name of editor 
 nor preface, neither elucidative notes nor index. One
 
 xvi TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 can understand the delicacy of feeling which prompted 
 Wahnfried to so unusual a course, though the German 
 publisher's prospectus had pre-announced the work as 
 edited by Baron Hans von Wolzogen, and in fact the 
 immediately succeeding issue of the BayreutJier Blatter 
 (Spring 1908) contained a supplementary word of intro- 
 duction by Wolzogen himself to its reprint of letter 36. 
 From that supplement we learn this one material fact, 
 and this alone, that ' ' there are no more of these letters 
 in the archive," in other words, that these are all the 
 master's letters to Fran Minna at present possessed by 
 his heirs. It is remarkable indeed, and to the world at 
 large quite unexpected, that so great a number should 
 have been procurable. However they may have passed 
 into the Wahnfried strong-box, whether as a whole re- 
 stored to Richard Wagner after Minna's death, or by 
 instalments slowly gathered since his own, the fact that 
 Minna preserved such cogent testimony without a self- 
 protective weeding-out goes far to exalt her inmost 
 character : it is as though she dimly foresaw the day 
 when herself she might be .instrumental in triumphantly 
 clearing her husband's name from calumnies reposing on 
 a false assumption of her "martyrdom." 
 
 But let me restrict my few remaining lines, as 
 said, to technique. In sundry instances I have noted 
 on the following pages their indications of letters still 
 missing from the sequence. Those lacking at its latter 
 end could scarcely add much to our fund of knowledge ; 
 but those from the time of her first Soden cure (see 
 p. 6 10), still more from the first three months of his
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE xvii 
 
 expatriation, and most of all from the period before 
 our collection so much as commences (e.g. from the 
 month or so when he was in a Paris debtors' prison, 
 or the time of her own escapade), would be a welcome 
 addition, should the originals still exist. On the 
 other hand we must remember that, except at the 
 epochs represented by the main divisions into which 
 this correspondence naturally falls, Richard and Minna 
 were very little away from each other, even at the 
 time of their courtship, and therefore no numerous 
 accession is to be anticipated, though wellnigh the 
 most interesting document of all, his final proposal of 
 marriage, was actually seen some years ago by Mr. 
 H. E. Krehbiel before 1 its presumable plunge into the 
 recesses of a secretive collector's portfolio. For those 
 few truants we therefore may possess our souls in 
 patience. 
 
 As to the German editing, with so conscientious a 
 scholar as Hans von Wolzogen to attend to it, we 
 may be sure that the infinitesimal number of dots 
 represent all the omissions effected. Indeed, he might 
 have gone a little farther in the case of a few particulars 
 anent the operation of domestic medicines, which my 
 publishers have preferred me to dot out between square 
 brackets. Further, it would have been as well if the 
 use of square brackets for editorial additions had been 
 adopted in the German issue, from which that typo- 
 graphic artifice is absent. I merely refer to such 
 obvious additions as a few non-original dates or the 
 interpolation of a stray subsidiary word to complete 
 VOL. I b
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 the sense ; where the matter within curved brackets 
 is, after all, not very apt to be confused with an 
 author's own parentheses. Those curved brackets I 
 have therefore deemed best to retain, even where their 
 source was quite palpable, reserving the conventional 
 squares for my own elucidations. 
 
 Finally, a remark on the mode of translation. It 
 may seem a little incongruous, to find "Thy" etc. as 
 signature to a letter whose main body abides by the 
 accustomed " your " ; but remembering what a point 
 Wagner makes of his " Du " on page 90 I really 
 could devise no other method of preserving the peculiar 
 intimacy of tone, while avoiding the poetic flavour 
 associated in our English tongue with the second person 
 singular. Even if that discrepance should offend at 
 first, experience has convinced me that the reader will 
 scarcely notice it after a longer familiarity. A more 
 burning question is that of the colloquial style I have 
 deliberately aimed at ; my sole apology for which must 
 be, that the diction of the originals for the most part is 
 idiomatic and colloquial in the extreme, far more so 
 than that of any other collection of the master's letters 
 with which I am as yet acqiiainted. 
 
 And now it largely rests in the reader's own hands, 
 whether the present volumes shall soon be supplemented 
 by an English rendering of the delightful Familienbriefe, 
 i.e. letters from Richard Wagner to his mother, sisters, 
 nieces, and so on. 
 
 WM ASHTON ELLIS. 
 
 PRESTON PARK, January 1909.
 
 CORRIGENDA 
 
 Page 6, line 13, for "Bechmann" read "Bochmann" 
 
 ,, 14, ,, 19, ,, "Strusse's" ,, "Struwe's" 
 
 ,, 36, 37 and 39, passim, for " Cornel" ,, " Cornet" 
 
 ,, 58, line 15, ,, "Erner" ,, " Exner" 
 
 ,, 398,,, 8, ,, " Zcohinsky's " ,, " Zschinsky's ".
 
 Richard to Minna Wagner 
 
 i. 
 
 DRESDEN, Thursday morning. 
 \_Jttly 21, 1842.] 
 
 DEAR GOOD WIFE, 
 
 My opera \_Rienzi\ will be given the end of Sep- 
 tember that is to say, about 12 days later than originally 
 fixed. I set this chief item of news at the top of my 
 letter that you mayn't have to read far in uncertainty. 
 Had I got here the commencement of this month, my 
 opera would have been given as early as the end of August ; 
 for only fancy ! the Devrient, Tichatscheck and Reis- 
 siger have been back three weeks already, without the 
 least thing being done. It is abominable ! On the day 
 of my arrival I did not catch Fischer till evening, at the 
 theatre, and after I had looked at him, could lay no blame 
 on him, the poor man looks quite pinched and haggard, 
 for his most strenuous activity has singly to make good 
 the laziness of all the rest, to keep business even half 
 going. Now the play-manager, Dittmarsch, has also been 
 ill for some time, and poor Fischer has to stage-manage 
 the Play as well. To the point, however ! The mischief 
 is that Tichatscheck goes to Salzburg for 12 days, not at 
 the end of September as we supposed but at its begin- 
 ning : in fact he starts the last of August. So it's quite 
 
 VOL. I I
 
 2 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 impossible to bring my opera out before his journey. 
 However, I have hit on the following plan, and it has met 
 with everyone's approval : We will begin the study of 
 my opera at once, and if by the end of August we have 
 got through with all the chamber-rehearsals, so that 
 everybody is letter-perfect then it won't much matter if 
 Tichatscheck leaves us for 12 days. As soon as he gets 
 back, we'll have another week of chamber-rehearsals, to 
 rub off any rust ; then will come 8 days of stage rehearsals, 
 so that the opera can be given about the 26th of Septem- 
 ber, and there will be no more need of a break in its 
 representations. Tichatscheck has begged me to give him 
 a diligent coaching the Devrient has declared her readi- 
 ness for anything and the only obstacle, as all agree, is 
 Reissiger's sloth, which /'// soon remedy ! The rehearsals 
 begin next week. So much for my opera : they all say, 
 " It's lucky you came ! " 
 
 I have put up here in the same house with your 
 mother, and occupy a room vacated for me by the land- 
 lord's sister. They obliged me at once, only it has been 
 impossible to find out what they want for it: "The 
 merest trifle make no bones about that it would arrange 
 itself," and so forth. I don't fancy they'll be grasping. 
 The first night was awful- -although very tired, I couldn't 
 sleep a wink. Beds a mile high, in which I baked ; 
 mice, watchmen a general conspiracy ; yesterday I was 
 a complete wreck, but, for all that, neglected nothing. 
 To-day I have to go to Reissiger at 10, to see to the parts 
 being given out ! Just think ! the parts have been in 
 the office a fortnight, for Reissiger to sign -and out of 
 pure indolence the man hasn't arrived at it yet. I have 
 taken steps to get them sent to him this morning ; 
 then / shall be there, and he shall sign them in my
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 3 
 
 presence. Then I'll go on to Liittichau, to get every- 
 thing confirmed which will be rather melting work in 
 my black clothes. 
 
 Naturally I have been unable to give a thought to our 
 lodgings as yet ; I'll commence this afternoon, though. 
 What is to be done with my good Mama, as things have 
 turned, I hardly know : please write me quickly what 
 she thinks about it. Anyhow I will find her somewhere 
 to alight, and try to get it in the same house as ourselves ; 
 only of course ! for an undetermined period. In any 
 case, I'll write you both, the instant I have found an 
 apartment. 
 
 However, I must hurry up to get this letter off to-day, 
 that you may not have to wait for news too long. 
 
 I enclose a few lines for Dr. Ullrich :^-How are things 
 really going? Is the Mama out of bed yet? Grant God that 
 her illness is over ! May you only not be short of money ! 
 
 Write as soon as you can ; you know my address. I 
 found your parents quite well and cheerful I gave your 
 mother a thaler to lay out as soon as it is spent, she's to 
 tell me and I'll give her another. 
 
 No doubt you have heard the awful tidings of the sad 
 death of the poor Duke of Orleans ! Isn't it horrible ? I 
 couldn't help weeping for him. 
 
 God grant us a better ending ! In the meantime, 
 though, we'll live another brief half century in health and 
 joy ! Farewell, my dear, dear wifie ! Heartiest love to 
 my mother, and tell her everything. Farewell and don't 
 forget 
 
 Thy 
 
 good HUBBIE. 
 Regards to Jette ! 
 Regards to Turk !
 
 4 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 2. 
 
 Monday, 
 DRESDEN, 25. July, 1842. 
 
 DEAR, DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Well ? When are you coming ? Everything is 
 arranged, and luckily with time enough left to report to 
 you at leisure. First for the apartments, then. I've 
 been fairly round the whole city, looked at 21 apartments, 
 and found many among them that would have suited us 
 quite well, but the cheapest were 20 thaler. That's how 
 the new houses run : it is impossible for us to take rooms 
 in one of them just yet, and besides, they offer us no 
 convenience whatever in the way of kitchen and the like, 
 but for the most part are merely arranged for the Deputies, 
 who are assembling here now and make house-room very 
 dear. So I considered it quite a stroke of luck, when I 
 found at last the lodging I have taken. It lies on the 
 Promenade, by what is called the Johannis-Allee, to the 
 right of the Promenade if you go down the Seegasse from 
 the Market, about 3 or 4 houses before the corner-house 
 in which you say the Emil Devrients live. It is no new 
 house, to be sure, two nights up, and the rooms a trifle 
 low, but will do well enough : 5 windows looking on to 
 the Promenade, 2 decent rooms with 2 windows apiece, 
 and one with i ; quite nicely furnished, 2 beds with 
 mattresses, etc. ; also use of a kitchen. The rent comes 
 to 12 thr, it's true, but everyone advised me to close with 
 it, as it would be impossible, they said, to get a lodging 
 like it cheaper. What particularly determined me to take 
 this abode, moreover, was that on the same floor there is 
 another very beautiful lodging with sitting-room and bed- 
 room, which is let to someone who doesn't take possession 
 till the end of August ; consequently my mother can put
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 5 
 
 up there for one or two weeks, as she pleases, and it will 
 be left to her generosity what she pays, since the people 
 can't well ask for rent, of course, when another person is 
 already paying. She therefore will be let off cheap, and 
 as she will scarcely remain a whole month at Dresden 
 under present conditions, my opera not being given before 
 the end of September, this kind of halting-place can only 
 
 be what she would like. That ends the apartments 
 
 story ; rest assured I couldii 1 1 have managed better. 
 
 For the rest, my prospects here are looking brighter 
 and brighter. My personal intervention seems to have 
 really done my cause a heap of good. I really haven't 
 time now to describe to you in writing all I've settled and 
 put straight amid the shakiest circumstances ; only thus 
 much : all are for me, and for a speedy production of my 
 opera. Lortzing's Casanova (a little opera) was really to 
 have been given first, with Tichatscheck to sing in it ; 
 but he has asked Ivtittichau to relieve him of the role, that 
 he may study Ric.nzi the more diligently. Yesterday 
 Koch told me that Tichatscheck had said to him that, if 
 he could truly help my opera thereby, he possibly might 
 decide on not leaving us for Salzburg at all I- 
 The Devrient seems extremely well disposed towards 
 me. Yesterday I dined at [Ferd.] Heine's, who is attach- 
 ing himself more cordially to me every day, and whom do 
 you think he had invited ? The Devrient ! She was in 
 very good vein, and it was determined that right at the 
 end of my opera ( where Adriano comes rushing in, to 
 rescue Irene from the burning Capitol ) she shall gallop 
 in on horseback just fancy ! riding like a man. That 
 will raise a fine Halloh ! ! ! 
 
 Reissiger I have quite in my pocket I've made him 
 a present of my opera subject, the " hohe Brant." When
 
 6 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I read it to him yesterday, he was beside himself, all fire 
 and flame ; in return, he's to be nice and industrious ! 
 
 And now, my good, brave, charming wife, you're 
 coming Thursday, aren't you? Anyhow I shall wait for 
 you outside the gate on Thursday but in case you do not 
 come till Friday, I herewith give you the address to which 
 the coachman is to drive : 
 
 Waisenhausgasse, no. 5, left side of the court, 
 that being the entrance from the road. I shall move in 
 to-morrow afternoon, to get everything prepared for your 
 and Mother's welcome. 
 
 With money I am provided : Luise came through here 
 en route as you know and Bechmann, who was with 
 her, offered me the money for next month straight off, to 
 save him the bother [of sending it].- So that fell out 
 exactly as I wished. And so will everything, be sure of 
 it ! For that matter, I was quite delighted with Luise, 
 she said so many nice things about you. But now for 
 something dull. On my return home last evening from 
 the theatre, I find an unfranked letter from Paris, which 
 costs me 16 groschen. It was from Troupenas, asking me 
 as amicably as possible for the arrangement \_Rcinc de 
 Chypre ?~\. I fell to at once, and worked till midnight to 
 get the arrangement finished. I am packing it now, and 
 shall send it off at once through the Leipzig firm. 
 
 Now grant God you all are quite well ! The Mama 
 must have recovered by now, I should think ; may she be 
 feeling quite brisk after this crisis ! 
 
 Arrive safe and sound, and give me due praise if I've 
 done the right thing. Farewell, my dear Wife, be good 
 to me, and come full soon to 
 
 charming RICHEL. 
 How's Turk ?
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 7 
 
 Postscript. I had just sealed up this letter, dear 
 Minna, when I received your own. I therefore am break- 
 ing it open again, to reply in haste to what you write me. 
 It is very disagreeable to me, that you two won't come till 
 Monday ; for, besides my longing for yourself, I have 
 already hired the apartment for a quarter till the end of 
 October. Notwithstanding that I can move in as early as 
 tomorrow, I shall have no more to pay than if I entered 
 on the ist of August ; so I don't lose by it still, it goes 
 very much against my grain, for many reasons, to be left 
 alone so long. Only don't alarm yourself about the 
 lodgings ; I made the agreement in such a form that I 
 believe I shall have to pay no rent before the end of 
 October when the quarter expires for I said : "I will 
 take the rooms till the end of October, and then pay you 
 36 thr. " The people are in good circumstances, too, and 
 won't be wanting money earlier. This was a prudent 
 move of mine, as it will make it easier for us to pull along 
 till the production of my opera. If it's only Mother's 
 nervousness, perhaps, do persuade her in my name rather 
 to choose Thursday for travelling.- My God, what a mite 
 of a journey ! and she shall find everything handy here. 
 Do see if you can't coax Mother round. For the rest, 
 you* 1 re to remain in Dresden yourself, you understand? 
 My prospects are good .' 
 
 In great haste, as I must be off to Tichatscheck. 
 Farewell ; see if you cannot come soon ! 
 
 3. 
 
 Thursday, 9 in t/ic morning. 
 
 DRESDEN, 28. July 1842. 
 
 BEST WIFE OF .MINE, 
 
 I was just busied with my moving in yesterday, 
 when I received your letter in the new apartments. It
 
 8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 makes me very sad, to think you mean to leave me still 
 alone so long ! Dear Minna, we absolutely ought not to 
 be parted for long ; that I feel afresh once more, both 
 deeply and sincerely. What you are to me, a whole 
 capital of 70,000 inhabitants cannot replace. If I've no 
 business on hand, I fret the more for being alone ; but 
 when I have been tiring myself out all day long, and 
 evening comes to find you not indoors, I take a violent 
 dislike to all the home comforts so grateful to me other- 
 wise, and what I find outside the house indeed is not in 
 the position to compensate me for a single minute. I 
 haven't yet quite understood one passage in your letter : 
 you speak of a necessity for our being parted still longer, 
 perhaps ! Where is that necessity ? When, to pursue 
 my soaring plans and hopes (which you did not even 
 share with me), in circumstances that might well have 
 scared the stoutest-hearted man, I prepared to set out 
 from Russia ; when amid perils of every kind I embarked 
 at Pillau, to commence a fearfully uncertain journey that 
 was to bring me to a still more doubtful goal did you then 
 speak of any necessity to leave me ? By God, I should 
 have been obliged to agree with you then ! But it never 
 entered your head. When storm and danger were at their 
 greatest, when you saw a hideous death before you as reward 
 for all the hardships you had shared with me, you simply 
 begged me then to lock you faster in my arms, that we 
 only might not sink into the deep asunder ! When we 
 were hovering on the brink of starvation in Paris, many 
 an opportunity was offered you to save yourself : one 
 word, and Frau v. Zech, who was so heartily fond of you, 
 would have taken you with her to Gotha, the Leplay 
 herself, forgetting her stinginess for your sake, would 
 have conducted you back to your home as her travelling-
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 9 
 
 companion : why did you not speak of a necessity then 
 for us to part ? Look you, I could have found nothing to 
 reply to you then. But now that I feel I have my future 
 more and more in my own hands, I ask you, why are you 
 talking now of this necessity t Tell me, what makes you 
 so faint-hearted ? See, all is arranged for the best. 
 Lodging and piano hire I have deferred to the end of 
 October ; till the production of my opera it is nothing 
 but a question of our board, and we can defray that well 
 enough with what I have still to receive. Consequently I 
 shall be a burden on no one any longer, least of all on my 
 family. So rid yourself of this anxiety ; for, were 1 
 really to run short of money, now I know that in the 
 midst of strangers I'm a stranger here no longer: I have 
 convinced myself I've won new friends here who merely 
 fall short of my old as yet in that they haven't yet had 
 time to prove their friendship. Really and truly, dear 
 Minna, to me it looks as if I were of some account here ; 
 this moment, for instance, I have obtained 200 thaler from 
 the Devrient for Kietz. She is an artist, you see, and so 
 are Kietz and I, and artists ought to have to do with none 
 but one another : no trader ought to come between, or it 
 leads to odious conflicts. 
 
 Enough ! I won't tell you much more, though I 
 should have matter in plenty. At least you'll soon be 
 coming, after all, so I'll save up everything for word of 
 mouth ! 
 
 Till then, though, merely this : 
 
 How glad I am at your assuring me dear Mama's 
 health is restored, except for a weakness in her feet : as 
 this weakness is a natural result in any case, one must 
 make one's mind easy about it. As for her quarters here, 
 things have altered a little ; it's a very fine place, true
 
 io RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 enough only she will have to pay 2 Rthr a week, with- 
 out bedding ; it couldn't be managed otherwise, and 
 Mother will readily understand it too, when she gets here 
 so I have only taken it for a week, to begin with, for 
 I'm a little timid, you know, at this kind of commission. 
 Anyhow, everything is ready, and all I cry to both of you, 
 is Come, do come ! 
 
 As for yourself, dear child, everybody is asking after 
 you with the warmest interest. They are all very fond 
 of you, and T shall have a hard job with my constant 
 excuses if you refuse to call on them. Well, that will all 
 arrange itself, and you shan't find me compelling you to 
 anything. 
 
 Be at ease about Ulrich : in your timidity yon 
 probably saw more than there was to see. I have written 
 him exactly as we had agreed. 
 
 Farewell. Father and Mother send love. Your 
 mother keeps giving me too big helpings ; I'm terrified 
 every time she serves up ! 
 
 You shall pay for the lodging I have occupied till now 
 you'll soon settle it, whereas they beat about too much 
 with me ! 
 
 Come soon ! Monday, Monday ! Ah, if only it were 
 Monday now ! 
 
 You darling south-wind, blow still more ! 
 For my dear Minna my heart is sore ! 
 
 Hearty greetings ! Ade, my good Wife, 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 When luill they clear that cursed youngster out, that 
 Matz ?- 
 
 Tiirk ! Turk !
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD u 
 
 4. 
 
 DRESDEN, [Friday] 2. June 1843. 
 
 DEAREST, BEST WIFE OF MY HEART, 
 
 Though I shall write you again the day after 
 tomorrow, to send you your allowance, I cannot refrain 
 from heralding it with these few lines to-day. Our first 
 letters must have crossed, and apparently we both received 
 them at the same time. I found yours after an evening 
 of adventures : At noon on Tuesday I suddenly received a 
 command from the King, through Lord Steward v. Mink- 
 witz, to arrange a little court-concert for Pillnitz post- 
 haste ; remarkable to say, everything fitted in, everyone 
 turned up, and so three carriage-loads of us started at 5 
 o'clock, Lipinski, Rummer and two others from the 
 Rapelle for a quartet, Bielzizki and the Gentiluomo for 
 songs. On our arrival at Pillnitz all the doors are nailed 
 up, so to speak, not a flunkey knows anything about us ; 
 we glare at one another, and the Gentiluomo begins to 
 scold. Then Grand Marshal v. Reitzenstein is called on 
 the scene ; he takes us at least into a room, and explains 
 that a messenger had been despatched to countermand us, 
 since the Grand Duchess Helene had not come to Pillnitz 
 as invited, and consequently the whole Court had gone off 
 to the Weinberg : the messenger must therefore have missed 
 us. The Gentiluomo flew at the Grand Marshal so like a 
 true comedian that we men sought to make ourselves 
 scarce, and abandoned her to her fate ; she drove back to 
 Dresden alone, whilst we went to the hotel to stave off 
 hunger, where we amused ourselves quite well till half- 
 past 10, and I really was glad of the opportunity of 
 mingling with these leaders of the orchestra for once. 
 Lipinski turned all fire and flame for me again ; with a quite 
 heartily-meant embrace he made full amends for the wrong
 
 12 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 he had done me. So we drove home in the best of spirits, 
 and there I found your letter, which I read in bed with 
 great content. Yes, a letter like that does one real good ; 
 for even the shade of sadness in it strictly reposes on 
 nothing but love, and to love and be loved remains ever a 
 boon, even when yearning has to enter the bargain. See, 
 at least we no longer need yearn in dread for one another 
 now ! Schlankelino will comfort himself soon enough, if 
 only he gets on more intimate terms with the phantom 
 Spook ! 
 
 The ^rd. That's just the way ! I have been obliged 
 to suspend writing a whole day ; but you know it of old. 
 Yesterday I had only got just so far with my letter as to 
 be meaning to tell you how it happened that, against my 
 immediate intention, I did not forthwith answer yours 
 which so delighted me, when all manner of things inter- 
 vened to withhold me once more. Lindenau called again, 
 and the Rottorf, who greatly dislikes my being disturbed 
 when at work, mistook the Premier Minister for a vaga- 
 bond, and denied me to him ; the poor man had to depart, 
 leaving behind him a couple of lines in which he begged 
 me to call on him as soon as possible. The Rottorf was 
 frightened out of her wits when she learnt that it had 
 been the Minister ; whilst I had to dress and make off to 
 him myself. He had shewn my composition to the King, 
 and the latter had sat down to the piano at once, played 
 it straight through, and expressed his great delight with 
 it. This business [see no. 5] gives me heaps to do, how- 
 ever, a hundred jobs to get things properly together. 
 
 The day before yesterday I made a fine day for myself. 
 After finishing my work, I went to dine at the Wald- 
 schlosschen alone, thence over the Hirsch through all 
 sorts of woods and byways to the Ziegengrund, past
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 13 
 
 Loschewitz to Blasewitz, and from there to the cemetery, 
 where I gave orders for the restoration of my father's 
 grave. It will not cost very much, and in the autumn 
 we'll plant a couple of trees, shall we not? 
 
 If you could only see me in my lovely summer 
 costume ! It's a perfect joy ; only I made a bad choice 
 with the violet gloves, for when I pulled them off for 
 the first time, and was pointing with my finger on the 
 bill of fare, the waiter bounded back in horror, for my 
 whole hand looked just like a gigantic violet, the gloves 
 had shed their dye so. I've also been to the collector 
 with the lottery coupon, and to my delight got 10 thaler, 
 26 ngr, for it, the whole ticket having won 50 thr ; a 
 thing that always strikes one as a present. In fact I 
 meant at first to send it you forthwith, to buy yourself 
 a pretty summer mantilla at Teplitz ; as it occurred to 
 me, however, that you probably could do that better in 
 Prague, just hear how I have roughly planned the thing ! 
 You will surely come and visit me for once ? Very good : 
 you shall come for our Grand Choral festival, the yth of 
 July (unfortunately I shall be unable to belong to you 
 much at that season, as you may well imagine : Worse 
 luck, you must think ! ) and once you're here, I'll 
 manage to get leave, perhaps for a fortnight, then travel 
 back with you to Teplitz. We'll do all the excursions 
 there, and go to Prague ; then I'll leave you at Teplitz 
 again, and return to Dresden, whither you shall follow 
 me for good the end of August. But in July we'll discuss 
 it all between ourselves ; isn't that right, you good 
 Mienel ?- Pebs shall go with us, too, to Prague ; it wdll 
 not cost too much to travel in a carriage by ourselves, 
 which makes a journey twice as agreeable, and thus 
 we'll dispose of the lottery prize! I've had no further
 
 14 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 letters yet, excepting from the Heinefetter in the matter 
 you know of, and from the editor of the Theaterchronik, 
 sending me a number in which I'm highly praised as 
 Kapellmeister. Kietz's letter to you I enclose ; you will 
 see that you may make your mind quite easy now, so I'll 
 write you nothing more about it 
 
 I've just had to make another break, to write a letter 
 to the Minister ; you have no idea the mass of things 
 there are to see to. And when the unveiling affair 
 [statue to the late King] is over, I shall have to put on seven- 
 league boots for the Grand Choral festival ; as soon as 
 I've finished the composition, the rehearsals will come, 
 and so on. Added to which I now have all the operas ; 
 to-day for a variety Freischiitz ! ! ! When I have got 
 the composition done, too, I shall have to sacrifice my 
 beloved morning hours for 3 weeks long ( I now rise 
 regularly by 5 at latest ) since I perceive I must do 
 something for my health. Consequently I have decided 
 to go through a complete course of waters at Strusse's ; 
 much against my will, as one has to be very strict 
 with it. 
 
 Otherwise I'm very well, thank God the lassitude 
 also has left me, and I am fit and fresh. If only you 
 may get so, too ; you know what I mean, so thoroughly 
 well that one may expect something of you again, but 
 don't let Dr. Ullrich help you overmuch, lest it go with 
 you as with the countess ! 
 
 Well, dear child, Eisold has just brought me my pay, 
 tomorrow being Sunday ; so it is exactly a week to-day 
 since you left. Herewith you therefore receive your 
 month's money ; if it doesn't last out, you know well 
 enough to whom to apply ; for you there will always be 
 money. Deny yourself nothing, and make an excursion
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 15 
 
 off and on ; they're all too far for you on foot, so drive 
 in comfort. Best love to the Mama. Jette was here the 
 day before yesterday, to receive her "week's wages" ; 
 she gave herself such airs that she couldn't speak for 
 lisping. Ftirstenau buttonholed me yesterday, Hadn't I 
 any orders for Teplitz ? No : said I, you may imagine 
 why. Last night there was a new farce at the Bad 
 [summer theatre] ; I went out to it, and ran into your 
 butcher what's-his-name, on the Ziegelgasse, your 
 parents' landlord : he also is going to Teplitz to-day, 
 and asked if he could take anything for me. Again I 
 said No ! Everybody seems going to Teplitz, only I 
 can't possibly contrive it ; each holiday, church duty 
 twice ; and then the rehearsals : it's shameful ! Now, 
 write again soon, and tell me a thousand things, even 
 if just as pell-mell as in this letter of mine ; I'm con- 
 tinually interrupted. Write me a whole quantity, for 
 you already are writing well and as I like. No doubt 
 you've shaken down a little better, and things are pleasing 
 you again. How goes it with the tiny garden ? You 
 dear good Mienel, at Pillnitz and Loschwitz I kept 
 thinking, " You're nearer again to that foolish Minel ; 
 would you were with her quite ! " 
 
 God preserve you ! Farewell, farewell ! Get well 
 and cheerful ! You have reason for it, since everything 
 around us stands well, and it is a great thing to be able 
 to say that. A thousand kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 I have heard nothing more of Avenarius, and have 
 no desire to go to Leipzig ! As soon as he's there again, 
 I shall write him [our] orders about N., either to bring 
 her with him in case the whole establishment is leaving
 
 i6 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Paris toward autumn, or in the contrary event to hand 
 her over to a railway-guard on my behalf. In either 
 case I'll send him the money he has disbursed for me 
 till now. 
 
 5. 
 
 DRESDEN, 6. June 1843. 
 
 MY BEST, DEAREST MlENEL, 
 
 In spite of the greatest rush and uproar, in which 
 I now find myself on account of tomorrow's festivity, 
 I must bid you Good-day in all haste and tell you a scrap 
 about myself. Only this moment has my room been 
 vacated by all the military bandsmen I had to call to- 
 gether ; I'm curious about tomorrow's result, though 
 it probably will be no very great shakes ! 
 
 However, that's a minor matter. Besides wanting 
 to thank you with all my heart for your dear good 
 letter which exactly crossed my own again and to 
 give you 43,000 kisses for it, I have particularly to tell 
 you something which has been most agreeable to me. 
 Yesterday the 5th, about 6 in the evening, I ask you, 
 were you not thinking hard of Cassel ? For my part 
 I could have thought of the Hollander production there 
 only with the greatest uneasiness, if the Dettmer, who 
 had just returned from Cassel, hadn't given me the most 
 encouraging reports the day before. She had attended 
 a stage-rehearsal, to wit, and told me that both the basses, 
 Biberhofer as Dutchman and Foppel as Daland, had sung 
 the first act in such style already that she would scarcely 
 have recognised it for the same as here : Biberhofer has 
 a glorious voice, she says, and is a very handsome man ; 
 Foppel quite excellent, sturdy and brisk. A young and 
 very pretty singer, a Mile Eder, uncommonly popular 
 there, sang the Senta with the greatest zeal, and kept ask-
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 17 
 
 ing how the Devrient took things. The orchestra already 
 went capitally, for Spohr was in love with this music and 
 had taken the greatest of pains. Everyone shewed the 
 greatest affection. Now, isn't that highly encouraging? 
 The Dettmer could never bring her story to an end. The 
 whole place had been on tenterhooks for my arrival, as 
 it had got noised about that I was coming myself. 
 
 The overture to Rienzi was played on the Briihl Terrace 
 yesterday ; I was among the crowd, and at the end of the 
 overture, which was very well executed, a regular Hurrah 
 went up : Bravo ! Bravo ! One may hear it every day 
 now, sometimes on the Terrace, sometimes in the Grosser 
 Garten ; a very good joke to me ! 
 
 Lord, if tomorrow's affair were only over ; I've so 
 much to compose still, and time is pressing fearfully ! 
 I must give up my contemplated spa-cure ; if I cannot 
 be very strict with it, and over-exert myself even a little, 
 it may do me more harm than good. I'll see if I can't 
 get longer leave next month perhaps; then I'll stay with 
 you at Teplitz, and we'll drink and promenade together. 
 That would be fine, would it not ? 
 
 Ac/i Jesus ! I must go and dress now, the Minister 
 etc. expect me at the Zwinger, which already is enclosed 
 to-day, to make an inspection of everything. 
 
 Be content with this morsel to-day, little Wife of 
 my heart ! You shall shortly have news from me again ; 
 were I to keep waiting until I had plenty of time, it 
 would come off very seldom ! My good child, entertain 
 yourself well, build up your health, and stay fond of me. 
 Adieu, you dear, good chick ! Thv 
 
 Best greetings to the Mama. RICHARD. 
 
 Pebs is not to bite Turk's legs. 
 
 VOL. I
 
 iS RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 6. 
 
 DRESDEN, 8. June 1843. 
 
 . BEST MINEL, 
 
 A tiny report in hot haste ! Yesterday's fete 
 went off very well, my chorus decidedly bearing off the 
 victory over Mendelssohn's, which had no effect and 
 remained unintelligible. Lindenau confessed this to 
 me to-day quite candidly, and assured me the whole 
 Court was of the same opinion. The lyord Steward has 
 just conveyed me in the name of the King a 
 
 gold snuffbox, 
 
 very solid, with splendid embossing. So a gold snuff- 
 box too, now out of that you'll always have to take a 
 pinch, however strong the tobacco, you good foolish, very 
 best Minel, you ! 
 
 You don't write me at all ! What can be the 
 meaning of it ? Have you already struck up with 
 another? Just wait, and you'll catch it! 
 
 Full speed ahead for the Apostles \_Liebesmahl\ now ! 
 This evening we have Norma, with the Werthmuller, 
 the rubbish ! 
 
 Kindest regards to the Mama ! Pebs is to behave 
 himself nicely, or I shan't shew him my gold snuffbox. 
 
 Adieu, you dear, dear, good Wife ! I am ever and 
 always near you with my whole full heart ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 7. 
 
 DRESDEN, 9. June 1843. 
 
 See, Minel of my heart, already I must write you 
 again, for I've received something to-day of still more
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 19 
 
 value than yesterday's snuffbox, namely a letter from Spohr, 
 from Cassel, which really has made me extraordinarily 
 happy. I'm going to send it to the musical journal 
 at Leipzig at once, that extracts may be printed from 
 it ; so I have hurriedly made a copy to send on to yourself, 
 my dear wife. From this copy you may see what great 
 good fortune came my way when just this opera fell 
 into suck hands for its production at a second theatre ! 
 It has touched me to the quick ; everything seems to 
 have combined to give this opera more admirably at 
 Cassel than anywhere else. However, you will be able 
 to judge that from the letter itself. Immediately I had 
 received it, I dressed and called on Fischer, who was 
 as pleased as a child, fell on my neck, and covered me 
 with kisses, crying, "Just as it ought to be ! Cassel was 
 the very place for this opera to be brought out next. 
 What luck ! Good news ; it is good ! " Then on to 
 Heine ; the same tale there ! -Yes, dear wife, it really is 
 an extraordinary stroke of luck; I'm too delighted I 
 don't know what I'd take from anyone for these good 
 tidings ! ! Only, rejoice with me too, dance and shout ! 
 have no more fear now ; everything is bound to go ; 
 and even if it should go slowly I'm marching with you 
 toward a glorious future, no tinsel fortune, but solid and 
 enduring : - 
 
 Now I must go and sound the alarm ! Laube is 
 floored already by such successes, as they so flatly con- 
 tradict his prophecies ! Forward, ever onward on my 
 road ! 
 
 Fare\vell, my angel, my good Wife ! Be glad and 
 merry ; luck and Heaven are with us, you see ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD.
 
 20 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 8. 
 
 DRESDEN, 14.. June 1843. 
 
 MY DEAREST, BEST MlENEL, 
 
 I can't possibly tell you how sorry I am for your 
 happening on such detestable weather for the start of your 
 cure. Really it worries me daily and hourly, as often as 
 I see it rain ; and as often as a friendly gleam of sunshine 
 shews itself, I'm delighted for your sake. Put up with 
 it, though, as best you can ! People who understand 
 have assured me it would go on raining all this week, 
 but then would come settled fine weather. God grant it ! 
 Heartiest thanks for your letters. I always receive 
 them on my return home at night, for they are never 
 delivered till between 6 and 7 o'clock, at which time I'm 
 always occupied, with rare exceptions. I could well 
 imagine you'd be glad, and I wrote back to Spohr that 
 the only grief his letter had occasioned me was the 
 impossibility of embracing you, dear wife, in my delight ! 
 That we must defer for the nonce, biit wJiat a hug we'll 
 give each other when the time comes l^With this Spohr, 
 for that matter, I really have made a remarkable conquest ; 
 all who know him, represent him as the coldest, brusquest 
 and most inaccessible of men, one who gives everything 
 strange the cold shoulder. My having won him over 
 to this extent, and purely through my work, is accounted 
 to me a great merit by everyone. This fortunate result 
 at Cassel lends me great advantages. I have written to 
 Kiistner, Berlin, redemanding my original score, as I at 
 least may presume that the copy is finished now ; for 
 the rest, I informed him that this opera had now been 
 given at Cassel with marked success, but proudly men- 
 tioned nothing further. For that matter, all are coming 
 to the opinion that it perhaps would be better if the
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 21 
 
 Hollander were given precedence at other places, because 
 if people don't yet know the brilliant subject of Rienzi, 
 the Hollander will interest more and whet their appetite, 
 which Rienzi then will satisfy far better than the other 
 way about. Well, I shall let things happen as God wills ! 
 
 As for the unveiling ceremony of the yth inst. , I'll 
 merely add the following : I had over 200 singers for the 
 festal choruses ; my composition was set quite simply 
 for men's voices in four parts, without accompaniment, 
 so that the tenors had a brilliant field. It was a windless 
 day, and all sang with the greatest affection ; the effect 
 was solemn and stirring. Mendelssohn's composition was 
 quite another thing : brass instruments accompanied 
 it, and " God save the King " was woven in ; the chorus 
 sang in unison throughout, and moreover in the deep bass 
 register, so that the tenors made no effect at all, and 
 hardly could even join in : the result being, that at 
 most points one heard nothing but the brass, scarcely 
 anywhere the voices, and as it all sounded like " God 
 save the King," nobody could make head or tail of it. 
 With mine, on the contrary, almost every word was 
 positively understood ; and the whole town speaks of my 
 chorus alone, whilst Mendelssohn's gets nothing but a 
 head-shake. That's the truth. For the rest, the cere- 
 mony was really very brilliant, and I'll describe it to you 
 circumstantially by mouth. 
 
 Should you be fretting about my health, you'd be 
 doing wrong : I'm brisk and well, my head is clear ; 
 even my lower regions are behaving well again now, I 
 hardly suffer at all from gripe. Nevertheless, I should 
 like to take a cure with you. The nuisance is, that this 
 bad weather often debars me from my walks now. I 
 have a deal to do ; when I've no opera, there's some
 
 22 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 shindy or other with the Liedertafel. My composition is 
 all but finished now, and I count on a great, an inspiring 
 effect for it. 
 
 The day before yesterday the King commanded me 
 to the Bastei, with a few singers and bandsmen ; luckily 
 the weather turned out so bad, that the party was put off 
 again. Tomorrow is the feast of Corpus Christi, and I 
 must conduct at church in ziniform, as it is the highest 
 of saint' s-days and every one appears in gala. We had 
 never given that a thought 
 
 Our operas are going excellently, and since for my 
 own part I'm holding next to no rehearsals now [after 
 Lipinski's pretestsee Life ii, 21] the band is perfectly amazed 
 at my aplomb, as with the Stumme, besides thanking me 
 for saving it trouble. 
 
 The other day I dined at Flemming's. Yesterday we, 
 the Heines, Tichatscheck, and so on, were at the Wrist's, 
 who had much exerted herself for her dinner-party. For 
 that matter, her health's in a very bad way ; at any 
 moment she cannot sing, and all believe she won't be 
 able to much longer. They speak of consumption of the 
 windpipe : isn't that dreadful ! Liittichau, for another 
 thing, is expected back very soon ; I am thoroughly glad 
 of it, for sake of my leave too. 
 
 And now I must conclude, as we have a rehearsal. 
 Reconcile yourself to the bad weather with the thought 
 that it's bound to improve soon ! If you remark any sort 
 of progress in your health, you may easily imagine how 
 happy it will make me ! Do everything for it, and write 
 me in plenty of time if money runs short, do you hear I- 
 Fare well, my dear good \Vife ! Take my thanks for your 
 love, and rest assured of mine for ever ! 
 
 y RICHARD.
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 23 
 
 Kindest regards to the Mama. 
 
 Don't you despise my snuffbox! People value it at 
 about 100 thaler particularly the work. 
 
 9. 
 
 DRESDEN, 20. June 1843. 
 
 MY VERY BEST MlENEL, 
 
 A great confusion has arisen, and I'm sorry to 
 say, it hasn't even yet resolved itself into my being able 
 to report to you duly to-day. I received a note from 
 Cecilie, to wit, telling me that N. was leaving Paris the 
 J2th of this month, and would travel to Dresden without 
 any halt. This piece of news so plumped upon me that 
 there naturally was nothing else to do than fold my hands 
 till N. arrived here. Two evenings running has your 
 father been to the railway to receive N., and I instructed 
 Jette to come and tell me at 7 this morning in case N. 
 came last night, so that I might inform you at once ; 
 only the person who doesn't appear to have come is 
 my N., since Jette hasn't shewn her face yet and now 
 it's half past 8. We' needn't grow uneasy, all the same, 
 for I can only suppose that N.'s departure from Paris has 
 been delayed a little and that no doubt will prove to be 
 so. As soon as N. arrives, she is to have a day's rest at 
 the old man's, and then I shall give her a few thaler to 
 go on with, also a letter, and despatch her to Lotte at 
 Zwickau per post : that will be right, will it not ? After 
 your return, you know, you can go and see her there. 
 
 For the rest, though cordially enough, Cecilie writes 
 rather touchily and perhaps she's not quite wrong. 
 I enclose you her couple of lines. 
 
 Avenarius wrote me, before leaving Leipzig, that he 
 would no longer be able to come to Dresden : if I had
 
 24 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 anything more to say to him, would I put it in writing. 
 So I just forwarded him his out-of-pockets, and there's 
 an end ! 
 
 After another talk with Frau Wachter, I have just 
 engaged the maid-servant. She is contented with all 
 your conditions ; I gave her a thaler as earnest, and she 
 will put in her appearance a week before Michaelmas. 
 
 The fine weather now set in has heartily delighted 
 me for your sake. You will go for good walks now, no 
 doubt, and help Peps hunt for bones ! Your last letter, 
 my good child, I read at 2 on Sunday morning ! ! Just 
 fancy ! After rising at 4 on Saturday again, to finish 
 my big composition, about 8 I received orders to beat up 
 singers and horn-players for an excursion to the Bastei 
 with the Court. Everything went right ; at Pillnitz, 
 dinner with the Court ; back again there from the Bastei 
 by water, now singing, now blowing. The King was as 
 pleased as Punch, but it was nearly 2 before we got 
 home again ! 
 
 Then I found your letter, and read it with the greatest 
 joy but I was so fatigued that it was not until I rose 
 that I discovered I had gone to bed in my cravat and 
 stick-up collar. 
 
 That old donkey, Reissiger, has just interrupted me 
 and now I must dress for the rehearsal of Sonnambula, 
 
 -As I shall probably be writing you again by next 
 post, about N., I'll conclude for to-day, and salute and 
 kiss you, my dear wife, from my whole, whole heart ! 
 The time when we shall meet again is drawing ever 
 nearer how happy we shall be ! 
 
 Best love, and keep good to me ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD.
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 25 
 
 I had almost forgotten it. My mother is coming to 
 Teplitz on Thursday, and begs you to order her old room, 
 or the next one, at the Blue Angel, also a bedroom at the 
 back for the servant and Klare's children ( who are 
 coming with her) ; it wasn't to cost more than 4 thaler 
 a week ! 
 
 Do me the kindness of attending to it. 
 
 1O. 
 
 DRESDEN, y>. June 1843. 
 
 MY VERY BEST MlNEL, 
 
 Best thanks for your dear letters. Your quite 
 unwonted writing-fit is proof to me what heartfelt love 
 can bring to pass. For my part, I finished my instru- 
 mentation also yesterday, and to-day at least may take a 
 rest from writing ! Last Tuesday I rehearsed the vocal 
 part of my new composition for the first time : already it 
 went better than I expected ; immediately it had been 
 sung through once, a general outburst of enthusiasm 
 among the 200 singers present found vent in prolonged 
 applause. We rehearse in a large hall in the Briihl 
 Garden, so several of us went off to the restaurant to take 
 a little something after the rehearsal ; upon my entry I 
 was greeted by the Peace chorus from Rienzi, performed 
 by the band : when it was over, the whole audience 
 applauded quite alarmingly ; then I learnt that it had just 
 been played a third time by desire. Directly after, they 
 played the overture to Rienzi again, now hackneyed 
 every day, and from all sides there went up the same 
 hurrah. Hartung afterwards told me, he had got up this 
 overture to his own misfortune, for it killed his people 
 through continually being asked for ; thus it had just 
 been redemanded for the third time.
 
 26 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I shan't go out at all to-day, but take a rest ; for I'm 
 quite knocked up and my nerves are very agitated, in 
 spite of my looking so stout and fat as you are always 
 told. But that comes of this respectable life, you see, of 
 no-excess, of going u to bed at 10, often in fact as early 
 as half-past 9." At any rate my constitution must be 
 fairly tough now, or I couldn't keep going with my nerves 
 in this excited state ; even when I'm quite done up 
 through some over-exertion, precisely through my sound 
 constitution I rapidly recover. 
 
 The Cassel operatic regisseur has been here ; he told 
 me a lot, and had never done impressing on me what it 
 meant for my Hollander to have been received still more 
 warmly on its second performance, since the Cassel public 
 was fully 5 times colder than the Dresden, for instance. 
 Spohr, too, has written me again very cordially, indeed 
 affectionately, and informed me of the fresh success. Lutti- 
 chau is taking Cassel en route, and arrives here the 5th. 
 
 Enough of myself for to-day ; now for you ! At 
 yesterday's rehearsal a singer brought me compliments 
 from Dr. Ullrich, who sent word you were getting on 
 very well. Exactly what you had written me yourself. 
 See, that delights me more than anything ! 
 
 It likewise is a great delight to me that you mean to 
 arrive by the 4th, and suits me in every respect ; though 
 in no event could you have heard the general rehearsal 
 before the 6th, at 8 in the morning. I hope to be able to 
 come and meet you, and am looking forward as a god to 
 finding you quite well again ! I have no anxiety about my 
 leave, as I fancy Luttichau will now begin to shew some 
 true consideration for me. That's my opinion, and if at 
 last we have really good weather into the bargain, I think 
 we may enjoy ourselves nicely for once !
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 27 
 
 All your orders shall be obeyed, and I've forwarded 
 the letter to L,otte. But it has just struck 9, and it's high 
 time this letter went off to the post, if if s to catch it too. 
 God preserve you, and keep you in health ! Give my 
 best regards to all, and hold me dear until we meet again ! 
 Perhaps I shall be writing once again, before ; for certain, 
 I am always thinking of you ! Farewell, my good Wife, 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 11. 
 
 DRESDEN, i. July 1843. 
 
 MY VERY BEST WIFE, 
 
 I have just received the accompanying letters to 
 yourself as enclosure to a couple of lines from Troger ; 
 they must have been posted before Troger received your 
 last letter, which I despatched at once, however. They 
 still speak of nothing but silver, and I do not even yet 
 know if the watch is also there ; but that, no doubt, will 
 soon transpire. This moment it occurs to me that you 
 won't get this letter till Monday, and as you'll be here 
 yourself by Tuesday evening, you would receive the 
 enclosures time enough if I kept them to give to you here. 
 But why so stingy, when I can take this opportunity of 
 breathing a few hearty words to assure you how fond I am 
 of you, and how much I'm looking forward to your speedy 
 advent ? 
 
 I haven't arrived yet at writing to Cecilie, so I shall 
 postpone it altogether now until after the Choral festival. 
 Before then I should like to have ended another job, which 
 I didn't want to put off any longer, namely the reduction 
 of Rienzi to one evening ; I have made a beginning 
 already, and expect to finish it in a few days. It will be 
 well, you see in case I do obtain my leave, as I hope
 
 28 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 to have everything behind me, so as to be able to devote 
 all my attention to my new opera \_Tannhauser\. 
 
 Now I shall soon be able to convince myself whether 
 you're really so well and jolly as I am assured ! So you 
 will get here on Tuesday the 4th ? That's fine ! Every- 
 thing is prepared, and most longingly awaits you. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 12. 
 
 DRESDEN, ii.July, afternoon. 
 
 1843. 
 
 Mienel, Mienel, I've got my leave ! I really must say 
 I've been very pleased with Luttichau again, and espe- 
 cially with his whole manner of treating me.- At first, 
 when I spoke up for the singer that cur . . d Mine 
 Konneritz had recommended so, there was nothing to be 
 done with him at all he was a perfect goat ; but when 
 I began about myself, and asked if I might entertain any 
 hope of doing something for my health this summer, his 
 face simply beamed, and with the utmost graciousness said 
 he : " Dear Wagner, you know how fond I am of you, 
 and therefore can easily imagine that your health is of 
 even more account to me than the benefit you are to the 
 institute committed to me. People like yourself must 
 be kept in good spirits and health before all things, so 
 merely tell me, From when do you wish to be free ? ' ' 
 "From the middle of this month," said I- "And for 
 how long ? " " Until the middle of next month again " 
 " Good ! Just dispose of your time at your pleasure ! " 
 etc. That completely touched me, and I didn't disguise 
 it from him : for you must remember, there's very much 
 to do just now two new operas to be got up with Moriani 
 in a jiffy.
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 29 
 
 So I'm coining, my chick ! Only I shall be unable 
 to come before Monday or Tuesday next week. Firstly, 
 I want to conduct yesterday's opera once more, then I'm 
 invited to Liittichau's for Sunday ; and lastly, my Rienzi 
 scribbling won't be finished earlier, and I do so want to 
 have everything done and behind me, to be able to lead 
 as careless a life with you as if there were nothing in all 
 the world to weigh us down. Indeed I'm looking forward 
 to it very, very much to ease and repose after labours 
 ended, and strengthening for fresh. 
 
 I hope you got back comfortably to Teplitz. Poor 
 woman, you are certain to be having no good day to-day, 
 through the news [death of Minna's brother] you had to bring 
 the Mama ! Nor can I possibly tell you how grieved I 
 was in general for you here ! Make up for it all well 
 now, through rest and comfort in the way you live. See, 
 to-day's tidings must surely cheer you up again, for they 
 prove how well I stand here, and with what distinction 
 I'm treated. 
 
 Now, goodbye for to-day. Heartiest love to good 
 Klare, and console your Mania to the best of your 
 power ! 
 
 I shall write you again the exact date of my coming. 
 Till then, my dear brave wife, fare as well as you can, 
 and fondly remember 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 13. 
 
 DRESDEN, \6.July 1843. 
 
 DEAREST MIENEL, 
 
 In all haste I must tell you my intense surprise 
 at your not having yet written me at all ! Say, are you
 
 30 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 cross with me, perhaps ? Have I done anything to you ? 
 Or are you unwell ? You make me most uneasy ! 
 
 Then I also wanted to tell you, I cannot get away 
 from here till Wednesday, I have to conduct once more 
 on Tuesday: also the Rienzi scribbling won't be done 
 before. So I shall come in any case on Wednesday 
 evening : dress Peps in his best, and build the archlet 
 of triumph. Do you hear? -Wednesday ! I have leave 
 then till the i5th August. 
 
 There was a very fine article on my ' ' Liebesmahl ' ' 
 in the Leipziger Zeitung. 
 
 I must send this letter off at once, or it won't leave 
 till tomorrow. 
 
 Adieu, Wife of my heart ! Get well and cheerful ! 
 There'll soon be altogether with you, heart and body, 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 Best love ! 
 
 14. 
 
 BERLIN, ^.January 1844. 
 
 MY VERY BEST MlENEL, 
 
 I feel sure this letter will still find you, which it 
 really oughtn't to have, had you complied with my wish 
 and left Dresden by Thursday morning [same date]. So 
 listen, dear Child I'm all right, and have already taken 
 various steps to-day, though I didn't reach my hotel till 
 getting on for 3 in the afternoon. In any event you 
 must come now, for my opera \_Hollander\ is not to be till 
 Sttuday, instead of Saturday, it was all a mistake of the 
 secretary's, who wrote " 6th " in mere error for " yth." 
 As a fact, it suits me better, for I shall be present at 
 three grand stage-rehearsals this way : there have already 
 been Jour band-rehearsals, and Kiistner has assured me
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 31 
 
 the opera was already going very well. Tomorrow, 
 accordingly, I shall listen and not conduct ; but if the 
 conductor doesn't satisfy me, on Friday and Saturday I 
 shall hold the rehearsals myself. From the band's side 
 I've been told fine things already by Conzertmeister 
 Ganz. Meyerbeer also returned here yesterday ; 1 haven't 
 succeeded in catching him yet ; shall try again at 8 
 tomorrow morning. He may be of great service to me, 
 after all particularly with the King. 
 
 So listen, dear infant ! It's no good your objecting 
 any more : you shall still see Rienzi at Dresden on 
 Friday if it really comes off ; but, Saturday morning 
 you must just arise at half past 4, get to the station at 
 half past five or half past 6, I'm not sure which and 
 travel direct in one day to Berlin, where you'll put up at 
 the Hotel de Rjissic with me ; I have settled everything 
 about the room already. If there is a human possibility, 
 I shall meet you myself at the station ; if not merely 
 ask for the Hotel de Russie's carriage, which will drive 
 you to me ; but I shall be there myself in any case. 
 
 So I expect you for certain. Don't go and spoil 
 my great delight ! I have the best hopes of success for 
 my opera. It must have made a hit even at the rehearsals, 
 to judge by Kiistner's smirking face.- - 
 
 Na you're coming, aren't you ? ! 
 
 Kindest regards to the good assistant [August Roeckel] 
 and Tichatscheck. Tell Fischer I couldn't get back 
 before Tuesday or l\ T ednesday : ought I to write as much 
 to Iviittichau ? Perhaps not ! Farewell. Greetings and 
 kisses from the whole heart of 
 
 Thy 
 
 faithful, fond, good
 
 32 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 15. 
 
 Sunday ; 2.30. 
 7 '. January 1844. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 You have no idea how sad you made me yesterday 
 through not coming ; and now I have just returned from 
 the railway again, where I went to await you a second 
 time and again, you hadn't come ! -Now I find your 
 letter [w r aiting for me] and see that I'm right, after all, 
 in being a little quick in everything : something really 
 comes off with it ; whilst hesitation leads to nothing. 
 Get along, I'm very cross with you. If there were any 
 chance of this letter reaching you by midday Monday, 
 I should just have one more try, namely, to induce you 
 to take the express to Juterbock on Monday evening and 
 get here Tuesday noon. For Tuesday is my opera's 
 second performance, which I've been pressingly invited 
 to conduct as well. I have held the two full rehearsals 
 myself, and also am to conduct this evening ; the repre- 
 sentation will go very well, Botticher, Ziesche and Mantius 
 are excellent; in spite of the house's smallness, you 
 wouldn't recognise the machinery again, after Dresden : 
 I am expecting a good success God grant it ! I shall 
 write to L,iittichau tomorrow morning, [that] I cannot 
 return before Thursday noon ! 
 
 Amend your ways ! I'm very cross with you, because 
 I'm much too fond of you and miss you too unwillingly ! 
 
 Kind regards to the assistant ! 
 
 Farewell ! 
 
 Thy RICHARD. 
 
 16. 
 
 BERLIN, the Wi of January 1844. 
 / o'clock in the morning. 
 
 God knows whether you will receive this letter, dear 
 Minna, or whether you really did receive my yester-
 
 DRESDEN PERlOfr 33 
 
 day's in time to start for here. Anyhow I'm writing, 
 since I want to have a chat with you that way at least. 
 Yesterday I did not get to bed till after midnight, and 
 at 5 this morning I had lights brought and the stove lit, 
 as I couldn't lie sleepless any longer. Had you been here, 
 you see, we should have sat up chattering the whole night 
 through, -but there was only me ! 
 
 Lord, what doesn't one experience on such an evening 
 as this last ; what hasn't my mind gone through again ! 
 It was one of the most critical nights for me ! Just think, 
 with this fantastic opera, completely off the beaten track, 
 and offering from the outset so little that is grateful or 
 attractive, I was making my bow before a public entirely 
 strange to me ! I felt that keenly : in all this audience 
 there wasn't a single personal friend of mine, not a soul 
 prepossessed in my favour, -everybody sitting in ordinary 
 cold curiosity, thinking : H'm, what sort of a thing will it 
 be, this Flying Dutchman ? After the overture, not a hand 
 stirs ; the melancholy first act is listened to with strained 
 and wondering attention, without any one knowing which 
 way to take it ; with difficulty is the singer a little rewarded 
 here and there ; in short, I grow aware of my position- 
 but don't despair, for I see that the representation itself is 
 going extraordinarily well. The second act commences, 
 and I gradually convince myself that my aim is attained : 
 I have cast a spell about the audience, and the first act 
 has attuned it to a key which makes it capable of follow- 
 ing me whithersoever I will. The interest increases, 
 suspense is changed to agitation, exaltation enthusiasm ; 
 and before the curtain falls a second time, I celebrate a 
 triumph such as certainly but few have reaped. Never, 
 not even at Dresden with Rienzi, have I seen or heard 
 such a prolonged outburst of enthusiasm as that which 
 VOL. i 3
 
 34 
 
 followed the curtain's fall here : one could see and hear 
 that among the whole assembly, high and low, prince, 
 lord and beggar, there was not a single person who didn't 
 cheer like mad. And when at last I appeared with the 
 singers, you would have thought the house was coming 
 down ! 
 
 So I had an easy job with the last act : the scenery 
 went as excellently as its effect ; everything was sung 
 and acted very briskly, and came to a surprisingly rapid 
 close, which itself was represented very well. Long ere 
 the curtain fell the tumult broke loose afresh, and it 
 roared for an eternity before I could thread my way out 
 from the orchestra and come forward with the singers, 
 who were waiting for me once more. In brief, my dear 
 wife, I have scored a remarkable triumph : those alone 
 can judge the extraordinary and unprecedented nature of 
 my victory here, who are in a position to weigh exactly 
 all the circumstances, the present state of our operas, the 
 complete and startling variance of my departure in this 
 Hollander. 
 
 The representation was entrancingly fine ; all sang 
 and acted like gods I could have eaten them ; the 
 Marx quite turned my head : if there was anyone I 
 expected little from, it was she and how she cheated 
 and surpassed my expectations ! I'll say no more to you, 
 than insane as it sounds the Devrient will have to look 
 to her laurels. The only opportunity I had of letting off 
 a little steam after the performance, was supplied me by 
 the Devrient. She had sent for me some hours before 
 the theatre, -I called, and found her with her lover ; 
 you know what she is, but for all her unconventional ity 
 she greatly cheered me by her sympathy. After the 
 performance I spent another hour with her ; she had
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 35 
 
 suffered and rejoiced with me, and was highly pleased 
 with the success. Then, when I got back to my hotel, 
 the landlord received me with a congratulation : his guests 
 had sounded the alarm already, and trumpeted their en- 
 thusiasm. How I wish you had been there ! ! Nay, 
 don't you think I need be cross with you ? I sat up in 
 bed all night alone, and babbled to myself. 
 
 I'm to dine at Meyerbeer's to-day, at Kiistner's 
 tomorrow. I haven't seen Meyerbeer yet since the per- 
 formance. The King was present, and somebody who 
 kept his eyes on him assured me it pleased him un- 
 commonly. Mendelssohn, at whose table I have also 
 been once, quite made me glad : after the performance 
 he came on the stage, embraced me, and congratulated 
 me very cordially. 
 
 I am writing to Liittichau by the same post, [that] 
 I shall reach Dresden on Thursday. 
 
 Adieu, you horrid Wifie ! If I'm cross with you, 
 don't let that make you cross with me ; it's all because 
 I'm so fond of you ! 
 
 Kind regards to the assistant. Farewell ; I shall soon 
 be back with you. 
 
 Thy RICHARD. 
 
 Address : 
 
 Hirer Wohlgeboren 
 Madame 
 
 MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Ostra-Allee Nr. 6 in Dresden. 
 
 Should Madame Wagner be away, this letter is to be 
 delivered to Konigl. Musikdirektor, Herr Rockel, who is 
 authorised to open it.
 
 36 
 
 17. 
 
 HAMBURG, the \^th March 1844. 
 
 MY GOOD DEAR MlENEL, 
 
 My earliest occupation here, after half sleeping 
 off my journey, is to write to you. I've been prattling 
 with you all the time, even when I awoke last night and 
 wanted to set my travel-heated blood in order by a strong 
 effervescent powder ; I had no candle, and meant to feel 
 out the inscription on the different packets : it was un- 
 necessary, though, since you prudently had made them 
 up of different sizes, so that I could recognise your fore- 
 thought even in the dark. In the morning I at once 
 began my usual chat from bed with you and Peps, to 
 pretend I still was with you. It's nicer at home, how- 
 ever ! ! ! And all things considered, the Devil take our 
 quitting one another ! 
 
 I had good luck with my journey's connections : at 
 Leipzig I caught the Magdeburg, at Magdeburg the 
 Brunswick train ; from Brunswick per the evening mail 
 at 9 direct to Hamburg, which I reached yesterday, 
 Thursday, at 7 P.M. Fatigued I was, and all to pieces, 
 particularly through what I suffered in the crowded 
 diligence, where any stretching of one's legs was not to 
 be thought of, so that at last they not merely hummed, 
 but almost howled. Arrived at my inn, I had a good 
 rest, and simply sent for Cornel. He came, had forty 
 minutes' talk with me, then left me alone and to sleep. 
 All's well, dear child ; it was a particular relief to Cornel 
 that I didn't arrive on a Friday. To-day we shall merely 
 discuss and arrange this and that ; tomorrow, Saturday, 
 will come the first stage-rehearsal, Thursday 2ist the first 
 performance, and Sunday the second, so that I can leave 
 again on Monday and be back with you by Tuesday
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 37 
 
 evening. They've already been rehearsing with the 
 orchestra ; and the bandsmen too, so Cornel says, are 
 all fire and flame for the thing. In short, he counts upon 
 an unusual success ; which God grant ! 
 
 I shall chiefly pass to-day with Krebs and Cornel, and 
 so find my way about. I know of nothing else here yet 
 to write you of. 
 
 The brief glimpse I had of Magdeburg made a great 
 impression on me ; the railway comes straight to the 
 rampart where we so often took our hopeless promenades 
 in times of becalming. Lord, when I think of that 
 rag-fair ! For that, it's nearly 10 years now, since we 
 two first came together there, we ancient love-birds ! 
 Have you slept in my bed ? In thought I lay both nights 
 in yours : had you fumbled, perhaps you'd have found 
 me in it, if Peps didn't get there before me. 
 
 Na, greet my friends, hold me dear, and take good 
 care the children [imaginary] don't throw the bed-clothes 
 off at night ! Farewell, you good old sweetheart, be of 
 good cheer, and reflect that not everything in the world 
 is as bad as this villainous pen which the waiter has 
 brought me ! Adieu, Mienel ; many, many kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Oh, be so good as to beg Pusinelli, in my name, to 
 send Concertmeister David of Leipzig a textbook of my 
 oratorio too, that one may be printed in accordance 
 there. 
 
 18. 
 
 HAMBURG, 22. March 1844. 
 
 Na, Mienel, Rienzi came yesterday and triumphed 
 anew. It really is no trifle, to give the opera so that it
 
 38 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 makes a furore without a true Rienzi. After the first act 
 such frantic applause still continued long after the music 
 had ceased, that, having bowed already several times from 
 the conductor's desk and then left it, I was obliged to 
 return there to acknowledge yet another salvo. Then with 
 the second act the greatest tumult broke loose, and after I 
 had likewise made my obeisances from the orchestra, I had 
 to appear upon the stage as well, where I again was received 
 with an imspeakable Hurrah. After the 3rd act, which 
 had a great effect here, the same proceedings as after the 
 2nd : I had to appear again. The 4th act had the same 
 effect as its first time at Dresden ; after the 5th I was 
 called again with jubilation. 
 
 That will do for you, on the outer success ! I can- 
 not comprehend to-day, how a success of this extent was 
 possible without Tichatscheck. With Wurda, I may say 
 I triumphed purely through the thing itself, since he 
 wasn't a patch upon Tichatscheck, although he sang 
 portions quite well ; but the whole fellow is shockingly 
 wooden ! How many thousand times I muttered, ' ' Heavenly 
 Father, had I only my Tichatscheck here ! " -The more 
 unequal to it Wurda was, however, the greater the true 
 honour to me, and I confess I'm rather proud of it. All 
 the rest was very well sung for the most part, with 
 exception of the Envoy of Peace, who was very dozy. 
 The choruses went excellently, and the most enraptured 
 of all were the bandsmen and singers themselves ; which 
 is a very good token of lasting. Adriano, as I expected, 
 was capital ; the two demagogues excellent ! The stage 
 arrangements were still a little shaky, though much was 
 mounted very well, some things decidedly better than at 
 Dresden, especially the ballet. Confusion still prevailed 
 in the processions, off and on : no great mischief, however,
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 39 
 
 since the general effect was capital. I could desire nothing 
 more, than to see the jubilation if Tichatscheck gives the 
 Rienzi here ! 
 
 I'm a wee bit run down, my good Mienel, as you 
 may easily imagine, but feel well here on the whole. 
 Now you have heard the main thing, tell my friends ! 
 Cornel reckons on upwards of 20 Rienzi performances 
 this year ; the tantiemes will be a relish, won't they ? 
 So Sunday, if no one falls ill, will be our second perform- 
 ance ; then I shall depart on Monday morning, and, God 
 willing, be with you at Dresden Tuesday evening by the 
 last train, and embrace and kiss you to our hearts' 
 content. 
 
 The thing is going, good Wife, the ship speeding 
 full sail. 
 
 May this letter find you well and hearty ! Adieu, for 
 the present ; I shall be with you on Tuesday evening. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 19. 
 
 BERLIN, 10. December 1845. 
 Wednesday morning, 9 d clock. 
 
 MY DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 It is the third day since I left you, and things 
 have gone quite well with me ; how do they stand with 
 yourself? God grant you no less passable a frame of mind 
 than mine is now, for which I'm very simply indebted to 
 an extraordinarily successful clearance which set in on my 
 journey. Good Lord, 011 what things our inner and outer 
 life often depends, when one observes it closer ! ! 
 
 I've hit off everything most happily, till now : Monday 
 I saw the Stumme \_Masanie llo~\ at Leipzig, and Tuesday 
 Don Juan with the Lind at Berlin. Could things have
 
 40 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 fitted better ? On Monday, after being thrown from the 
 arms of one relation to another, with one or other of them 
 running after me everywhere, I had to dine at Luise's. 
 and go to Cecilie's after the theatre ; all the rest were also 
 there each time, the Laubes too. Lord, how pitiful I 
 thought the Leipzig theatre ! One will never do much 
 with its tenor ; a disgusting stick ! On the other hand, 
 Schmidt has already booked my Hollander for February ; 
 and that, at any rate, they should be able to give capitally : 
 I saw Kindermann as Pietro in the Stumme, and am very, 
 very pleased with the man he has everything for the 
 Dutchman. 
 
 So my Leipzig affairs were soon settled, and to my 
 satisfaction ; the Berlin won't commence till to-day, as I 
 couldn't undertake anything yesterday. I did not arrive till 
 getting on for 2 : had dinner, a wash and brush up, secured 
 a ticket for that evening's theatre, and had only just time 
 to call upon the Frommann, who is living with a well-to- 
 do lady in very fine style. The Frommann could tell me 
 nothing of consequence regarding my affairs ; I'm to dine 
 with her to-day, however that is to say, at her friend's 
 and Professor Werder will be there, also the young GotJie. 
 
 At Don Juan I was terribly bored : Donna Anna, 
 moreover, isn't held to be the Lindas best part ; she sang 
 the last aria extraordinarily beautifully, for the first act she 
 lacks very much. She has a curious pensive individuality, 
 which interests one much in itself, but cannot rise to a 
 great dramatic portrayal. In the first act the Devrient 
 is incomparably more affecting. But there : I can't 
 record my verdict on the Lind so briefly, and therefore 
 save it up. All the rest were wooden, as we have got 
 accustomed to in Don Giovanni everywhere. The 
 auditorium of the new Opera-house pleased me exceed-
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 41 
 
 ingly ; beyond question it is superior to our Dresden one ; 
 i.e. more roomy, not so low, nor with such a dead 
 acoustic. 
 
 Now, after passably sleeping it off last night ( it was 
 half past one before I got to bed at L/eipzig, and I had to 
 be up again at 5 ), I intend, God willing, to make a start 
 with my affairs to-day. I shall go to Redern in the first 
 place. Together with the result of my endeavours I then 
 shall also let you know the date of my return. Until 
 then, my ducky, fare as well as you can ! Best 
 love and kisses ! Hold me dear, as I you, and only 
 open up again ! Regards to our people, and farewell, 
 well ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 20. 
 
 BERLIN, Friday morning ; 1845. 
 
 My dear good Wife, I'm simply longing to be home 
 again ; God only grant I may find all safe and sound ! 
 
 My affairs here are ended for the present, and I'm 
 really only staying on to-day to see the Lincl in Norma 
 and at last redeem my promise to spend an hour with the 
 Frommann and Professor Werder. Tomorrow, Saturday, 
 I go to Leipzig, where Hermann has arranged a little 
 party in my honour ; and at n on Sunday forenoon 
 if God doesn't dispose of me otherwise 1 shall be at 
 Dresden, with you ! 
 
 Not to leave you in the dark till my arrival, my 
 dicky-bird, I'll tell you briefly the result of my endea- 
 vours : 
 
 i. Kustner wants to give my Ricnzi in September 
 next.
 
 42 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 2. Count Redern wants the King to give me the 
 commission to compose my next new opera for Berlin. 
 To produce one of my operas here between now and 
 Easter, is impossible, as I have convinced myself. 
 
 Redern, at whose house I dined in brilliant company 
 last Wednesday (instead of at the Frommann's, to whom 
 I therefore had to send regrets ), wished to arrange for 
 me to read my new opera-text \_Lohengrin\ to the King 
 himself. For that, however, I should have needed to 
 remain here all next week at least, since the King left 
 yesterday with Redern etc. for the chase, whence they do 
 not return before Monday. 
 
 Mine Meyerbeer, who surprised me by great cordiality 
 and interest, considers Redern' s plan, that I should get 
 Royal orders from Berlin for my next opera, the best of 
 all ; her husband returns at Christinas, when everything 
 is to be set to rights. If Ricnsi can still be brought out 
 in the interim, so much the better : Kiistner has pledged 
 me his word of honour, and struck hands on it ; but 
 whether Kiistner himself will still be Intendant after 
 Easter, is very doubtful. 
 
 I'm merely telling you the most important news ; 
 much else by mouth ! Now grant God I find you safe 
 and sound ! 
 
 Farewell, my good Minna ! to our speedy reunion ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 21. 
 
 BERLIN, Monday, 20. Scptbr 1847. 
 
 Well, my good old Minna, another greeting to you 
 before I start my Berlin day's-work ! I feel quite lonely, 
 and have a talk with you at every season of the clay,
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 43 
 
 also dreamed of you both nights. How are you get- 
 ting on ? Are you thinking of me, or must Papo first 
 remind you ? 
 
 I'm not quite straight with my abode yet : owing to 
 Werder's having stipulated that I should only be bound 
 for a week, the landlord went and let the rooms engaged 
 for me, along with others, to a family that turned up 
 afterwards and wanted the whole for a longer term. 
 However, I'm to have two other rooms this evening that 
 after all aren't bad ; only, I have the inconvenience of 
 not being able to unpack before I'm settled in my proper 
 quarters. 
 
 Yesterday I dined at Meinhardt's hotel, where I hap- 
 pened on Pfister, Stawinsky, too, is usually there. The 
 landlord seems to want to take no payment, all the 
 better I pocket the damage ! This Pfister is swimming 
 in rapture and enthusiasm about his part, and behaved 
 uncommonly modestly to me : -If I would take him in 
 hand and instruct him thoroughly, said he, I might make 
 his fortune, etc. Everything else seems standing well, 
 I was a deal with Taubert yesterday, and found him too 
 a decent, well-intentioned fellow who shewed much zeal. 
 For that matter, I am convincing myself that an unlimited 
 influence now stands at my command here ; all have 
 assured me the King's orders were so categoric, that I 
 might ask for whatever I liked and Kiistner would have 
 to play up to my wishes : directly he opposed me in 
 anything, I had only to go straight to the Minister of the 
 Household, Prince Wittgenstein nay, I merely need 
 threaten him to. Well, that remains to be seen ! 
 Whichever way, nowhere have I been in such clover 
 as here. So everything stands well ! The Chorus is 
 to be introduced to me to-day ; tomorrow I mean to take
 
 44 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Pfister in hand alone ; Wednesday there's a string- 
 rehearsal. Taubert has held eight rehearsals already. 
 The Koster arrives tomorrow, and on Wednesday will 
 join our rehearsals. To-day I mean to polish off my 
 calls. Such is my life. 
 
 At Leipzig, where I got shaved and ate a beefsteak, I 
 had a moment's talk with Julius [a brother of his] ; he bids 
 me tell you the wine is quite ready and may be bottled in 
 a month, even earlier if you chose : another care the 
 less, you see, for you poor harassed one ! 
 
 Now don't forget the grapes, good Mienel ; indifferent 
 though Kiistner is to me, still I had promised him. 
 Don't be cross at my having forgotten to leave you the 
 money for them ! If yours won't last, as I shouldn't 
 be at all surprised, I can send you more money from 
 here ; for, judging by appearances, Berlin won't cost 
 me much : in fact, we shall even put a little by here. 
 
 God keep you well and in good heart ! You have 
 more reason to be cheerful now than ever, if you reflect 
 what a long-delayed good turning stands in front of us 
 at last. Things are bound to flourish with us, after 
 all. What would you say to a pretty country-house ? Not 
 bad, eh ? 
 
 Greet your house-mates, our old pet animals. Keep 
 well and write me some day ! For the matter of that, 
 I can't at all see why you shouldn't come to me sooner. 
 If your money is on the decline, just come : we shall be 
 living at the King of Prussia's cost here ! 
 
 Adieu ! Farewell, and think of me as frequently as I 
 of you, you good old Minna ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Regards to Rockels too.
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 45 
 
 22. 
 
 BERLIN, Thursday, 23. Sept. 1847. 
 
 To-day, my dear Mienel, I am able to report to you 
 on sundry matters ; what I most should like, however, 
 would be to report receipt of news from you ! The day 
 after tomorrow it will be a week since I left you, and I 
 may surely be pardoned for wishing to know how you 
 are : so write ! 
 
 The family which took rooms after me on the same 
 floor, and drove me into others, has arrived ; it is the 
 Koster family, and close beside me I can now hear Adriano 
 being practised. Strange coincidence in this big Berlin ! 
 Yesterday I was able to hold the first regular ensemble- 
 rehearsal, and had much reason to be satisfied ; Taubert 
 has been industrious, and even the Koster, who only 
 reached here late the night before, came punctually to the 
 rehearsal and shewed she had already been learning up. 
 The choruses are splendid ! Ah, what good it does one 
 after Dresden ! I had taken Pfister through his paces the 
 day before : the fellow has no lack of good will, and his 
 voice will pass muster if one doesn't think of Tichat- 
 scheck ; but the misfortune is, the man has learnt nothing 
 at all, lacks the merest a b c. All the same, he isn't 
 clumsy, and I was surprised how fairly rapidly he followed 
 this and that suggestion or example I set him. The part 
 will probably pull him through, and he won't hear of a 
 doubt of endurance ; he declares he could sing the whole 
 of it and not break down. Good luck to him ! 
 
 There are rehearsals every day now, and I've quite 
 enough to do. The day slips by so soon here, that I 
 haven't yet arrived at proper intercourse with stage- 
 manager, scene-painter, or ballet-master ! All last evening 
 I spent chatting with my neighbour, Koster ; a first-rate
 
 46 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 energetic poet-brain, with whom I went quite deep. He 
 has an excellent influence on his wife ; her voice is very 
 agreeable and pure she will make a very good Blsa here. 
 
 Yesterday I also remembered it was highest time to 
 announce myself to Meyerbeer, who is here. I didn't 
 catch him, so left a card to go on with : neither is he 
 likely to be overjoyed about my Rienzi ! The Frommann 
 is to arrive to-day ; I have seen no more acquaintances 
 as yet, nor have I managed yet to call on Tieck at 
 Potsdam. 
 
 Dear child, the time of your arrival is still a long way 
 off ; at times I fall into a thorough fit of anxiousness about 
 you when you do not write to me, I begin to fancy you 
 are ill ! What a ghastly thought it is to me, that the 
 leaves at home must now be yellowing and falling more and 
 more ! On my walks through the streets here, when I 
 meditate on this Berlin and what it possibly might have 
 in store for me, that we even might remove here in the 
 long run, a strange enough feeling comes over me ; I 
 cannot form a notion of it yet at all, at all ! -Neither will 
 I vex my mind with it much, for doubtless I'm dreading 
 without any need. Lord, how contented one might be 
 with Dresden if the nest had but a little higher standing ! 
 That this place is more the right field for my artworks, is 
 undeniable, but a truce to these fantasies ! 
 
 I eat at Meinhard's on a running account (if the 
 man takes any pay for it, which I still do not believe !) 
 My landlord also keeps a restaurant, so that I can get 
 anything I like at home, even dinner if I wanted. 
 Nothing paid him either yet ; so things are going very 
 well, you see ! There's room to take in you, and even 
 Klare ; another point disposed of. 
 
 Now, write to me, you good old girl ; God grant
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 47 
 
 you're in good health ! Lonelier than me you are not 
 for only when we two are together, are we also not lonely. 
 You cheerfully might come here even earlier, if you would 
 eke out with the Frommann when I can't be much at 
 home. Just think it over. 
 
 Farewell, and remain an atom good to me ! 
 
 Greet na, you know all about that ! Adieu, good 
 Minna. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 X There's a Peps always haunting this street ; it 
 surely can't be ours ? 
 
 Dear child, please tell Meser he's to send me two 
 textbooks of Taiuihauser immediately by post, 
 
 23. 
 
 BERLIN, Sunday, 26. Sept. 1847. 
 
 A thousand thanks, my good Wife, for your kind 
 letter, which has given me a veritable heart's- delight 
 such as I cannot possibly express ! You will hardly 
 believe how good, how lovable, you shew yourself in this 
 simple letter ! See now, it's quite splendid for us to be 
 calling each other "Old Minna," "Old Richard" ; what 
 is a young passion, beside so old a love ? Passion is only 
 beautiful when it ends in a love such as this, in and for 
 itself it's a suffering ; but a love like ours is pure enjoy- 
 ment and a brief separation always makes that quite 
 plain, from a long separation may a kind Fate preserve 
 it ! Isn't that so, good Wife ? Your tiny mite of doubt, 
 too, I forgive you, I can but smile at it, for it really 
 sounds too droll to think that I'd be casting eyes about 
 here in Berlin a bit because you were away ! You silly 
 girl !
 
 48 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Now for a word on my affairs. They're standing 
 well ; I have been able to hold rehearsals 4 mornings 
 running from 10 to i o'clock. Really I deem myself 
 lucky to get the chance of holding such thorough re- 
 hearsals once more: the whole company always punctually 
 on the spot and in earnest, no chattering, but undivided 
 attention. When I think how that ass of a Dettmer 
 always gave himself the air of doing me a favour by 
 singing this Colonna ! Even if I may have detected just 
 a trace of such a sentiment in Botticher and the others 
 they are always in deadly earnest with their work ; and 
 in return I shall obtain a capital ensemble. Naturally I 
 have to expect the best Irene here [Frl. Tuczek], the duet 
 in the last act will be a gem such as we haven't known 
 at Dresden for many a long day ! The Koster is almost 
 too good for my Adriano : she has something very virginal 
 about her, very womanly much more than Johanna, who 
 strikes me, on the contrary, as somewhat bluff, and with 
 it an uncommon gentle magic in the voice in short, I'm 
 looking forward to her Elsa ( Botticher has asked me to 
 revive the Hollander, also, with Frau Koster !) Pfister 
 now takes the place of Peps with me, he dogs my footsteps 
 so, and will not leave my side ; not that I have any 
 objection, since it makes me more familiar with him and 
 lets me take him in hand with less ceremony. There can 
 be no rehearsal of Rienzi for several days this coining 
 week, on account of the Koster 's debut ; which offers me 
 the advantage of concerning myself with Pfister alone. 
 That will be the crucial time, and I have good reason to 
 hope it will turn out well. From Monday w r eek we shall 
 pass on to the stage ; all the singers are well up in their 
 music now. 
 
 The Frommann arrived on Wednesday, and sends
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 49 
 
 kindest regards. She is on the alert, and always has 
 something of profit to tell one. She's looking forward to 
 you immensely, and only begs you'll come as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 And now I must accuse myself: I'm living very 
 luxuriously here, which is rather disagreeable, than 
 agreeable, to me. This Meinhard doesn't know how to 
 shew me his esteem, and besides the most voluptuous 
 feeding at his place ( for that is famous !) not a dinner 
 passes off without champagne. We sit down to table at 
 3, and it regularly lasts till 5 ; deprecate as I may, he will 
 declare it's good for my inside, and thus much is certain, 
 the aperitive effect is constant. At 5 o'clock a drive in 
 Meinhard' s equipage then I go on to the Frommann, 
 who always has tea served, though I never drink anything 
 there but cold water. You see, I'm accusing myself, and 
 to speak candidly, however good these people are, and 
 little as I may despise anything good, I honestly am pining 
 for your cuisine especially when you serve me yourself. 
 Well, that will come to an end here in time ; though 
 when you arrive, you will have to go through it yourself ! 
 There's no escaping it, as Meinhard has said, for which 
 matter, the man's a Berlin droll of a humour one can but 
 envy him ! 
 
 Enough of chatter : it's my first altogether free day, 
 and I mean spending it on a visit to Tieck at Potsdam ; 
 the Frommann says he might be of more use to me 
 than anybody, with the King ! Gracious, I haven't seen 
 Meyerbeer even yet ! I've bought myself a hat, had 
 boots made, etc. ; you shall be able to hold your head 
 high when you come ! h'm ! h'm ! 
 
 Kind regards to Rockel ; he is afraid my money 
 won't last out, and has written me as much, good 
 VOL. i 4
 
 50 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 fellow ! I'll answer him presently. Certainly, when I 
 look as far as the end of October, one must begin to 
 think of something soon ; nevertheless, that will all come 
 right. 
 
 Be as merry as you can, and don't make my heart so 
 heavy with the good animals. I'm sorry for them, of 
 course, when I think that you will soon be leaving them 
 as well ; see how weak one is ! But want to delay it 
 as much as you like by Saturday week you have got to 
 be here, in any case ; and then we shall have been 3 
 weeks apart and have another 3 weeks here together, 
 shan't we ? 
 
 Farewell, you good Minna ; I must go and dress, if 
 I'm to catch the Potsdam train at 10 o'clock. If you 
 write again soon, you'll make me very happy ! Believe 
 that, and be sure of it ! The joy of reunion will soon 
 be upon us Juchhe ! Adieu, adieu ! Write and come 
 soon ! 
 
 Ever and always 
 
 Thy faithful RICHARD. 
 
 (For the grapes) 
 
 Sr Hochwohlgeboren 
 
 des Herrn E. von Kustner 
 Intendant der Konigl. Schauspiele 
 pp. pp. 
 
 in Berlin. 
 
 24. 
 
 BERLIN, Sunday, 3. Oct. 1847. 
 
 My good Minna, don't be cross with me for leaving 
 it so late before writing again ! I have only a couple of 
 hours to myself in the morning, and if anything whatever 
 crops up then, as has always been the case these last few
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 51 
 
 days, even that little is lost to me. My homesickness is 
 as great as any such a thing can be : but my country is 
 you and our small household ; I know of nothing in the 
 world that could compensate me for it ! Only reflect 
 how we live, and whether I indeed know any other 
 pleasure than my home ! You can't think how I'm 
 longing to be able to hug you to my breast again and 
 shake off that chill which freezes one's whole being at 
 last in a strange land like this, cut off from all affection ! 
 No, my ambition does not carry far to me a fair 
 heart' s-country stands above all else ! And now, dear 
 child, our longest time of separation is surely past ? 
 Thank God ! ! !- 
 
 You always strike me in your letters as not quite 
 well ; you can't think how peculiarly doleful that makes 
 me each time ! I was perfectly relieved when you wrote 
 me at last that you had really been having those horrible 
 headaches again ; for I know where I am then, and alarm 
 myself no farther. Poor little poppet ! 
 
 But tell me, what on earth have you been hearing, to 
 give me such strict warnings to be very careful ? You are 
 so exhaustive in these warnings, yet mention nothing that 
 has prompted them ! I expect it's nothing very serious, 
 after all. -You are completely right, that I bear my heart 
 too much upon my tongue, and should often do more 
 prudently to keep this and that to myself, or to ourselves ; 
 I will not contradict you in the slightest there, and can 
 only excuse myself by saying, that is how I'm made. 
 God will take care, however, that I do not come to grief 
 through empty chatter! Nevertheless, you are right .' 
 What would you more ? ? 
 
 I haven't much to report from here this time ; the 
 past week has been rather a medlev. The Koster was to
 
 52 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 have made her debut in Euryanthe ; a sore throat pre- 
 vented her, so rehearsals of Rienzi were held again, but 
 chiefly with the orchestra alone, which latter gives me 
 great delight. Last night we had a grand rehearsal of 
 the scenery ; it will all do fairly, only Kiistner committed 
 the stupidity of ordering the new scenes long before he had 
 had due consultations with the regisseur etc., therefore 
 sundry things have not turned out correct. 
 
 Another matter. If you were meaning to arrive here 
 Saturday evening, you would exactly not find me in, 
 and I couldn't come and meet you, for we have a big- 
 rehearsal just that evening : on a Friday, again, you 
 probably won't wish to travel, and before then you're 
 unlikely to be ready ; wherefore you perhaps had better 
 get here Sunday evening if not on Thursday. So write 
 me when you mean to come for certain, and whether you 
 will travel direct in one day, as I then should meet you 
 at the station toward 7 in the evening. My God, I'd 
 rather you were there already ! ! 
 
 There is a possibility, however you know the stage 
 way of the performance not coming off at all on the 
 i5th : the Koster is unwell (? ?) on the i2th, i3th and 
 i4th. However, I have hit on this expedient, that the 
 actual full rehearsal, particularly for the singers, shall 
 take place on Monday evening, the nth, Tuesday a 
 rest, and on Wednesday a repetition without tiring the 
 singers, and Thursday no rehearsal at all, so that every- 
 one may come to the production nice and fresh ; the 
 Koster has agreed to it, and hopes to cause no upset : 
 yet, who knows ? ! Not that it would be so great a 
 misfortune, for the King never goes to the theatre on 
 his birthday, and moreover they have a prologue etc., 
 which makes the evening some half an hour longer ! !
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 53 
 
 So it strictly isn't very tempting to me ; but we shall 
 see. Only whatever betides, come you at latest Sunday, 
 the rest will soon be squared ! 
 
 I dine at Meyerbeer s to-day ! He is going away 
 soon ; all the better ! 
 
 Make your mind easy about Meinhard. In the first 
 place he really is a jolly, decent fellow, who considers me 
 an honour to him ; and although he has a second reason, 
 it's of no harm to me : he is Pfister's bosom-friend, to wit, 
 and most anxious that I should give him a lift, train him 
 thoroughly in his part, etc., to obtain him promotion. I 
 haven't seen the Frommann for a couple of days ; I can 
 only go there of an evening, and then she is often 
 engaged. 
 
 Yet another thing, dear child. I have commissioned 
 Rockel to raise some more money and give it to you ; 
 firstly, in case you run short, and secondly, to make us 
 safe here. So take it ! 
 
 I have had a cold all the time such as I've 
 seldom experienced ; my head is always in a maze, and 
 that adds no little to the discomforts of my existence : 
 but it will do me good, and save me from severer 
 illness. 
 
 Now, God grant you may have no more to complain 
 of, and that our reunion, for which I'm longing so with 
 all my heart, may find us both quite well and cheerful ! 
 Why should it not ? if we are not in the best of health 
 by then, we shall soon become so through the joy of 
 repossession ! 
 
 When my thoughts fly home, I often have to cry 
 aloud for melancholy ! Home ! Home ! It tops all 
 else, for sure ! 
 
 Farewell, my dear good Wife. Love me as uncon-
 
 54 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 ditionally as I love you, and then I'll ask no more ! 
 Farewell ; a thousand kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 25. 
 
 BERLIN, Wednesday, 6. Oct. forenoon, 
 
 1847- 
 
 GOOD, DEAR WIFE I have this moment returned 
 from a conference at which I was informed that the 
 doctor has declared the Tuczek can't sing for 6 days ; 
 owing to that and other causes, the first performance of 
 Rienzi would be postponed for a week i.e. to the 
 22nd Oct. This didn't make much difference to me, 
 as it would give me another week in Berlin to pursue my 
 aims. Neither need it have any influence on your coming 
 hither, for I most earnestly beg you to get here next 
 Sunday notwithstanding : let that therefore remain as 
 arranged : -only you will have to tell Klare about it, since 
 she would probably be unable to stay here so long. 
 Tichatscheck also, who intends coming here the i/j-th, 
 you must inform how things stand, and that he should 
 await another letter from me first, to make quite certain. 
 For I perhaps may still find a means of making it possible 
 on the 1 5th, after all, whilst our rehearsals are pro- 
 ceeding without the Tuczek ; but it is uncertain in the 
 highest degree. 
 
 Now I mean to see if this brief note can catch the 
 midday train, so excuse my haste. 
 
 You dear good Wife, I can't possibly tell you how 
 much I'm looking forward to you ! Farewell till then ! 
 On Sunday, I hope, I shall see you ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD.
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 55 
 
 26. 
 
 VIENNA, \\.July 1848. 
 
 BEST WIFE, 
 
 My heartiest love, to begin with, and the wish 
 that this letter may find you in good health and spirits ! 
 
 I've only just attained sufficient repose to sit down and 
 write to you ; the first two days in Vienna set me in a 
 regular turmoil, particularly through the quantity of 
 running about. But now for my history ! The journey 
 was a slow one : no farther than Gorlitz I had to wait 
 4 hours (Hr. Laforgue was my companion). Not until 
 8 in the evening did I reach Breslau : after a hurried 
 look at the town, I called on Mosewius, who was im- 
 mensely delighted to see me ; we sat up together till i. 
 
 Next day, Saturday, the train didn't start for Vienna 
 till 2 P.M. : after an awful night for 3rd class on the 
 Austrian line was a torment of hell ! I reached Vienna 
 at 8 on Sunday morning, and put up for the first at an inn. 
 How many 100 stairs I climbed on Sunday in search of a 
 suitable room, I know not ; all I do know, is that I 
 nearly succumbed to fatigue. Finally, in a small side 
 street leading to the Stephans-Platz I found a cheap 
 room, 8 gulden the fortnight ; Monday forenoon I moved 
 in, and now have slept my first night there. There you 
 have my journey's calendar : now for the impressions ! 
 
 Good Minna, what would you not have said, if you 
 had been with me this time ! Even at Breslau I believed 
 I was in Paris again, as compared with Dresden : this 
 magnificent folk-life ! Citizens with white staves ; instead 
 of police, the National Guard in blouses and plumed 
 hats ; public hawkers at every corner, selling placards, 
 "There is no more Monarchy (with inauguration of the 
 two-chamber system)," etc. At a station in Moravia w r e
 
 56 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 met the new Federal Governor (Reichsverweser) ; every 
 station decorated with German flags. But Vienna I 
 avow ! seen for the first time again on a fine bright 
 Sunday, it quite bewitched me. It was a rediscovered 
 Paris, only more beautiful, gayer and German. During 
 the 1 6 years I hadn't seen Vienna the whole city has 
 been renovated : its half-million inhabitants, all bedecked 
 with German colours, marched through the streets on 
 Sunday as in triumph, on Saturday, through the energy 
 of the National Committee, a feeble, incompetent ministry 
 had fallen ! You should have seen these people's 
 physiognomy ; everything that repels you in the Dresden 
 populace, would attract you here. The National Guard, 
 dressed almost militarily, with broad 3-colour scarfs 
 of silk ; the students (8000) in old-German gowns, with 
 plumed caps on their heads, long bayonet-muskets and 
 sabres, keep watch : nearly all I saw were handsome 
 fellows. And then this opulence, this life ! this original 
 garb of the women, an entirely new shape of bonnet with 
 feathers and German-tricolour ribbons. On almost every 
 house a German flag. And then the street-criers, men, 
 women, children : " Fall of the Pillersdorf ministry ! " 
 i kreuzer ; "The Americans will not forsake the 
 Germans ! " i kreuzer. ' ' War on the Russians ! " i 
 kreuzer. " Final decease of the aristocracy ! " one kreuzer. 
 So it goes on. But everything gay, serene and youthful ! 
 Nothing ugly or low have I come across yet : everyone 
 amiable, noble and blithe ! God, how common and 
 greasy does a certain town compare in my eyes ! Sunday 
 night I was at the Theater an der Wien ; they gave 
 "Scenes from the Life of Napoleon " Hr. Wohlbriick 
 starring as Napoleon ! A poor affair in every way. One 
 thing amused me, however : not only had Pokorny
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 57 
 
 adorned the whole house from ceiling to floor with 
 German banners, but even the waiters, who called out 
 Ice etc. in the entr'actes, were dressed in black, red and 
 yellow, from top to toe. All fudge, no doubt ; but it 
 will shew you how things are looking here. 
 
 For my friend Miiller I had to trudge to the Burg, 
 where he was on guard. Yesterday I found Bauernfeld 
 at last ; he's a downright hypochondriac now for two 
 months he was completely insane, so I've heard he sees 
 nothing but black, and deems the time entirely unfit for 
 experimenting with the Theatre. Possibly he's right, 
 but I shall not give my efforts up for all that ; I have a 
 rendezvous at noon to-day with a Dr Frenkel, described 
 and recommended to me by Bauernfeld himself as very 
 active, intelligent and influential. The theatres are in 
 very low water now, a result of bad management. The 
 Burg theatre has closed, at the opera-house the singers 
 etc. are going shares, without a director ; I haven't been 
 there yet : perhaps to-night. 
 
 Certainly politics take the wind out of everything 
 here more than in a smaller town like ours. In a city 
 where questions involving the continuance of large states 
 have to be decided every day, other interests naturally 
 dwindle. In such a throng I'm very lonely still, 
 almost as in Paris ; only to-day do I hope to make proper 
 acquaintances. Yesterday it took me 4 hours to find 
 out Bauernfeld alone ; nowhere could I ascertain where 
 he dwelt, or even if he lived here at all. Moreover, it 
 rained the whole day yesterday,- I moved out of my 
 hotel, and so forth. How it runs away with money ! I 
 think I shall be able to live quite cheap, however, in 
 private lodgings. 
 
 This afternoon I'll write you more.
 
 58 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 12. July. 
 
 I meant to resume my letter yesterday afternoon, but 
 didn't get back to the house, as I now belong to Vienna 
 hospitality. I have found my man i.e. Professor Fischhof, 
 a man who possesses my operas. I met him yesterday 
 noon, and spent the whole day and part of the night 
 with him. There s a man who appears to have under- 
 stood me at once, lock, stock and barrel. Even before 
 I unfolded my plan to him,* he expressed his great 
 delight at Vienna's having pleased me, since it gave him 
 hope I would soon remain here to occupy an important 
 sphere of action. Then I laid my plan before him : he 
 fell in with it at once, and sketched out the following 
 plan of campaign. The new Minister of Education, 
 Erner, a man of much talent to whom everyone looks for 
 great things, is a friend of Fischhof's. He will introduce 
 me to him : thereon we want the Minister to bring the 
 whole proposal forward with his draft budget for Public 
 Instruction, and to name a commission to decide how 
 much of it can be carried into immediate execution as a 
 commencement. One thing has to be remembered, how- 
 ever : the present great preoccupation of all statesmen 
 with the weightiest political affairs. Nevertheless I shall 
 go on urging that at least the principle be recognised 
 officially, whilst whatever can be carried out at once, 
 should be so ; and this chiefly concerns the Karnthner- 
 Thor theatre (Opera), which is without a director and in 
 a state of dissolution. Fischhof himself conceived the 
 greatest hope of the thing : there was money enough in 
 Vienna, said he, and if the plan could be published 
 
 * Cf" Plan for organisation of a German National Theatre," A', ll'agners 
 Prose
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 59 
 
 through print and proclamation, accompanied by a public 
 appeal, he was sure 500,000 florins would be volunteered 
 at once to set the matter going. Well, that was our first 
 discussion of the thing ; further results will follow : 
 Fischhof will arrange a meeting of the most important 
 litterateurs etc. at his house. 
 
 So I can tell you of a start and even if the whole 
 plan can't be carried out forthwith, still I am certain, after 
 this uncommonly sympathetic reception, that my presence 
 here will bear good fruit. 
 
 Last night I was at the Karnthnerthor theatre with 
 the attache to the Russian embassy and Fischhof, his 
 Liberal instructor ; a wretched ballet was played, ' ' the 
 Gamin of Paris. ' ' 
 
 Now, my dear good Wife, let this suffice for the 
 nonce. I have saluted you morning and night ; you 
 have returned it, no doubt ? for we two old grown-into- 
 one are always together ! You walk by my side all the 
 day here ; I point you out this and that, and converse with 
 you. Farewell, be of good health and courage, and hold 
 me dear ! Many hearty long kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 27. 
 
 VIENNA, i^.July 1848. 
 
 MY ENTIRELY GOOD DEAR MlNNA, 
 
 I made a fool of myself, now I remember, in 
 not giving you my address last time, since I probably 
 have spoilt my chance of getting news from you, for 
 which I'm longing so. To make it still possible, I'll 
 write my address down at once : Goldschmidgasse no. '594, 
 \st floor. As I think of staying on here till the end of
 
 60 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 next week, I now shall hope to get a letter from you yet 
 in any case ; at least, I beg for one with all my heart 
 
 My Vienna ship is answering the helm quite splendidly. 
 At 4 next Monday afternoon there is a big meeting at 
 Fischhof's, when my plan's to be broached for acceptance in 
 general. Directly my name had appeared on the Visitors' 
 list I had several callers, among others Dr Bacher (very 
 rich and enthusiastic), who entered into my plan with 
 delight. Very influential also is the acquisition of 
 Staatsrath Vesque von Piittlingen (composer of the opera 
 "Johanna d'Arc," under the name of " Hoven ") ; Fisch- 
 hof and I dined with him yesterday at his villa in the 
 country : my plan enraptured him, and he begged 
 immediate copies for the Ministers, to make them pro- 
 visionally acquainted with the thing. For the Karnth- 
 nerthor Opera, however, all considered that one 
 condition must be made : namely, that I should cut 
 myself adrift from Dresden, to take over the direction of 
 this theatre. I replied : At Dresden I certainly have a 
 Royal appointment for life, with a good salary etc. ; 
 nevertheless, if my wishes could be thoroughly fulfilled 
 for Vienna, I have hopes of soon being released by my 
 King. That satisfied them all, and on Monday, as said, 
 a general meeting is to be held ; then the Minister is to 
 be approached with all their signatures, asking for a 
 commission to be named at once to draw up a suitable 
 scheme for the introduction of my Theatre-organisation ; 
 all that they regret, is that I must leave again now, 
 and cannot take immediate part in this commission. 
 
 Dear Wife, this Vienna is a glorious city ; everything 
 here gives me such an agreeable feeling of warmth ; the 
 conditions are home-like and yet so colossal. What 
 surroundings ! I had forgotten them all, and am truly
 
 DRESDEN PERIOD 61 
 
 bewitched with them now for the first time. One may enjoy 
 it all fairly cheap, too ; for a 2o-kreuzer [about 5d.] elegant 
 coaches take you to the most beautiful spots in the neigh- 
 bourhood. I have been most, in fact nearly all, of the 
 time with Fischhof, as he conducts me everywhere. A 
 capital fellow, that, of uncommonly wide acquaintance, 
 standing in the highest esteem with everybody, high and 
 low. Two of his pupils are the Russian attache, with whom 
 we have gone out several times already, and the son of the 
 Turkish ambassador, with whom we are to drive to Baden 
 to-day. Only think, I am keeping company with Turks 
 and Egyptians here, for there is also a grandson of 
 Mehemed Ali, the viceroy of Egypt For the rest, 
 Vienna is now distinguished from all other cities chiefly 
 by its presenting no party-friction at all ; there is only 
 one party here, the radical: at Inspruck sits the court- 
 party, about which no one bothers any more. A fine fete 
 took place yesterday : disquieting rumours had been 
 spread, that the military intended to strike a blow at 
 Vienna, and so forth. Well, a deputation from the army 
 came to the Committee of Public Safety the day before 
 yesterday, and declared its wish to quash any such rumours 
 by organising a meeting of the National Guard and Army 
 next morning in the Brigittenau, there to vow brotherhood. 
 It came to pass, too, and amid cheering and music the 
 National Guard, students, army with officers, 12 Generals 
 etc., workmen and the like, all inarched through the city 
 mingled anyhow and arm in arm. It really was exalting. 
 It will be many a long day before Vienna falls to the 
 ground ; what wealth abounds here ! Nobody asks after 
 the Emperor now, no one wants him ; one is quite 
 sufficient for oneself. 
 
 Enough for to-day, dear good Wife : I have to be
 
 6 2 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 at Fischhof's at 9, to go to Baden with the company 
 aforesaid. 
 
 You shall soon have another report from me ; God 
 grant you're as well as myself; only be of good cheer and 
 good spirits ! After all our manifold experiences, I fancy 
 things will go quite comfortably with us at last. Yes, 
 yes one has really learnt something for the future from 
 it all. 
 
 Now, many, many hearty kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 28. 
 
 ZURICH, ii. Au^ist 1849. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 It is very disagreeable to me to have to write to 
 you again, firstly because I hope to have you soon with 
 me again yourself, and secondly because I fully understand 
 that no amount of my writing will suffice to revive in you 
 a single spark of moral courage (Lebensmutli). That is 
 natural enough, and as I certainly am unable to write you 
 just yet the only thing to please and reassure you, namely 
 that I have secured another appointment for life nothing 
 remains but to prove to you by experience that your lot 
 won't really be so cheerless at my side as it is bound to 
 appear to you now from a distance. The most cheerless 
 thing at any ra.te is separation, at least for me, since it sets 
 me in hourly uncertainty about you and your health : not 
 to know how things are standing, is the worst of all, and 
 you must therefore forgive me if I only think of you when 
 I think of Dresden, not of our animal pets, dear as they 
 are to me also. For my part I've experienced again in 
 person, and conclusively, that the human being is the main 
 affair, outtops all else ; your heart, alas through habit
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 63 
 
 often seems almost more attached to furniture, houses and 
 so on, than to the living man. 
 
 However even this will surely all clear up for both 
 of us when we're only together again. Your profound 
 dejection is so natural and explicable, that it leaves nothing 
 to say, neither will words dispel it ; here life itself must 
 exert its healing power, and with certainty I hope not 
 through argument but through life itself to succeed in 
 reconciling you to it again. Your chief anxiety, about 
 our maintenance, will also soon be laid ; you have only to 
 gain the conviction that things can't all conform at once 
 and in such hurry to our wish, that we perhaps may need 
 a little spell of patience ere the new and future takes firm 
 shape. And even as regards your own poor parents, for 
 whom I certainly am sorriest, the hardship is only just for 
 now and the immediate future something better will 
 soon turn up for them as well, be sure. 
 
 How active is Liszt in my behalf, his last letter to me 
 has proved, in which he also intimated that he had sent 
 you 100 thaler : this money, he wrote, was from an 
 admirer of Tannhauser for the enjoyment that work had 
 given him, but who didn't wish to be named. At the 
 same time he invited me to add to the pianoforte score of 
 Tannhauser a dedication to the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
 Weimar ; which I attended to at once, and indeed with a 
 couple of verses that without compromising my free- 
 thought principles in any way will make a due effect. 
 Liszt is certain to collect the desired modest yearly stipend 
 for my works before long at bottom it needs no juggling 
 only he cannot batter in the door like that at present 
 (after all that has happened), but must proceed a little 
 warily : which means a delaying of the thing, but not its 
 giving up. That you will recognise, dear Wife, yourself?
 
 64 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 So pluck up heart : our time will come ! And even 
 should it drag a little, I'm arranging for immediate needs 
 already. The 300 gulden, which I shall not have to repay 
 till I make them by Lohengrin takings, are the only thing 
 I'm borrowing ; I shall earn the rest. A few friends, to 
 whom I had read something of mine, have offered to beat 
 up for me this autumn a select small audience of private 
 subscribers at a high rate, before whom I'm to recite my 
 new poems in a course of three evenings. I shall then 
 give a concert of excerpts from my operas also, the receipts 
 from both enterprises, which will cause me no trouble 
 whatever, will last us all the winter. So it's merely a 
 question of gaining time, and everything will straighten ; 
 but we must pass that time together, or else it certainly 
 will not be bearable for me at least. I have already 
 sent my big article on Art to Paris ; after it has appeared 
 in the National, Belloni will get it published separately in 
 brochure form, and transmit me the fee. Through Liszt 
 I have also despatched this long essay to a German book- 
 seller, who is to publish it as a brochure in German ; if it 
 catches on, I shall then write more for pay, of course. 
 Have no fear ; I shall be keeping myself, but you must 
 be with me. 
 
 If you only would write me you're coining at last ; I 
 deplore each fine day you are missing here ! By all 
 means bring N. with you ; I have thought that over, 
 too. But what is all this about a situation for her ? 
 She is simply to come to be with you, to help you in 
 every respect, and as you also very justly remark that 
 you ma}' have someone about you, should I have to go 
 travelling. In short, she's indispensable to you, and 
 costs next to nothing ; would your worry about her be 
 smaller, if you left her behind ? If she wants to earn
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 65 
 
 something besides, she can do that better here than at 
 Dresden, for work is better paid here. So bring her in 
 any case. 
 
 As regards our residence in Switzerland, don't enter- 
 tain any fear ! The fugitives are nothing to me, and 
 moreover are so dispersed throughout the whole of Switzer- 
 land, that one scarcely remarks them at all in single 
 places ; any eventual reclamations, also, will only apply 
 to those who took part in the last insurrection in Baden 
 and the Palatinate ; /don't rank here at all as a fugitive, 
 for I have my full Swiss pass and permit for a year's 
 residence, i.e. as good as for ever. To people outside, no 
 doubt, such a state of things always looks worse than it 
 is in reality ; war isn't so much as to be dreamt of, and 
 I'm threatened with no other kind of disagreeables, as I 
 have sponsors and sureties enough here to enable me to 
 be fully naturalised in the Canton [at any moment]. I 
 mix with none but Switzers, as you'll soon be able to 
 convince yourself. 
 
 What do I want you to bring me ? You will surely 
 be best judge of that yourself: include in your packing 
 those scribblings of mine which you found in my desk, 
 also the bound music and scores which stood in the pillar- 
 cabinet in my study ; of the other things you'll be able 
 to form your own opinion what would be of need to me. 
 The scores on the floor, also whatever lay loose in the 
 cupboards, just give to somebody at Dresden to take care 
 of. I have no further orders. I wrote to Uhlig a day 
 or two back, asking him to go on with the pianoforte 
 score of Lohengrin he had already begun from the theatre's 
 full score ; I also enclosed a few lines to Fischer, who 
 will doubtless have conveyed you my request by now. 
 
 Liszt wrote me, Heinrich Brockhaus had lately called 
 vol.. i 5
 
 66 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 on him and offered, from himself and the family, to do 
 everything possible for me. On that I don't particularly 
 reckon in fact, I'm disregarding it completely. 
 
 The main thing is, for you to come here quickly : 
 if N. is with you, Peps will give no trouble even on the 
 railway ; only you must conceal him skilfully when you 
 get in. Do try, however, to let me know as precisely as 
 possible when you will be arriving at Rorschach, the first 
 Swiss station on the Lake of Constance, as I should very 
 much like to come and meet you there. I shall not take 
 weekly lodgings before I know exactly from when. 
 
 Once again, I'm quite crestfallen at having to keep 
 on writing you ; my impatience to have you here at last 
 is growing daily, and my vexation at the long delay 
 prevents my finding zest for anything. When I drew 
 the comfort from your letters that you were coining soon, 
 my work at once put on a spurt, now everything hobbles 
 again. And then you're surrounded by the cholera too ; 
 what everlasting dread and pain that causes me ! Up, 
 up ! Minna, dear wife ! Make haste and come, and my 
 whole heart could wish that this letter itself no longer 
 might catch you ! How gladly would I have written it 
 in vain ! Pluck up courage and be with me soon ! All 
 else I'll keep for word of mouth. Farewell, a pleasant 
 journey, and hope ! 
 
 Soon to embrace you most ardently, 
 
 Thy RICHARD. 
 
 I can find no words to tell you how beside myself I 
 am at your deliberately choosing to start on your journey 
 so late ! In this way it may last a fortnight yet ! ! Fie, 
 that is horrid of you ! At first I believed the fault was 
 simply Liszt's delay in sending money, that you would
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 67 
 
 be waiting for it, all impatience to carry out your decision 
 at last. But no, I was mistaken, arrival of the money 
 has altered absolutely nothing in your purpose ! ! 
 
 Only upon reading your letter through once more, 
 have I distinctly made out that you do not think of 
 leaving Chemnitz until Saturday, i.e. to-day, the day I'm 
 writing, nth of August ; and this you wrote me on the 
 5th ! ! notwithstanding that you had received news of the 
 money's arrival ! ! ! I confess, dear Wife, this quite in- 
 tentional delay has turned me rather bitter. So, only 
 to-day are you starting from Chemnitz where there are 
 no preparations at all to make for your departure to go 
 to Dresden, where it will last another while before you've 
 seen to everything, which you cannot at Chemnitz ! And 
 I am counting the days and hours ! So you were simply 
 staying on because you had made up your mind to. 
 Naturally, then, you're in no hurry to come to me ! 
 Why should you be ? Every Chemnitzer, etc. , of course 
 is better than your husband ! Ah me, ah me ! God 
 alone knows when you'll come now ! 
 
 29. 
 
 PARIS, 3. February 1850. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I'm writing you a few lines to-day just to prevent 
 your getting anxious ; I cannot w^rite a proper letter yet, 
 I've not yet settled down. So, merely the following in 
 brief, to ease your mind. 
 
 As you will already have heard from me from Miihl- 
 hausen, I didn't meet the least obstruction at the frontier; 
 my pass was all in order. The remainder of the journey 
 certainly fatigued me greatly ; I don't think, however, 
 it did me any further harm. Arrived in Paris, I rushed
 
 68 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 off to Belloni : by divine dispensation, he hadn't returned 
 from Weimar yet : and Liszt had sent me a bill of ex- 
 change on Paris " payable in 14 days " ! On the strength 
 of my letter, however, Belloni' s mother had secured me 
 a lodging, and for no less than 60 fr. [per month] in the 
 Faiibourg Montmartre. The room was dark and un- 
 inviting, blocked up with cupboards and lumber ; never- 
 theless I submitted, though I remarked at once that there 
 was a deal of street-noise even here. At last done up 
 and tired as a dog, I go to bed at 10, when a female 
 singer immediately above me commences practising an 
 aria from the Puritani ! That lasted until half past n : 
 imagine my sufferings ! Next day dog-tired as I was 
 I started lodging-hunting ; I chased around the so- 
 called quiet quarters till I nearly dropped and found 
 nothing ! The whole of my day thereby went to the 
 Devil, and at night again I couldn't really sleep. Finally 
 to-day in fact I've only just returned from hunting 
 I have hired another apartment on the 4th floor of a 
 Cite {Cite cf Antin] 65 fr. \ \ It's the quietest of any 
 I have seen, however. Tomorrow midday I move oiit, 
 so think of coming to a rest at last, and starting my 
 business and labours especially the translation of my 
 scenario \lVieland\. Otherwise the delay in Belloni's 
 return is no hindrance to me whatever ; I have spoken 
 with Franck, and he told me Belloni had set my affairs 
 well in order. 
 
 Now I must lie down a bit ; you won't be cross with 
 me for that, dear wife ? Ease, ease ! To ease your 
 mind as well, however, I assure you that, despite my 
 tiredness, I'm feeling somewhat better ; once I have had 
 a thorough sleep, I expect to be in good trim again. If 
 I had anything to fear, it must already have seized me
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 69 
 
 by now ; but the mere fact of my not feeling worse to 
 me is a sign I shall soon be quite well. So farewell 
 for to-day, dear Minel ; you shall soon have a longer and 
 better-written letter. I have seen no one but Franck yet, 
 I had too much to do with the lodgings. 
 
 Once more, farewell ! Keep in good health, and be 
 good to me ! Heartiest greetings to our steadfast friends, 
 especially to Boom and Sulzer. 
 
 Ah, how I'm longing to leave already ! 
 
 Farewell, 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 30. 
 
 PARIS, 9. February 1850. 
 
 MY DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Without exactly much material, I am writing 
 you to-day again, instead of waiting for your news first, 
 just to tell you how I'm getting on. My last letter to you 
 was written under influence of the greatest exhaustion, 
 no doubt you'll have remarked that in its slipshod style, 
 but since last Monday I'm in another lodging, about 
 which I wrote you before, and gradually am getting 
 better ; my room looks on to a Cite (large courtyard), and 
 at least has the advantage of there being no piano and no 
 lady singer near. It passes my comprehension, how dear 
 everything has become here ; or was it so before as well, 
 only we didn't know it? I am paying 65 fr. , and need 
 say no more than that I envy Brix, in recollection, the 
 room he had from us for 40, which was far more comfort- 
 able, and better in every way, than my present one at 
 25 Jr. dearer. In order to recover, I spend nearly all the 
 day indoors ; you may imagine what that costs for wood, 
 with this firing tariff ! Moreover, I have already been
 
 ;o RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 obliged to rig myself out a little: i., hat; 2., umbrella 
 (indispensable !) ; 3., black tie ; 4., gloves ; 5., 2 pairs of 
 under-garments ; 6., a purse, finally 7., a ready-made 
 paletot. In addition, I have been to Loizeau, whom I 
 unfortunately still owe something (as you know), and he 
 complained of having had great losses and being much 
 thrown back. I got measured for a coat, a pair of out- 
 door trousers, a black velvet and an ordinary cloth waist- 
 coat. I must try and pay Loizeau off during my present 
 stay in Paris ; but what I have just ordered was absolutely 
 necessary : I couldn't go about in my old things any 
 longer particularly here. 
 
 So far, dear Minna, I have been able to attend to 
 almost nothing but my health ; it needed the more con- 
 sideration, as I had severely overtaxed my strength afresh 
 through my journey and first few days in Paris. I am 
 growing more and more convinced that my complaint is 
 nothing but a great overstrain, and subsequent running 
 down, of my nerves : once I have strongly excited myself, 
 the seemingly rheumatic pains set in forthwith, on the 
 contrary, when I have thoroughly rested, they also cease 
 at once. Unfortunately it wasn't till the night before last 
 that I had a proper sleep again, for even after shifting to 
 this lodging I had disturbing adventures to undergo at 
 first. After retiring to bed the first night, past n o'clock 
 I suddenly hear the papers being read close beside me 
 as distinctly as if in my room : it continues till i, with 
 goodbye to my longed sleep for the night. After my 
 complaining about it next morning, the next night my 
 neighbour who reads to himself all alone began mumb- 
 ling quite low, as if trying to check himself ; but it went 
 on more and more crescendo, till at last it reached the 
 volume of the night before. The same thing the third
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 71 
 
 night, when my patience gave way ; in a fury I shouted 
 at my neighbour, Had he gone out of his mind, with his 
 ridiculous habit ? I should leave on his account next 
 morning ! He held his tongue and the fourth night I 
 heard nothing more of him, and consequently for the first 
 time got a quiet sleep. You see, good Wife, how things 
 are faring with your poor sick husband in Paris ! 
 
 I have been with Kietz and Anders several times, 
 and have already made my promenade across the Seine 
 three times to dine (i.e. evenings) at TrufFaut's where 
 Anders has fed for 20 years. In fact I shall do it as often 
 as possible, for cheapness' sake, as in my quarter I can't 
 get dinner under 2 fr., whilst a demi-tasse after costs 
 another 10 sous each time. I have my morning coffee 
 in the house : I always keep back half the fl&te for second 
 breakfast, and have laid in some cheese and sausage, also 
 a few bottles of wine, not to be compelled to go out 
 for it. 
 
 Herr Vieweg also has given me a joy : he told me 
 quite naively I still owed him some 30 fr., and kept 
 snorting around it so long, that I gave him the cash in 
 disgust. Franck is behaving very well and kindly to me ; 
 I like looking him up every day at his bookshop, and as I 
 always light on Vieweg there, it was very awkward for me 
 not to be able to polish him off handsomely. 
 
 Ah, to see these people and their traffic here, is 
 something dreadful ! Heartlessness and the most un- 
 blushing egoism, without the smallest disguise, encounter 
 one at every step. Yesterday I was at the Garcia' s I do 
 not think much of her, either. 
 
 My overtiires have been in practice for some time, and 
 are already announced ; the concerts [Union musicale] are 
 said to be having a great success, and not a ticket is left.
 
 72 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I'm expecting Belloni within the next few days ; I hope 
 to be quite well by then ; also I think of resuming work 
 on Monday. 
 
 I sent your letter off from here the 4th all right. 
 
 I have nothing more to tell you of myself to-day, but 
 am firmly reckoning on speedy news from you, good 
 Minna, and hope with all my heart that you've been 
 feeling better than myself. I don't want to appear senti- 
 mental, yet may tell you this : When I pack my traps 
 again, to return to yourself, to my friends and our little 
 pets in cosy Zurich were I ever so ill, I shall recover my 
 health like a shot. I hope the Holy Alliance won't oust 
 us from Zurich ; don't let people make you afraid, and 
 simply ask Sulzer. Hearty remembrances to our dear 
 friends ; Sulzer and Baumgartner's farewell at the station 
 did me a power of good. They shall have letters from 
 me soon. 
 
 Now write me, my Minel, poor sorely-tried wife with 
 your excellent housekeeping ! L,et me know how you are 
 and you feel. Never mind about Nette, and give her 
 my love. How's Peps ? What's Papo learning ? I must 
 hear of all that, for those are things of importance as 
 you quite understand. I shall write again soon. Fare- 
 well, my good old woman ; think kindly of me, and keep 
 a loving corner for 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 (Address : 
 
 Monsieur Wagner 
 
 59, rue de Provence 
 a 
 
 Paris}
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 73 
 
 31. 
 
 PARIS, 13. February 1850. 
 (59, rue de Provence} 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I have just received your letter, and hasten to 
 reply to it at once. 
 
 I'm heartily sorry to have left such an exertion to 
 your solitary neck, and you may judge how greatly I 
 deplore it, when I assure you I now perceive that I have 
 come to Paris a whole month too soon, can be of no use 
 whatever to myself for the present, and simply am leading 
 a far more expensive life here than I might have done 
 with you at home. How right I was, when I wished to 
 await a letter from Belloni first ; it was your own im- 
 patience that drove me forth : remember that last Saturday. 
 But there, don't let us tax each other with it now : 
 'twould lead to naught, moreover, much of the blame is 
 certainly due to Liszt, whose letter virtually hurried me 
 off to Paris, though he must have known that Belloni 
 [would be] still with him at Weimar, not a syllable of 
 which did he mention to me. Then I have had to write 
 to Meser at Dresden for the parts of the Tannhauser over- 
 ture, and before they arrive as I learn nothing whatever 
 can be begun. Now for the matter oppressing you : 
 
 My hopes of a really comfortable summer at Zurich 
 have by all means ranked among my fondest hitherto. 
 You know what radical objections we had to remaining 
 in our present abode : nevertheless, not to cause you any 
 extra disturbance now, and to spare you as you feel you 
 need, I will come round to your wish to retain the same 
 lodgings for another half year. I advise you, however, to 
 have a look at the empty suite in the front Kscherhauser 
 first : these suites seem to be self-included, and in any 
 case we should have the advantage of not living on the
 
 74 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 ground-floor, which, as we have learnt from experience, is 
 a great nuisance. Don't be too timid about the price, 
 dear wife, though you are entirely right not to think of 
 consenting to any exorbitance. The main consideration 
 for us, and particularly for a stay-at-home man full of 
 work, like myself, at any rate consists in one's having to 
 live day after day in one's dwelling, which one therefore 
 finds a daily nuisance if it isn't to one's liking. I have 
 recently been much gladdened and reassured by a letter 
 from Bordeaux : our friend (for she is yours no less) frankly 
 counsels me to stay perfectly true to myself in my art and 
 all else, to undertake nothing that sets me at variance 
 with myself, and to act in all respects solely according to 
 my inner promptings, as she and her friends consider it 
 their bounden duty to relieve me of all anxiety about my 
 outward circumstances. I fancy I shall soon be able to 
 tell you something more precise on this head. At the 
 same time I shall not remain completely without earnings 
 of my own : so don't alarm yourself too much about the 
 rent ; an agreeable dwelling is the vital point for our 
 residence at Zurich for my brain-work also in particular. 
 
 However, if you do not share my hopes, and at the 
 same time abandon all hope of still finding a really 
 pleasant and convenient dwelling, why rest assured, I 
 gladly yield to our remaining in our old abode, especially 
 if I know that at once anxiety and trouble are thereby 
 taken from yourself. To see you as free from care as 
 possible, and above all in good spirits and health, this, 
 dear Minna, is what carries chief weight in the end 
 with me. 
 
 Karl Ritter will probably come to us this summer ; it 
 would have been well if we had had a room for him. 
 
 I can tell you nothing more from here at present,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 75 
 
 excepting that only to-day have I been able to begin my 
 work again. I've a capital cold in the head now, which 
 I hope will carry off the slackness of my nerves. The 
 turn my ancient winter-trouble has taken this time has 
 really given me food for thought : let us spend next 
 summer as quietly and strengtheningly as we can. I 
 should have liked to be quite in the country. 
 
 I expect Belloni back within the next few days, when 
 you shall hear more from here. 
 
 I'm also writing Sulzer a few lines. Remember me 
 to N. , and remain as fond as possible of 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Of Paris riots as you know one hears in Paris least 
 of all. 
 
 32. 
 
 PARIS, 14. February 1850. 
 
 I have just received your second letter, dear Minna, 
 which reached me through Belloni's again, this time 
 somewhat late. To get an answer off by to-day's post, I 
 will be as brief as the subject itself demands. 
 
 By all means I prefer your taking the proposed new 
 abode at Herr Miiller's, to your remaining in our old 
 parterre ; also I agree with you that to take the second 
 would suit us better, than the first etage : as the rent is so 
 moderate, we would rather be able to spend a few louis 
 d'or on having it quite comfortably fitted and neatly done 
 up, especially on a warmable bedroom. For that matter, 
 dear wife, you see things are not half so bad ; no doubt 
 indisposition and bad weather contributed much to your 
 despairing so soon in this dwelling affair. Perhaps you
 
 76 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 may find it possible to defer acceptance a little while, so 
 as to wait and see what information Sulzer brings you, 
 to whom I also wrote yesterday ; but if you must decide 
 at once, take the lodgings you speak of : I shall be 
 perfectly satisfied, were it only for the knowledge that it 
 sets my harassed wife at ease. 
 
 I've no further news for you to-day, beyond my 
 general flabbiness and dumps. Belloni, I believe, is to 
 arrive here tomorrow. Anders and Kietz, in whose com- 
 pany I often feed, send hearty greetings ; Anders in 
 particular has you firm in his heart, clinks his glass to 
 no one else, and tells me of a poem he has made in your 
 honour : 
 
 Oj herzgcliebtc Minna ! 
 
 Du, die stets meincm Sinn nali ! 
 
 I countersign it, and wish you the best of luck ! 
 Farewell and think fondly of 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 rue de Provence, 59. 
 
 33. 
 
 PARIS, 2. March 1850. 
 59, rue dc Provence. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I received your letter toward noon : at once I 
 drew up the answer for you, and as that must catch the 
 post by five for which reason too, I cannot frank it- 
 it leaves me very little time to enclose a few lines for 
 yourself. It is impossible for any person to behave more 
 nobly and delicately than our friend Mine Laussot ! I 
 should have thought, dear wife, it would really have 
 uplifted you to see what a deep impression your hus-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 77 
 
 band's works are able to produce on healthy, undistorted, 
 noble hearts ; to see that he is in a position to arouse 
 such sacrificial resolutions of sincerest sympathy ! Can 
 you prevail on your soul to think meanly of such a result 
 of my art -for that alone has brought this forth- to 
 say nothing of rating it lower than those so-called 
 "brilliant" successes which nowadays are reaped by 
 speculation and chicanery from the silly, sluttish, heart- 
 less rabble of our theatre-goers ? You see what those 
 cowardly sluggards whose favour I also once seemed to have 
 captured now are, and how pitifully they behave to me. 
 Are we to despise them and simply think of money ? 
 Good : here is money, as much as we need for a tranquil, 
 nay, a comfortable life, and that not juggled from the 
 pockets of the crowd, but most delicately proffered me 
 from a noble heart's delight in works I fashion after my 
 true inner nature ! What would you more ? For sure, 
 my poor good wife, I've understood you ; I know not 
 only you, but what is actually at bottom of all your 
 variance with me : in the answer to Mine Laussot I have 
 
 hopes I've quite correctly hit your inner sense ! 
 
 Nothing is so unwelcome to me, as to hear you are 
 unwell ; for unfortunately I could not act as a good nurse 
 at present even in thought as I'm poorly enough 
 myself. It is 4 weeks yesterday, since I arrived in Paris 
 tired and ill : what has happened in those 4 weeks ? 
 what have I bought with all this sacrificing of my health 
 and precious money ? Listen ! Belloni liasri * t yet re- 
 turned ! He is not to get here till next week. Good ! 
 Tt'ithout him there was nothing else for me to take in 
 hand, so I just stuck to the projected performance of my 
 overtures. Belloni had written me, the parts would be 
 copied out here at the expense of the musical society :
 
 78 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 after long fruitless searching, I find the conductor at last, 
 and he discloses to me that the society is still too young 
 and poor to afford the cost of copying : so there had been 
 no preparations at all! Then I wrote off to Liszt, to 
 send me at least the printed parts of the Tannhauser 
 overture [he had borrowed] from Dresden at once. Only 
 yesterday evening did I at last receive those parts. 
 
 How I'm feeling under such vexation, trouble and 
 annoyance especially with my wearing and worrying 
 bodily state you may picture if you add my natural 
 loathing of the whole of this cold, shallow, heartless Paris 
 music-mongering. Here I literally seem as in a long, 
 long night, in which I cannot sleep, dream half awake, 
 turn first on this side, then on that, just to be able to 
 rest at last, i.e. to know no more of anything and 
 least of all, of Paris ! O you foolish friends, who have 
 nothing in your heads for me but speculation and a big 
 to-do, how little you know me and what I need to make 
 me happy. Deliverance from this hell is all I wish 
 for. My dear Wife we'll spend next summer on our- 
 selves, on health and Nature ; that's my sole hope, my 
 only comfort ! Farewell ; greet all ; hold me dear. 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. W. 
 
 34. 
 
 PARIS, 13. March 1850. 
 
 MY DEAR MlENEL, 
 
 If these lines obey my fondest wish, they'll find 
 you in good health ! Will you be cross with me if I 
 acquaint you that I have formed a swift decision, finally 
 accepted the most cordial and pressing invitation of my 
 friends in Bordeaux as they even sent my travelling- 
 expenses and am starting for Bordeaux tomorrow
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 79 
 
 morning? Remember, I'm completely useless here, 
 simply consuming myself with worry and fruitless en- 
 deavours. Belloni has not yet arrived ! ! ! Even of 
 my wretched overture no rehearsals can be held yet ; 
 only for the end of this month have I been given a 
 prospect of rehearsals. Just imagine my position here, 
 dear wife ! If it weren't for this Bordeaux family, and 
 had they not cared so well for us meanwhile, I believe 
 I should not be alive ! Now they have urgently begged 
 me to break my stay here and refresh myself by a visit 
 to them, I confess I gladly gave my consent to these 
 benefactors, most of whom I do not even know by sight. 
 And if I meant to visit them, this was the very best time : 
 if my overture still comes to performance, it will be next 
 Sunday fortnight : I can be back here by then, and in the 
 first week of April be back at last with my dear wife, 
 whom I then can help with the removal also, not to 
 leave everything on her one pair of shoulders. That will 
 be the thing, Minnako, won't it ? and you're satisfied 
 with my decision ? I hope so ! 
 
 My nervous exhaustion has vanished, only the weak- 
 ness on the chest and the pains round the heart still 
 remain with me. I hope for full recovery as soon as 
 I've got clean away from this useless desert of a Paris 
 life ! No matter, though : I had to make this fresh 
 experience before finally clearing up my mind about this 
 place ; spare me the need of dilating, just now, on the 
 impossibility of my having anything to do with it. 
 Merely thus much : it is precisely to prevent my under- 
 taking anything against my nature and inmost inclination, 
 to save me from all entirely useless and fruitless 
 annoyance here, that the L,aussot has acted toward me 
 as she has ; and think of this she and Frau Ritter
 
 8o RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 are offering us the yearly income all alone, nobody else 
 has a hand in it, no middleman, no banker ! You should 
 but know this lady's happiness, after receipt of your 
 letter, at being able to hope she has quite reassured your- 
 self as well, and won you to my future plan of life ! 
 Her husband also speaks and writes German quite fluently, 
 so that we all for her mother is at Bordeaux too shall 
 be able to converse without impediment. I confess it 
 rejoices me greatly, to think that I shall be bringing into 
 the life of this remarkably amiable family so rare a diver- 
 sion as far as my powers permit as the playing and 
 singing them something from Lohengrin. 
 
 So, dear wife, write your next letter to me to Bordeaux, 
 at the address you know. May Sulzer only have succeeded 
 in finding you a suitable dwelling by now, so that you 
 may be free of that care ! Then I hope to be able in 
 any case to assist you in the moving. 
 
 Farewell, dear Minna ; best wishes all round ! Nette 
 must pin her hopes on nothing here, I'm sorry, since 
 she seems intent on leaving : I have done my best. 
 Greet Peps and Papo, and tell them it will be a long time 
 before I forsake them again ; that's certain, the parting is 
 too insupportable. Farewell and stay fond of 
 
 Thy RICHARD. 
 
 35. 
 
 BORDEAUX, 17. [19?] March 1850. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 Here I am in Bordeaux, waiting eagerly for a 
 letter from you, which is at the same time to tell me 
 if you aren't a little cross at this trip of mine ? Put 
 yourself in my place, however, when I inform you that 
 just after taking my last letter to you to the Paris post I 
 finally learnt that my overture cannot be given at all this
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 81 
 
 winter, as sufficient rehearsals to get up this "difficult" 
 work could not be held in time for the last concert, end 
 of March. I must confess I burst out laughing really, I 
 hadn't believed things so dowdy as that ! Not a trace 
 have I had of Belloni yet ; just as little of Liszt ! In 
 such circumstances any other than I who all along had 
 simply forced myself would have lost all inclination. 
 I was truly joyful when I turned my back on this Paris I 
 detest so, and only wish I had no need whatever to visit 
 it again. Still, I'll just see if Belloni writes to me 
 when he does gets back to Paris and in any case I 
 must return via Paris, as I've still a few things to attend 
 to there. 
 
 Here in Bordeaux, where I arrived last Saturday 
 [i6th], I am bound to feel almost in Heaven, compared 
 with Paris ; you can form no idea of the kindness and 
 devotion of this family ! It consists of the young married 
 couple and the wife's mother, an Englishwoman who 
 equally with the husband, who was educated at the 
 Plochmann institute in Dresden speaks German as well 
 as ourselves. Moreover, there is a whole colony of 
 Germans here, rich families all, and all of them honour 
 me highly. What else shall I say to you, than that 
 it certainly is very good for me to have become personally 
 acquainted in this fashion with the dear souls who have 
 no higher ambition now than to make myself and my 
 good, sore-tried, and faithful wife as happy as ever they're 
 able ? It is a rare and unheard-of good fortune, that has 
 come my way. The young husband, a most charmingly 
 sociable fellow, shewed a quite indescribable delight when 
 he saw me arrive ; my works are known here to their last 
 note, and all are aware what the question is, and proud to 
 be of such assistance to me. On one point, however, I've 
 i 6
 
 82 
 
 much ado : as soon as my hosts heard that nothing had 
 come of my overture for the end of March, they naturally 
 importuned me to stay here longer. But I explained to 
 them that I should have to help you in the moving, and 
 honestly in spite of all the joy I'm tasting now, my 
 whole heart is yearning to be back at home with you ! 
 Believe me, I know no other happiness, than to be able to 
 live contentedly and tranquilly beside you in our own 
 little domicile ; that I now may hope to see your cares 
 allayed, and fortitude and cheerfulness re-entering your 
 heart ay, body 'tis that which makes me \vell again 
 myself and happy. Moreover, Bordeaux is a wilderness 
 which no one of our temperament can stand for long ; 
 even my friends feel themselves out of the world here, 
 and in spite of this excellent family, at no price would I 
 exchange our Switzerland for Bordeaux, I've such a Swiss 
 home-sickness. Ah, Nature ! that is something to your 
 partner, after all ! To lead a happy unmolested life with 
 you, dear Minna, in that glorious fresh Alpine world, is 
 the highest bliss I can desire ! 
 
 Perhaps my joy will have a bitter taste to you, for this 
 letter may possibly find you in the thick of great cares 
 especially about the dwelling. Please set my mind at rest 
 on this soon, and tell me if Sulzer has succeeded in 
 keeping the promise he wrote me to Paris, to find us a 
 pleasant abode ? Then write me whether you are well 
 yourself, and if the removal isn't troubling you ? Miiller 
 once told me, at Zurich they don't hurry one out, and 
 one can arrange it fairly at one's own convenience ; there- 
 fore I am convinced that Escher if you beg him will 
 allow you a long limit for getting our things out, or obtain 
 it us from our successors : just say I can't return yet. 
 Then write me, dear \vife, until what date the moving-out
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 83 
 
 can be put off, that I may arrange my return accordingly. 
 I don't know whether Belloni has arrived in Paris, but in 
 any case he'll soon be getting there, and it perhaps would 
 be as well if I still could spend a little time with him 
 discussing and arranging something ; I don't want to 
 leave a single stone unturned. So write me the latest 
 limit. And now, good Minel, you must also write me 
 whether you have been able to procure yourself .at Zurich 
 that black dress you wanted : if not that I may get 
 it for you here, or else in Paris. Bobin of the Palais 
 royal no longer exists, but you shall have shoes notwith- 
 standing ; so write me the exact number again, or 
 better put a tlircad of the right length in your letter. 
 
 Dear child, if you only are well and in a good 
 disposition ! That is my sole concern, for everything 
 else is ordered well now : I tell you, they are caring for 
 us as loving parents for their children. Only one thing is 
 accounted a fault in me by the Laussots : if I keep silence 
 to them on anything of weight, any real anxiety. You 
 have no notion of these people's heavenly kindness and 
 affection ! Perhaps the wife, at least, will visit us in 
 Switzerland some day, to convince herself that we are 
 satisfied and lacking nothing. 
 
 So farewell for to-day, my dear Wife. Be of good 
 cheer, forget all sorrows, and rejoice in the affection we 
 enjoy ! Keep well, and write me soon ! A thousand 
 salutes and kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 R.W. 
 
 Mr. Eugene Laussot 
 
 26, cours du y$ Jitillet 
 
 
 Boi'deaux.
 
 84 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 36. 
 
 PARIS, 17. April 1850. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I still call you so despite the signature of that 
 last letter I received from you, in which you prayed me 
 to address you next time with your ' ' Sie. " * " Dear 
 Minna ! " so I call you in the heavy hoiir wherein I turn 
 my face to you to-day ; so I called you e'er the worst 
 and most irreparable dissonance had come between our 
 souls ; and so if you will grant it me shall you live for 
 ever in my memory ! 
 
 Your letters to Bordeaux came as a violent shock to 
 me, the wrench from a fair last illusion about us. I 
 believed I had won you at last, I dreamed I saw you 
 yielding to the might of true affection, and terrible was the 
 grief wherewith I realised more infallibly than ever that 
 we belong to each other no more. Thenceforth I could 
 bear it no longer : I could talk with no one any more, I 
 wished to get away at once to you ; I left my friends 
 in haste and sped to Paris, from thence to hurry back to 
 Zurich. Well, I have been here a fortnight again : my 
 old nerve-trouble overcame me ; like an incubus it lies 
 upon me, I must shake it off, I must, for my -for thy 
 sake. 
 
 Hear me out ! The absolute discrepancy at bottom 
 of our natures has shewn itself now milder, now more 
 glaringly, the whole time we have known each other, to 
 my distress and in particular to yours. It is not / who 
 need remind you of the countless scenes that have occurred 
 between us from the earliest times, for probably they 
 
 * It may here be necessary to remind the reader that in this, as in all 
 his other letters to her, past and future, Wagner retains the i'amiliar 
 "Du." The affront involved in a zt'itkdrawal of that intimate pronoun 
 is hardly realisable by the Anglo-Saxon mind. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 85 
 
 live more vivid in your memory than in my own. What 
 bound me to you then so irresistibly, however, was love ; 
 a love that looked beyond all difference, but a love you 
 did not share : certainly not, at least, to the degree in 
 which it governed me. To my entreaties for our union 
 you strictly yielded under nothing but compulsion [1836] : 
 perhaps you felt towards me all that lay in you to feel, 
 only, the true root of the matter, that unquestioning Love 
 which makes one bear all troubles with a smile, that 
 Love with which we love another precisely as and 
 for the thing he i's y that Love you could not feel ; for 
 even then you did not understand me, as you ever deemed 
 I should be other than I am in truth. Since the reunion 
 after that first breach in our wedlock [1837] you have 
 strictly been guided by nothing save duty towards me, 
 it was duty bade you bear with me the hardships we 
 endured in Paris, and even in your last letter but one you 
 name nothing save duty regarding that period not love. 
 Had your heart then harboured genuine love towards me, 
 you would never be boasting of endurance of those suffer- 
 ings, but, in your firm belief in me and what I am, you 
 would have recognised in them a necessity to which one 
 submits for the sake of something higher ; when one's 
 mind is set on nothing but that Higher, is happy in the 
 consciousness thereof, all lower sorrows one forgets. But 
 you of your very nature at any rate have found no 
 recompense, you still see nothing save the sorrows ! 
 
 After my appointment at Dresden, your growing 
 opposition to me appeared exactly at the epoch, and in 
 degree as forgetting my personal profit I no longer was 
 able to bow to the atrocious managerial relations of that 
 art-establishment, and rebelled against them in the interest 
 of my art and independence both as man and artist.
 
 86 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Anyone who observed me closely and sought to understand 
 me in that decisive period of my life, will be forced to 
 admit that all I did was an inevitably direct consequence 
 of my artistic nature, with which I kept faith notwith- 
 standing all personal risks. That at last I revolted not 
 only as artist, but also as man, against all those vicious 
 conditions which none could regard as worse torture than 
 I- with my passionate nature, to anyone who watched 
 me proceed step by step (not at a bound) to the standpoint 
 I now occupy as artist and man, this must appear ex- 
 tremely explicable, and therefore also worthy of no blame. 
 He would have had to acknowledge that in this I did not 
 behave arbitrarily nor out of vanity, for he would have 
 observed how I suffered under it ; consequently he would 
 have spoken me words of comfort and encouragement : 
 and my wife would have done so, if she had chosen to 
 take the pains to understand me ; for which she by no 
 means needed book-learning, but simply love ! 
 
 When I came home profoundly vexed and agitated by 
 some new annoyance, a fresh mortification, another failure, 
 what did my Wife bestow on me in lieu of comfort 
 and uplifting sympathy ? Reproaches, fresh reproaches, 
 nothing save reproaches ! Home-keeping by nature, I 
 remained in the house for it all ; but at last no longer to 
 express myself, convey my thoughts and receive invigora- 
 tion, but to hold my tongue, let my trouble eat into my 
 soul, and be alone ! This eternal restraint under which 
 I had lived so long already, and which never allowed me 
 to let myself quite go, on one side, without occasioning the 
 fiercest scenes, weighed me down and wore away my health. 
 What is the bodily tending, you by all means lavished on 
 me, against the mental needed for a man of my inner 
 excitableness ! Does my wife remember, perhaps, how
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 87 
 
 coldly she once prevailed upon herself to nurse me on a 
 bed of sickness a whole week without affection, because 
 she could not forgive me a hasty expression before my 
 illness ? 
 
 Enough ! The fateful hour had struck : I had to flee 
 [from Dresden] and leave everything behind me. One 
 wish alone had I, ere altogether quitting Germany : to see 
 my wife once more ! All else was indifferent to me, even 
 the chance of my capture, but without that one solace I 
 would not depart. Neither to give me that solace, nor to 
 receive consolation herself from a final embrace, did my 
 wife at last determine to concede my plea, but simply to 
 humour an obstinate person into making off at last 
 admittedly, for his own safety. I shall never forget the 
 night I was awoken in my place of refuge to welcome my 
 wife : chill and reproachful she stood before me, and 
 spake these words, " Well, as you insisted, I've come ; 
 now perhaps you'll be satisfied ! So get on with your 
 journey ; I must be starting back myself to-night." At 
 Jena at last I succeeded in moving you to a hearty warm 
 farewell : that farewell was my comfort when afar. I had 
 only one thought : prompt, instant reunion ; with the full 
 heat of my soul did I beg you for it in my letters. Then 
 at last, in the country near Paris, I received that deplor- 
 able letter whose heartless unlovingness froze me to ice : 
 you declared you had no mind to rejoin me till I could 
 support you abroad by my earnings ; you further expressed 
 to me plainly, that you had lost all love for me. All that 
 happened afterwards will be still fresh in your memory. 
 You wrote me again, announcing your decision to come 
 to me at Zurich : I therefore might hope anew. Eh, 
 I nursed the hope of being able to win you wholly to 
 myself at last, convince you of [the truth of] my ideas,
 
 88 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 make you more familiar with me in the end. Unremitting 
 were my efforts to smooth your outer path. You came, 
 how happy I was ! And yet unhappy me ! not to 
 myself 'had you come, to cast in your lot with me just as I 
 was, but to that Wagner who, as you supposed, would 
 soon be composing an opera for Paris ! In Dresden you 
 had been ashamed to say you were joining me in Switzer- 
 land, but gave out you were going to Paris, and your hus- 
 band as you apparently believed yourself had a contract 
 all signed in his pocket. O, the huge mistake between us 
 two was bound to reveal itself more every day ! All my 
 sentiments and views remained a horror to you, my writ- 
 ings you abominated, though I tried to explain to you that 
 they were more needful to me for the present than any 
 bootless opera-writing. Every person with whose opinions 
 I did not agree, you championed ; all those of like opinion 
 with myself you condemned, I durst not so much as 
 excuse them to you. For our former conditions you ever 
 repined ; the only light in which you viewed the future, 
 was a reconciliation with them, or a Paris success. My 
 whole being was an object of aversion to you ; at every 
 instant, ah ! almost with every movement, I was bound 
 to do something you did not approve. In short, I realised 
 at length my boundless solitude with you, since I saw how 
 impossible it was to win you to me. Just to procure 
 myself peace with you, I resumed my Paris plans more 
 seriously. The inner constraint of it, the odious battling 
 with my own conviction, the impossibility of making 
 myself understood by my nearest surroundings, there to 
 find solace, help and counsel, all this engendered in me 
 states of soul which could but sorely aggravate my bodily 
 ill-health through adding sickness of the mind. I was 
 still debating if I really meant to go to Paris in such a
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 89 
 
 state ; weak and tottering as I was, the last Sunday I 
 approached you and said, " Minna, oughtn't I to wait for 
 another letter from Belloni first? " But you were weary 
 of the long delay for with you it had never been a 
 question of anything save Paris ; also you wanted to have 
 the parlour scoured at last and the whole apartment 
 cleaned. In short this time again you didii 1 1 understand 
 poorest me^ and answered my enquiry in a hufF ; so that, 
 feeble and ill, I braved wind and weather, booked my 
 place there and then, and at all events had made my mind 
 up, for I knew what a life I should lead if I tried to 
 remain. 
 
 Here in Paris, amid torments of all kinds, at the sight 
 of this shameful huckstering with art I firmly resolved 
 to renounce once for all what to me was impossible, and 
 irrevocably turn my back on the whole bag of tricks. 
 I had only one care not for myself, but for you the 
 care about our livelihood. And lo ! a bond of friendship 
 of the rarest and most exalting kind had forged itself, 
 that care was suddenly removed from me : you yourself 
 had been the first to hear it. Then I wrote you from 
 Bordeaux, how I knew but one remaining happiness, to 
 go on living quietly with you at Zurich for the health 
 of both of us, and so be able to create after my own 
 heart. 
 
 Your letter tore it all to shreds : you stand before me 
 unappeasable seeking honour where I almost see dis- 
 grace, and feeling shame at what I deem most welcome. 
 As said, not to me did you come to Zurich, but to the 
 composer of a new opera on order for Paris. Yes, now 
 I understand all ! 
 
 You refer me to a previous letter, I know it : it's 
 that letter of last year ! You are true to yourself ! In
 
 90 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 every line it stands clear and distinct that you do not 
 love me, for you mock at every single thing I'm fond of, 
 even at the Du which following my inner bent I like 
 best to call whoever isn't to remain a stranger to me. 
 So, what can my love be now? Only the wish, in 
 reward for the youth you passed in vain with me, for 
 the hardships you've surmounted with me, to make you 
 happy. Can I so much as hope to attain that by living 
 with you ? Impossible ! 
 
 37. 
 
 Saturday, 4. May 1850. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I cannot help writing to you once more, ere 
 going far away. It has remained unknown to me, as 
 indeed I could but wish, how you received the decisive 
 step I announced from my side in my last letter to you. 
 As you have so often entertained the thought of living 
 apart from me and so recovering your independence, I 
 presume and also hope that, though surprised perhaps, 
 you were not alarmed at my decision. For my part I 
 live in hopes that in separation the mutual recollection 
 of our past life will take a more benign, even a more 
 consoling aspect, than would have been the case had we 
 gone on living together, when the constant friction of 
 our radically different and opposing natures might have 
 only given rise to strife and rancour. 
 
 It was the news I have to impart to-day, however, 
 that formed my very special reason for writing you again, 
 since I have a feeling as if it must soften for you all the 
 possible bitters of our separation. I am on the point of 
 starting for Marseilles, to wit, whence I shall take an 
 English boat to Malta, and thence go on to Greece and
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 91 
 
 Asia Minor. I have always felt, and the most strongly 
 in these latter days, the need of issuing from this narrow 
 life of books and thoughts, which so consumes me, to 
 look a little round me in the world for once. The 
 modern world is closed behind me for the present, since 
 I detest it and want to have nothing more to do with 
 either it or what its creatures nowadays call ' ' art. ' ' 
 Germany can never become a field of interest to me again 
 until all its conditions are totally changed ; any endeavour 
 to set myself in tune with them could only make me 
 boundlessly unhappy, and more and more sick of my 
 life. So my longing of late had again been directed 
 much farther afield, to a complete withdrawal for a time 
 from our modern conditions, and the restoration of my 
 body and mind by change of scene, sight and hearing, 
 in other climes. In this last crisis, then, I conceived 
 the plan [of a journey] to Greece and the East, and am 
 lucky enough to see the means of executing it now placed 
 at my disposal from London. For in London I have 
 gained a new protector, one of the most eminent English 
 lawyers, who knows my works, and in return for a certain 
 obligation the assignment to him of the original manu- 
 script of everything I write in the future will accord 
 me his support.* 
 
 * The " mir seine Unterstiitzung zu theil werden lasst " appears to 
 imply the future, though this " new protector "certainly not the Mr. 
 Ellerton we shall meet in London 1855 strongly resembles a myth. But 
 the letter itself is the strangest in the whole collection, with its transitory 
 signs of slight mental unhingement, e.g. the curious reference to Germany 
 in the next paragraph. Neither have we been afforded any clue as to 
 whether it was sent from Paris or Bordeaux ; to which latter city, as we 
 learn from no. 173, Wagner returned awhile ere leaving France about the 
 middle of the month to join the Ritters on the Lake of Geneva, and at 
 length regain his fortitude and equilibrium through their fostering aid. 
 -Tr.
 
 92 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I believed this news must bring some reassurance to 
 yourself, dear Minna, in case you need it ; under any 
 circumstances I hope you will not grudge me the exe- 
 cution of my project, and- providing you do not believe 
 you must sever yourself from me completely here you 
 obtain a good screen against any public remark. You 
 can tell all the world that, after the abandonment of my 
 Paris plans, I had found there was nothing suitable or 
 of profit for me to do at present either in Germany or 
 France, consequently I had gladly seized a sudden op- 
 portunity of carrying out an old pet wish, namely of 
 spending some time on a visit to Greece and the East ; 
 and that, alike for reason of the urgence of the oppor- 
 tunity, and to spare myself the pain of a personal leave- 
 taking I had started on my travels without seeing you 
 first. That would be telling no untruth, particularly as 
 regards the last point : it would have been quite im- 
 possible for me in all the circumstances to visit you 
 again at Zurich, to see yourself, take leave of dog and 
 bird ; much as I have suffered already, that personal 
 goodbye would probably have ruined all my future. 
 Believe me, it had to be so ; it is better for yourself so 
 equally with me. 
 
 So let us be parted now ! If we retain our health, 
 if times and circumstances alter, we shall always have 
 the hope of meeting later. But separation for the present 
 will do us good. 
 
 From London you will soon receive the needful for 
 your maintenance. If you would rejoice my heart ex- 
 ceedingly, you will arrange your life as pleasantly as 
 possible ; lay out a tiny garden somewhere for yourself, 
 cherish dog and bird, and hope for the future. 
 
 I could almost wish you not to write to me once
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 93 
 
 more ; for, in whatever sense you do write, it is certain 
 to affect me painfully. But should you have a kind 
 farewell to bid me for the present, then write paste restante 
 to Marseilles. To tell the truth, I don't think I can 
 wait for the letter there, as, according to my information 
 just received, the boat will be leaving May 7, so that I 
 shall have the greatest hurry ; but I'll leave word behind 
 to send my letters after me. 
 
 Farewell, then, dear Minna ! sore-tried Wife to whom 
 I can make no recompense, alas, and whom perhaps 
 for her own healing I even must forsake. Farewell, 
 and if you can remember me with kindness ! Tidings 
 you shall have from me, and surely we may still hope 
 for a Wiedersehen ! 
 
 Salute your parents, salute our friends ! Do not be 
 angry with me for having to part from you all ! 
 
 Farewell ! Farewell, dear good Minna ! Farewell, 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD W. 
 
 [ IVagner did not go to Greece see last footnote and his friends seem 
 to have brought round Minna also in the end, for he rejoins her at Zurich 
 toward the beginning of July, if not a little earlier. But we possess no 
 furtlier letter to Jier anterior to autumn of the next year, that numbered 
 " 38 " in the current German edition manifestly winding up the Albisbrunn 
 group, to the rear of which I shall therefore transfer it. Not to dislocate 
 the original numbering of the others, no. " 38 " will therefore drop out in 
 appearance, though not in reality. 7>.] 
 
 39. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, Sunday noon. 
 
 28. Scptbr. 1851. 
 
 Ah, you good Wife, what a wonderfully fine letter 
 you've written me ! The only pity is, I have to reply to 
 it this way, and cannot thank you for it verbally to-day,
 
 94 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 as you supposed. Your letter, my dear Mietz,* has only 
 this moment reached me, namely Sunday noon, 11.30 ; so 
 you've been hopelessly out with your post time : it leaves 
 Zurich at 8 in the morning, and there is none after ; 
 therefore, if you want a letter to reach me the same day, 
 it must be at the post by 7 A.M. at latest, or else it will 
 remain there all day and not go off until next morning. 
 So look a little sharper, next time you want your dear 
 good husband with you on a Sunday ! 
 
 The weather is too atrocious ! As it was fine on 
 Friday, I had fully expected it to be so to-day, and con- 
 sequently never entertained the possibility of not seeing 
 you here. Hven with this bad weather, moreover, for a 
 time I was uncertain whether you wouldn't come after 
 all ; which I should have regretted, all the same, for your 
 sake. Had I been perfectly sure, probably I should have 
 set forth myself in spite of it ; quite certainly, if I had 
 received your letter time enough. The only thing now 
 is to console oneself and do better next time : we'll write 
 that up behind our best ears, won't we ?-^- 
 
 For the rest, I conclude from your letter that you 
 haven't got poorlier ; though it would have been more of 
 a satisfaction if you had told me so expressly. Much as I 
 am looking forward to seeing you in the new apartments, 
 still I fancied we had settled, that in case nothing hap- 
 pened you would be paying me a visit here first. Now 
 let us put that quite straight for next Sunday, and this 
 way : if the weather is fine, you will come out to me 
 unconditionally with friends or without ; only if it's bad 
 weather, shall I come in to you. 
 
 * One might render it " Kitten" or "Puss," but as Mietz, Mutz, and 
 their various diminutives will frequently recur, this note must do duty 
 for all. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 95 
 
 How glad I am that you are seeing " human animals " 
 again, and are pleased with the new abode in general. 
 It's very tedious here ; of an evening I play whist with 
 [Hermann] Miiller and Karl [Ritter]. I'm contented with 
 the cure, however ; to-day in particular I am feeling quite 
 brisk, and of a morning I can scarcely wait for my cold 
 bath. Only I have to be very strict about a thing I 
 never knew before : no matter my appetite, I'm not to 
 eat too much ; this large appetite which is certainly 
 better than none at all has really become morbid, since 
 I suffer from indigestion as a rule, and on that ground 
 have to moderate it much : if I control myself in this 
 respect, I always feel better afterwards. But on that 
 another time. 
 
 Now one thing more, dear Minna. Please get your- 
 self a pretty bird-cage made (a wicker stand with flowers 
 &c.) just like the one you had in Dresden. I am buying 
 a pair of canaries male and female which I should like 
 you to have. It was a singular chance, in a certain sense 
 a lucky chance (I'll tell you all about it by mouth), my 
 meeting the man with the dicky-birds on my stroll down 
 the road ; I thought of you at once, and how it would 
 delight you if I took them off him for you. So write me 
 what you think for I can still cancel the purchase if 
 need be and should you care for it, then order the bower 
 at once. 
 
 Time's up : I mustn't write more at one sitting. I 
 have no further news from anywhere as yet, not even the 
 money from Schwerin, but already have written about 
 that. I shall have enough for this Monday, and expect 
 to get that money before the Monday after. Has Peps 
 made himself at home in the new dwelling ? Now fare- 
 well, dear good Wife ; be sure that your letter delighted
 
 96 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 me greatly to-day. Accept my thanks for it, and keep 
 fond of 
 
 Your good 
 
 WATERMAN. 
 
 40. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN 
 
 Sunday ; 5. October 1851. 
 Noon. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I arranged with you that you should come out to 
 me to-day in any case, and in any case I wouldn't come 
 in, to avoid our crossing through any uncertainty about 
 the weather,* and you haven't come. I can't blame 
 you for it ; but please don't let us settle anything again. 
 When one has fine weather almost all the week, I find it 
 too absurd to make Sunday one's only day for undertaking 
 things, when of course the weather always turns out bad. 
 Yesterday, when it was so superb, I really believed you'd 
 be sensible and get on the road ; whoever of the others 
 cared to visit me, could very well have followed you 
 to-day. To speak candidly, I'm much put out : if you 
 had wanted to visit me, you would have soon discovered 
 how and when ; but all you seem to care for, is a general 
 excursion with the rest. It's different with me : I think 
 very small beer of the others for here at least. A 
 meeting with X of itself never yields me good humour, 
 for I always have to curb myself : which greatly flusters 
 me, particularly during a cure ; therefore, as it really 
 isn't good for me, I shall not come to town again so soon. 
 Consequently, if you want to see me, you must make up 
 your mind for a seat in the diligence, stay the night here, 
 
 * Either a billet is missing here, or Wagner must have run over to 
 Zurich himself between this and the preceding letter. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 97 
 
 and see how you can amuse yourself with me. But I 
 shan't expect you any more ; for, I confess, this fruitless 
 waiting upsets me very disagreeably just now. 
 I don't even get my letters ! 
 
 Farewell, and entertain yourself well : the hearty 
 wish of 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 So you are not in need of money either, as you 
 told me ? 
 
 41. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, Monday, 6. Octbr. 1851. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Though I didn't strictly mean to expect you any 
 more, since you never come, just now I felt drawn to 
 the Post notwithstanding, to see if you would come. Of 
 course you have not, once again, but in your place a letter 
 of yesterday telling me you no doubt would come to-day. 
 I don't know what to make of it. For that matter, even 
 if you didn't come yourself, you surely might have for- 
 warded the big letter that lies in your rooms for me ; I 
 am much annoyed at receiving no more letters. 
 
 (Apropos, I must assure you again, that (after my 
 making you the expensive birthday-present) your having 
 gone to Sulzer for money has been particularly distasteful 
 to me this time. You might have said a word to me 
 about it first ; it would have been quite easy for me to get 
 money from Karl and so on.) 
 
 We shall have very fine weather again to-day ; but 
 
 presumably you'll wait once more until it's bad, and then 
 
 not come, of course, because of it. I have been here 
 
 3 weeks, and you haven't called on me a single time yet. 
 
 VOL. I 7
 
 98 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 All the other guests here, who have relatives in the neigh- 
 bourhood, have been visited by them repeatedly. I'm 
 quite ashamed of myself, and keep saying : My wife will 
 come tomorrow, or, She'll come the first fine day. But 
 there, remain where you're better off ; I shall just give it 
 up entirely, not to set myself in this eternal flurry of 
 waiting in vain. 
 
 From all which, dear Minna, you will perceive the 
 good humour you put me in. May it soon grow better, or 
 the cure will certainly not take much effect on me. 
 Farewell, and write soon again to 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 [To judge by oztr next, she either came that afternoon by private con- 
 veyance, or within a day or two. 7X] 
 
 42. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, 12. Octbr. 1851. 
 
 Ach ! Ach ! Ach ! You quite prodigiously good 
 Wife ! Ach ! Oh ! Oh ! how shall I thank you ? My, 
 what lovely nuts they are ! I've been so busy nut-eating, 
 that I couldn't get to letter-writing until this instant. 
 Ach, and the stockings ! and the cigars ! and the brush ! 
 and the knife into the bargain ! No : it's really too much 
 for a poor waterman. Ach ! you immensely good Wife ! 
 Ach ! Ach ! Ach ! what am I to say to it all ? 
 
 As to-day's weather is lovely beyond any conception, 
 I was just thinking, If the whole lot of them don't come 
 out to-day from Zurich, they've all gone crazy ! Now 
 your letter clears up the enigma. If Sulzer only would 
 come here right out ! It would be the best thing for 
 him. 
 
 Since you people haven't come, I must candidly admit
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 99 
 
 that I almost prefer it, as I should have been unable to do 
 much gadding about with you : a crisis has set in with 
 me, which I hope will do me a heap of good. Though I 
 have had a couple of days' fever and been very shaky on 
 my legs, my head is clear, my humour fairly good, and 
 appetite excellent ; so you see it's not a case of Heaven- 
 wards yet. On the contrary, I think of making a 
 thorough good cure ; my spots are beginning to shew 
 stronger and stronger. Only, I need quiet for the 
 present. 
 
 Uhlig has written : nothing of importance, and no 
 danger for him ! Billow's letter from Weimar was a real 
 delight : he is doing very well there. But Ljszt isn't 
 back yet ! 
 
 Halt ! I must stop : it's a quarter to i. We've creme 
 again to-day, because we thought you all were coining. 
 Now, my good, dear bad, wicked Wife, be sensible 
 and visit me again with. Pepsel very soon. That be 
 sure of it is the greatest pleasure you can give me. 
 
 Greet the Zurich clan ; the Albisbrunn brood sends 
 greetings likewise. 
 
 Entirely 
 
 Thine own 
 
 R. 
 
 43. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, 17. October 1851. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 As I am obliged to answer you at once on 
 account of the tax business I can only do it very briefly, 
 since the time between arrival and departure of letters 
 here is very short. I don't at all know what I'm to fill 
 up in the form, or what to declare ; moreover, I never 
 clapped eyes on such a form last year, and this is the very
 
 TOO RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 first time. Therefore not to do anything stupid I shall 
 simply sign it, and you must be so good as to beg Sulzer, 
 in my name, to fill up the rubrics for me as he may think 
 fit. What is there for me to declare ? I have no pro- 
 perty, and can earn as good as nothing, at least nothing 
 settled, and least of all in Switzerland and Zurich. All 
 I could say, then, would be : What I need to maintain 
 me, I receive from abroad. But Sulzer will soon find out 
 the proper wording, and write it in for me. 
 
 I have received the Schwerin honorarium, but with 
 a deduction of 2 louis d'or for the Berlin Jews, of course ; 
 therefore only 18 louis, 3 of which were assigned to Hug 
 of Zurich [bookseller etc.], 10 louis d'or I at once repaid to 
 Miiller. But you can pull along for the present, can't 
 you ? The beginning of November if you will there'll 
 be money again. 
 
 Otherwise I'm doing better ; it was a kind of nerve- 
 crisis that had set in, making me feel extraordinarily 
 weak, and at length excited ; but it did not alarm me, as 
 I had a splendid appetite all the time. Since it was too 
 noisy for me down below, though, Brunner has given me 
 a very nice room on the first floor, where it is quieter. 
 To-day I've recommenced the cold ablutions, which suit 
 me ; I'm feeling brisk. My digestion will soon get into 
 order, too, I hope. 
 
 So your excursioning is still a long way off? I 
 expect you people have given up wanting it now ; for we 
 have had our fine weather, and it will not return. What 
 id you all are ! 
 
 I have nothing more to write to you, dearest of wives, 
 for of course nothing ever happens here. Merely, I have 
 won i franc off Karl at billiards ; but I shall have to do 
 a lot of sharping before 1 cover your gaming losses here.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 101 
 
 Now, for God and the Holy Trinity's sake, have yon not 
 been to the Prophet ? Do write me what you're doing, 
 and whether Boom [Baumgartner] is in full finger-power 
 to play the grand into trim ? Please ask him to dinner, 
 and give him a thumping beafsteak. 
 
 Farewell now ; give Peps my blessing. Write and 
 come ; and hold me dear, too. 
 
 Thy 
 
 first-rate HUSBAND. 
 
 \To Uhlig, Oct. 30, '51 : " My wife has been paying me a visit of \ 
 days; she left again only this morning." With the following playful 
 scrap of doggrcl it naturally is impossible to find equivalents for all the 
 original rhymes, ' ' Striimpfc . . Siimpfe . . Klilmpfe . , Trump fe . . 
 Striimpfe . . Funpfc." 7r.] 
 
 44. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, 3. Nov. 1851. 
 
 Minna, send me stockings soon ; 
 Our swamps are fit for divers : 
 The mud just sticks to me in lumps. 
 At whist I also lack the trumps : 
 So set me on my feet again, 
 And send a pair of fivers ! 
 
 45. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, 7. November 1851. 
 
 BEST MUTZIGEX, 
 
 We are making vairses ! 
 
 Your verses were decidedly the best, though ; there 
 was a swing about them that made a deep impression on 
 me ! They leave me nothing but to thank you in prose ; 
 and that I'm doing. 
 
 But how about your dress ? Is it being worked at ?
 
 102 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 As the elastic doesn't appear on your account, have you 
 by any chance been borrowing money off Sulzer ? Fie 
 on you ! But 1 suppose you will pay him back now ? 
 If only he'll accept it ! 
 
 My longing for home and the pretty abode is growing 
 stronger and stronger, and I really am looking forward 
 very much to my return ; but the wet packings are still 
 too imperative, since my eruption is coming out over a 
 great part of my body now, in fact very painfully. The 
 rest of the cure I can easily pursue at home ; if necessary, 
 indeed, you can in fact, must wet-pack me yourself 
 now and then : only, I can't undertake a regular course of 
 these packings at home with you, as certain things will 
 not comport with them at all ; so I must get finished with 
 that part of it here. Nevertheless I'll fix a latest limit, 
 that you may not jump out of your skin for impatience : 
 I shall leave here Sunday morning the 2yd of November ; 
 that day I'll pass alone with you at Zurich, and Monday 
 the 24th we will celebrate our wedding-day. So long 
 you'll have to wait there's no help for it ; but between 
 this and then I expect to have got my skin quite clear 
 as well, and consequently to regard my cure as finished 
 and complete. So that is settled. Muzius, do make a 
 reasonable face at it ! 
 
 Karl suddenly drove off to town the other day after 
 3 o'clock to buy himself a very handsome dressing- 
 gown ; in which he succeeded : only, it had become too 
 late for him to call on you as well. Couldn't you send 
 Nette to the music-shop, to remind them to send me off 
 the old musical journals ? I suppose you have returned 
 those I gave you last time. 
 
 But why do you send me no night-shirts ? Oh ! 
 Now, good Minel, a fond farewell ! Don't flirt too
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 103 
 
 much ; it might do you harm. Get on with the dress, 
 and hold me dear. 
 
 Thy 
 
 * % % 
 
 (in Christo /) 
 
 46. 
 
 ALBISBRUNN, 9. Novenber 1851. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 To-day I have entered the last week but one of 
 my cure here ; eleven more packs (on Sundays I have 
 none) and I shall be finished. My shingles on the thighs 
 and calves are out in fine form, and have pained and 
 irritated me exactly as they did last spring ; as for the 
 rest, the sweating and strong perspirations have chased 
 away the worst of them, particularly on the chest and 
 arms. What a disgraceful thing that sulphur-cure was ! 
 The whole first month here I sweated nothing but sulphur, 
 and then came the bad humours the sulphur had simply 
 driven inwards. I was sure there was something festering 
 in my blood. I am getting it pretty stiff now, but 
 standing it well, and coming to feel as if in a new body. 
 
 That " Pardon story " I heard on Friday evening, 
 when the postmaster at Hausen, having just read it in 
 the Friday paper, brought both it and himself all hot to 
 my room. Since then, I have read nothing more about 
 it anywhere ; most probably there's nothing in it, or an 
 official intimation would have already been made to the 
 Swiss authorities. Should it be confirmed, all it would 
 mean to me now, would be the urgent necessity for 
 becoming a Swiss citizen, as the refugee protection would 
 be at end. In any event it will be well for me to get 
 naturalised here before long ; the Ritters will supply me 
 the means, Karl wants to be naturalised himself.
 
 104 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 So you would like to see Lohengrin performed at 
 Zurich ? Not bad either ! 
 
 You say I've started something odd each year, and your 
 only worry is what I'm going to hit on for the next ? 
 That I shall tell you at once : next year, I hope, the two 
 of us will take a lovely trip to Italy. Would that be so 
 great a calamity ? 
 
 Klarchen Brockhaus has written me a very nice 
 letter : she asks after you most affectionately. When I 
 get home again, we'll write her an answer together. 
 
 Nothing more has come of Lohengrin at Weimar. 
 The singer of Ortrud had been discharged so insultingly 
 in Liszt's absence that she could not be persuaded 
 to oblige. In general, a lot of intriguing is going on 
 against Liszt there, and Mr. Genast is said to stand at 
 the head of it. I am also afraid things will not last much 
 longer there, and Liszt will get sick of it. It is impossible 
 to make head against the present vileness anywhere or 
 anyhow. 
 
 If you care to send me another pair of shirts, please 
 do ; I shall have plenty of the other things to last me. 
 I am counting the days already, and tell myself each 
 morning, Tomorrow there'll be so-and-so many days more. 
 Judge by that, how I am looking forward to home and 
 you. But I still keep thinking of poor Papchen : * night 
 after night I have dreamt of him, and always so touch - 
 ingly and affectingly (he would bite at my finger for love) 
 that I found myself crying aloud when I woke. I shall 
 never get over the loss of the dear beastie ; it was too 
 terrible, our having to lose that bet ! ! Ah, I have to 
 tear myself away from the remembrance- else I can't 
 bear up. 
 
 * Their parrot, died last February ; see Letter 22 to Uhlig. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 105 
 
 Now, just you keep in as good health as I found you 
 the last times and we'll soon see how to shape our life 
 as happily as possible. Already we may be without the 
 least anxiety for our subsistence, and to the end of our 
 lives : there will be nothing more of that sort to disquiet 
 US. But you [plural, clearly including Nette] must grant me 
 
 quiet too ; take me as I am, and let me do what I have 
 joy and pleasure in ; don't tease me into anything I 
 really neither will nor can : rest assured, on the other hand, 
 I shall always be doing something that somehow gives 
 delight to others and satisfies my inner self. So, if we 
 do not mutually torment each other, we yet may lead the 
 finest life permitted by our circumstances. 
 
 Now farewell, Mutzius ! Be cheerful and retain your 
 good temper. I shall soon be with you altogether again. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 [Nov. 20/51, Wagner writes alike to Liszt and Uhlig that a "pro- 
 vidential inheritance in the Ritter family " enables him to live in future 
 "for nothing but artistic creation, untroubled by material cares." Our 
 next letter, accordingly, must be that which the current German edition 
 has ranked as no. " 38," for it manifestly refers to the first quarterly 
 instalment of tlic Rittcrs 1 definite subsidy continued, in the event, for 
 fully seven years. 7'rJ] 
 
 46 a. 
 
 [ALBISBRUXN, Nov. 19 or 20, 1851.] 
 
 Dear little one, herewith I send you money ; go 
 nicely to the banker with it and get it changed, so that 
 I may have some of it too. It amounts to 350 gulden 
 in Reich currency, or 750 francs (French). I almost 
 think you had better get it cashed in French money 
 (five-franc pieces), as we are certain to be reckoning 
 in that currency ere long throughout all Switzerland. 
 You must send me 120 francs of it, and promptly, that
 
 106 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I may have it by Saturday and pay up everything here, 
 otherwise I can't get home on Sunday [Nov. 23]. 
 
 I received your last letter on Monday, just as I had 
 sealed up the packet with mine ; I couldn't break it 
 open again. To-day, however, I add my best thanks for 
 your declining the hare-supper. 
 
 I am feeling well ! Emilie [Ritter] isn't here yet, 
 and probably will not arrive till after my departure. 
 
 Farewell for to-day, my most charmante ! Soon to 
 take you by your good cheek, 
 
 Thy lord R. W. 
 
 47. 
 
 MEIRINGEN, 15. July 1852. 
 
 Oh, what a wicked Wife you are ! Just to snare 
 another letter from you, I've waited a whole day extra here 
 at Meiringen, since I thought you would be sure to 
 send me an answer here to my letter from Interlaken. 
 I have just come from the post, and the person who hasn't 
 written is yourself ! I reached here yesterday afternoon, 
 and certainly found Uhlig's letter with your greeting 
 [on it] ; but when you sent that off, you hadn't received 
 my letter from Interlaken yet, and so I waited till to-day. 
 I was in need of a rest, no doubt, as I had inarched hard 
 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday ; still, I should have 
 been on the road again to-day, had I not hoped for a 
 letter from you. Perhaps, though, you were simply too 
 late to catch the post ; so I shall leave orders to send 
 letters after me. 
 
 My journey has gone off very well until now : fine 
 weather all the time, saving for a couple of brief thunder- 
 storms, which were only interesting. What pleases me 
 most, is that my boots are behaving themselves ; the 12
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 107 
 
 hours on the last did much good, and my feet are in 
 capital order. On Monday I left Interlaken early for 
 Lauterbrunnen, walked up the Wengernalp (where one 
 can clutch the Jungfrau with one's hands), and from 
 there across the Wengern-Scheideck down to Grindelwald. 
 Tuesday I climbed the Faulhorn (8200 feet high), whence 
 the view is quite terribly sublime : I stayed the night 
 there and came down on -Wednesday over the Grand 
 Scheideck, past the Rosenlaui glacier, to Meiringen. 
 
 I have nothing to describe to you, as that would really 
 give you no idea, but I have been planning how to shew 
 you the Bernese Oberland next time, from this side or 
 from that. It will be my first complete joy to conduct 
 you, proud on horseback, through these parts : what eyes 
 you'll make ! Tomorrow morning my road lies along the 
 Haslithal to the Grimsel ; the night will be passed at the 
 Grimsel hospice, and from there next morning via the 
 Aar glacier and the Sidelhorn to Obergesseln. Thence on 
 Sunday over the Gries glacier to the Formazza valley, 
 and Monday evening I shall be at Domo d'Ossola in Italy. 
 From there I shall write you again. 
 
 Money runs away fearfully ; this Bernese Oberland is 
 the most shamelessly extortionate hole one can conceive. 
 Each day I have to change another louis d'or, and saving 
 or economy is quite out of the question. It was a good 
 thing you sent me Uhlig's letter : I had to write immedi- 
 ately thereon to Frankfort, for they at last have applied 
 for the Tannhauser score in hot haste, as the opera is to 
 come out there the beginning of autumn. You may 
 imagine how I insisted on the honorarium being sent 
 at once ; I expect you will be receiving it soon. See, 
 the louis d'ors will be so pouring upon us ere long, we 
 shan't know what to do with them. Only let me know
 
 io8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 directly money arrives, that I may reel off a plan where 
 you're to meet me and share a little of my beautiful trip 
 after all. I'm truly looking forward heartily to being 
 picked up by you somewhere preferably at Lugano. 
 
 So, if you write or have letters to send me to-day, 
 address 
 
 Monsieur 
 
 IV. R. Wagner 
 
 a Lugano 
 
 Paste restante. {Canton Ticino) 
 
 Farewell, good old Muzius ! Salute our friends, and 
 above all Peps, since of all male creatures he is my best 
 friend. Adieu ! 
 
 Your husband with the blistered 
 
 nose. 
 
 [70 Uhtig, Aug. 3, '52 .- " I got Minna to join me at Lugano. Then 
 with her the Lago Maggiore again ; via Domo d'Ossola, Wallis, Martigny, 
 Chamounix, Mcr de Glace etc., to Geneva. From here we go home by 
 Lausanne." TV.] 
 
 48. 
 
 CHUR, 15. July 1853. 
 
 DEAR MINEL, 
 
 I am stranded at Chur, since the only diligence 
 to St Moritz was already booked up, and I have 2 nights 
 and a day to winter here. Grey it is, and pouring in 
 torrents ! So I'm writing letters, to Liszt etc., and want 
 to send you my greeting also, to tell you, if you don't feel 
 very cheerful now, I'm no better off myself. Otherwise I 
 have nothing to report, as nothing else has happened to 
 me. En route I met a good many people who also had 
 witnessed the torch-lighting.* 
 
 * An elaborate serenade, etc., in front of his windows at Zurich, 
 July 13; see Life of R. Wagner, iii. 117, 150. The "Grey" in sentence 
 two is an allusion, of course, to Canton Graubunden. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 109 
 
 Stay, I can also send off from here my letter to the 
 Ollmiitz theatre-director. The second letter I obtained 
 from the post, you see, was from the director at Ollmiitz 
 (Austria), who wants to have my Tannhauser, remarkably 
 enough ! Do write me at once to ' ' St. Moritz, Canton 
 Graubiuidcn" how you are getting on, and how the rest 
 is suiting you, what Peps is doing, and everything 
 concerning you. I feel sure you will be all right now, 
 for you badly required a rest ; it is also quite time that 
 you followed R[ahn]'s orders precisely ; please do, and no 
 subterfuge. But Peps must often have a bath ; make 
 good use of the tub yourself, too, and don't go setting 
 about something directly after. Also write me immediately 
 the Wiesbaden money arrives ; if it dawdles much longer, 
 I shall have to remind them in earnest. Let me know, 
 in fact, whenever money comes ; but send on at once to 
 St Moritz all letters enclosed with the money, that I may 
 answer them prettily. So, so, so, so ! 
 
 Now, Mietzel, farewell. Be content for to-day with 
 these trumpery lines, for my humour isn't up to much ! 
 We [Henvegh and self] got here yesterday at 9, and had to 
 trot around a whole hour in ghastly rain before we found 
 shelter, the inns were so full ; we were lucky to get 
 quarters at last in the ' ' Steinbock ' ' ; also, I had a fairly 
 good night's sleep. And you ? Now, write soon, salute 
 our friends, and in particular thank all the torchists ! 
 
 Adieu, with the whole heart's greetings of thy 
 
 frantically faithful 
 
 Husband 
 
 and father of Peps, the high-betorched famous 
 Composer, Poet and Star-reader, 
 
 R.
 
 no RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 49. 
 
 ST. MORITZ, 12. July 1853. 
 
 Best thanks, dear Minna, for your deliveries. If you 
 have come by yellow paper, it isn't my fault ; with the 
 yellow there also lay pink and white. Make a note of that, 
 and don't scare me another time. 
 
 Scarcely had I proposed to devote this morning to a 
 gossip with you, when Dr. Obrist came into my room and 
 prevented me ; so I probably shall bring but little off on 
 paper before meal-time. 
 
 We have fine clear weather all the time, up here ; 
 only, it is never really warm, and one has to keep to 
 one's winter clothing. A severe cold is clinging to me, 
 and I do not expect to get rid of it here. To-day's bath, 
 however, had a very good effect on me again, and I can 
 quite imagine why the Doctor ordered me this cure ; 
 decidedly my nerves are getting stronger. 
 
 For yourself, just follow R.'s advice and go to Baden 
 [Canton Aargau] for a week. If it would afford you 
 amusement, I should much like you to fetch me from 
 here at the end of my cure, and perhaps stay on with me 
 another week ; then I could retrace with you the best 
 excursions in these highlands, which indeed are very 
 interesting. In no event, however, could I have expected 
 you to stay up here the whole time without taking the cure 
 yourself, for it really is an uninviting hovel, with the 
 greatest lack of comfort in every arrangement, and most 
 monotonous. I shall also have to be somewhat more 
 sparing with excursions now, as during the cure they are 
 very fatiguing, and especially this driving in carts (with- 
 out springs) on the stony by-roads plays havoc with my 
 nerves ; I believe you couldn't stand it long, either, for 
 the shaking is awful.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD in 
 
 All the same, I took a very fine drive with Herwegh 
 yesterday to Chiavenna, over the Maloja pass, where we 
 were met in the valley for the first time again by a warm 
 southerly breeze, so that it was with difficulty one could 
 determine to return to this cold height. In bad weather 
 it must be dreadful here ! 
 
 I have heard nothing of Franck ; but Liszt wrote me 
 from Weimar again yesterday : he had had a talk with 
 Johanna at Frankfort ; she meant to return there in a 
 fortnight for a second starring, and then to sing in 
 Tannhauser as well ; she further promised Liszt to sing 
 " Ortrtid " at Weimar next winter (what do you say to 
 that ?). Liszt seems to have much shamed both herself 
 and her parents. He was unable to see the Lohengrin 
 at Wiesbaden ; a lady singer was ill. 
 
 You certainly must so arrange your trip to Germany 
 as to take the Music-festival at Carlsruhe (the 2Oth Sept- 
 ember) on your way back, when you can call on the 
 Devrients also. 
 
 When Bauer delivers the music, just put it aside for 
 the present : but tell him to finish off everything from 
 Lohengrin at once ; for that part is then to go to 
 Carlsruhe. 
 
 My letter to the new Grand Duke of Weimar was 
 much to Liszt's liking. 
 
 Now write me exactly when you're going to Baden, 
 from which day to which day, that I may write you 
 thither. As for any money-letters in the meantime, 
 you must arrange for them to remain at the post till 
 you're back again. 
 
 But when is your Mathilde [Schiffner] coming? Of 
 a sudden one hears nothing more of her whatever ! 
 Take good care of Peps ; I had a horrible dream the other
 
 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 night : you brought me Peps all shaven and smothered 
 with flowers, which so disgusted me that I tore them all 
 off. Couldn't you manage to find the good fellow a 
 match one could keep a sharp eye on, and thus get a 
 legitimate heir to the memory of our old companion? 
 Good L,ord, when one is growing old, bereavements come 
 harder and harder ! 
 
 Now take care of your health, and amuse yourself to 
 the best of your ability. Be thankful, for that matter, 
 you aren't here too ; to tell the truth without the 
 cure you'd have had a wretched life of it. But if you 
 care to, as said, come and fetch me ; it would greatly 
 delight me ! 
 
 Farewell for to-day, then, old Muzius ! Write nice 
 
 and precisely [or punctually pilnktlich, see next page] and much ; 
 
 you know how glad I am to get your letters ! Farewell, 
 greet Peps, and think fondly of 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 They're actually hunting a bear now, who had 
 devoured 6 sheep not at all far from here only the 
 day before yesterday. 
 
 50. 
 
 ST. MORITZ 
 
 Tuesday, 26. July 1853, 5.30 A.M. 
 
 I must be at the spring in half an hour ; but since you 
 are such a good woman, I have risen thus early, washed, 
 gargled and hair-dressed already, to present myself to you 
 as charmingly as possible while you doubtless are lapped 
 in soft slumber. For this letter will go off within an 
 hour.-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 113 
 
 First of all- you everlastingly mistrustful spouse ! 
 I must dissipate a few misunderstandings. 
 
 1. The landlord of my hotel is named " Biedermann " 
 consequently I am both lodging at the "Hotel Faller," 
 
 and at " Biedermann' s." 
 
 2. The reason I'm so exact or anxious about the 
 expected money-letters as I wrote you before from Chur 
 
 is that with every remittance of money I also expect a 
 letter, which I generally have to answer at once, or on 
 account of which I must send Fischer an order forthwith. 
 Understand? I'm a "miser"? O you perverse piece 
 of goods ! 
 
 3. I wished you improvement in letter-writing: by 
 which after the whole sense of my lines I meant that 
 you should write, in general, sooner and more punctually. 
 How could I be rinding fault with your style, when you 
 had not yet written me at all ? 
 
 From the above and those are merely trifles you 
 see how odd a look your vaunted love must wear. You 
 naughty wife haven't the very smallest scrap of trust, but 
 behind each step, each word, you spy out something 
 which doesn't exist at all, and consequently keep imbuing 
 me with the wish that dear God may mend you ! What 
 you wrote me about Herwegh, too, all reeks of reproof 
 and distrust, for which reason also, I shall leave that 
 stuff entirely unanswered : the only way ! You foolish 
 women, can't you comprehend, then, that your greatest 
 pride consists in this : that your husbands, out of fullest 
 unrestraint and freedom, always return to your side in the 
 end ? Ah, if you only knew the meaning of true fidelity 
 in love, i.e. duration ! 
 
 But we'll not philosophise so early in the morning, 
 and to myself the occasion really seems too trifling for 
 VOL. i 8
 
 ii4 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 such earnest : regarded closely, it all was surely nothing 
 on your side but chaff. 
 
 Very good : you will have received another letter 
 from me since ; to that I still await an answer, particu- 
 larly as to your still caring to come and fetch me ? In 
 that letter of mine, to be sure, you will have missed all 
 talk of ' ' huge affection " or " the loveliest flower " ; * 
 but on the other hand you no doubt will have recognised 
 that the wish to have you with me here breathes more 
 true desire and heartfelt love than any mere rhetorical 
 assurance, for which, like every written phrase, I once 
 for all no longer care : I prefer to do, to deal ! 
 
 Halt ! it is getting too late now, and my half an hour 
 is nearly up. So, merely a few memoranda. But dear 
 child, if you require the money, just send the Wiesbaden 
 treasure-slip to Hug's at once, and get it cashed ; what 
 the deuce makes you imagine you must pickle money for 
 me when you're needing it yourself? No, please don't 
 fleer : more money is sure to come in soon ; but for the 
 present you'll manage with that. Is Mathilde going to 
 Baden too ? Give her my kindest regards ; her faithful 
 staunch attachment rejoices me. As I presume you have 
 somewhat postponed your starting now, I address this 
 letter still to Zurich : in any event it will reach you. 
 
 The day before yesterday we walked a distance of 4 
 miles on one of the Rosetch glaciers : terrible scrambling 
 over crevasses ! Here and there Herwegh often declared 
 he couldn't get across, and I had to return each time and 
 shew him how. (Whatever you do, don't tell his wife !) 
 It was a very fatiguing excursion : n hours of constant 
 
 * Apparently expressions of Hervvegh's to his wife, who had only 
 recently rejoined him after a very long separation; cf. Life iv, 151-3. 
 Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 115 
 
 scrambling and clambering ; but I have never experi- 
 enced anything so grand, never before had I been in the 
 very heart of the sublimest World of Ice ! 
 
 I thank you heartily for the vegetables, especially 
 the parsnips, my favourite dish ; it was very nice of you. 
 Unfortunately I cannot eat the biscuits, they have such 
 a horrid taste of rank butter as I never had known in 
 a biscuit before : I must leave them alone. Of course 
 you couldn't help it. 
 
 Wcsendonck has written me : he starts for America on 
 the 27th. His wife is expecting a letter from you. 
 
 A thousand remembrances to Pepsel, the good, alto- 
 gether good beast ! Na, what is that beside the out-and- 
 out good Wife ? ! Words utterly fail me ! ! ! 
 
 Farewell, dear Minna ; the goblet tinks, I must be 
 off. Let's hope it will taste all right ; the first I shall 
 drink to your health ! Farewell, and let me hear again 
 soon. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 51. 
 
 ST. MORITZ, 28. July 1853. 
 
 Dear Mietzel, I cannot write you much to-day, feeling 
 fairly done up : in the second week of the cure here it's 
 said to go like that with everybody. Tomorrow will be 
 the end of half the cure-time ; Sunday fortnight I travel 
 back. 
 
 Your letter might have made me very sad, had I not 
 noticed that your unwellness itself makes you strongly 
 inclined to a melancholy temperament now. If R. dis- 
 played anxiety, it certainly was with the good intention 
 of spurring you who are a very bad patient to a strict
 
 n6 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 observance of his orders. By all means you need careful 
 handling of your health ; your blood is greatly out of 
 order, and if you do not take care of yourself, you may 
 certainly look out in your old age for the sufferings 
 of your mother : you know her asthmatic condition. It 
 also is quite understandable that poor Jette's fate should 
 be haunting you now ; but the bare idea of your having 
 any tendency to consumption is really nothing but a 
 figment of your fancy. Remember myself and my throat 
 troubles of 18 years back ! No, in that regard my mind 
 is quite at ease about you ; but from this time forth, now 
 that you have grown alarmed yourself, it's clear enough 
 that you must start another mode of life. You ought to, 
 and must lead a life of ease and comfort now : it must be 
 your entertainment to dress as slowly and nicely as you 
 please of a morning, and you shall presently receive from 
 me a cosy pretty negligee ; let your occupation be a little 
 embroidery, and above all, pleasant reading, receiving 
 callers, dressing at leisure for out-of-doors, paying calls, 
 and so forth. In time I shall buy a smart little carriage, 
 and leave it at a coachman's with whom I'll strike a 
 bargain for the horse he is to place at my disposal ; then 
 I shall take you for nice afternoon drives. In short, you 
 must thoroughly lead the life of a fine lady now ; you're 
 not to bother about housekeeping an atom more than 
 may amuse you : it's the only way for you to get on 
 the high road to the manner of living you need. What 
 money can do towards it, will soon be seen to ; believe 
 me, as things stand now, my future may become extra- 
 ordinarily brilliant, and there is no telling how far it 
 may lead when Germany is run through and London 
 and Paris are laid under tribute, which will then depend 
 on no one but myself.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 117 
 
 Even for next winter the prospects are very auspicious. 
 Hamburg has signed for 50 louis d'or ; I am receiving a 
 note for the end of November. Leipzig has written about 
 Lohengrin ; I had grounds for not demanding over 20 
 louis d'or. Darmstadt, Carlsruhe, Hanover, Brunswick, 
 have all applied already ; Cologne, Magdeburg, Reval, 
 Olmiitz, even Ballenstedt, are asking for Tannhauser. In 
 brief, it's certain that the whole of Germany must walk 
 into our pocket soon. Berlin also (at Kroll's) is a certainty 
 now, and that is sure to bring me in a couple of thousand 
 francs. 
 
 So : you must and shall become a fine lady : to please 
 me, you must wear nothing but velvet, silk or satin, yet 
 not so as to interfere with your comfort. For if any 
 woman has such things, you deserve them too : that's 
 what I shall tell all who may envy or sniff at you ! 
 
 Undoubtedly, Herwegh has a number of coloured 
 cravats ; but for all that, he doesn't seem bent upon con- 
 quests. He sticks to his room and his muzzing all day ; 
 when he comes out of it, he barely mumbles. On the 
 contrary, it is / who have to keep a sharp look-out here ; 
 for the fair local world is all setting its cap at me, the 
 famous betorched composer. Luckily I know no one, and 
 no one attracts me to do so. This morning we had rain 
 for the first time ; but it has ceased already. My former 
 room was very noisily placed ; repeatedly I could not sleep. 
 To-day I've removed to a quieter room in the first storey. 
 
 Many thanks for the fresh consignment, though you 
 may make a pause until I ask for anything again ; the 
 food here has somewhat improved now. I was the only 
 one to open his mouth ; no Switzer would ever dare to, 
 and Herwegh still less. Well, 15 days more and there's 
 an end to it !
 
 n8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 You might get Mathilde, please, to tell them at the 
 Post to send my money-letters also here till further 
 orders ; they may always contain an enquiry I shouldn't 
 like to leave unanswered a whole week, that is to say, for 
 the time you're at Baden. Upon your return, order the 
 money-letters to be delivered to you as before. Don't 
 misunderstand me ! Apart from business letters, I answer 
 none now ; I really have to save myself during the cure. 
 See, even this letter to yourself has grown too long ; that 
 exertion, though, is not to count, I have made it so 
 gladly. 
 
 Now, my good Minna, farewell, hold your head up ; 
 think of the comfortablest life you can possibly conceive, 
 of the little carriage na ! and I say no more ! You'll 
 be bound to put up with me a while longer ! Adieu ; 
 greet Peps ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Have you written to the Wesendonck yet ? He wrote 
 me that they were going to Wiesbaden on the 2ist for 
 Lohengrin : the performance took place, I've received a 
 playbill and a criticism : Frau Moritz sang the Elsa 
 very well. 
 
 Saturday, 5 A.M. [~3oth]. 
 
 See, Mienel, I have to re-open this and add to it. Quite 
 a pile of letters came last evening with all sorts of tidings, 
 foolish and good. i., from yourself, with the Wiesbaden 
 Lohengrin snuff-box, which amused me vastly. You good 
 Uetli-ascender, you ! Otherwise I've nothing much to 
 answer you, except that I am doing tolerably. The doctor 
 may well talk of warm douches ; good Lord, they are 
 simple enough with their bath here, and douches don't
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 119 
 
 exist ! 2., from Liszt an uncommonly cheerful, kind and 
 splendid letter : the Grand Duke thought very highly of 
 my letter to him : Liszt has had to tell the Princess of 
 Prussia a lot about me. The music from Bauer can wait 
 till I return. 3., From Karl. 4., The enclosed letter to 
 yourself, the address of which deceived me ; when I saw 
 from whom it was, I read it through. You can scarcely 
 make any other reply to the crazy young lady, than that 
 the Carlsruhe Music-festival is the 2oth Sept., and at it 
 things from Tannh. and Lohengrin will be performed ; 
 beyond that you know nothing. Now I must be off to 
 the spring. Farewell, bathe prettily, and get quite well. 
 Adieu, Mienel ! 
 
 Thy 
 R. 
 
 52. 
 
 ^th August 1853. 
 
 Dear Mietz, I leave here Tuesday the Qth, and as I 
 see you cannot come half-way I shall be with you at 
 Zurich Wednesday evening. 
 
 Nobody takes a cure here for more than 3 weeks, and 
 all were astonished at my having been ordered 4. The 
 water is extraordinarily powerful ; I've been stopped up 
 for several days, and my stomach feels bad. Moreover, 
 the place itself is beginning to be unendurable to me, the 
 arrangements are too disgraceful ; for want of convenience, 
 etc. , a deal of what the Doctor ordered me I cannot follow 
 out at all. In short, it's high time I thought of turning 
 home. The usual 3 weeks' cure expires tomorrow ; I am 
 throwing in a couple of days, but Tuesday I depart as 
 said and hope to find you better on Wednesday evening 
 than you write me you unfortunately are at present. My
 
 120 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 last letter I addressed to Zurich ; I hope it was sent after 
 you. So nothing is to come of the rendezvous at Chur 
 etc. proposed therein ; perhaps R. is right. We'll soon 
 replace it by some pleasant excursion or other, that Mathilde 
 also may still get a little to see. 
 
 What more should I write you, seeing that I soon 
 shall be able to talk with you ? Besides, I've had no 
 more news at all of late ; I know just nothing, excepting 
 that it's odious here when one makes no excursions, and 
 those refuse to agree with the cure. 
 
 Write me another once, that you have received this 
 letter, and address to Chur, paste restante ; thus I shall 
 find it waiting Tuesday evening. Farewell, old Mietzel ! 
 Give me a good welcome. Adieu ; shake Peps' s paw. 
 Adieu, auf Wiedersehen Wednesday ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RRRrrrr ! 
 
 I don't require money. 
 
 \_A fortnight after his return to Zurich, Wagner starts on a long-pro- 
 jected trip to Northern Italy , in qiiest of inspiration for the music of his 
 '' Ring." Tr.~\ 
 
 53. 
 
 TURIN, 30. August 1853. 
 DEAR MlENEL, 
 
 Alack, I found no letter from you here to-day ; 
 but the evening post comes in at 7, when something 
 perhaps will turn up. Since I wrote and telegraphed you 
 last, I have arrived here, under many difficulties. Poor 
 thanks I owe the Herweghs for offering to book me a seat 
 from Geneva to Turin, which ended in smoke : the best 
 time being lost, at Geneva I could only get a (villainous] 
 seat as far as Chambery, a third of the distance ; whereas 
 at Chambery there came a sudden stop to all things, every
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 121 
 
 place in every diligence and other coach being already 
 taken till the 4th of September. So nothing remained 
 but to hire a hackney flyman for 3 days, or take extra-post 
 with strangers. I chose the latter, because two other 
 travellers were in the same predicament : a very dear 
 carriage had to be taken for the whole distance to Turin ; 
 but unluckily there was such a mass of gentry's private 
 coaches also going extra-post, that the supply of horses 
 gave out, and at last our only way of getting forward was 
 by bribing the postilions. It was a venturesome journey 
 on the Mont Cents by night ; yet everything went 
 right, and, with fine weather the whole time, I reached 
 Turi)i yesterday afternoon. 
 
 This is a handsome, big, and elegant new city, quite 
 a la Paris ; but naturally that isn't what I'm seeking, 
 and I shall not remain here long ; I merely want to rest a 
 bit, and make an excursion to the environs, which must be 
 very beautiful. Last evening I made straight for a small 
 theatre (there are a number of theatres here), where I 
 heard a silly comic opera, which wretched as it was 
 was quite excellently sung and acted by the company. Not 
 until 12 did I get to bed after it, but slept very well (in a 
 bed again at last) and did not arise till 9 this morning. 
 
 I should not have written you as yet, before having a 
 letter from you to answer, if I hadn't wanted to tell you 
 not to address to Turin any moie, but to 
 
 Mr. R. W. 
 
 a Genes 
 poste restante : (Royaume de Sardaigne]. 
 
 (Genes, you see, is the French for Gcnua which in 
 Italian, again, is called Genova ; but I'm afraid Geneva
 
 122 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 might be read Geneve (Genf), which would cause 
 confusion.) 
 
 Yes, it is the Mediterranean to which I'm chiefly 
 looking forward, and hope to reach the ist September 
 (Thursday). 
 
 Good God, I can write you next to nothing about 
 yourself, as it's so long since I've had any news from 
 you ; and then the post for Switzerland goes out at 5, 
 and even if I do get a letter from you to-day that will 
 not be till 7. So I must save any further remarks for 
 tomorrow, when I hope to have something quite friendly 
 and good to reply to. 
 
 So farewell for to-day, good old Minna. Be quite 
 cheerful and calm and you'll give me the greatest of 
 pleasure. If Mathilde is with you still, my kind regards 
 to her ! 
 
 Adieu, shake Peps by the paw, 
 
 Thy 
 
 wholly good 
 
 RICHARD. 
 Turin, 
 
 at the Hotel de I* 1 Europe, on a splendid 
 square, opposite the Royal Palace. 
 
 54. 
 
 GENOA, \st September 1853. 
 
 Ah, Mienel, Mienel, never have I seen anything like 
 this Genoa ! It is something indescribably lovely, 
 majestic and original ; Paris and London shrink into 
 dreary, formless heaps of streets and houses, beside this 
 godlike city ! Naturally I shouldn't know where or how 
 to begin, to describe the impression all this has made 
 upon me, and goes on making ; I have laughed like a
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 123 
 
 child, and could scarcely conceal my delight ! Instead of 
 attempting an impossible and useless description, I will 
 merely give you an account of my journey. 
 
 After sight-seeing enough in Turin and its outskirts 
 the day before yesterday when I couldn't help admiring 
 the city's fine position I determined to quit that other- 
 wise most wearisome den of a capital and get to Genoa 
 a day the sooner. I had already received your nice kind 
 money-letter ; it gave me great joy, and I thank you for 
 it most heartily especially for your being so ' ' lazy ' ' as 
 you write me. At Turin I had further seen the " Barber 
 of Seville," which amused me much. So I came on 
 yesterday to Genoa (the longest stretch by rail), where I 
 arrived after 6 in the afternoon and promptly took a room 
 at an hotel, from which I have the harbour and sea 
 directly in front of me. The hotel itself really consists 
 of two palaces, the Grimaldi and Fiesco, which have been 
 turned into an inn now. I am lodging about 6 storeys 
 high, because one has the finest view there ; flights of 
 marble stairs the whole way up ; all the floors of mosaic, 
 etc., unheard of antique splendour everywhere ! Last 
 evening I got myself led round a bit by Signor Raphael 
 (that's the name of my guide) ; L,ord, how astounded I 
 was at these palaces, often touching each other, all beau- 
 tiful, lofty, superb. Their former owners, the proud, 
 brave patricians of Genoa, of course are all extinct or poor 
 now, and the palaces are mostly let or sold for vulgar use. 
 Thus, on the first floor of the Palais Brignole there was 
 a silk-warehouse ; in the parterre and courtyard (with 
 garden), on the other hand, a cafe*. There I ate an ice, 
 drank coffee, and smoked a cigar ; a divine night, under 
 oleander trees tall as a house : I could almost have expired 
 for bliss I confess and to make you the choicest gift
 
 124 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 that / can think of for your birthday, this day I promise 
 you to take a trip to Genoa with you next spring : a 
 treat, good creature, you will have to share ! ! A heavenly 
 slumbrousness came over me at last in this divine air 
 which laps one's limbs so soothingly, and almost seems to 
 waft one. I threw the shutters open this morning : there 
 lay the harbour, city, and the sea again, all steeped in 
 sunshine ; the sea as blue for leagues as our Swiss lakes, 
 all swarming with ships, masts and sails. With my 
 famous double spy-glasses I have just followed a big ship 
 from farthest distance right into the harbour, and watched 
 her pick up the pilot. Na, you should be spying here ! ! 
 
 Not a drop of rain has fallen anywhere around for a 
 couple of months : terrible dust on the country roads. 
 For all that, the air is by no means too hot it has 
 nothing stabbing or oppressive ; one goes about half 
 undressed, but feels uncommonly well and comfortably 
 brisk with it all. It's a proper human breed here : one 
 might give the Stumme von Portici straight off with the 
 men in the harbour ; almost naked, tall and slender, 
 brown as Africans, and all with very fine dark, passionate 
 and sentimental eyes. The feminine type loses in com- 
 parison ; they all go about with white veils over the head 
 and at the side. Perhaps I shall present letters [of intro- 
 duction] tomorrow ; I didn't at Turin. I have had some 
 strange adventures : at Turin I met Tlialberg ; in the 
 train yesterday I got into close acquaintance with the 
 Russian Ambassador at Rome, and his wife, whom I very 
 proudly informed I was a political outlaw and couldn't go 
 to Rome. At last they found out who I was, however, 
 and adhered to their invitation to Rome. 
 
 Now, I almost think this letter ought to reach you 
 exactly on your birthday ; besides the other congratula-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 125 
 
 tions I'm sending you, I therefore also wish you health 
 and happiness from my whole full heart herewith. For 
 sure, the whole fifth of September shall be devoted by me 
 to your memory ; to your health alone will I eat, drink, 
 walk, look, and taste the air. I expect to keep it in 
 Genoa, which I shall make my head-quarters, in fact, for 
 the next fortnight ; my chief excursion, certainly, will be 
 to Spezia, where 1 may stay awhile perhaps, but I want 
 all letters sent me here. So please continue, dear Mienel, 
 to send to the address last given you : 
 
 a Genes 
 
 (Royaume dc Sardaigne] 
 
 I left orders in Turin to have letters sent after me 
 hither. 
 
 Just you be quite well and cheerful for your birth- 
 day, and console yourself with the thought of your wicked 
 husband, who also is served badly enough ! Tell good 
 Pepsel he should only see Genoa too ! Everyone must 
 come and see Genoa ! 
 
 I think of bathing in the sea to-day ; whatever occurs 
 to me after, you shall hear when I write again, occasion 
 for which I'm hoping to receive tomorrow through a letter 
 from yourself. Fare\vell, dear Mienel. 
 Take a hearty kiss from 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 55. 
 
 GENOA, 3. September 1853. 
 
 MY GOOD, GOOD MIENEL, 
 
 I was seized with such woeful home-sickness 
 to-day, that I couldn't write to you, and gave it up. 
 Already I had closed my trunk, when I found no peace
 
 126 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 before I sent you off another greeting ; so I have unpacked 
 the writing-gear again, just to tell you briefly that I'm 
 starting in an hour for Spezia by the steamer, which only 
 goes on Saturdays. That will not prevent my getting 
 your letters safely, though ; yesterday I received your 
 second addressed to Turin. So have no fear, but continue 
 addressing to Genoa (" Genes'") ; for I am bound to return 
 here, and simply do not know how long I shall remain at 
 Spezia. From Spezia where I arrive tomorrow morning 
 I shall write you again at once, also enclosing the lines 
 for Wyss to Liszt. For to-day I will merely add, that I 
 haven't been feeling quite well presumably owing to the 
 great change of diet ; but I fancy the sea-voyage will cure 
 me, even the sea-sickness perhaps. So don't be anxious 
 about me ; rather, take good care of yourself- do you 
 hear ? 
 
 My God, if a poodle hadn't eaten with me yesterday, 
 I should have been all alone again ; to-day I nearly 
 broke down with home-sickness my God ! Oh yes 
 I'm certain to return soon, heavenly beautiful tho' it is 
 here ! 
 
 Adieu, dear good Mienel ! Many, many kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 56. 
 
 GENOA, 6. September 1853. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 Ridicule me as much as you will, I'm turning 
 tail ! I have taken my place for the homeward journey 
 via the Lago maggiore already ; a telegram has also just 
 gone off, which as I couldn't get it through in German 
 I have despatched to Sulzer, that he may bring it you
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 127 
 
 nicely translated, and so no confusion arise. If yon follow 
 that despatch's invitation, to be sure, this letter will not 
 reach your hands until after our joint return ; but in case 
 your health should not permit you to come as far as 
 Fltielen to meet me, you'll receive this letter just before 
 my own return, presumably Saturday morning [roth], 
 whereas I hope to be with you by Saturday evening. 
 
 My decision to turn back was unavoidable after my 
 thoroughly convincing myself how things stood with me. 
 At Spezia yesterday, so soon as I conceived the thought of 
 turning home, my whole state of health promptly grew 
 better ; and with a certain cheerfulness I mounted the 
 mail which has brought me to Genoa, where I meant to 
 determine in fine. Hardly had my improvement betrayed 
 me into resuming my former plan of travel and deciding 
 on the tour to Nice, however, than the old discomfort 
 instantly recurred, and I could only dislodge it by a 
 prompt and firm conclusion for return, when I got better 
 at once. 
 
 I should have started this very evening, if I hadn't to 
 wait until tomorrow morning for a letter that has gone 
 to Spezia by my previous orders, and therefore crossed me. 
 So don't you write me any more, nor forward any letters. 
 Next Saturday (!!!) you shall hear 100,000 things by 
 mouth from your good ice-bird and loving husband 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 To a merry meeting ! 
 
 Should you have to go to Baden now, why, go of 
 course ; I can come to you there, and be at home just 
 the same. 
 
 Adieu, good Mienel and Pepsel. 
 
 [Soon offer comes a rendezvous at Basle with Liszt, on the latter s way 
 back from the Carlsruhe festival. -Tr.]
 
 128 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 57. 
 
 BASLE, 7. Octbr. 1853. 
 
 MY DEAR MlENEL, 
 
 The pace is awful here : I'm going crazy ; hardly 
 can I bring off two lines to yourself. 
 
 Just think of it ! Liszt came with : i, Billow ; 2, 
 Joachim ; 3, R. Pohl from Dresden ; 4, Cornelius from 
 Berlin ; 5, Pruckner from Munich ; 6, Remenyi from 
 Hungary. On their entry into the hotel, all bellowed the 
 trombone passage from Lohengrin. Early this morning- 
 there also came the Furstin [Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein] 
 with her daughter, and a relative of Prince Wittgenstein's. 
 I hadn't slept last night, and you may imagine how 
 I've been bombarded to-day ! So the merest needful 
 on the rush ! 
 
 Tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, I go with Liszt to 
 Strassbtirg, and on Sunday to Paris. All the others turn 
 back. 
 
 For Paris, Liszt has invited me to stay with him at the 
 Hotel de Paris (Rue Richelieu}. So address me in future : 
 
 (Mr. R. W. 
 
 Rue Richelieu Hotel de Paris 
 
 a 
 
 Paris.} 
 
 For the rest, these people give me great delight ; the 
 Furstin proposed your health at dinner. All send you 
 greetings. 
 
 Farewell, old treasure ; hold me dear, don't let Peps 
 sleep too much, and bring up Jacquot well. 
 Thy altogether glorious 
 
 HUSBANDDDDD ! 
 
 I shall write you full particulars of your joiirney : 
 Liszt will remain in Paris till about the i6th or i8th.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 129 
 
 58. 
 
 PARIS, ii. October 1853. 
 
 O thoti who art good Muzius incarnate ! 
 So 3 whole days have passed without my being able 
 to write to you ! Yesterday I had set apart a special 
 time for it, but when I wanted to commence, behold, 
 that cursed youngster Hermann [L/iszt's servant] had gone 
 off with the key of my trunk, and was nowhere to be 
 seen or heard ; so that put out as I was in general I 
 never came to writing. Not that I'm going to write 
 much to you, even to-day ; we shall have time enough 
 here soon, on the spot, to entertain ourselves by mouth 
 with all past happenings. So merely the main headings 
 to-day, and what you must hear. 
 
 Saturday ( I'm all at sea about the days) yes : 
 Saturday afternoon we left for Strassburg, where the 
 Fiirstin meant to part company with us. Billow (that 
 good young man he really is !) and Joachim also accom- 
 panied us thither, but separated from us midday Sunday, 
 at Strassburg, to return via Carlsruhe. The Fiirstin, on 
 the other hand, suddenly made up her mind to come to 
 Paris too ; so we arrived here Sunday evening, and Liszt 
 was obliged to descend at the Hotel des Princes (///) rue 
 Richelieu, whither he naturally invited me too. He 
 won't hear of my not being his guest, you see ; I never 
 get a chance of paying. For that matter, I have to 
 work it duly off ; poor beggar, I must sing, read, talk, 
 and explain, you know how people always tap me ! 
 After all, one does it gladly ; only sleep is very poor, 
 almost absent in fact. 
 
 Yesterday morning I went in search of Kietz : he 
 w r as in the country, sure enough ; but he has been sent 
 for, and I expect to see him soon. I've not yet been to 
 VOL. i 9
 
 130 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Anders, and to-day I haven't yet been out at all. Last 
 evening we all dined quite domestically with Liszt's 
 3 children " en famille " Berlioz joined us later. 
 
 The rest of the day as I hadn't found Kietz I 
 sauntered through the streets alone, and had to laugh 
 like a child at the beautiful things [in the shops]. Of 
 course I never lost you from my thoughts, and heartily 
 looked forward to a thorough rummaging around with 
 you soon ; the elegance here has enormously increased, 
 and everything is so seductive that one would like to 
 have thousands in one's pockets, just to be able to take 
 the stuff home. I am positively afraid lest our money 
 might also give out on our very first outing, such a 
 quantity I should like to buy you ! So just bring all the 
 money you possess and can lay hands on ; for instance, 
 change the 50 thaler at Hug's as well. Simply money : 
 we may need it here ; on our return we shall find fresh 
 money waiting, in any case. 
 
 But listen, Mietzel ! Liszt is staying on till the 
 2Oth, his Fiirstin also ; therefore I candidly advise you 
 not to come before they^ve gone (particularly she] ; it's 
 too genant. Moreover, I shouldn't at all know what to 
 do about the hotel : here I have a tiny room at Liszt's 
 expense which genes me but when you come, I of 
 course must move out, so that we may lodge (in comfort) 
 at our own expense. All that I'll soon attend to finely : 
 so I recommend you 
 
 To start at 8 on Wednesday the 19^, by 4 in the 
 afternoon you'll be at Basle. Should you want anything 
 there, just send to Herr Merian-Kochlin ; he called on 
 me at Basle, and begged me to direct you to him. 
 
 Then at 5 on Thursday morning, the 2O///, you take 
 the express direct to Paris, where you will be received
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 131 
 
 about 10 in the evening by your good little hubbie. 
 The journey is quite agreeable, and not fatiguing ; you 
 will stand it well, I hope. Then what an unholy fling 
 we'll have here ! Adieu, good old Wine ; salute the 
 children (good Pepsel !) you soon shall hear more from 
 your 
 
 dear little 
 
 Dick (Richardchen). 
 
 So address : Hotel des Princes 
 
 Rite Richelieu. 
 
 (Best thanks for your lllletter 
 
 to Basle ! ! !) 
 
 On no account trim a bonnet before Paris ; you'll be 
 surprised ! ! 
 
 59. 
 
 PARIS, 12. October 1853. 
 
 (Hotel des Princes 
 
 Rue Richelieu} 
 
 Hm ! Hm ! Hm ! Hm ! 
 
 No letter again to-day ! ! ! 
 
 So ! so ! so ! so ! 
 
 Ei ! ei ! ei ! 
 
 Very well, dear Mienel, then I shall simply write you 
 that it abides by what I wrote you yesterday : Wednesday 
 the iQth you start, and Thursday evening I receive you 
 here. I know nothing of Kietz as yet. Yesterday I had 
 such a violent headache that I had to come away from 
 the theatre franqais. To-day it's better I actually slept 
 4 hours. 
 
 What I chiefly have to say to you, is this : I've just 
 written to Sulzer ; if he gives you the whole of the 
 money for the bill of exchange, then take and bring it
 
 132 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 all with you to Paris ; we can make good use of it here. 
 The rent you can also leave till I return ; so come with 
 an immense amount of money, then it will be well with 
 you on earth, i.e. in Paris ! Adieu, Mutz ; love to the 
 children ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 HANDSOME HUBBIE. 
 
 60. 
 
 PARIS, 16. October 1853. 
 
 Best thanks, dear Minna, for your beautiful cream- 
 laid letter ; it tasted capital ! But, a truce to words and 
 fiddle-faddle, the arrangement holds good : I expect you at 
 the station here on Thursday evening. True, Liszt and his 
 ladies are staying still longer ; he wants to celebrate his 
 birthday here, the 24th October [really the 22nd]. But that 
 need make no difference, as the Wesendoncks are here 
 and you can be with them, if necessary, should I at any 
 time have to form suite where you either couldn't, or 
 wouldn't care to go. Yes, I really had to burst out 
 laughing yesterday, when in the rue Richelieu I suddenly 
 met the good American [Otto Wk], who pointblank refused 
 to believe it was I. Liszt is going to pay a call with me 
 on the Wesendoncks to-day, but all our evenings are so 
 filled up already, that \ve can't be in their company at 
 present ; to-day we have to be at Erard's, tomorrow at 
 the Countess Kalergis', the day after to-morrow at Jules 
 Janin's ; and so it goes on. Fran Wesendonck was 
 highly delighted when she learnt that you were coming 
 too. They intend remaining here a fortnight in all ; 
 which will be very agreeable for us, only I fancy we can't 
 stay so long, were it only for poor dear Pepsel's sake, who 
 is making my heart ache already : what do yoii think 
 yourself ?
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 133 
 
 I have written to Sulzer again to-day : he will give 
 you I hope so whole heaps of money, all of which I 
 can repay him after our return. But money we require 
 here, immensely much money else it's no good ; and 
 you then shall come in for a really fine treat ! Na, adieu ! 
 A pleasant journey, and observe my plan of it ! I shall 
 fetch you Thursday evening, and tickle you to your heart's 
 content ! Ah, poor Peps ! Adieu ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RlCHEL. 
 
 [After a week spent together in Paris, they return to Zurich toward the 
 end of the month, and Minna is the next to leave it, for a whey-cure at 
 Seelisberg. 7>.] 
 
 61. 
 
 ZURICH, \.JuIy 1854. 
 
 O you poor ill-used Wife, disgracefully thrust out into 
 misery ! ! 
 
 Be assured, I heartily regret my having so insisted on 
 your starting ; only believe me, it was from the best of 
 motives in the world, out of true zeal for your health ! 
 But all our hopes of better weather have shamefully been 
 set at naught ; each morning I awake with horror, and 
 think of you with deep regret. In my opinion, if it 
 becomes too much for you to wait for decent weather, 
 you should return at once until it quite clears up. 
 
 Indeed you are right, it is too bad that none of our 
 acquaintances can ever give us proper information ; one 
 always tells us this, another that ! Your travelling- 
 adventures moved me deeply, you always seem to have 
 bad luck when riding. And then, you're all alone as yet 
 up there ! My God, that really must be dreadful ; do 
 please turn back, and don't force anything : perhaps
 
 134 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 it will be fine in a week, when you can return 
 again. 
 
 No further reply can I make to your letter of lamenta- 
 tion, than to help you lament, and declare you are right 
 should you be wanting to hook it ! 
 
 It's deuced quiet here ; not a soul to be heard or seen. 
 On the day of your departure the little Major ran into me in 
 the afternoon : he was meaning to call on the Marschalls ; 
 I accompanied him, but the Marschalls weren't in. So I 
 took Miiller [the "Major"?] up home with me; Nette had 
 to brew tea and provide tongue, which the Majorkin 
 greatly enjoyed. Otherwise no one has shewn his face ; 
 but I'm invited to dinner at Herwegh's on Sunday- 
 tomorrow they are the only people who have bothered 
 about me. Nothing has altered in my mode of life, 
 excepting that I am even more industrious than before. 
 Besides the forenoon, I also work two hours an evening 
 now, from 6 to 8, then go and drink a glass of beer all 
 alone and get home again by 9. In the early morn I now 
 go out for Carlsbad water ; I have also given up eating 
 butter : it was a mistake. 
 
 Things at home seem otherwise going fairly straight : 
 I can detect no disorder ; the food is tolerable, only the 
 soups are wretched ; quiet reigns. Jacqiiot is in fine 
 form, prattling and whistling to his heart's content ; often 
 he has flown into my room ; otherwise I insist on N.'s 
 remaining in the parlour with him. Peps seems to have 
 lost a little of his appetite all at once ; yesterday, as it at 
 least was dry again, he had to walk with me to Zollikon, 
 when I was also accompanied by Herr Wiedu, who got 
 nicely taken in, for once, in this way : of a sudden I saw 
 him watching a spot in the field behind us, and creeping 
 stealthily towards it ; really, Peps was snuffing around
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 135 
 
 there, half hidden ; but Wiedu took him for a cat, and 
 was just about to attack him very gingerly, when at 
 close quarters he precious soon discovered his mistake. 
 I couldn't help roaring with laughter ! 
 
 Hardly a single letter ; I'm waiting anxiously for 
 money, or I shan't quite know how to get away. I have 
 had profuse apologies from Coburg : the Intendant was 
 still absent, they wrote, but they had no doubt he would 
 comply with my request for prepayment. The same 
 letter wound up with the brief intimation that Fischer 
 had had a stroke, but with no preciser statement, which 
 Fischer or where, so that I'm waiting for a corroboration 
 from Dresden ; meantime I shall continue to refuse to fear 
 the worst. Otherwise only Schmidt of Frankfort has 
 written : he cannot come ; their Lohengrin had much 
 success again ; Hoffmann will give the Hollander also this 
 autumn. To-day a letter came from Selisberg but you 
 already know that. 
 
 If it weren't for that cur * * * Music-feast, I shouldn't 
 stir a foot, but go straight on composing \_Walkure, act i] ; 
 I am quite in the vein again. It annoys me to think I 
 must interrupt myself ; if anything were to go just half- 
 way counter to my wish, I should be equal to declaring 
 myself ill and letting the whole business drop. Well, you 
 shall hear again if I start. 
 
 So ! So ! So ! I have begun attending to your orders. 
 Herewith you have the Kladderatatsch ; it's a double 
 number, and will last you out. Cheer up ; as soon as the 
 weather behaves itself, I am sure you'll feel quite well 
 up there. I wish it you with all my heart, and am looking 
 forward gladly to the certain good result. 
 
 The animal and human household sends kind love. 
 Papo [Jacquot] is just hopping about with Peps. Farewell
 
 136 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and write me pretty soon again, that I may know how 
 you're doing. Adieu, dear Minna. 
 
 Thy R. 
 
 62. 
 
 ZURICH, 3.Jufy 1854. 
 
 I cannot help congratulating you, dear Minna, on this 
 beautiful weather ! It has removed a mill-stone from my 
 heart. 
 
 Nothing else occurred. I have received a little 
 money, and so can get away. I shall write you again, 
 tho', first. 
 
 Farewell and keep your spirits up ! I merely wanted 
 to congratulate you, and tell you how delighted I am with 
 the weather. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RlCHEL. 
 
 63. 
 
 SITTEN [SIGN], 10. July 1854. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I cannot write you much to-day, as I rrmst soon 
 go out, and probably shan't have another opportunity 
 all day. 
 
 I received your letter last evening, and thank you for 
 having so stuck to sending me a greeting here ! I can 
 tell you little cheering as regards myself. I bitterly repent 
 having let myself be lured here ; how I wish I had 
 followed my instinct, and calmly stayed at work in Zurich ! 
 In the first place, they ordered me here much too early ; 
 since the day before yesterday have I been in this tiny 
 hovel to no purpose at all, and mostly in bad weather. 
 The real rehearsal doesn't take place till tomorrow, most 
 of the bandsmen not arriving till to-day. Next, it isn't
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 137 
 
 even a genuine Federal music-feast at all, but merely for 
 the district ; they will be glad to get an audience of 500. 
 A poor orchestra has been run up in a small church : the 
 whole thing as pitiful as possible. About 35 bandsmen 
 are coming ; the rest are nondescripts one had best not 
 let join in at all. In short, this pickle makes me feel as 
 if at a country fair where I had to masquerade as Kapell- 
 meister, and I have a very good mind to decamp. I'll 
 just hear how the church behaves to-day ; if the echo is 
 too great, and the orchestra, as I much fear, sounds mixed 
 and indistinct, I shall transfer the whole mess to Herr 
 Methfessel, who will lick his every ringer for it, and get 
 away. It is a pure effrontery, to expect me to deal with 
 such rubbish ; I am greatly put out at not having fol- 
 lowed my own inclination and stayed at home. 
 
 The Karls [young Ritter and bride] are very prettily lodged 
 on the Lake of Geneva ; I spent a day with them un- 
 fortunately in pouring rain. He came hither with me ; 
 she most sensibly ! -remained behind. For the nonce I 
 return to them : if the weather turns fine, I shall stay 
 there ; I've brought my work. Then I should tranquilly 
 abide the time for fetching you. That part I've reckoned 
 out with Sulzer : on the 25th we mean to reach you 
 together at Selisberg he coming from Graubiinden, I 
 from the Oberland. Should the weather favour me, I 
 shall cross the Gemini with Karl and march through 
 the Oberland ; should it not, I shall simply come by 
 Thun : all which will decide itself later. Then we 
 should arrive in your exact 4th week of cure, and you 
 would return with us to Zurich. 
 
 Lord knows, I know of nothing else to tell you ; 
 beyond my journey, absolutely nothing has occurred to me, 
 and I'm as put out as a devil at being here. The Karls
 
 138 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 have provisionally installed themselves quite daintily ; she 
 hasn't made at all a bad housewife. But the whole thing 
 seems so curious to me ! 
 
 From Dresden I have heard nothing at all ; con- 
 sequently I know nothing definite about Fischer either, 
 whether he has merely had a stroke or really is dead. 
 Therefore I shall not give way to the worst apprehensions 
 even yet. Your dream has no significance ; Karl knows 
 all about that. That you otherwise seem in fairly good 
 spirits, as your letter bears witness again, rejoices me 
 heartily ; I am sure I shall find you in very good form. 
 Peps turned quite lively again, at the last, when he 
 remarked that I was starting. The bachelors kept up the 
 farewell fete until 3 in the morning ! I had gone home 
 already at n. The savages ! ! 
 
 Na, I must dress now, to take stock of the church. 
 I'll just wait for my verdict, before closing this letter. 
 Adieu for the moment. 
 
 6 P.M. 
 
 I will just conclude by telling you, I shall probably 
 give in and remain after all ; some of the Berne musicians 
 would have been greatly disappointed. For the rest, I 
 have been unable to take anything in hand to-day again ; 
 consequently I shall be sleeping the 3rd night in this hovel 
 for nothing. Catch me doing it another time ! Presum- 
 ably you will receive my next letter from Vevey ; so, if 
 you're writing at once, write me there : 
 
 Vevey 
 Paste restante : Canton de Vaud. 
 
 Farewell, old Muzius ; to a speedy, hale and hearty 
 meeting ! In worse humour I can never be, than here
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 139 
 
 and now ! Farewell, have your spit at the Griitli house 
 [just below her], and hold dear 
 
 Thy faithful spouse 
 
 R. W. 
 
 64. 
 
 VERNEX, 13. July 1854. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I must prepare myself for being severely scolded 
 by you this time ! 
 
 The evening I wrote you last from Sitten things 
 there became too loathsome for me, and at 10 that night 
 I rapidly made up my mind and took myself off, after 
 transferring the symphony as well to Methfessel. For 
 I learnt that many even of the bandsmen engaged had 
 not turned up, and in fact were not coming at all. 
 That knocked the bottom out of the tub ; I could do no else 
 than give the business up whereby perhaps, if truth 
 were told, I quite suited the feast-givers' book. Methfessel 
 had never seriously believed that I would come, you see, 
 and already had provided for another, easier symphony. 
 Even on my way here I met Dr. Ziegler of Winterthur, who 
 likewise had heard I wasn't coming, and was quite surprised 
 to see me. The gentlemen at Sitten too, a lot of clerics, 
 didn't quite know what to do with me, for doubtless they 
 also could read in my face that the thing would not amuse 
 me. Finally Methfessel had borne all the burdens, 
 rehearsed the choruses with untold pains, and seen to all 
 other arrangements ; in return for all which he would 
 have been thrust back by myself, in a sense, to obscurity. 
 Himself he took a positive delight in directing my atten- 
 tion to every defect, so that I could see he would like to 
 be decently rid of me. I'm therefore convinced I did the
 
 140 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 right thing in the end, and that these people were secretly 
 satisfied. The Rordorf, for instance, declared at once, she 
 would have been astonished if I had conducted. It was 
 nothing else as I said before than a big unmusical 
 village wake : I am certain my inner vexation and shame 
 at the degradingness of my task would have made me turn 
 seriously ill. I don't imagine much is likely to be said 
 about it : it is to be hoped they'll pull themselves well 
 out if not, that's their affair ; never in my life will I 
 take part in any ' ' Music-feast, ' ' everything has turned 
 out so badly, and worse than I feared. 
 
 So be reasonable yourself, dear Muzius, and don't 
 make me any fuss ! ! ! 
 
 Ac first I was so put out, that I meant to travel home 
 direct. In the end Karl succeeded, however, in tieing 
 me to his house a bit longer ; he has abandoned me a 
 little sitting-room with a lovely view, where I can work 
 undisturbed the whole morning ; which I also intend 
 doing for the present. So it provisionally abides by the 
 latest arrangement I wrote you ; if all goes well, and I 
 remain in the humour, I shall wait here till your 4th week 
 of cure, and then come by whichever road it be and 
 fetch you home (with Sulzer). Consequently I have 
 nothing fresh to write you upon that. 
 
 Only one letter has been sent after me, a mile-long 
 one from [Gustav] Kietz, from Rome still ; he writes of 
 almost nothing save the fleas. He sends you many 
 greetings. 
 
 It is to be hoped N. has sent you my shoes ; I think 
 they will do you good service. How goes it with the 
 cure ? are you right already in the body ? How I look 
 forward to finding you perfectly well ! 
 
 Above all, don't take the Sitten tale amiss, or make
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 141 
 
 me any reproaches ! Never again will I stoop to anything 
 so paltry and petty- fogging. 
 
 I hope to have another letter from you soon ; what 
 you write me, rest assured, ever affords me great pleasure, 
 especially when you give rein to your wit, which suits 
 you very well. 
 
 The Karlery sends best greetings ; and your poor 
 excellent husband lays himself humbly at the feet of his 
 precious dame as 
 
 Her Majesty's 
 
 most obedient 
 
 MAN. 
 
 Direct your next letter 
 
 a Monsieur R. W. 
 
 chez Mr. Rivaz 
 
 fi Collongcs pres Montreux 
 
 Canton de Vaud. 
 
 65. 
 
 COLLONGES, BY MONTREUX 
 
 ij.Jitly 1854. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Yesterday I informed you by telegraph that I 
 was returning to Zurich. Really I have nothing to add 
 to it, excepting that I go direct tomorrow evening, and 
 consequently shall be at home by Wednesday night. You 
 know how I originally meant to return by the Oberland, 
 and thus fetch you en route ; but it transpires that 
 the Karls have no present relish for an Alpine tour : 
 moreover you know his whimsicality, so that I gladly 
 save that for another time and good company. Alone, 
 again, I haven't the smallest desire for a mountain trip ; 
 I should grudge the money. Nothing would therefore
 
 142 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 remain for me, if I meant to come to you from here, but 
 the journey by Berne and Lucerne. I was pining for 
 home, however, and in the long run one only bores 
 oneself with Karl, whilst I lacked the convenience for 
 work ; also, the weather is frequently bad. So I swiftly 
 resolved to go home for a week, went to Vevey an hour 
 and a half from here and telegraphed. On my return I 
 found your letter waiting, for which I thank you very 
 much, as it thoroughly revived me : only, it perplexed me 
 again what to do, since you write that Sulzer meant to meet 
 me up with you as early as the 22nd, instead of the 26th. 
 It would be scarcely worth the trouble now to go to 
 Zurich first, as I should only be able to stay there exactly 
 2 days if I departed with Sulzer on Saturday. At this 
 moment, after thinking it over, I'm all hesitation again : 
 there, Karl is calling to breakfast ; I'll determine then. 
 
 Now my mind is made up. If I'm to reach you at 
 the same time as Sulzer, I cannot go to Zurich for 2 days 
 first ; I should be sorry for Pepsel, having to leave him 
 behind me so soon again. Therefore I shall come to you 
 from here, so as to arrive the 22nd or at latest the 23rd. 
 By which road, I don't exactly know : if the weather is 
 fine, I probably shall take the Brunig after all ; if not, I 
 shall come via Berne and Lucerne. Of course, you can't 
 write me again, as I shouldn't know where you ought to 
 write to ; let us hope no mishap may betide you mean- 
 while. 
 
 But what a marplot Sulzer is ! 
 
 Liszt wrote the other day, but nothing of importance. 
 Avenarius also : he is revelling in the remembrance [of his 
 visit] still. 
 
 And so you have a fine theatre with such good actors ? 
 Perhaps there'll be a little left of it for me to see !
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 143 
 
 God, how gladly I'd have stayed entirely at home this 
 summer ; I positively deplore the grand time when my 
 humour for work was so good ! People should leave me 
 unshorn ! 
 
 Now to a speedy reunion ! Your reports on your 
 health rejoice me immensely ! Farewell, and keep gay 
 till our meeting. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 [From Seelisberg they both returned to Zurich by the beginning of 
 August ; a month later, Sept. 2, Minna started alone on a two months' 
 visit to sundry relatives and friends in Germany. Tr. ] 
 
 66. 
 
 ZURICH, 3. Sept. 1854. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 Accept my hearty congratulations on your birth- 
 day ; you may be sure I shall keep it with great devotion ! 
 I confidently hope you arrived safely and are feeling 
 cheerful to-day in the lap of your family. Think of me, 
 as I think of you ! 
 
 And now my best thanks for the telegram, which I 
 received before going to bed ; I have been with you all 
 the time, and not had much rest ! 
 
 Once more be merry on your birthday ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 67. 
 
 ZURICH, 7. September 1854. 
 
 Thank God, dear Minna, a letter has arrived to-day ! 
 If none had come to-day, I meant to send a telegram to 
 Troger [her Zwickau brother-in-law] ; I had firmly settled that. 
 For I believed that, had you written on the 4th (Monday),
 
 T44 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 the letter could have got here by Wednesday (the 6th). 
 But it has taken a day longer, since to-day is the yth ; so 
 perhaps you also did not get my birthday wishes duly on 
 the 5th, but a day too late ! I'm truly sorry ! In every 
 way your birthday's falling there has been a regular 
 teaser.* I had promised my household, the day before, 
 that a "half" should be cracked in your honour; but 
 on the morning of the 5th I unfortunately arose with a 
 sore throat, brought on through a chill in my bath : I 
 had a slight touch of fever, and thought needful to diet 
 myself strictly all day, to prevent the inflammation getting 
 thorough hold and my labouring under it about a fort- 
 night, like my poor dear wife. Moreover, Nette also 
 had been seized with the quinsy, which accordingly must 
 have been smuggled into our house by yourself ; she is 
 barking finer and more expressively than Peps, and as 
 one used to say has got a rouser. Under such circum- 
 stances I also refused an evening invitation to Wesen- 
 donck's, whither Sulzer had been bidden as well (on 
 account of your birthday). So the day passed fairly 
 dismally, but I decreed that if a good letter arrived from 
 the wife the next morning, the ' ' half ' ' should be drunk 
 on the 6th. Well, the quinsy had left me by the 
 morning of the 6th, but the letter also stayed away ; 
 which so annoyed me all day, that I worked like a fury, 
 but thought of no half. In fact I became quite alarmed 
 about you, and tortured myself with the blackest of fears ; 
 so that I had a wretched night's sleep, got up for 2 hours, 
 and longed for day to come and bring the chance of 
 tidings. Now they've arrived, and at least I see that 
 the journey passed off without actual mishap, and you 
 
 * " Eine recht vcrzwicktc Sache " ; a pun on Zwickau. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 145 
 
 have reached the bosom of your family. No wonder, on 
 the other hand, you're feeling so knocked up ; looking 
 back, it really was a great stupidity for you to have 
 taken this fatiguing journey so soon ; we won't commit 
 it again ! And now I beseech you by everything in the 
 world : take it easy ; be boundlessly lazy, and cosset 
 yourself to your heart's content ! Don't think of leaving 
 Zwickau till you are in perfect condition again. What 
 you write me of the amiable brother-in-law [a doctor] has 
 rejoiced me quite : under care such as that, I foresee, 
 you'll succeed in thorough convalescence. Poor woman, 
 you need it ! I am very glad about the good old mother, 
 too, and stout L/otte and the old man with all his wits 
 about him have also put me in good humour. In short 
 the long-deferred shall come to pass to-day, and your 
 birthday be kept by us after the event ; in fact with the 
 Wesendoncks, who have had the good idea of inviting 
 me and Nette to dinner to-day. There a whole must do 
 duty ! 
 
 Otherwise I have nothing as you may well conceive 
 to tell you of ourselves ; I go on working (a little too 
 hard, I fear), and look neither left nor right. Neither has 
 anything occurred. Merely a Privy Commerce-Councillor 
 Moritz Colin from Dessau has called on me, filled his 
 mouth with my fame, and finally declared he knew you 
 very well from Dessau days : you had had a recommenda- 
 tion to him from Kaskel [banker], and I was simply to 
 remind you of the " Concordia " (Pretty tales! and I, 
 poor beggar, to be asked to pass them on ! !) 
 
 Wesendoncks want to decoy me into flitting with 
 
 them for a couple of days ; but they haven't caught me 
 
 yet : I do not feel like flitting. Peps has done another 
 
 good tramp with me ; Jacquot makes constant progress : 
 
 VOL. i 10
 
 146 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 ' ' Donnerwetter ' ' he had already got pat, and to-day, 
 after many rehearsals, he piped the Rienzi correctly. 
 
 Else it's very still with me ; no letters at all ! But 
 just you write me all the more, and they shall ever be 
 my dearest letters ! Give my heartiest greetings to all 
 at Zwickau, and tell them I should like to be there too ; 
 but, were I to attempt it, probably I should have to stay 
 in Zwickau rather longer than either they or I might 
 care for. 
 
 Now, farewell, dear good Wife ! Tomorrow I expect 
 with great delight a second letter from you ; may it 
 bring me good news of your being well ! With that wish 
 I mean to drink your health to-day. 
 
 Only be thoroughly lazy, and for once seek the 
 Castle of Indolence ! Farewell, and get well ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 68. 
 
 ZURICH, 13. September 1854. 
 
 MY ENTIRELY GOOD, DEAR MlENEL ! 
 
 No, the lovely partridges ! That beats everything ! 
 Only to-day, midst the feasting on ITJ partridge, have 
 I arrived at emptying that "half" to your health with 
 the house of Wagner. You were wrong, if you deemed 
 it a thing of the past ; after the birthday had been made 
 such a mess of, I kept waiting for a really good occasion, 
 to be supplied by the first letter in which you wrote me 
 that you were feeling somewhat better again. I was 
 almost glad not to have received your last letter but one 
 when it came, for you really had framed it quite sadly ; 
 at least, I saw you weren't at all the thing yet, despite 
 the lovely morning-music. L,ast evening at 10 (wicked
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 147 
 
 person !) I returned from the Wesendonck outing, of 
 which you no doubt have had tidings by now through my 
 Seelisberg letter ; but your letter couldn't rightly cheer 
 me, not so much because of your forebodings, as for 
 reason of the mood in which such fears still haunted you : 
 I didn't go to bed till 12, and got no proper sleep. I 
 awoke with a shocking nervous headache : the first thing 
 to greet me was the post-slip from Zwickau. Off went 
 Friederike to the Post forthwith ; the box was opened, 
 and on my knees I burrowed for the letter. It was the 
 good letter, at last, I had longed for, in which you had to 
 admit yourself that you weren't feeling so bad, had an 
 appetite and slept well. At once I gave orders : all three 
 must be cooked, and Friederike was called in to dinner ; 
 with myself and Nette she had to pledge a glass to you 
 twice over, and this time it didn't taste like schnapps to 
 her. That took away my headache ; now I'm smoking 
 my cigar over my wee cup of coffee, and writing you 
 quite cosily to express my joy at your condition. Peps 
 and Jacquot have meantime been having a good romp 
 on the floor. Peps can't make the bird out at all now, 
 for it calls Nette quite plainly by name too, and keeps 
 declaring "Jacquot wants his food " so that Peps 
 begins to take it for a higher being. 
 
 O yes, dear good Minna, you'll soon be right ! Your 
 relations' uneasiness about your looks the first few days 
 does not alarm me : it is always the way with nerve- 
 sufferers, they often get so pulled down that they appear 
 to have every illness in the \vorld ; once the nerves are 
 duly soothed, however, it all has vanished, and the 
 organs fulfil their whole functions according to rule. 
 Still, with the frequent derangement of your abdominal 
 nerves, it may be well to supply your stomach with such
 
 148 
 
 an aliment as costs it the minimum of labour for digestion 
 and yet affords the body the needful nutrition ; Troger 
 is perfectly right. If your condition had lasted, we 
 should have hit on that ourselves ; you know, in fact, I 
 ordered it myself to Emilie Ritter. 
 
 Your remaining quietly at Zwickau still, is very 
 sensible ; you were to make a journey of recreation, 
 remember, not a tearing about from place to place. 
 Never should you leave the one before you've quite 
 recovered from the sure fatigue of getting there, and are 
 feeling thoroughly yourself again. That is the only way, 
 too, for this journey to end in your good ; and I must 
 calmly wait for your return, provided only you return 
 quite strengthened and refreshed. 
 
 I shall also be sending you money very soon, that 
 you may be hampered in nothing ; to Chemnitz, I 
 expect. 
 
 Nothing else has happened here. All at Seelisberg 
 renew their greetings to you. I returned alone to Zurich 
 yesterday ; the Wesendoncks proceeded to the Rigi, but 
 in spite of all entreaties they didn't draw me up. I bade 
 them goodbye at the foot of the hill, and brought the 
 letter for you on to Zurich, where I put it in the letter- 
 box at 10 last evening, as that was quicker than if I had 
 posted it at Brunnen. Look forward to next summer on 
 the Seelisberg ; it's too lovely there ! ! 
 
 So farewell for to-day, my good Minna. Give my 
 best love to your people, and tell the parents they must 
 kindly keep alive that you may visit them every two 
 years. To good Troger give a right brotherly kiss from 
 me : that people should go breaking their legs on your 
 birthday, of all days, 1 set down as impertinent ; the 
 bandsmen did much better, to be in such good wind.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 149 
 
 Please give your thanks to the amiable bandmaster in my 
 name also it really was quite fine of him, and touched 
 me, too, to tears. 
 
 Now grant me the great pleasure of your writing 
 again very soon, to say you are feeling as well, and have 
 grown as stout, as [sister] Charlotte ! Farewell, dear old 
 Minna ; be merry, and so rejoice 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 I didn't know that your sunshade was loaded with 
 shot ; I got some of it between my teeth here ! 
 
 69. 
 
 ZURICH, 1 8. September 1854. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 I suppose you are vexed with me about my last 
 excursion ! I really had hoped to receive a letter from 
 you to-day, and therefore postponed an answer to your 
 last as I knew it had crossed my own letters, and you 
 would already have had an explanation of my several 
 days' silence last week. However, I shall flatter myself 
 you only wanted to write me with partridges again, which 
 travel somewhat slower than a simple letter, and there- 
 fore wouldn't reach me with one till tomorrow. For 
 to-day, meanwhile, I simply wish to tell you my uneasi- 
 ness so as to induce you not to repay evil with evil next 
 time. 
 
 I have a piece of news for you as well, though : 
 namely, Semper duly arrived here, and stayed here 3 
 days ; Sulzer drove up with a spanking equipage to fetch 
 us in state. Everybody was delighted with him [Semper] ; 
 he had a conference with Escher and the President of the 
 School Council, all of whom received him most flatter-
 
 150 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 ingly. I think he'll probably accept the post [Poly- 
 technic], but stand out for a fixed salary of 6,000 fr. 
 The gentlemen seem very glad, for everything depends on 
 their securing a celebrity to start with. 
 
 Semper pleased me greatly ; he was in very good 
 spirits, almost jovial, and as delighted as a child with 
 everything. Unfortunately I wasn't quite up to the mark 
 during his stay ; the Fohn was blowing, and you know 
 my nerves are always unstrung then. Still, the weather 
 kept fair, and yesterday we took Semper to Horgen, 
 where we gave him a small banquet ; after which he went 
 on from there with Klapperbein to inner Switzerland, to 
 travel home by that detour. He sends you his kindest 
 regards, also his wife's. 
 
 Otto Kummer also wrote me the other day from 
 Dresden, craving my intervention with Schindelmeisser, 
 as there was a good vacancy at Darmstadt for a violinist, 
 and he would like to have the berth. I have done it, and 
 accordingly the Kummers will transfer themselves to 
 Darmstadt, not to Zurich. 
 
 Franziska's wedding has also taken place ; the blush- 
 ing pair are going to Weimar, where he [Alex. Ritter] 
 has obtained a violinist-berth through Liszt. I shall 
 write to Liszt soon, by the way, touching an opera- 
 performance [for you] ; I will announce you shortly, too, 
 to Schmidt of Frankfort. To the Frominann I wrote the 
 very day of your departure. 
 
 Within the next few days I must also be receiving 
 money, when I'll send you another 10 louis at once. 
 
 What gladdens me most, is that your reports on your 
 health are turning out so well : they give me fixed hope 
 that the whole journey will do you a world of good ; and 
 then you shall have it with me here as in Heaven,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 151 
 
 nothing but bliss and delight ! What do you say to 
 that? 
 
 (Sulzer dragged us up the Uetli also ; moreover, we 
 dined with him once I and Semper at Bellevue !) 
 
 I haven't set eyes on the Wesendoncks again since the 
 outing ; but of course they would send you their greetings. 
 Tomorrow I shall tell them I've taken it upon myself. 
 
 The house is going on quite well. I am sorry on the 
 whole for Nette, as she really hasn't one acquaintance to 
 keep her company. 
 
 Now, send another good account soon, greet Wolframs 
 and the old folk from all my heart, and remain faithful to 
 
 Thy 
 
 quite good again 
 
 HUBBIE. 
 
 70. 
 
 ZURICH, ? September 1854. 
 
 YOU GOOD PARTRIDGE WlFE, 
 
 I really must be sending you another keeper's- tip 
 at last ! Hearty thanks for your letter and presents ; 
 they delight and reassure me greatly, especially the news 
 of your health. It was quite right of Clare to disabuse 
 you at once of your hallucination about your looks ; I was 
 also very glad to learn that she remains the same old girl 
 or young one, as you will in everything ; thus you perhaps 
 may inveigle her into a visit to ourselves in Switzerland 
 some day. Ply her hard with it in my name ; I really 
 should be very, very glad to have her here for once, of all 
 our family. 
 
 Things still go tranquilly at home. I'm overtaxing 
 myself with my work, I am sorry to say, as I do so want 
 to get the fair copy of the score \Rheingold\ quite finished,
 
 152 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 to have one thing wholly off my hands. So I write for 
 another couple of hours after dinner each day now, and 
 again when I come in of an evening. I can stand it, 
 however, if I only get passable sleep at night. Practically 
 all my life is spent with our animals, and most of my 
 talking too. In return they have repeatedly given me 
 trouble of late. Several times has Peps had the mis- 
 fortune to get out of his basket the wrong side and lose 
 himself between the beds, where I've heard him pitifully 
 whining till I pulled him out by the tail ; he passed half 
 the night like that once, before I discovered what was up. 
 The other day, tho', he gave me a regular fright on our 
 walk : he was dawdling behind and seemed suddenly 
 seized with fierce cramps, for he wriggled round and 
 round and couldn't keep on his legs : then I see him 
 choking terribly, and thrown into convulsions again and 
 again by it ; at last he vomits up a bone as large as my 
 fist which the glutton had swallowed ! It was a long 
 time before he came quite to himself again. However, 
 he is frisky enough now, and as soon as it is getting on 
 for -| past i nothing will pacify him till he drives me to 
 table. 
 
 Jacquot, too, has given me a great shock ! Manifestly 
 the good bird misses you very much, and so it may have 
 occurred to him that you were still lying abed : at one 
 swoop he flies through all the rooms into the bedroom, 
 precisely in which the windows stood wide open ; you 
 may imagine how I rushed after him, and what a scream 
 I uttered ! Luckily lie alighted on the chair in front of 
 your bed, giving me time to close the windows. That, 
 also, shall not occur again ! 
 
 There you have pretty well my whole budget of news ; 
 I hear very little from without. The other day lyiszt
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 153 
 
 sent me an enormous medallion of himself, by Rietschel ; 
 but where am I to bestow all the Liszts ? There are 4 of 
 him now ! I have still to hear some sense from Germany ; 
 God knows what will come of that business with 
 Berlin ! 
 
 I am delighted to be able to send you another 10 
 louis d'or now ; you receive them piping hot, just as I 
 had them from Mainz for the Tannhauser. Only don't 
 go buying too many cashmere waistcoats, but amuse 
 yourself some other way ! If you return quite fresh and 
 well, and in good spirits, I'd rather have that than any- 
 thing. 
 
 I suppose you'll be unable to tell me about your 
 return-journey by Weimar and Frankfort till later ; in my 
 turn, I will then address myself to those concerned. 
 
 Boom is nowhere to be seen ; he is composing a grand 
 sonata now, and probably won't reappear before it's 
 finished. Sulzer and I shall doubtless meet at Wesen- 
 doncks' tomorrow Sunday for dinner. They send 
 very kind regards ; I have to keep them well-informed 
 about you. 
 
 Your last letter from Zwickau is still being aired ; 
 the partridges had become rather piquant, and strongly 
 perfumed the beautiful paper. Nevertheless they the 
 partridges tasted excellent, arid effected most agreeable 
 digestion. 
 
 Hitherto our weather had been extraordinarily fine and 
 warm, so that I was able to do plenty of bathing still ; 
 but autumn has appeared the last 2 days : together with 
 it an account for firing from Pastor Schweizer. So winter 
 is stealing on ; we will pass it right comfortably and 
 workfully. The birthday shall be held on our wedding- 
 day.
 
 154 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I think it highly wrong of them, to have given you no 
 serenade at Chemnitz ; report it to the musical authorities 
 there. 
 
 What you told me of Wolfram's appearance and home 
 has delighted me much ; Lord, one's little mite of house- 
 hold comfort, after all, is everything one has. That also 
 is why / furnished 34 rooms, as of course you're 
 aware ! 
 
 Apropos, did you receive my last letter to Chemnitz f 
 I have my qualms about its address. Nette thought the 
 post-office people would be making remarks on the 
 number of gentlemen my wife was keeping company 
 with, first a Herr Dr. Troger, then a Herr Wolfram. 
 
 Now, only keep well and in good humour ; every- 
 thing else is going quite well. Give a thousand hearty 
 greetings to Wolfram and all his family, with my good 
 old faithful Clare at the top ! ! ! 
 
 Farewell, and greet the parents too. Get hale and 
 hearty ! Adieu. 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 71. 
 
 ZURICH, 30. September 1854. 
 
 O you hasty, unjust, mistrustful, in a word bad 
 woman ! 
 
 It is quite in the order of things that you should 
 write me very often, since you are reaping experiences 
 and even if unimportant they give you something 
 fresh to relate, were it no more than how you fare upon 
 your wanderings. But if I bring it off seldomer, it is 
 purely since I'm reaping no experience at all, everything 
 continues in the same old groove, and with the best will
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 155 
 
 I've nothing to report to you, consequently the utmost I 
 can do is to attest my satisfaction if I learn from you that 
 you are feeling well. In my very last letter I could 
 really tell you almost nothing but about the dog and bird : 
 nothing else occurs to me. My life is running on com- 
 pletely inwardly, you see ; and with me that finds its fittest 
 record in my works. I am purely a worker; if I don't or 
 cannot work, I feel unwell, and my thoughts keep hanker- 
 ing after work again. 
 
 For that matter, I haven't had much mood for com- 
 position all this month ; I have finished the fair copy of 
 the Rheingold score instead, to get that altogether off my 
 hands at last : Liszt will receive the whole of it shortly. 
 Only now have I resumed the second act of Walkiire ; 
 yesterday when I got your somewhat mistrustful letter, 
 I was on the point of composing Fricka's entry ; it wasn't 
 at all a bad match. You consider, though, that I'm 
 working all this out for no one but myself : it may turn 
 out so, too and yet I'd rather cease to live, than not be 
 working at a thing like this. So you must grant me 
 just this sort of work ; for the Leipzig market and so 
 forth, once and for all, I shall compose nothing more. 
 Others enough are attending to that. 
 
 So what am I really to write to you of? I have 
 absolutely nothing to tell you of myself, saving that late 
 in the afternoon I take my lonely walk, and then come 
 home again, or look in for a moment at Wesendonck's 
 first. There you have all. The household otherwise is 
 going on quite regularly ; I have nothing to com- 
 plain of. 
 
 Believe me, the only thing to interest me, is how you 
 are entertaining yourself (in place of me). I can easily 
 understand the Chemnitz visit having put you somewhat
 
 156 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 out of humour on the whole. The whole first part of 
 your holiday has been spent in none but small surround- 
 ings, and perhaps you're wondering why ? The more 
 sensible of you to have gone straight to Berlin now ; 
 from our Switzerland one should only go to a very big 
 city, as that affords the sole true contrast, whereas every- 
 thing else is bound to appear very tame. But you are sure 
 to be in clover now, with the good Frommann ; I am firmly 
 convinced she'll devise all manner of ways of distracting 
 you. Besides, she's on the most intimate footing with 
 every princess in the world ; so I take it for granted she'll 
 make you acquainted with some of them, and once you're 
 at Court, probably you will soon forget our Switzerland 
 and Zeltweg. I also have written to Liszt and Schmidt 
 in your behalf; they are to let you know direct, if a 
 performance [of one of my works] is taking place with 
 them, that you may arrange your return journey accord- 
 ingly. They're to write you to Leipzig (c/o Avenarius) ; 
 that will be quickest, as the information would have gone 
 too roundabout a road if it had come through me. 
 Doubtless you won't be staying long in Berlin, as you 
 want to be at Leipzig again the beginning of October for 
 Roschen's debut ; consequently I have told Schmidt you 
 might get to Frankfort about the middle of October. 
 Schindelmeisser has written me a deal again about the 
 representation of Lohengrin at Darmstadt : now, that lies 
 on the straight road from Frankfort to Basle ; so, if it 
 might interest you to see the Lohengrin there (perhaps 
 for a comparison with Frankfort), you would have to 
 write me to that effect forthwith, and maybe I could 
 arrange for you to witness that as well. Schindelmeisser 
 would be highly delighted, of course. 
 
 Now, dear Muzius, under Al wine's lead make it your
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 157 
 
 foremost care to feel quite happy. A thorough refreshing 
 of yourself for once is the main object of your journey ; 
 therefore, wherever you do not feel comfortable, you 
 must leave at a moment's notice, and preferably return to 
 the Zeltweg and your good husband. All send best love ; 
 on your side, give the good Frommann my cordial greet- 
 ings, be merry and calm : you can be and return in 
 sound health ! 
 
 Farewell, good old Wife and na, you know all 
 that. 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 72. 
 
 ZURICH, 5. October 1854. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Merely a couple of lines to-day at random : I 
 presume you are at Leipzig. So soon as you know 
 anything certain about Frankfort, please write at once 
 to Louis ScJiindelmeisser, grossherzogl. Ho/kapellmeister 
 in Darmstadt (nice and distinctly), telling him when 
 you can get to Darmstadt. Then he'll answer you to 
 Frankfort, whether and when he can give you a Lohengrin 
 performance. Tell him to address " beim Herrn Kapell- 
 meister G. Schmidt, " that will be the best plan. I 
 have provisionally told him you would be at Frankfort 
 toward the 24th. 
 
 Liszt has written me somewhat touchily : You were 
 actually in Germany now ; were you going to leave 
 Weimar in the lurch ? His letter crossed my own, 
 however, in which I had already acquainted him. Pro- 
 bably you will have had word from him by now ; but in 
 any case you must visit him. 
 
 Schmidt has written you also, has he not ?
 
 158 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Your being troubled with a complaint of the eyes 
 has greatly distressed me ; it gave me quite a shock when 
 I received a letter in Alwine's hand. It is to be hoped 
 you have recovered by now. 
 
 My God, I had no desire to make you heavy-hearted, 
 or debar you from anything : but - - when you are 
 back here at last let me out with it ! it will be just 
 what I like. 
 
 However for that sake miss nothing which affords 
 you pleasure do you hear ? ? 
 
 I hope you'll have also recovered from the petty 
 impressions by now. I am very eager for your next 
 letter from Berlin. You will have seen the Kladderatatsch 
 in person, won't you ? 
 
 I have nothing at all to announce you from here ; 
 nothing ever happens. Herr Dir. Walther passed on a 
 long letter from Julius [a brother of Wagner's] ; when you 
 see the latter, simply tell him that nothing would come 
 of it. 
 
 Best love to the Leipzig brood hold me dear and 
 above all, come back in perfect health ! 
 
 This the chief wish of 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 73. 
 
 ZURICH, 6. October 1854. 
 
 POOR DEAR WIFE, 
 
 One really may call that bad luck ! ! Whereas 
 I thought I might assume that the aim of your journey 
 was fulfilling itself better and better, that you were divert- 
 ing yourself, enlivening yourself, and so reacting bene- 
 ficially upon your jangled nerves, you are actually met by
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 159 
 
 quite special misfortunes ! Going by Alwine's letter, I 
 truly did not take so serious a view ; in fact I wrote to 
 Leipzig yesterday, because you said before that you 
 intended being there this week. Those lines you'll find 
 at Avenarius's ; they consisted chiefly of directions as to 
 Darmstadt : but there's time enough for that when you 
 arrive at Leipzig. It quite turned my head to-day, when 
 I received your letter ; naturally, work could no longer 
 be thought of. Still, no doubt I may believe you have 
 recovered from your wound : otherwise you would have 
 been unable to write me so much ; accept many thanks 
 for it ! Dear Heaven, when ever is good luck to hap ? 
 Really nothing, nothing but adversities ; and anything 
 agreeable so it seems ! is never to encounter us again. 
 So nothing remains but to be glad if the mischances pass 
 over one's head like the fox and his skin ! 
 
 But why on earth didn't you let Alwine write at once 
 that you had lost your money ? Even in your own letter 
 you don't yet put it as if you really needed more. You 
 silly woman, how could I think of leaving you in such a 
 fix? To-day I'm sending you forthwith at least whatever 
 I find possible : Alwine must surely have had to help 
 you ; so please return it her at once. 
 
 Ah, my God, how gladly I would have you back 
 again soon, and yet I keep on wishing you might not 
 return before you've had some slight enjoyment from your 
 journey, before you have refreshed yourself to some extent 
 and had enough ; but already arrived in Berlin, you have 
 to make a fresh start, and begin picking yourself up all 
 over again ! O you poor child of misfortune, do have 
 good luck for once ! You deserve it in truth. Whether 
 you will have obtained it from precisely Herr Hiilsen, I 
 strongly doubt ; your question as to the reasons why
 
 160 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Tannli. hasn't been given yet must strike him as very 
 naive, since he knows well enough that it all resides in 
 our demanding a summons for Liszt. Certainly I'm being 
 urged on all sides to abandon this demand at last, as the 
 success of Tannh. is now assured, even for Berlin, and I 
 am losing a certain yearly revenue of T,OOO thalers by the 
 delay. That may be all quite true ; only, there was a 
 time when people just as strongly warned me off, and 
 considered the success of Tannh. as not assured : at that 
 time it was decided to set up the condition about Liszt ; 
 he entered into it, and now I cannot so offend him as to 
 thrust him aside and disavow him all at once. If of his 
 own spontaneous motion he does not advise me to depart 
 from the old stipulation, I cannot possibly place him in 
 the false position of looking like a man who had imposed 
 himself upon me. That, dear Minna, you surely will see 
 for yourself, and I therefore assume that you will under- 
 take and utter nothing that stands in contradiction with 
 my friendship. It would be another matter, if you or 
 better still, Alwine could represent the actual state of 
 things to Liszt in such a fashion that he felt bound to 
 withdraw of his own accord : but even that can't be done 
 without offence to him, and it would still be the most 
 rational course if Liszt were really summoned. 
 
 He wrote me rather touchily, that you were positively 
 now in Germany : would you not be coming, then, to 
 Weimar? However, I had written him already. You 
 must visit him, whatever you do. Schmidt, I expect, 
 will only be able to give you the Tannh. ; the more 
 reason for your working in Lohengrin at Darmstadt : 
 simply write to Schindelmeisser from Weimar. 
 
 Your having visited your supposed arch-enemy at 
 Waldheim doesn't at all astonish me in you ; for I know
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 161 
 
 you, you see ! Your heart is broader and more compre- 
 hensive than your insight into the essence of characters 
 which by all means must strike you as strange and 
 repugnant, because one cannot expect you women to take 
 in the things of this world with so far-reaching and 
 assimilative a gaze as belongs for certain to the man the 
 poet. That your magnanimous heart (which you think fit 
 to call stupid and weak !) finally raises just yourself above 
 many ordinary women, I have experienced often enough 
 before not to be surprised in this instance. But on the 
 other hand, that you do not supplement this noble feature 
 of your heart by greater insight, for example to provide 
 you with a more benignant verdict on sundry matters in 
 my past it is just this I must often deplore, and for your 
 own sake also, I believe, since you rob yourself of far too 
 much peace of mind through so much opposition. How- 
 ever, your visiting Rockel was gallant and fine of you. 
 Your accounts of him do not surprise me ; he has a 
 nature firm as iron. 
 
 Now afford me the great delight of telling me right 
 soon you're feeling well and happy ; if my wishes can 
 assist you to it, be assured they issue from the fulness of 
 my heart sincere and warm ! 
 
 Salute dear good Alwine quite alarmingly from me ; 
 I hope to see her here next year ! Farewell, dear good 
 Minna ; be of good cheer ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 You are receiving 50 thalers to-day ; write 
 me by return whether you can manage with 
 them, that I might send on more. Deny 
 yourself nothing, simply ask ! ! 
 
 VOL. i ii
 
 163 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 74. 
 
 [Circa Oct. 20, 1854.] 
 
 O YOU GAD-ABOUT ! ! 
 
 Best thanks for your letter from Weimar to hand 
 to-day. Your accounts of the Flying Dutchman [Oct. 15] 
 and singer Milde delighted me much, but also increased 
 my longing to make music again in my own way for 
 once ! My residence for such a length of time in Zurich 
 really is a calamity which at last becomes too appreciable 
 to be fought down and repressed by nothing but proud 
 resignation. I confess that, if the Grand Duke of Weimar 
 were this day to obtain me permission to live in his small 
 country unmolested, probably I should not reflect long 
 before availing myself of that permission to choose the 
 neighbourhood of Weimar, where a little music really 
 could be plied from time to time. Yourself, too, you 
 have often expressed to me the wish to settle in Thur- 
 ingia ; perhaps it would be the only migration you would 
 care to join in now, though I should have to admit the 
 justice of your otherwise wishing to remain where we are. 
 If you agree with me in this, and should you likewise 
 think it wishful for us to settle in some place where I to 
 some extent could have the artistic means for my en- 
 deavours near me, then I would give you full authority to 
 discuss exhaustively with Liszt the measures for obtaining 
 that permission. In my opinion there would be nothing 
 else to do, than for the Grand Duke to beg permission for 
 me to reside undeterred in his country direct from the 
 present King of Saxony, whilst / in turn should pledge 
 myself not to quit his country without the Grand Duke's 
 consent. At the same time I'm prepared to give a solemn 
 promise never to engage in politics again ; only, they 
 would have to dispense me from any humiliating and
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 163 
 
 easily misrepresentable declaration anent the past. If 
 Liszt deemed it right, you might even seek an audience 
 of the Grand Duke yourself, or at least the Grand 
 Duchess, with this intent. In any case I lay stress on 
 this subject. 
 
 Do not wonder at my stepping forth with such a thing 
 so suddenly, and do not believe that it's only to-day it 
 has passed through my head. It is a feeling I long have 
 harboured, that without any stimulus whatever for my art 
 I should be unable in time to go on here. You know 
 how of late years I had kept nursing the hope that some- 
 thing might be done for music after all here : upon my 
 side, in truth, I've spared no efforts for it. The result, 
 however, shews there's nothing to be attempted with 
 these people here ; I shall even be unable to conduct 
 another symphony this winter ! * As long as I wrote 
 books here, and then poetry, it could be put up with ; 
 but for the past twelvemonth, ever since I began com- 
 posing again, this utter lack of stimulus was bound to end 
 by thoroughly depressing me. I feel that plainly with 
 my present work, I remark that zest for it is constantly 
 harder to come by, and am afraid lest, if things are to go 
 on much longer like this, I shall be giving up music 
 again. It's too severe on me ! 
 
 Well, the only thing against such a removal would be 
 its running counter to your wish, and your preferring to 
 remain here ; for you have gone through so much with 
 me, I confess, that in such things now I leave the casting 
 vote with you. Wherefore I want you not to bring me 
 
 * Nevertheless in the early part of 1855, before leaving for London, he 
 conducted five orchestral concerts of the Zurich musical society, giving his 
 Faust overture at two of them, also a stage-performance of Tannhiiuser j 
 see Life, vol. v. Tr.
 
 1 64 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 any sacrifice against your feeling ; for, if I knew that you 
 would rather stay here, rest assured it would be the 
 definitive reason for my continuing to make this place 
 endurable to me. So, only in case you entirely and 
 gladly concur with me. Should that be so, I beg you to 
 regard yourself as my plenipotentiary, and go at any rate 
 to the Grand Duchess.* Be assured that on this point I 
 implicitly confide in your understanding and insight ! 
 
 Regarding the Berlin production of Tannhauser, too, 
 you have done perfectly right ; none but you, for sure, 
 could have taken the matter in hand : not I. Doubtless 
 Liszt feels sore about it : if he retreats [he thinks], he'll 
 really be ashamed ; the decision to do so must therefore 
 come as altogether from himself. Certainly the necessity 
 of looking out for revenue compels me to want to see that 
 production hastened ; why should I seek to conceal it ? 
 The delay with Berlin brings all the other block about ; 
 just as, on the contrary, Berlin's example will quickly 
 draw the others after. Now all are dawdling : Munich, 
 Hanover, Stuttgart, and so on. If Liszt could only find 
 another remedy, I'd gladly go on waiting. L/et this 
 affair as well, however, be committed entirely to you. 
 
 For the rest, it's very wrong of you to try and make 
 your poor old husband so conceited, with your fairy-tales 
 that homage done to me as artist should also be taken as 
 intended for my person. It isn't at all right of you to 
 stuff me up like that, for it hadn't entered my head until 
 now ; I considered my beautiful person quite out of the 
 
 * Minna had in fact forestalled her husband's wish to some extent 
 already, since at this moment she was really in Dresden as bearer of a 
 letter from the Weimar Grand Duke to the new King of Saxony ; for which 
 endeavour, as also for her efforts at intermediation between Berlin and 
 Weimar re the Berlin Tanuhciuser, see her long letter to Hiilsen of a fort- 
 night later, from Zurich, reproduced in Life iv. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 165 
 
 game, and sufficient for no one but you. But I fancy, 
 best Muzius, you are mistaken this time ! Never mind, 
 I must indulge you in that. 
 
 For to-day my very best farewell ! All send you 
 their greetings, though for long I've seen no one. Most 
 cordial greetings to Liszt and his house. You don't say 
 a word as to whether Liszt received the score of " Rhein- 
 gold " ? Please ask him at once. I'm anxious about it, 
 you know ; neither has Biilow announced its receipt 
 Greet Milde too, the Kapellmeisterin and the Child [Psses 
 Wittgenstein]. Many hearty kisses from Thy 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 75. 
 
 PARIS, Thursday the is t March 1855. 
 
 O YOU POOR GOOD WlFE, 
 
 Ah, and your poor stupid husband ! Even at 
 Baden I wished to turn back ; then at Basle, and most 
 of all here in Paris ! My home-sickness is scarce to be 
 conquered, and it's probably that which is making me 
 quite ill. Not till u o'clock on Tuesday night did I get 
 to my hotel ; I took a back bedroom in the H6tel Mont- 
 morency for sake of the quiet boulevard : sleep wasn't to 
 be thought of that night (any more than in the coach 
 on the preceding one) ! Yesterday I felt so bad, in con- 
 sequence, that a resumption of my journey on Thursday 
 was quite out of the question ; and as I durst not go to 
 London on a Friday, I suppose it will be Saturday before 
 I reach my destination. I passed the whole day yesterday 
 trying to sleep ; I didn't go out till late, didn't find Kietz 
 in, and mean to look him up to-day. Last night was 
 rather better. Ah, if only I were at least back at my 
 work, from which I've been withheld so long ! Really,
 
 i66 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 all I care about in London is the hope of getting back to 
 work there very soon. 
 
 I feel as in a dream ; not a thought can I grasp, 
 except the thought that my going to London is in fact an 
 awful sacrifice ! 
 
 And you, poor woman, are left alone again ! Hold me 
 tight another time, that I don't get carried off again ! 
 Yes, I'm sorry for you as well : you will have to do your 
 best with Beaky [ " Knackerchen " = Jacquot] ; Peps will 
 hardly be of much assistance. Ach, Ach, Ach ! ! 
 
 Now I'll go and hunt up my Parisians ; perhaps I 
 shall write you more sensibly tomorrow. To-day I'm 
 still quite sleep-starved and upset ; you know that nasty 
 feeling ! 
 
 Farewell, dear good Wife ! Be tranquil, and reflect : 
 " God knows the good it may lead to ! " That's what 
 I mean to think myself, and see how far I get with it ! 
 
 Heartiest greetings to our friends ; I hadn't time to 
 telegraph at Basle, or I should have sent you another 
 Adieu. 
 
 Adieu, console yourself as well as you're able, and 
 wish me better humour too ! 
 
 Lord, if I had to conduct to-day ! I'm only glad I've 
 hardly promised anything as yet, and particularly nothing 
 from Tannhauser ! 
 
 Farewell, and hold me thoroughly dear for once ! ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RlCHEL. 
 
 76. 
 
 LONDON, Tuesday, 6. March 1855. 
 22. Portland Terrace, hcgcnts Park. 
 
 Well, I've shaken down, dear Mietzel. The first 
 morning that I can pass in peace for many days I
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 167 
 
 mean to devote forthwith to writing you a bit more 
 rationally than hitherto could be the case. I'm full of 
 tales to tell you, even if nothing at all extraordinary. 
 
 You know I didn't mean to travel on Friday, but not 
 to leave Paris till Saturday ; neither did I catch sight of 
 our old friends till very late. Kietz doesn't seem to be on 
 very good terms with his concierge : even the next day he 
 hadn't shewn her his face, and hadn't had my note at all ; 
 not finding him in again, I left stricter orders. At last I 
 got sight of the foolish young man and his friend Linde- 
 mann the evening of the second day. He was in the 
 thick of a money-lending trouble with his tailor again 
 of course but he and Lindemann refused to hear of not 
 treating me and Anders at their restaurant the last even- 
 ing. Anders has become incredibly childish ; he can't 
 trust himself to cross a boulevard now, but waits for an 
 omnibus to arrive and take him over ; he had fallen down 
 in the Bibliotheque a few days previously, smashed his 
 glasses, etc., a regular to-do. 
 
 This time I saw the Rachel also, in Cinna : it was 
 really instructive to get such a notion of that kind of 
 virtuosity ; she pained me greatly. With her acting, 
 even if the lady sang like a goddess, I couldn't use her for 
 any of my operas. More by mouth on that another time, 
 when I get back. 
 
 The journey to London went off quite safely. The 
 passage from Calais to Dover lasted only two hours, with 
 good weather ; though I felt a little bad, and was obliged 
 to lie down. At Dover, stupidly enough, we had to wait 
 2-i hours before the train moved off. 
 
 It is singular that I should have bad weather all the 
 time in Paris, whereas I arrived in ill-reputed London 
 with a beautiful clear sky. The cabman took a whole
 
 i68 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 hour driving me from the station to Praeger's, and that at 
 a sharp trot ; I might equally have driven all the way 
 from Zurich to Dr. Wille's at Mariafeld. It's a horribly 
 big city, and so far as size goes, Paris is a mere hamlet in 
 comparison ! As I wrote you yesterday [a missing letter], 
 Praeger has been very friendly and obliging ; but he at 
 once explained to me that, if I wanted peace, I must pay 
 my visits quickly to begin with. I complied, and we 
 drove about London as if it would never end ; Praeger 
 accompanied me, and consequently made a sacrifice of his 
 precious lesson-hours. By dinner-time yesterday we got 
 finished at last ; then we hunted for lodgings, and found 
 one I like very much, where I hope to work quite quietly 
 and undisturbed which is still the main affair with me, 
 whereas the concerts are really the secondary. So I am 
 living on the skirt of one of the most beautiful parts 
 of Regentspark, not at all far from the Animal-garden : 
 in front of the house a little garden down to the street, 
 and across the road the fine trees of the park ; so that I 
 may look joyfully forward to Spring, when it all will grow 
 nice and green. God knows it needs such hopes, too, for 
 me to tolerate the prospect of spending four whole months 
 here on a task so wholly foreign to me. If I can only get 
 done with my work \Walkure\, so as to be able to begin 
 the Young Siegfried at once on the dear Seelisberg, I 
 shan't so much mind. 
 
 But my lodging naturally isn't cheap ; it costs tzvo 
 pounds a week. Still, an agreeable abode is really my 
 principal aim, else I couldn't hold out here ; I mean 
 to save in other ways. For the present I still go to 
 Praeger for my meals, as he lives only a quarter of an 
 hour off a cat's jump here ; how to arrange it later we 
 shall see. Mr. Anderson promptly invited me to a big
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 169 
 
 banquet of the Queen's Band on Thursday ; which I 
 declined with due thanks. In general I mean to abide 
 by it : I conduct my concerts, but there's an end ! 
 These people shall see that I'm even more of an English- 
 man than themselves. I am in much dread of the 
 concerts themselves, however ; the orchestra, though very 
 good, is said to be completely unable to play piano ; 
 nothing but _//;/'&?, without any nuance. It is also correct, 
 that they have only one rehearsal, and at that two 
 symphonies, two overtures, and the other concerted pieces 
 are played through every time. How am I to do any- 
 thing with it? When I enquired after the programme 
 for the first concert, the first joy they gave me was their 
 having chosen Lachner's " Prize Symphony " as novelty ! 
 No, I struck that off at once, and told the gentlemen they 
 mustn't expect me to handle such rubbish. Of course the 
 foolish devils recognised their error immediately, and 
 begged me to attend a committee to-day, when they would 
 dispose the repertoire entirely according to my wish. So 
 I fancy \ve shall give a symphony of Haydn's and the 
 Eroica or C minor symphony of Beethoven ; for the over- 
 tures they had already selected the Magic Flute (to have 
 something by Mozart) and Fingal's Cave (to have some- 
 thing by Mendelssohn) : I have nothing against it. Ernst 
 plays a concerto by Spohr ; I don't yet know who sings. 
 If nothing happens in particular, I shall write you after 
 the rehearsal (on Saturday) ; I am waiting with impatience 
 for a letter from yourself by then. Ah God, if you could 
 only give me quite good news, especially about your health 
 and feelings ; it really is too bad that I should have to 
 leave you by yourself again ! 
 
 Believe me, dear Minna, even if we don't quite think 
 alike in some respects, and express ourselves differently
 
 170 
 
 about this and that from time to time, yet neither of us 
 can survey our life without seeing how near we stand to 
 one another through what great proofs of love and staunch- 
 ness in the most difficult and often the most appalling 
 situations. Only think of the memories thronging to my 
 mind as I re-tread this London where we roamed in such 
 distress and fearing 16 years ago ! What you have had 
 to pass through with me, has really been hard ! And 
 truly, if I could make things altogether smooth and 
 smiling for you now, it certainly would gratify my inmost 
 soul. But my not quite understanding how to do so, and 
 actually continuing to cause you worry and distress, has 
 come to be my singular fate, which I often heartily 
 lament for your sake. It touched me very much, how 
 hard this parting came to you again ; what I can do to 
 make the time of separation pleasant from afar, be sure it 
 shall be done. Good news from me, I know it, will be 
 the liefest to you : that I can only give you if I feel quite 
 free and easy at my work, which has become in fact my 
 solitary life-task worth the while. It rejoices me that you 
 yourself expect no more from hence than honour and a 
 good success to my artistic efforts, however restricted the 
 latter. Rich my art will never make me, and nothing 
 save the consciousness of finding a few devoted souls can 
 constitute my riches ; for them alone can I go on labour- 
 ing in this world. In this sense I hope to be able to give 
 you none but good accounts of myself ; but even that will 
 depend on my having to keep an eye on nothing else. I 
 am heartily glad to know that you nozv think entirely the 
 same with me on this point ! So await nothing but 
 good, and thus abridge the time of severance, just as 
 I propose to by my darling work ! 
 
 Now, heartiest greetings to our valiant, precious friends.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 171 
 
 Give Uncle and Aunt Wesendonck, dear creatures, my 
 best of thanks for their attachment. To the ferocious 
 Sulzer, the melancholy Boom, etc., convey my respects. 
 Greet Nette also, whom I somewhat forgot at parting ; 
 which has remained a grief to my remembrance. I often 
 see Peps before me of a sudden, but always as he looked 
 when young ; really the old scamp is hardly to be re- 
 cognised. Teach Knackerchen the loveliest things, that I 
 may also have my joy in him when I return. And 
 so farewell, all you who love me ; I'm ever thinking of 
 you here ! Farewell, dear good, much-tried Wife ; take 
 the full amount of joy in me you can ; no one needs it so 
 much as yourself ! Farewell, and hold quite dear 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Only now have I learnt the exact truth, that the 
 affair with my Tannhauser overture did not occur at my, 
 but at the new Philharmonic ; the conductor was Herr 
 Lindpaintner. 
 
 77. 
 
 LONDON, 13. March 1855. 
 
 Now I've only 7 more concerts to conduct and I shall 
 be on my way back ! And that's the cream of it all is 
 it not, dear Minna ? 
 
 There you have my whole sentiments in half-a-dozen 
 words. 
 
 After the rehearsal last Saturday it had become too 
 late to write, so I determined to wait and include the 
 performance of Monday [i2th]. As a fact it was the 
 rehearsal that gave me most pleasure ; the orchestra is 
 quite distinguished in its correctness and tone, only it has
 
 i;2 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 been let run to seed in its expression by bad conductors. 
 When I began taking the Beethoven symphony my way, 
 it staggered them all : I pulled up frequently, and was 
 very strict about piano ; but I had the gratification of 
 seeing how quickly my people got used to me : each 
 succeeding movement went better and better, till at last I 
 only needed brief hints to get everything in prompt 
 accordance with my wish. These bandsmen can do 
 anything ; the wind instruments in particular are very 
 good, and naturally there's no manner of question of such 
 a plague as I have with the people at Zurich, for even the 
 bassoons are excellent. So it also came about that I 
 brought the rehearsal sooner to an end than everyone had 
 feared. On my presentation to it, the orchestra received 
 me with prolonged applause ; I got Sainton, the first 
 violinist, to return thanks for me. After the symphonies, 
 and finally after the whole rehearsal, applause broke out 
 again. 
 
 The Directors of the society swam in bliss, and 
 assured me the orchestra had never played anything like 
 so well. For all my reluctance, I had to consent at 
 once to pieces of my own being presented at the very 
 next concert ; I chose the three pieces from Lohengrin 
 (overture, bridal procession, wedding music and bridal 
 chant) ivitJi chorus ; the translation is being made already. 
 They very much wanted the NiniJi symphony of 
 Beethoven to go therewith, and at last I consented 
 because of our needing a chorus already, and also of my 
 getting two rehearsals this time on account of my own 
 things which I certainly am also very glad of for the 
 symphony. Everything went to shew that these people's 
 courage had been screwed up several pegs, and they set 
 great hopes on me for an unusual success of their whole
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 173 
 
 season of concerts ; so they mean to strike while the iron 
 is hot. 
 
 At 8 yesterday evening came the performance, for 
 which I was allowed to appear in a black cravat ; only 
 when the Queen comes, which simply happens once in all 
 the season, must I be white about the throat as well. At 
 the beginning of the performance the band relapsed into 
 its old habit rather strongly, so that I felt I must 
 work hard at it yet, before transforming it completely. 
 The Eroica, however, especially the Funeral march, 
 already went much better, of course I'm only speaking 
 for myself ; for the others, all that went on was a wonder. 
 I had a long and very hearty welcome from the audience 
 much better than at Zurich ! the orchestra chimed in 
 with loud applause. Every movement was applauded, 
 and at the close I received such an endlessly long ovation 
 with Bravos, that I didn't know which way to turn with 
 my bo\vs. The band has taken me particularly to heart ; 
 many [of its members] assured me that everything I 
 conducted had been entirely fresJi to them ; they had not 
 known tliat before, though they knew almost every note 
 by heart ; so they begged me just to have a little patience 
 with them yet. But it is these relations with the orchestra 
 that also constitute my only pleasure : all the rest leaves 
 me cold, and in particular the audience ; which distin- 
 guished me highly, it is true, but in whose regard my 
 peculiar sense of such a thing distinctly told me that 
 it can't in truth be moved ; it all appears to me mere 
 phrase and fashion. At bottom that's perhaps the case 
 with every audience, in the bulk ; and it is always a mere 
 handful of persons more intimate with me, for whom 
 I make music from the depth of my heart. Those 
 I missed very much here ; and not until I transported
 
 174 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 myself to Zurich, during the Eroica, did I warm up and 
 be quite Richard Wagner. Nevertheless, I appear to 
 have made a great impression ; Praeger has just looked in 
 and assured me that everybody who understands music 
 was in great excitement and had gone quite crazy 
 [over me]. Well, we shall see ! 
 
 In my next letter I'll give you details of my other 
 conditions of life here. Unfortunately, I am still suffer- 
 ing from a severe cold ; the climate, with this awful cold 
 damp fog, is very detrimental to me ; I can never get 
 properly warm indoors, the rooms are too badly protected, 
 and the fireplace only gives heat when you're close to it. 
 One has to spend a terrible amount of money ! Almost 
 daily i schilling for nothing but coals ! The distances are 
 so frightful, that I can't get on without a cab-fare every 
 day. Half a bottle of claret at the worst restaurant 
 3 schillings, and so on. But, as said, upon that in 
 my next. At present I'm awaiting news from you 
 again ; I was hoping for it yesterday. Your first letter 
 rejoiced and touched me greatly ; I thank you for it 
 heartily, good woman you ! Upon my soul, even here 
 I'm really still at home with you and our dear friends. I 
 also mean to write to each of them in time. For 
 to-day greet all from all my heart ; my homeland's solely 
 with yourselves ! Farewell, dear good Minna ; soon more 
 about my living. Farewell, good old Wife ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 I haven't a wife here, but mother and sister ; for 
 Praeger mothers me, and Klindworth a dear young 
 fellow, just like Uhlich, recommended to me by Liszt 
 sisters me ; so that between them I am very well looked 
 after !
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 175 
 
 Semper and Klindworth saw me home last evening ; 
 they brought wine and champagne with them, and we sat 
 up till 3 in the night. I'm very tired to-day. Forgive ! 
 
 On Sunday I dined at Mr. Anderson's en famille ; 
 your health was drunk, which moved me deeply, so 
 that I took a tremendous gulp. Liszt has sent me no 
 recommendation to Erard yet ; so I'm still without a 
 piano, and alas have not begun to work. 
 
 So farewell once again, dear old girl ! Give me 
 very good news of yourself, that my heart may grow lighter 
 when my thoughts fly home. -I'm intending to make use 
 of Wesendonck's introduction one of these days albeit I 
 require nobody. 
 
 78. 
 
 LONDON, (14 ?) March 1855. 
 
 22. Portland Terrace. Regents Park. 
 
 Best thanks for your letters, dear Minna, the second 
 of which I have this moment received. Your uneasiness 
 troubles me, and I hasten to dispel it, so far as in me lies. 
 Concerning the first concert you are exhaustively informed 
 now ; I have nothing to add, excepting that yesterday's 
 newspapers already devoted much space to it. The re- 
 porter to the ' ' Times, ' ' an intimate friend of Mendelssohn's, 
 and a man whom every artist arriving here must pay 
 tribute to, if he isn't to tear him to pieces, is furious with 
 me ; blind opposition presumably will go on that way for 
 a time. Others on the contrary, for instance in the 
 " Morning Post, " have dilated on my performance with 
 surprising clearness, and paid it the greatest recognition. 
 You know how indifferent I am to all of this ; so not 
 another word aboiit it ! The orchestra is enthusiastic for
 
 176 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 me ; I have been assured I could do what I liked with it, 
 down to the very last man. That remains to be seen 
 at the next concert, for which I've two rehearsals. 
 
 I promised to be rather more circumstantial this time 
 about my mode of life ; gladly would I have done it in 
 a more cheerful temper than has been made possible to 
 me now by your news. Friend Wesendonck's fear of ex- 
 travagances, on my part, I do not altogether relish. In 
 the first place, I'm bound to judge from his remarks that 
 he doesn't know London quite well enough, at least 
 as regards the conditions under which it's possible for me 
 to live here for a length of time. The statements of Frau 
 Wille and his own wife, that 200 pounds would only just 
 enable me to live decently in London for four months, in 
 his eyes may rank as exaggerations by those who under- 
 stand nothing about it ; but it is curious that I haven't 
 met a single person here who wouldn't have confirmed 
 their view at once, or didn't smile when 1 spoke of 
 intended savings. For myself, too, with my present 
 experiences I find I should get through the 200 pounds 
 quite certainly if I meant to live without some sort 
 of stint ; but / mean to stint myself in truth, and save 
 in any case. In every other way I can and mean to 
 do it, only in that of abode it would be a sacrifice which 
 would render my endurance here downright impossible. 
 A thoroughly agreeable dwelling-place, cheerfully situated 
 and with a little convenience, to me is indispensable, as I 
 shall be indoors and working nearly all day long. There's 
 not a hint of luxury about the lodging I have taken, and 
 if I were to draw you up a list of the conveniences I miss 
 here, as compared with home, it would become a long 
 one ; still, it attracted me, and I have now installed 
 myself as comfortably as I was able. As regards the
 
 price, out of some 20 lodgings I looked at in this neigh- 
 bourhood with Praeger, I found none under i^ pound, 
 and they lacked too much to make them acceptable to me 
 for a period of 4 months. Praeger has been in L,ondon 
 over 20 years, and knows it very minutely, according to 
 the testimony of everyone ; he told me I should find 
 no lodging suitable for me under i| pound, i p. 15 sch., 
 and so on. It pains me to have to excuse myself at such 
 length upon this point ! 
 
 It would be far worse if I had to go on dining at 
 a restaurant ; I should never get away under 6 schillings, 
 as I can neither drink beer nor the fiery English wine 
 [sherry?], and have always had to pay 3 sch. for half a 
 bottle of French red wine. I have tried it repeatedly, 
 and found that it can't be done cheaper. On the con- 
 trary, I have hit on the expedient of laying wine in (at 3 
 sch. the bottle), and mostly getting my dinner also cooked 
 at home ; which comes fairly cheap, since they only 
 charge me with the actual outlay. My dinner then 
 consists of soup (the most expensive item), a rostbeaf, and 
 Chester cheese. For my lunch (at i) I generally send out 
 for a dozen oysters. I fancy I shall manage cheapest 
 that way. I am often invited out, too (as yesterday to 
 Sainton's, to-day to Semper's, Sunday to Praeger's). I 
 couldn't go on feeding at the latter 's (regularly) since he 
 only dines at home 3 times a week himself, and even 
 then just scampers through it, as a rule, at 2 o'clock ; 
 which doesn't suit me. So the chief remaining things 
 are firing (very dear bat necessary !) and transport. As 
 regards the firing, I have hopes of seeing that item vanish 
 with the coming of Spring ; I shall probably retrench 
 in transport also by degrees, as soon as I get to know the 
 omnibuses and their usage better. So set your mind at 
 voi,. i 12
 
 178 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 rest about my extravagances ; I shall save in any case 
 only, don't begrudge me my apartment ! 
 
 I'm going to write to Sulzer, too, to-day : [that] 
 I shall try and make it possible to have money shortly 
 sent him for yourself ; meanwhile he will know how to 
 assist you for a few weeks, so that you may fall into no 
 difficulty and also be able to procure yourself some fresh 
 vegetables and meat.* 
 
 To Alwine I likewise am writing to-day, as also 
 to Liszt : [that] this matter must come to an end, and 
 Hiilsen is to have the Tannhauser. 
 
 (I cannot spare another score for private use ; tell 
 Hug's that.) 
 
 Last night I dreamt most vividly of Peps ; he didn't 
 seem young, though, but quite old and deformed, com- 
 pletely blind, and so deplorable that I started out of sleep 
 with the cry, "O you poor creature ! " In general I'm 
 feeling rather tender ; please send me right good tidings, 
 to help me hold out. The new has little charm for me, 
 almost nothing but disgust now ; my heart cleaves to 
 rest, ay, to the accustomed, because I have to keep 
 experiencing the more that I'm to experience nothing 
 joyful any more. I feel much bitterness ; everything 
 here leaves me monstrous cold ; unfortunately I see 
 through the empty and hollow too fast now, and all 
 illusion comes harder and harder to me. If it weren't 
 for my relations with this orchestra, its affection and the 
 hope of thereby turning out fine work, nothing, nothing 
 could retain me here ; not even the so envied lodging / 
 Farewell for to-day, dear good Wife. Be merrier than I, 
 
 * After certain comments already made in a French review, I fear 
 it is not quite unnecessary to emphasise the obvious irony of this last 
 clause. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 179 
 
 and perhaps it will make me so myself again ! Farewell, 
 and kind regards to all. 
 
 I had to pay i pound 12 schl. for the box of music ! 
 If Hr. Hoffmann had only addressed it to his brother here, 
 it would have come far cheaper. I have also had to buy 
 a feather-bed for my feet.* 
 
 Tomorrow I am to be driven to Benecke's, to whom 
 Wesendonck had recommended me ; my next letter I 
 shall therefore write to Wesendonck. I still have no 
 piano ! (Don't take such thick paper again, as the last 
 time ; I had to pay double postage for it.) You see how 
 thrifty I'm becoming, and let us hope you'll rejoice with 
 W. about it. 
 
 79. 
 
 22. PORTLAND TERRACE. REGENTS-PARK. 
 Thursday, the 22nd March 1855. 
 
 MOST EXCELLENT OF ALL WlVES, 
 
 Since you will it, you shall also have a letter 
 from me to-day, though it wasn't until yesterday I wrote 
 to Wesendonck as you wished and therewith conveyed 
 to you pretty well all that there was to report even if 
 not precisely much to rejoice at. Consequently I have 
 little to add about my sojourn here to-day, excepting 
 that you may think yourself lucky not to be sharing it. 
 Indeed I should be unspeakably sorry for you, if you were 
 here with me now ; I'm in nothing better than penal 
 servitude, and one pleasant day in my house would be 
 dearer to me than all these indifferent pomps of the 
 world-city. That is a long story, however, and we'll see 
 how I survive it ; but in no case will it lead to anything 
 
 * Praeger speaks of " an eider-down quilt for his bed," the requirement 
 plainly being warmth, as we shall find in Venice later. Tr.
 
 i8o RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 remarkable, and I stick to it that my coming hither was 
 a sacrifice. Whether I still shall give pleasure to the 
 gentlemen here, or not, is quite immaterial to me ; but 
 even that will not be much : there are too few rehearsals, 
 the choruses are miserable, and a performance of the 
 Ninth symphony like that at Dresden simply isn't to be 
 thought of. So I'm just making the best of it, and have 
 the greatest difficulty not to succumb to a sudden attack 
 of Swiss home-sickness and take to my heels. 
 
 My setting up is fairly finished. A splendid Hrard 
 grand has arrived ; I have had a standing-desk built for 
 me, and have already picked up again, as well as I can, 
 the threads of my profitless work. With Economy I'm 
 also getting even, by degrees ; already I have hopes of 
 coining out of it with what was settled. If I'm not 
 invited out, I take all my meals at home now, where I 
 get them best and cheapest ; these people only charge me 
 for their outlay and the fire, and all in reason. Generally 
 I eat nothing but rostbeaf, with a dozen oysters first ; for 
 what they understand by soup here invariably is nothing 
 but an enormously dear big tureenful of appallingly thick 
 spiced fluidity, which I can't endure. For that matter, 
 I notice no great mischief from the diet here as yet ; the 
 air is very healthy, always wind and sea-breezes, so that 
 I scarcely can clothe myself warm enough or eat to satiety. 
 I'm wearing double under-hose beneath my black leg- 
 garments now. 
 
 For the rest, I haven't had sight again of so much of 
 London as that time with you ; it doesn't attract me at 
 all. Klindworth has been and still is ill ; when he is up 
 again and the weather fine, we mean to have a day on 
 the Thames. Long excursions into the country, on the 
 other hand, I probably shall be unable to make ; I
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 181 
 
 shouldn't know where to find the money, if I mean to 
 save, for you have no idea at all of the expensiveness in 
 England. How much dearer everything is than in Paris, 
 you may judge by my having to give 2 schilling here, 
 i.e. 215- _/;'., for the same pastilles de Vichy I pay i fr. for 
 there. An omnibus there costs 6 sous here 6 pence ; 
 exactly as much again. Yesterday afternoon I paid 
 another call on Semper, who lives an immense distance 
 from me, before his departure : I only went by omnibus, 
 but had to take two different ones each way ; making 
 2 schilling for nothing at all. By the by : Semper will 
 not come to Zurich till summer July ; he has work to 
 do in Paris first, for the exhibition. They have been 
 leading a wretched life here ; when I dined with them, 
 they ruined my stomach with pork. To-day I dine with 
 that delightful fellow, Sainton ; tomorrow at Benecke's, 
 to whom I was introduced by Wesendonck. Otherwise 
 I stick indoors, now working, then reading. Beyond an 
 obstinate cold, however, my health is passable. 
 
 (I've just been interrupted by a caller, and so have 
 lost the time to get this letter finished before post ; also, 
 I must dress to go out. So you'll have to wait a day 
 longer ; perhaps I may add something sensible tomorrow !) 
 And still, I'd rather try and wind this letter up 
 to-day, that you may not have to wait Sainton 's soup 
 can wait, for choice. Indeed I should have liked to fish 
 up this and that, to tell you plenty- 
 Halt, there comes somebody else ! I can't help it 
 now ; you will have to wait until tomorrow ! 
 
 I have just got home, 10 in the evening, and don't 
 want to go to sleep before ending my letter, which 
 couldn't have gone off to-day in any case, since it's a 
 great English Day of Penitence and Prayer (on account
 
 i8a RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 of the Crimea) and on such a day the English are too 
 pious to attend to their post after n in the morning. I 
 should be glad to report a great deal more to you, as you 
 set some store by it ; only God knows I don't rightly 
 know what. You mustn't fret about the Times etc. : to 
 me their yelling is terribly indifferent ; I get a little of 
 it told me, that is all. The whole thing springs from 
 purely personal interests, as to which I'm accurately 
 informed now : other motives, people here as mostly 
 everywhere, no doubt never have. There is nothing 
 to be done against it, except to retire if one doesn't feel 
 up to it, which is just what they want ; as I do feel up 
 to it, however, I shan't retire this time, but let them go 
 on bellowing their nonsense : in the end I am told 
 they will stop. Moreover, I have really nothing else 
 in mind here, and if I only were earning more money, 
 should be quite content ; for it strictly is indifferent to 
 me whether I'm thought something of here, when I see 
 what charlatans have been thought something of before. 
 Besides, there's nothing to be expected even of the Court ; 
 everything is hollow and rotten there as I strictly had 
 known long since. 
 
 I will write to Henniger of Dresden (my haberdasher) 
 and try to regulate the old debt. My last letter to Liszt 
 was a very tough job for me : I know I am not pleasing 
 him with my decision about Berlin ; yet it had to be, 
 and the thing is done. I wrote the Frommann at once, 
 also to Fischer concerning the score. Hiilsen is to pay 
 me an advance of 100 louis d'or on the tantieme, if 
 possible, and send it to Sulzer forthwith : if he does, you'll 
 be well provided for a long time. How and when I shall 
 get my money here, is very uncertain still, as these fees 
 are not paid till the end, as a rule, unless one asks before.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 183 
 
 I must see how to manage it, though I don't quite care 
 to dun for money. 
 
 Tell me a lot about Pepsel and Knackerchen next 
 time. Odd, but I really couldn't get myself a puppy 
 here ; it would strike me as a hideous disloyalty while 
 the good old chap is still alive ; just you keep him going 
 and lively by diet. So soon as the weather turns 
 warmer, I mean to visit the Zoological Garden with its 
 animals very often ; it's not worth while at present, as 
 they are all shut up. An overworked horse dropped dead 
 before my eyes the other day ; that is said to be some- 
 thing quite usual here : how glorious ! There, you have 
 your sheetful now, and it is late ; pick out the best of 
 it, be well and tranquil : I'm holding out ! Farewell, 
 dear good old Minna, sore-tried Wife, and hold me dear. 
 Adieu, Adieu ! 
 
 From your letter of to-day I see it only cost you 
 55 cent. : here I have to pay u pence ; I should almost 
 be inclined to go on writing unfranked, yet will buy 
 myself stamps ; only, I cannot do it at this time, and a 
 post-office for franking will be too far out of my way 
 tomorrow : so, pay once more. 
 
 80. 
 
 LONDON, 27. March 1855. 
 
 Well, my dear Mienel, I've only 6 more concerts to 
 conduct ! 
 
 From my rosy paper, for that matter, you may judge 
 that I'm in better humour than last week. Merely, I 
 am frightfully knocked up and tired to-day, and can 
 undertake nothing beyond writing to you. True, I'm 
 hoping for a letter from yourself tomorrow ; but it would 
 be disgraceful if I kept you waiting, and didn't write
 
 184 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 you straight off on the success of our yesterday's concert. 
 Everything went quite well, and particularly the pieces 
 from Lohengrin, which were played by the band with 
 great affection and extraordinarily finely. But I'll tell 
 you my tale seriatim. 
 
 The first part began with the " Freischiitz " overture 
 (which / hadn't chosen, though). It made such an 
 impression, that it was demanded ' ' da capo ' ' at once ; 
 so, having experienced how ill it was taken of me at 
 Zurich that I didn't promptly respond, I laid the good 
 lesson to heart and let the overture be played a second 
 time : for which I also had the special reason, that I 
 wasn't absolutely satisfied with the first execution, and 
 might look for a still better rendering the second time 
 (which was different at Zurich, where I feared it wouldn't 
 go so well again the second, as the first time). To wind 
 up the first part came Lohengrin. Now, you must try 
 and realise what opinion of my compositions had hitherto 
 been foisted on the people here, namely that they were 
 a mass of crazy stuff ; so everybody was on the tiptoe 
 of anticipation as to ivhat particular sort of nonsense 
 one was going to get : not a breath was to be heard. 
 Gradually the prelude of the Holy Grail with its soft- 
 ness and sublimity seemed to transport these people to 
 quite another region : it was admirably played as said 
 and so really seemed to make a deep impression ; long 
 after the last faint tones had died away, all remained 
 still as a mouse, as if at church, till at last came quite 
 a hearty outburst of applause, which after the bridal 
 procession, and finally after the wedding-music and bridal 
 chant, mounted to a regular storm, so that I had to 
 strew my obeisances between the desks on the platform 
 for a considerable time in no little embarrassment.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 185 
 
 Naturally the orchestra joined in with great uproar, and 
 when I reached the conversation-room the Directors re- 
 ceived me with the heartiest delight ; whilst my friend 
 Sainton almost burst for joy. 
 
 With the second part, the Ninth symphony, a little 
 reaction almost set in ; as it nearly always happens to 
 my compositions, perhaps for simple reason of their 
 colouring, that they somewhat weigh on what comes 
 next. Still, I kept fresh by dint of the utmost ex- 
 ertion and so did the orchestra, and the performance 
 pleased me after all ; the chorus also did its best in 
 the end, and only the soloists were good for nothing. 
 Again the orchestra rendered me its enthusiastic thanks 
 for having laid open this work to it, and many features 
 in the execution convince me that I and my method 
 have already made a great impression on the bandsmen. 
 Friend Publicus did not quite seem to catch the drift, 
 and when the thing was drawing to its close, the glorious 
 custom of quitting the room during the music asserted 
 its right ; so that I was half inclined to think the 
 symphony had failed, if I hadn't at once been assured 
 that this work had never yet appealed here (in spite of 
 belief on Authority !) and had relatively had a great 
 success this time. Be that as it may, at 10 this morning 
 Herr Benecke came driving up, to testify among other 
 things that people here had never understood the 
 symphony before, and only through this extraordinary 
 performance had an understanding of it been opened to 
 connoisseurs themselves ; but no one, also, had ever 
 heard it given tliat way. Regarding my own composi- 
 tions [said B.], they had decidedly had a complete and 
 general success, and everybody was astonished at its 
 being even possible to trump up such nonsense about
 
 i86 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 such ' ' splendid ' ' music as had been done here in the 
 newspapers. 
 
 I must tell you a few comical traits, as they are 
 characteristic of the people here. After the Lohengrin 
 a local connoisseur, Salomon, expressed himself thus : 
 "Devil take it, they say the fellow's nothing but a 
 'Humbug,' yet you can see with half an eye there's 
 genius here ! " During the Freischiitz overture two 
 musical gentlemen were sitting in front of Klindworth ; 
 at first they kept nudging each other : at the Adagio 
 they shook their heads, ' ' Too slow " ; at the Allegro, 
 " Too fast " then, "Why slow again?" at last they 
 held their peace a long while, till suddenly the one 
 exclaimed, "By thunder, but it's really capital !" and 
 finally the pair applauded most enthusiastically and 
 called " da capo!' 1 ' 1 Then, an old gentleman had brought 
 the score of the Ninth symphony with him, and he 
 and his wife religiously followed the performance in it 
 without moving a muscle ; finally comes the last tempo 
 of all, he slams the book, and makes straight with his 
 wife for the door ; so that it looked just as if he had 
 been spelling it all out to know the exact point of time 
 one must be off to escape the crowd. 
 
 You see, my bad temper has cleared up into irony : 
 I smile more at these people now, than let them vex 
 me, but hold of course to my opinion that it remains 
 a hollow business with the public proper ; single very 
 warm and sincere protestations of friendship have to 
 indemnify me for what I really have faith in no longer. 
 Before the last rehearsal, however, I had grave fears 
 about the performance, and on Saturday I made an 
 awful victim of myself to be rid of those fears. I had 
 ordered the chorus alone, with piano, for 9 in the
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 187 
 
 morning : after screaming myself hoarse with my eternal 
 sore throat at u began my band rehearsal, which lasted 
 until half past 3. Imagine the condition in which I 
 reached home ! Still, I had won hope in return for 
 my exertions, and that gave me better humour ; which 
 finally has buoyed me up till now, when, although 
 fearfully tired, I yet am writing, as you see, with 
 cheerful calm. 
 
 I took Klind worth home with me after yesterday's 
 concert ; we consumed 2 dozen oysters, cold cutlets, and 
 washed them down with a bottle of wine till 2 o'clock. 
 Did I think of home the while ? ? Dear child, it stays 
 my solitary hope, that the thing may come to end here 
 and I return at last to my familiar country ; for that 
 is Zurich to me now, my house, my friends, my animals 
 and yes, I must tell it you my good old, first-rate, 
 thorough-bad I meant to say, dear Wife more than 
 ever ! Well, I shall try to keep on end till then, as 
 I see very well it's a matter of sticking to my post this 
 time, even if it strictly is not my right post. 
 
 Whatever else I might have had to write to you, 
 I'll make good tomorrow or the next day if I shall 
 have received another letter from you ; I have plenty 
 more to report : to-day [it has been] merely the last 
 concert. Let me hope my present letter will be agree- 
 able to you ; if it contributes a little to cheering you 
 up, and thus to making your thorny life a wee bit 
 pleasant, it will heartily rejoice me. 
 
 Farewell for to-day, then, dear Muzius, be comforted 
 and hold dear 
 
 Thy 
 
 very good HUSBAND. 
 
 A thousand greetings to all ! I shall shortly send
 
 i88 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 journals and programme (also of the Last symphony 
 in English). 
 
 81. 
 
 LONDON, 30. March 1*55. 
 
 MY QUITE GOOD MlENEL, 
 
 Even to-day I shan't arrive at writing you the 
 promised letter, yet I mean to bring off a couple of lines 
 at least to keep you from growing uneasy. For your 
 last letter I thank you heartily ; I see you're doing 
 all you can to keep me in good humour. Well, it's 
 to be hoped that my last letter, which you will have 
 received this morning, has pacified you. Nothing what- 
 ever has happened since, neither have the papers come out 
 with anything yet of importance ; the Times has kept 
 silence till now, though I don't know if it has printed 
 anything to-day. It is only for you folk I mention this ; 
 if I seek information about it, it isn't that /set any store 
 by it, but because you folk appear to. Uncle and Aunt 
 [Wesendonck] have written me very amiably to-day : 
 give them my heartiest thanks to go on with ; anyhow I 
 mean to set apart a day exclusively for answers soon. 
 Then I shall also send whatever printed matter I can lay 
 hands on ; only, don't any of you expect something 
 decent. Sulzer requests me, if anything "substantial" 
 appears, to send it on to him : he may have long to 
 wait ! Meantime I make him a present of his beautiful 
 faith in English solidity and humanity : here no one 
 shares it, and the bottomless hollowness of all modern 
 English relations is an open secret, chirped by the very 
 sparrows on the roofs. 
 
 Last week I was at a performance of the ' ' Sacred 
 Harmonic Society," where they give religious music,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 189 
 
 oratorios etc., 25 to 30 times a year. Really that is 
 the best music one has in Hngland : the Requiem, in- 
 deed, was quite respectably rendered under Costa. I 
 paid him a call on the strength of it yesterday, which 
 appeared to please him very much. The day before yes- 
 terday, however, I was at the New Philharmonic Society, 
 where I heard a mass of music (including the C minor 
 symphony) so banged about under Dr. Wylde's direction, 
 that I felt quite ill : the Times praises it highly. It was 
 awful ! To-day I dine with Ernst, who has married an- 
 other Jewess here. Tomorrow I go to Benecke's again, 
 where proceedings are sociably wooden, and rather auda- 
 ciously wind up with music. On that I'll shortly write 
 the Wesendoncks. For the rest, never a lord, nor yet a 
 lady, has taken me up ; they all are very wide-awake, 
 and none have lost their senses. 
 
 You haven't a word of praise for my decision to let 
 Berlin have Tannh. without conditions ? As to myself, it 
 cost me a hard struggle ; for, as the matter stands and 
 people are, doubtless I have offended Liszt deeply : he 
 hasn't yet answered me. Still, what does one not do for 
 money's sake ? one can't stand firm for ever, especially as 
 nobody would comprehend one's not wanting to tread on 
 the corns even of a foible of a friend so proved in other 
 ways. The Frommann has written me as if gone crazy ; 
 I had two letters on one day from her. Well, Hr. v. 
 Hiilsen means ardently to back my wish for an advance of 
 100 L. d'or ; what more can one ask ? 
 
 I've also written to my Dresden draper. Now I'm 
 in London, all the world deems me rolling in riches 
 again. Franck of Paris, too, has politely reminded me of 
 my old debt, which I should really like to pay him from 
 my savings here. So it keeps on, dear Mienel : we shall
 
 190 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 never alight on a green twig we must abandon that idea ; 
 neither will there be any extra windfall for me here. God 
 knows what will be the end of it ; the best way is to lose 
 the trick of living, which somehow does not seem given 
 one for joy. I'm always offering all I have, and lavishing 
 the whole of my powers I feel that in my poor body ! 
 but towards me everything is leathern, coy, or common. 
 I suppose that's how it's bound to be! Only the Jews and 
 scamps can make money as " artists " nowadays ; one 
 sees that here. 
 
 For the rest, I'm leading a very retired life of it : 
 work is going fairly, my sole remaining joy ! but when at 
 it, I daren't think of the fate of my works. Don't fret 
 about me, though ; I'm still keeping afloat. I slept well 
 last night for once at least ; only, I've caught a fresh cold, 
 and no wonder after the concert. Please don't frank any 
 more ; it distresses me. The Messieurs Directors have 
 just sent 50 pounds into my house for the first two con- 
 certs, which will carry me a long way ; if they repeat it 
 soon, Wesendonck shall have his 1000 fr. out of it. For 
 you we'll wait for Berlin now. If I feel comfortable in 
 the next few days, I will write you a nice letter. Many 
 thanks again for yours. 
 
 Farewell, dear old girl, and distribute kind regards. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 82. 
 
 LONDON, 7. April 1855. 
 
 (Do you have to pay extra on my letters ? ?) 
 Yesterday morning, dearest old woman, I received your 
 pink letter ; then Eschenburg came, and brought me your 
 yellow. Touching this latter, it grieves me that an over-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 191 
 
 sight at the Post should have turned you so rusty at once. 
 Since I had had to write to Wesendonck, as you advised 
 me yourself in fact, I referred you to him for further news 
 of me : and you thought that so dreadful ! You were 
 right to disown the yellow letter in advance. For the 
 rest, as regards Semper' s reports, you know my abode now 
 through my own description : if Semper saw more rooms, 
 it must be ascribed to his imaginativeness as architect ; 
 but perhaps you simply understood him wrong, just as 
 distrustful people sometimes don't hear rightly. Do you 
 believe I'd tell you all a story, maybe to feather my nest 
 here on the sly ? If Semper said I'm standing champagne 
 here, it was very modest of him ; for it was he who paid 
 for a bottle of champagne after the first concert, and as 
 I couldn't afford to revenge myself, I promised him a 
 champagne-fete at Zurich instead. That it seems he 
 has expressed quite elegantly. For that matter, I was 
 only three times in his company : when I went to him 
 last, he had meant to be just departing, but had been 
 delayed by a row with a workman ; which had thrown 
 him into such an awful temper, that he wanted to smash 
 up his whole house. That amused me, and I began 
 joking about it in my usual way, which ended by sending 
 him into fits of laughter ; hence his conveying you the 
 report of my jocular mood, which seemed to you in such a 
 contradiction with my letters. Really, a mite of belief in 
 those nearest one is a beautiful thing. Belief doesn't 
 appear to strike very deep with you, and I often have to 
 give you explanations it were better to omit 
 
 Your having written to Alwine that Hiilsen was to 
 send the 100 ly.d'or to me in London, is a fresh confusion 
 again, and will cost a lot of money. What on earth can 
 have warranted you in believing I shouldn't eke out with
 
 192 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 my money here ? Have I ever cast a moment's doubt on my 
 even saving something to bring back to Zurich ? All I gave 
 you to understand, was that it is dearer here than Wesen- 
 donck wished to impress on me, and that I certainly must 
 live very simply and make no long excursions, if I meant 
 to save up ; which, on the other hand, has always been 
 my aim and intention. My God, please don't read any- 
 thing behind my lines that isn't in them ! I shall do 
 better to keep things to myself in future, and not lament 
 again about my stay here, as you people really always end 
 by seeing something beneath it, perhaps even affectation ; 
 for you yourself, alas, have no notion at all of my 
 candour ! So let us drop the subject ! 
 
 I have been invited by Eschenburg and Gerber to go 
 with them to Sydenham to-day, to see the Crystal Palace ; 
 my first outing from London. Next time I'll tell you all 
 about it. 
 
 For the last 2 days Spring weather has also set in ; 
 mild, balmy but relaxing air, I enjoyed it yesterday in 
 Hydepark ; as soon as the trees turn green, I shall go to 
 Richmond, and some day to the Isle of Wight as well, 
 where it is said to be very beautiful. Otherwise I'm 
 always suffering from enervation, which after all is better 
 than excitement, only that I have no true spirit for my 
 work yet ; I feel as if I had forgotten it all : God knows 
 if it will return to my memory. On the whole I'm drag- 
 ing on from day to day, without the smallest zest for life : 
 but there, I won't complain ! 
 
 I've nothing more to tell you of the concert business 
 here. A letter inviting me to the committee seems to 
 have recently gone astray, and accordingly they made up 
 their programme without me. To-day I learn that the 
 gentlemen have chosen a symphony of Spohr's and a ditto
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 193 
 
 of Mendelssohn's (the same which A. Miiller regaled us 
 with at Zurich lately) : ah, what bliss for me ! However, 
 I have written Herr Hogarth at once and lodged a 
 protest, requesting a symphony by one of those gentle- 
 men to be at least accompanied by one of Beethoven's. 
 I shall see if I'm in time to alter it. After all, though, 
 it's much the same to me ; a Beethoven symphony doesn't 
 make a hair's breadth more effect here, than any other. 
 You would laugh if you could only see this audience : what 
 the men have too long between nose and mouth, the 
 women all have too short ; not one can close her mouth, 
 but perpetually displays two naked teeth. Moreover, the 
 ladies all wear the most atrocious colours, hardly any but 
 scarlet burnouses, etc. ; one often sees an enormously lux- 
 uriant coiffure, with roses and curls, and for frontispiece a 
 nose with glasses. 
 
 Of my future bearings towards these relations I haven't 
 a notion, but hope the Philharmonic won't be so stupid as 
 to want to engage me again at double the fee, as I suppose 
 one would be obliged to accept for dear money's sake ; and 
 then you would have to come too and then you'd 
 be very sorry for me. I say nothing further ! I have 
 been to the Beast-garden again, and this time made my 
 chief call on the lions and tigers, who snarled a good deal 
 at me over their meal ; two lion cubs are very intimate 
 with a bull-dog. The birds are fabulous ; a wonderful 
 species of ostrich with rose-coloured wings surprised me 
 much. But the whole thing is very fine ! The other day 
 Klind worth played me a sonata of Liszt's too beautifully 
 for words ; it was in the evening, at my rooms, and both 
 of us wrote to Liszt at once, which will have given him 
 great delight. For the rest, I'm living even lonelier 
 than at Zurich here, but also do not care a rap for 
 VOL. i 13
 
 194 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 people. Things will go of themselves, and the time 
 slip by. 
 
 For to-day, dear stern Wife, make the best of these 
 jottings, for which I strictly had no other motive than to 
 give you just a sign of life, that you mayn't be harbour- 
 ing black thoughts again. I thank you much for the 
 assurance that you're feeling well ; believe me, I would 
 rather hear that than anything ! And just you be easy 
 about me ; I shall arrive at the end, and not come to 
 grief with it. Give a thousand greetings, and tell Sulzer 
 all the kind things from me one ever can say. Farewell, 
 good Muzius, don't be obstinate again, and only think 
 the best of me ; even then you won't be thinking well 
 enough of 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHER. 
 
 83. 
 
 LONDON, it. April 1855. 
 
 MOST FAITHFUL OF WlVES, 
 
 Best thanks for your yesterday's letter. " All- 
 right," says the Englishman. I am in a trifle better 
 humour, as I have a rehearsal again the day after to- 
 morrow, and thus can realise why I'm in London. I 
 have bowled the programme over : we shall do the C minor 
 symphony of Beethoven with a trumpery Mendelssohnian 
 symph. and also the Euryanthe overture. The gentle- 
 men would be glad to have the Tamihauser overture at 
 the 4th concert, only we should have to go through it 
 first at the rehearsal for the 3rd, and probably there won't 
 be time for that ; consequently I can't yet say for certain. 
 For the rest, I pursue my lonely life with very few 
 acquaintances : no lord yet, and no lady ! I had bad
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 195 
 
 luck that time with Eschenburg. I and Praeger, he 
 and Gerber started off together, each pair of us taking 
 a cab for the station ; after I and Praeger had got there 
 and waited half an hour, we took train for the Crystal 
 Palace, waited and hunted there : in vain ! A few days 
 later Eschenburg explained that they believed we all had 
 meant to go to Richmond ; so they had gone there, and 
 we to the Crystal Palace. As for this Palace, you were 
 much in my thoughts there : I really believe you would 
 have been greatly surprised and pleased ; it contains 
 absolutely everything one can possibly imagine, and also 
 arranged with much taste. It is indeed a sight to be 
 remembered, and I shall tell you about it by mouth. 
 
 Edward Rockel has been here on a few days' visit ; you 
 know what an agreeable man he is. I passed the time 
 with him quite tolerably ; naturally we had a deal to tell 
 each other. He is tremendously busy earning money, 
 and brings it up to 7 or 8 hundred pounds a year, but 
 can't lay any by yet. One evening we were at Sainton's, 
 who played us the violin very beautifully. The second 
 evening we went to a theatre my first visit : it was a 
 very small suburban theatre the Marylebone which has 
 attracted the attention of the press for some time past. 
 They played the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (Shake- 
 speare), and as I thought quite well ; at least the 
 performance made a thoroughly interesting impression 
 on me. Then came a ballet, in which a dancer a la 
 Pepita threw up her petticoats and stared at her calves 
 exactly as you had described to me. Then came a big 
 5~act tragedy, of which we made a present to the good 
 people. For that matter, alas, the house was empty. 
 The English as a rule do not appear to love the theatre. 
 Yesterday we dined with Prager close to Londonbridge ;
 
 196 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 very good fish and rostbeaf as much as one liked for 
 18 pence, i.e. i^ schilling : for a wretched bottle of 
 Rhine-wine, on the contrary, we had to pay 8 schilling ! 
 It was interesting, how ere falling to a gentleman 
 rapped on the table and mumbled grace, to polish off that 
 business also. On our way out the landlord was standing 
 on the steps to take toll. Rockel sends you kind 
 regards. . . . 
 
 For the rest, the season proper is beginning now ; 
 to-day we have our first Italian opera, with the Ney from 
 Dresden. You may imagine how eager I am for it ! I 
 shall be only too glad when another concert is over ; this 
 pause of 3 weeks has been a great infliction. 
 
 There will not be much more to write to you about 
 myself ; in return, your tidings always rejoice me greatly : 
 only write much ! I enjoyed the fine weather here, too ; 
 but then came strong wind again, which set all my 
 rheumatism going, so that I have risen quite a cripple 
 every morning. But you are doing well ? That would 
 be the pick of the market ! By the way, Hiilsen hasn't 
 written me yet ; an advance of this sort must really be a 
 thing of mighty weight. In a happy event, of course, I 
 shall attend to your orders. Unfortunately I, too, must 
 spend my birthday by myself this time ; but we'll keep 
 its memory on the 6th Septb., won't we? My next 
 birthday in any case we shall be together. You ask me, 
 you good woman, what you shall work for me : a dressing- 
 gown ? But you surely won't be wanting to embroider 
 that ! Certainly I shall not bring my old one back with 
 me, for it is deep on the decline already, and in a couple 
 of months will absolutely not be worth the carriage. 
 Still, I shan't be needing a new one in the summer, and 
 for the autumn you are to make me a regular beauty ; but
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 197 
 
 I can't saddle you with the expenses for that, as you 
 know what luxurious tastes I have in this regard, though 
 vou remain my dressing-gown purveyor anyhow. So 
 think out for yourself what else you could make me ; 
 I really deserve something madly beautiful. 
 
 Tell Sulzer I'll send him a " substantial " newspaper 
 article so soon as one appears ; I have waited in vain till 
 now. But in any case he shall get a very long London 
 letter from me yet ; I shall have plenty to write to 
 him, once I commence. Whatever would Boom think of 
 himself here? ! For lack of nobler beings, I relax myself 
 from time to time with Prager's cat, which is very fond 
 of me. And Pepsel is really so nimble afoot ? Rockel 
 was quite amazed that he was still alive. My work is 
 going slowly forward. Much else, that often passes 
 through my head, I am saving up for word of mouth. 
 I have seen yourself a couple of times already ; with the 
 grey cape and lilac bonnet, quite lifelike. My sleep is 
 passable. Your franked letters I have always received 
 with my early coffee, the unfranked not till dinner- 
 time, at 2. I am expecting Klindworth for a promenade 
 to-day ; he will feed with me after, which does not cost 
 much more than if I ate alone. I have a ham in the 
 house, too, but I assure you, no champagne ; we are to be 
 the first to drink that together again. 
 
 I'm glad you think sensibly now concerning London ; 
 regarded thus, I shall hold out this time. As to the 
 future, we shall see. Now, a thorough good farewell 
 again to-day ; keep thoroughly well, and think thoroughly 
 well of me. Only believe, too, that I'm heartily fond of 
 you. After the concert I'll write you again. Adieu, 
 good Muzius ! 
 
 Many greetings to Zurich !
 
 198 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 84. 
 
 LONDON, 17. April 1855. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 Now I still have five more concerts to conduct ! 
 The third went off yesterday as well as possible : there 
 is not enough time for rehearsing ; at our one rehearsal a 
 fearful mass of music must be just played through, and 
 really it is only owing to my great adroitness and energy 
 that the principal pieces always go as I want them at last, 
 even if not with that perfection of finish they would if 
 there were less music and more rehearsals, so that the 
 orchestra could get a thorough grasp of everything. What 
 I do bring to pass, notwithstanding, naturally is some- 
 thing quite fresh to these people, and whoever knows 
 how to appreciate it, is beside himself for joy. Thus in 
 particular with the C minor symphony this time and the 
 Euryanthe overture, which was demanded da capo : a 
 repeat, however, was disagreeable to the orchestra this 
 time, on account of the great heat in the room and the 
 exertion this overture costs the violinists in especial ; 
 wherefore the leaders begged me to quit the platform (as 
 it was the closing number in the first part) in order that 
 the applause might cease ; which I gladly did, and so 
 friend Publicus calmed down at last. For that matter, I 
 conducted with a touch of malice this time, which highly 
 amused my closer acquaintances down in the hall and tip 
 on the platform. The first part, you see, began with the 
 poor Mendelssohn symphony announced to you before 
 [" Italian "], followed by various boring vocal and con- 
 certed pieces. Well, hitherto I had always appeared on 
 the platform in white gloves, but taken them off to 
 conduct (which no other conductor does here) ; this time, 
 however, I kept them on, and conducted Mendelssohn and
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 199 
 
 the rest most gingerly precisely as the others do, without 
 letting my equanimity be ruffled in the slightest. But 
 when it came to the Euryanthe overture I pulled off the 
 gloves, laid them aside, and went at it in my way ; I 
 looked round, and observed how Praeger and the others 
 were nearly splitting with laughter. 
 
 After the concert I took Praeger and Liiders (who 
 always would like to devour me) to my rooms, to consume 
 4 dozen oysters with me. At any rate I make these 
 people and their like most happy, for they declare 
 point-blank they never knew Beethoven &c. before. 
 Publicus also was fairly animated. I have already told 
 you of the abominable fashion of quitting the room before 
 the end of the concert : this time we wound up with the 
 overture to the "Water-carrier," which I am very fond 
 of, and which also was played very well ; after the pre- 
 ceding vocal number by Mad. Rudersdorf-Kiickenmeister 
 (of Dresden memory) the exodus commenced ; so I took 
 a chair quite placidly and watched, firmly determined not 
 to begin again till quiet had returned, even if I had to 
 wait for the whole room to empty. For which reason I 
 said to Sainton fairly loud, in French : Only wait ; per- 
 haps we shall not need to play the overture at all ! This 
 seemed to have been caught by a very refined and intelli- 
 gent-looking aristocrat and his wife on the front bench, 
 for he and his lady smiled at me most approvingly, which 
 I reciprocated. The others also seemed to understand 
 my attitude, and soon the greatest quiet reigned ; so that 
 I had much relish at last in conducting this overture for 
 the remainers. 
 
 But to-day, poor hack, I feel as tired as a dog again, 
 and all to pieces ; I can't place myself at the desk to 
 write this letter, my legs are cracking under me. Good
 
 200 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 God, I always exert myself far too much for this world 
 of scamps ; if I continue doing it another 30 years, no 
 doubt I shall have had enough ! Perhaps people will 
 leave me at rest then ; my only consolation. To change 
 the subject, we are having wonderful weather now ; it is 
 so warm that I suddenly don't know how to clothe myself 
 lightly enough. Naturally the wadded paletot will not 
 do any longer, and so as to have something lighter to 
 throw on, and not finding anything suitable in stock, I've 
 had to order a Spring cloak a la Talma, only with sleeves 
 (similar to my cast-off blue summer paletot) ; which, as 
 it is to be all lined with good silk, will cost 317 pounds, 
 somewhere about 90 fr., but wouldn't have come much 
 cheaper after all at Zurich. The other day I bought a 
 pair of very fine razors, with which I now remove each 
 morning's beard so easily that I never know what has 
 become of it. -As it's so beautifully warm now, I also 
 treat myself to a hot bath now and then, from which I'm 
 expecting dispersion of the pains in the limbs and heavi- 
 ness of body that have been regularly plaguing me again 
 here. Beyond that, I go on vegetating lonesomely from 
 Praeger to Sainton and Liiders, and from them in turn 
 to Sainton [Klindworth ?] : no other accmaintance tempts 
 me in the least to cultivate it. Klindworth (a Hano- 
 verian, by the by) used to come and fetch me for a walk 
 or lounge, which was very agreeable to me ; but the 
 poor devil is constantly ill now, and I call on him daily 
 without being able to take him out. He is the best of 
 the bunch to me here, and reminds me much of Uhlich ; 
 a strikingly handsome young fellow, plays the piano quite 
 extraordinarily, and came here, on Liszt's recommenda- 
 tion, to make his fortune. He appeared in public once, 
 and as others assure me played better than anyone else
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 201 
 
 in England ; but he was so pulled to pieces by the press 
 especially the Times that nobody would let him play 
 again : such are these valorous English, these free and 
 independent scamps ! He has been struggling along ever 
 since, gives a lesson here and there, and remains on the 
 whole without prospect. So I have settled with Praeger 
 who is a good-hearted chap that we shall arrange a 
 special matinee (with the Ney, it is hoped, who has left 
 her card on me already) at which Klindworth shall get 
 himself properly heard for once by a select invited audience. 
 Let us hope that will help him ! 
 
 Kietz, crazy creature, has also written me ; like the 
 rest, of course he imagines I am playing a big role here 
 and can procure him any amount of orders from English- 
 men. Lord, if the asses only knew how I'm simply 
 marking time here till the 8th concert, to take it out on 
 the beloved Seelisberg. 
 
 You asked me the other day, altogether good woman 
 you, what superfine thing you could make me for my 
 return ; I could think of nothing right, but the new-come 
 warmth and coining summer-heat inspire me with a very 
 wanton wish. For the winter, you see, we have invented 
 a splendid indoor costume for me, which also is to be 
 a standing order ; now you must further invent me a 
 summer suit to match. My luxurious imagination is 
 enceinte with the following : a roomy loose jacket, some- 
 thing like my winter house-jacket, of velvet or stout silk, 
 but not wadded, only lined with silk ; to go with it, a 
 handsome pair of trousers, such as I also got you to con- 
 sent to in the end, but likewise not wadded, merely lined 
 with foulard : linen I no longer can bear on my body, 
 even in summer, and cotton I hate like sin. So have a 
 "food think how to make things nice and heavenlv for this
 
 202 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 poor devil of yours when I return to you ; which latter is 
 the fondest occupation of my thoughts. To give you some 
 solid background for these voluptuous ideas of mine, I may 
 tell you that Herr von Hiilsen (that divinely handsome man 
 in your eyes) has also written me to-day and announced 
 the bringing off of that advance. I intend answering him 
 this very day, and assigning the money to Sulzer ; thus 
 the latter, too, will get his disbursements repaid. I also 
 shall bring some money back from here in any case, and 
 quite goodly orders stand in prospect for this autumn 
 again : Hanover will certainly soon order Lohengrin (at 
 50 Ld'or), and so on. It is sure to be of great service 
 to me, also, that Berlin is at last taking the lead ; 
 for Germany still remains my field. At Hamburg, 
 I hear, the Lohengrin is having greater and greater 
 success. 
 
 Otherwise I here learn strictly nothing of the world ; 
 it is always the way in great cities like Paris and London, 
 where one never arrives at a comfortable dip into the 
 papers, as at home. Murder and sudden death may occur 
 here, and the foreign newspapers report on it like mad- 
 men : one hears nothing at all of it, at least if one lives 
 as I. Yesterday, however, the illustrious Emperor of the 
 French arrived here with his consort. Sainton has named 
 someone to me who, when Louis was loafing around here 
 as adventurer, exclaimed on his announcement to him : 
 By God, that inconvenient person again ! To-day they 
 act as if possessed with him. O glorious world, proud 
 England ! Perhaps I shall become Emperor of Germany 
 myself one day ! 
 
 Unfortunately I have had many sleepless nights of 
 late again. Once, upon waking from my troubled half- 
 slumber, I suddenly heard a nightingale trilling quite close
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 203 
 
 in the Park. A flood of tears poured from my eyes ! I 
 hear the dear thing often now, of an evening and morning. 
 Ah, if it were not for this touching Nature, truly I 
 couldn't hold out any longer among this race of men ! 
 How glad I am that you have so much sense thereof 
 yourself, and are so fond of animals ; to a feeling heart 
 they really constitute the only comfort in a world where 
 Man displays his higher reason by nothing save dissimula- 
 tion and all manner of paltry insanities. How charmingly 
 truthful these animals are ; and behind all his show, 
 what else than they does the average human being 
 strive for, except that they are frank and never play the 
 hypocrite ? 
 
 There that's enough for to-day from your poor tired- 
 out, battered, over-vigilled husband : he's a rogue who 
 gives more than he has ! Your last letter rejoiced me 
 again ; I see you are well and looking at my situation 
 here quite sensibly : if everyone would only do that ! It 
 is their expecting Lord knows what from me here, that 
 worries me ; but if von judge my position so calmly and 
 sagaciously, then all is well, and we shall get on with 
 each other quite comfortably. Look you, then I myself 
 gain that sense of tranquillity, and even of humour, needed 
 to carry the thing to its close ; but if I have to will a 
 thing I cannot will, I become downright insane. Poor 
 thing, you experienced that once [letters 36 and 37] ; if you 
 only knew what I suffered for you then ! I'm sure you 
 don't believe it ! But all's well now, and we shall see 
 how to bring our old age to a blithe and happy ending 
 yet. 
 
 Farewell, dear Wife. Kind regards to our friends, 
 and hold me frcnicudonslv dear !
 
 204 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 85. 
 
 LONDON, 20. April 1855. 
 
 The very finest Good-morning, and thanks for to-day's 
 letter, which I probably received about the same hour as 
 you my last Tuesday's. I have just shut up work, which 
 is progressing very slowly, to write you a couple of lines 
 before going out. Moreover, I'm medicining to-day ; the 
 London diet has rather interfered with me of late, and I 
 was advised to take a couple of pills reputed to give the 
 lungs free play : [. . ,] which somewhat lowers me. I 
 fancy it will have good results, however, and also restore 
 my night's sleep. Early yesterday, with the first grey of 
 dawn, I was tossing sleepless on my bed and waiting for 
 my nightingale ; she held her peace, but suddenly I 
 heard an awful roar instead from the Zoological Garden. 
 At once I recognised the one uncivil lion, and his wish 
 to take the nightingale's place in entertaining me this 
 time. Indeed I could but laugh at the clownish fellow, 
 who presumably imagined he was roaring as gently as 
 any nightingale, like Bottom (Zettet) in the Midsummer 
 Night's Dream, and with all my heart I said, " Roar 
 again, lion" ; which he also did, and goes on doing to 
 this day, so that he has often interrupted my work. But 
 when an atrocious street-band came besides, and played 
 " Guter Mond, Du gehst so stille " in front of the house, 
 at last I thought : You'd better throw it up and write 
 Minna the story instead, who herself can roar and sing 
 "Good moon" quite nicely. Which happens here- 
 with. 
 
 Yesterday Eschenburg and Gerber fetched me to see 
 the animals, who vastly entertained us again. Among 
 the birds I was particularly attracted this time by a 
 wonderful nightingale from New Zealand (in the South
 
 205 
 
 sea) who sang to us quite passionately, and bewailed her 
 love-lorn plight in tones so splendid that they still are 
 ringing in my ears. You see what unexpected musical 
 suggestions I'm gathering here ! Then we dined in 
 Picadilly, but had the greatest difficulty in getting home. 
 Fidclio (in Italian) was to be given at the Italian Opera in 
 honour of the visit of the Queen and the Emperor of the 
 French, and whatever streets the mighty potentates were 
 to traverse on their way to the opera-house were lined 
 already with an awful mass of people. On boxes and 
 boards stood lofty England, to treat the Chef of the 
 French gensd'armes, Jews and Jesuits, to its enthusiasm ; 
 it was an illumination night, and transparencies flared 
 u Welcome Napoleon " to put one's eyes out. Well, we 
 had to edge through to cross the road, and of course the 
 people we thrust aside believed we merely wanted to 
 secure the best place in front, which naturally made them 
 most indignant. Among other things, I came by a 
 terrible blow in the back from someone's fist ; when I 
 looked round, it was a highly respectable grey-haired 
 gentleman, and I politely bade him " Thank you, Sir." 
 Eschenburg, on the contrary, found a very handsome 
 tassel off a lady's mantle hanging to a button of his, so 
 that he at least made something by it. To the selfsame 
 Fidelio and Ney I am invited tomorrow by Hogarth, who 
 gets seats given him as journalist ; yesterday the orchestral 
 stalls cost 15 pounds apiece, which would have rather 
 gened me, as I unfortunately have had a good many 
 expenses of late, for the summer overcoat already men- 
 tioned, a dozen pairs of stockings, etc. ; so that I have 
 gone far beyond my rule, which consists in taking 
 5 pounds a week out of Aunt Wesendonck's big pouch. 
 I usually have to pay about 4 pounds in the house, so
 
 206 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 that something like a pound is left for out of doors, 
 which just covers my cab-fares and other small expenses. 
 But if I lay in provisions, such as wine, ham, bouillon for 
 soup, to say nothing of buying myself anything, I have 
 to break into another week's money ; which throws me 
 quite out of balance, and often makes me sceptical as to 
 my projected savings. Thus much is certain : if I mean 
 to bring back anything even supportable, I must keep 
 myself damned short of theatres and outings. 
 
 I have heard of nothing in the newspapers about our 
 last concert ; the Times has kept silence again. Should 
 anything rational put in an appearance, from a dis- 
 interested quarter \_i.e. not Hogarth], Sulzer shall certainly 
 receive it ; only I wonder at his making such account of 
 the rubbish : what will it profit him or me ? For that 
 matter, the last concert met with much favour again, and 
 I have been assured that Publicus was quite enthusiasmed. 
 The room is never very full, although well filled ; it 
 follows its own old groove, and only gets notably full 
 when a very famous virtuoso plays ; if the Ney were to 
 sing, for instance, the whole place would be packed. 
 That's the truth. So compose yourself, I beg ! By 
 the by, the Tannhauser overture is to come off next 
 time ; even at our last rehearsal it went tolerably. 
 To-day I mean to take poor Klindworth for a little 
 drive in the beautiful air ; he's still too weak for 
 walking. I shall be writing to Sulzer next, even if 
 I can't enclose him any journals. Give him and the 
 other dear friends and people my very best remembrances ; 
 and mind you skim off the best of everything, and keep 
 it for yourself. 
 
 Your news rejoiced me much again ; continue feeling 
 well and cheerful, and you will greatly ease my mind and
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 207 
 
 give me agreeable hopes for our mutual future. So 
 farewell, dear Minna ; I shall soon have been the longest 
 span away from you ! 
 
 86. 
 
 [LONDON, April 26, 1855. Tr.*] 
 
 O Muzius ! Muzius ! 
 
 What a dog's life it is ! I really need super- 
 human patience, to hold out here. Yet I recognise that 
 I must pay the penalty for my folly in accepting this 
 absurd invitation to Bngland despite my knowing that 
 it was no place for me. Now there still are two long 
 months before me to hold out ; what idiocy ! I shall 
 bring you a fairly good crop of grey hairs ; if you mean 
 to pull all of them out, I shall get some nice bald 
 patches ! As regards my true province I have absolutely 
 nothing to look for here ; the handful of trumpery 
 concerts cannot blind me to that : they strictly are not 
 my affair themselves. Ah, what nonsense it is, my being 
 here ! My head grows more stupid every day, and now 
 you are beginning to try and make me stupid also : you 
 make out that you received no letter from me between 
 [those of] the yth and iyth ! Please have another good 
 look, and do me no injustice ; I have written you twice 
 each week. And then I'm to allow that my last summer 
 paletot (which I got made 3 years ago, when we were 
 living at Rinderknecht's) was green instead of blue? You 
 would dispute a thing like that with me ! And your 
 
 * In the current German edition this and the succeeding letter are 
 printed in the reverse order, but the date of this is established by its 
 reference to the New Philharmonic concert, which contemporary journals 
 prove to have taken place on Wednesday the 25th of April. Tr.
 
 2o8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 birthday I know quite well ; it's the 5th Sept. if I 
 referred to it otherwise, it must have been a mere slip of 
 the pen. And all the other nonsense you want to palm 
 on me, whereas it's really you who keep me waiting, and 
 left my last letter unanswered two whole days ; for I 
 waited two days for it in vain. And I'm to be the 
 scapegoat? That's the last straw; I am quite in the 
 humour ! My God, those cursed 2 months more, and 
 their trumpery concerts ! ! 
 
 For the rest, the Tannhauser overture (of which I've 
 fairly had my fill !) doesn't come off till the 5th concert ; 
 presumably we shall have an extra rehearsal then, with 
 the music to Egmont. Our next concert will include a 
 symphony by one of the society's Directors, Lucas ; but 
 he will conduct it himself, thank God ! Could I ever 
 have believed I should have to mix in such concert trash 
 again ! It makes me feel quite pitiful ; everybody will 
 set me down as a composer a la Hiller and such-like. 
 What bliss for me, to be numbered in that sect at last ! 
 
 I have made one solitary choice acquaintance. A rich 
 amateur who also composes quite nicely for his own 
 amusement, a Mr. Ellerton, had himself introduced to 
 me at the last concert ; he said he knew my operas from 
 Germany, where he had often seen them of latter years. 
 He paid me a call, which I returned, when he took me 
 into his study and shewed me my portrait hanging under 
 Beethoven and Mozart ; where so he said it has hung 
 for 2 years. He assured me I had saved the Phil- 
 harmonic : had Costa conducted again, he and many 
 others would have dropped their subscription. There 
 was something prepossessingly shy in his manner towards 
 me, and he appears quite enthusiastically devoted to me. 
 He also assured me, many here had made acquaintance
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 209 
 
 with my operas in Germany ; only, he agreed there was 
 nothing to be hoped for me or my works here, and I must 
 content myself with the friendship of individuals, who 
 certainly were much attached to me. On Monday he 
 took me to a performance of the Messiah, at which I 
 nearly died of ennui. Yesterday [April 25] I finally 
 declined to go with [him ?] to the concert of the New 
 Philharmonic, where that donkey Dr Wylde also meant 
 to do the Ninth Symphony after me. At the rehearsal, 
 I hear, he broke down, and they were compelled to stop : 
 but that doesn't matter at all, his party has money and 
 pays for the orchestra ; whether a mess is made or not, 
 it's all the same to the bandsmen. O, it's a heavenly 
 nation ! No, Mietzel, to England I do not come again, 
 even if they paid me 500 pounds ! ! I've something 
 better to do, than threshing chaff here. 
 
 Klindworth has already arranged the first act of the 
 Walkiire ; he played it to me yesterday with prodigious 
 virtuosity. I shall bring the arrangement with me, when 
 Boom can learn it up for hard it is and you'll all get 
 something to hear from it one day. 
 
 I've heard Fidelio in Italian, with the Ney from 
 Dresden ; fairly bad. But on Tuesday I went with 
 Praeger to a minor theatre (the Adelphi, in the Strand) 
 where a pantomime (Zaubcrposse), "Mother Goose," was 
 played, sung, danced and scene-changed quite famously. 
 That was the first evening's real amusement I've had. 
 Madame Benoni (from Dresden) was one of the dancers ! 
 
 The weather has turned windy and cold again, as in 
 your part ; I don't feel well, in consequence, and have 
 taken an aperient again to-day. For yourself, make a 
 note of those seidlitz-powders ; I'm glad they took away 
 your migraine. I am truly sorry for poor Miiller ; let us 
 VOL. i 14
 
 2io RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 hope he'll get the better of it, when you must give my 
 best congratulations. For the rest, I hear and see 
 nothing of the world ; cannot you write me how things 
 are going before Sebastopol ? I hear nothing about it 
 here ; not a creature plays politics, saving those who 
 earn money thereby. Your close friendship with the 
 family Jachmus quite touches me ; it will end by your 
 converting me to the opinion that Herr Jachmus under- 
 stands my music. For to-day only greet the Wesendoncks 
 most kindly ; it really is they I like best in all the Hotel 
 Baur. And Sulzer, Boom, Hagenbach and whatever 
 the others are called : salute all of them duly, and tell 
 them I'm leading the life of a god here, what between 
 taking to my heels and remaining ! And you you wicked 
 woman ! don't make me worse than I am, and bad as I 
 am, hold me dear : I and the good God, we'll reward you 
 for it ! Fare tremendously well, and don't keep me 
 waiting for letters so long again ; it makes me very 
 uneasy, do you hear ? Ah, good old Peps, take good 
 care of his eyes ! Ah, two months more ! 
 Ach ! Ach ! Ach ! 
 
 There's a good Richcl ! ! 
 
 87. 
 
 LONDON, i. May 1855. 
 
 MY COMPLETELY GOOD MlENEL, 
 
 Do not expect much from your dear husband 
 to-day ; he's utterly done up ! I fancied I was in for an 
 attack of grippe at yesterday's concert, the catarrh still 
 plagues me so. The concert itself put me out to the last 
 degree : I can't go into everything that annoyed me at it ; 
 enough to say, the one thing lacking is that I should have 
 to conduct "Martha" again: such a programme came
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 211 
 
 very near it. While conducting an aria from the 
 "Huguenots" and a miserable overture by Onslow 
 an Englishman I was seized by such disgust and remorse 
 at having accepted this absurd engagement, that it got 
 the better of me and I made up my mind to demand my 
 definite discharge next day. After the concert I declared 
 this aloud to my acquaintances, whereupon Liiders, Praeger 
 and his wife, accompanied me home to make me change 
 my intention. Over oysters, lobster salad and punch, 
 which Liiders prepared with great art, we kept it up till 
 past 3 in the morning, and the finale was my giving in ; 
 towards which I scarcely need assure you the thought 
 of yourself, and your distress at such a step, contributed 
 the most with me. So I mean to hold out, hard as it 
 falls on me to have to ply this wholly useless handicraft 
 for another 2 months. I must pay the penalty, however, 
 for having been so stupid as to pave the way for this 
 vexation with open eyes ; a thing I still deeply repent. 
 So be easy about me ; I shan't have so severe an attack of 
 the dumps again, I hope ! But it was the most idiotic 
 concert of them all : a mawkish symphony by one of the 
 directors ; then a fearfully tedious nonett by Spohr ; a 
 completely insignificant overture by Weber, which to 
 make things worse had to be given da capo, as I had 
 conducted it far too finely ; to conclude, the trashy over- 
 ture by Onslow ! All these are purely interests of the 
 Directors, to which I am forced to conform ! Neither did 
 the symphony in A go so well as at Zurich by a long 
 way ; such an English orchestra simply is not to be 
 worked into ecstasy ! 
 
 My God, I'd rather say no more about it ! Next 
 week we have an extra rehearsal, at which (besides the 
 Tannhauser overture for the 5th concert) a symphony by
 
 2i2 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 an Englishman Potter then a new symphony by Spohr, 
 expressly composed for London, and an overture by 
 another Englishman Macfarren are to be got through. 
 What bliss for me ! I have been unable to bring off the 
 Egmont music, as they can give me no more extra 
 rehearsals. Well, the only motto here is Patience to 
 last out ; but I could turn furious at anybody who looks 
 for profit to me from this London adventure. As said 
 I have simply to do penance for a folly committed. 
 
 Eduard Rockel has invited me for Thursday to Bath, 
 whence he will make excursions with me till Sunday ; 
 probably I shall accept, for a little distraction. It is said 
 to be very beautiful there. I shall write you thence. 
 Klind worth isn't allowed to go out, even yet, which robs 
 me of much entertainment. 
 
 My very best thanks for your political news ; I 
 couldn't help laughing ! Yes, my good Muzius, one 
 lives better at Zurich ; Lord, what a treat I mean to 
 take at home ! I can scarcely contain my anticipations of 
 the return to Zurich, to our pretty abode, with our good 
 humans and beasties, and its cheery mistress, Madame 
 Wagner, who is sure to drive away the recollection of this 
 cursed London by her thorough coddling, and so make 
 me feel well again and up to my work, which is in a 
 terrible rut here. 
 
 There, Liiders is knocking, to fetch me for a walk 
 and meal (with him and Sainton). Even so I could not 
 have written much more, to say nothing of my always 
 saving up for word of mouth. In my next letter I'll 
 retrieve a little, though, especially about a performance of 
 Romeo and Juliet at the Haymarket Theatre. 
 
 Farewell, my dear good old Minna. Be merrier than I, 
 and reflect that we shall never be parted so stupidly again,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 213 
 
 nor for so long ; a thing like this occurs but once. A 
 thousand greetings to all friends ! 
 
 88. 
 
 LONDON, 4. May 1855. 
 
 DKAREST MINNA, 
 
 I mean to pull myself thoroughly together, not to 
 forget anything as usual. Apart from that, my life here 
 would afford me small occasion to, as it creeps away so 
 drearily and against my inner grain, that I wish I never 
 had come into the position to have to report on it ! 
 
 Here goes, then ! Your question about the pastilles I 
 have already answered at last, with Eschenburg ; I must 
 renew my thanks, however, for your great attentiveness 
 and forethought, which I do herewith from all my heart. 
 It really is a little droll, to see myself assisted on this 
 single very trifling point, whereas so many other and more 
 important things have still to be paid for so shockingly 
 dear. Precisely now, the imposts for this crazy war make 
 living and all accessories infinitely dearer than has ever 
 been the case before ; owing to the enormous taxes, every 
 single article has tremendously risen in price. 
 
 That by the way. One letter, according to your 
 account, must certainly have gone astray ; luckily there 
 can have been nothing of very great moment in it. Did 
 you get my letter with the lion anecdote the other day ? 
 With our wind from the North-East I constantly hear the 
 naughty fellow roar now, which also is a sign that we 
 shall go 011 having fair dry weather, but cold and inhospi- 
 table, so that I have to keep reverting to my wadded coat. 
 Nevertheless I have ordered a complete Spring-Summer 
 outfit now : trousers, coat, and two of those stout English 
 pique waistcoats. These things weren't dearer than at
 
 2i4 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Zurich here, if anything a little cheaper ; consequently I 
 am erecting myself a memorial to England, and at the 
 same time lightening my tailor's bill of next New Year. 
 Regarding the colour of my cast-off summer paletot we will 
 not quarrel any more ; you mean the one made 5 years 
 since at Zurich, which I took into indoor wear at last, 
 and / mean that made 3 years since at Zurich, which 
 I hitherto had worn out of doors. From London there 
 will fall to yourself some lovely Irish lace, in any case, 
 and maybe something else. When the end draws near, 
 I must also bear our Zurich friends in mind quite decently, 
 don't you think? As I shan't be bringing back much 
 money, it would be the most sensible to bring nice 
 souvenirs ; for to London I shall not return. There's 
 time enough for that, however. 
 
 I fancied I should get another 50 pounds from Ander- 
 son after the 4th concert, and in that case meant to send 
 the IOOO/T. for Wesendonck at once to Sulzer an occasion 
 I had destined for the long letter I promised him ; but 
 Anderson appears to have forgotten it, and as I still have 
 enough money to live on, I would rather not remind him, 
 but go on waiting. Please say so to Sulzer, who won't 
 be so afraid of calling on a grass-widow, I hope, as the 
 " uncorrupted " Wesendonck. Let us hope the last good 
 creature doesn't think that nothing save the presence of 
 her husband holds a woman back from every kind of silly 
 prank she else would necessarily play with others ; I'm 
 sure he has no such dismal notion of his wife, for instance, 
 just as I am happy not to have it of you, whom I there- 
 fore heartily permit to receive whatever caller you may 
 find agreeable. 
 
 That brings me to your account of the bad odour into 
 which the Wesendonck has fallen with Mesdames M., H.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 215 
 
 and B. If the lady has really become so disagreeable of a 
 sudden that those individuals can't abide her any longer, 
 it must indeed be a very bad case ; for the Wesendonck 
 was universally regarded as a most amiable woman only a 
 short time since. If one should " pity him," Wesendonck, 
 for this bad odour of his wife, it certainly would shew 
 much charity toward ///;;/, but not towards the lady whom 
 one brings into bad odour oneself, and I could not deem 
 that pity very cordial. It is to be hoped, however, that 
 you will set Mad. H. and M. a good example, and shew 
 yourself more lenient and indulgent toward peculiarities 
 perchance arising, which at bottom may well be excusable 
 and not so terribly forbidding.* Naturally, no constraint 
 can be put on you either, and if you have a genuine 
 antipathy towards the Wesendonck, I myself should not 
 account the thanks supposedly due to her sufficient to 
 oblige you to keep up an intercourse distasteful to you. 
 But should your aversion repose on any manner of 
 mistrust appearing to involve your honour, I believe 
 I may give you the assurance that such mistrust 
 is perfectly unjustified and groundless : on the con- 
 trary, you may take it for certain that no one more 
 deserves your confidence and friendship than Mine 
 Wesendonck ; just as I myself, for all the difference in 
 characters and parts, have a firm and hearty confidence 
 in him, a confidence I also hope that he returns me of full 
 right. I have so often made no reply to what you say 
 about the W. , that I thought it incumbent upon me to go 
 into the thing at greater length this time, as I could not 
 
 * All these good ladies might have remembered a fact evidently 
 communicated to Wagner by the husband (see next page), viz. that 
 Fran Wesendonck was then half-way toward her confinement of next 
 September. Tr.
 
 216 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 help remarking that an utterly erroneous suspicion has 
 put you out, in however natural a fashion, and warped 
 your judgment. You are not cross with me for this, I 
 hope ?- As for my grey hairs, why, tell that to the Wesen- 
 doncks without any fear of wounding my vanity ; for, 
 notwithstanding your calling me a " handsome husband " 
 in your last letter, I have no great conceit of my beauty. 
 Touching the " Uncle and Aunt," alas, I've no secret 
 to tell you : there's absolutely nothing in it ; you surely 
 ought to know how often I have quizzical flashes with 
 no further meaning whatever. With the best and most 
 honourable will, I must therefore leave your curiosity 
 unsatisfied this time. 
 
 By the way, please tell Wesendonck, to whom I lately 
 sent a few lines for his wife on a hint from himself 
 that he has still to expect a thoroughly rational letter 
 from me. 
 
 I have nothing to say to the violin man ; Praeger has 
 passed on his address to an instrument dealer here, who 
 if he means to go into the matter will write himself. 
 But tell me, how ever did you come by the infamous idea 
 that there's a bang on the gong in my Tannhauser over- 
 ture ? For the life of me I know nothing of it, and 
 therefore with the best of will can't leave it out, which 
 I would otherwise have gladly done to please you ; if I 
 mistake not, that gong is a banger out of Sulzer's head. 
 That's how one gets paid out for leaving one's wife all 
 alone with strange bachelors ! As for the concert anec- 
 dotes, I wrote you all that was needful last time. The 
 next programme will somewhat compensate me for the 
 last ; besides my overture and a Beethoven symphony, 
 we're to have a Mozart one I've entirely re-nuanced to my 
 liking, and for the close the going-out piece the over-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 217 
 
 ture to Preziosa. At the last concert we did quite an 
 obscure and insignificant earlier overture of Weber's to 
 " The Ruler of the Spirits " ; I was astounded and annoyed 
 at its being demanded da capo, for which I could discover 
 no reason whatever. It has been explained to me now : 
 it was a deliberate demonstration by the audience in my 
 favour, to compensate me, as it were, for Herr Lucas with 
 his boring symphony having been received before (as 
 Englishman and director of the society) with more applause 
 than he was certainly worth. That's how these people 
 are : the thing itself makes no true impression on them, 
 and leaves them cold, as I recognised again thereafter 
 with the effect of the A -major symphony ; but so soon as 
 they interest themselves in a person, they shew it with a 
 deliberateness that looks almost like enthusiasm. Con- 
 sequently, all is design ! 
 
 To retrieve another point forgotten, I may tell you 
 that the Ney^ s Fidelio left me very cold : a fine, equable 
 soprano voice, but the whole thing drill, and already all 
 those mannerisms I detest so ; added to which, she is 
 hideously ugly. The whole representation was bad ; to 
 particularise, Costa didn't understand the tempi at all, 
 and dragged everything : only Formes as Rocco was very 
 good ; I could make use of him some day. I also saw 
 Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Haymarket Theatre 
 the other evening, by very indifferent actors who neverthe- 
 less had the tradition at their fingers' ends so it seemed 
 which interested me in many ways. I and Liiders had 
 a droll experience with the impersonator of Romeo him- 
 self : an old womanish chap whom we ranged in the 
 sixties, without any nose, with a mouth all sunk in and 
 a monstrous big chin which made so disastrous an im- 
 pression upon us that we couldn't help laughing whenever
 
 2i8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 he shewed himself in profile. After the ist act we con- 
 sulted the programme for the old boy's name, and found 
 to our surprise it was a Mistress Cushmann, a woman ! ! 
 The day before yesterday we were at another theatre, the 
 Olympic, small, but very elegant and with quite excellent 
 comedy actors. The actual chief genius was a Mr. Robsard, 
 who played, danced and sang in a concluding pantomime, 
 " The Yellow Dwarf" for all the actors here must be able 
 to play, dance and sing. The man was really admirable 
 a mixture of what I need for Mime and Alberich ; I wish I 
 could have him ! -I won't deny that an occasional visit to 
 the theatre always very expensive, though agreeably 
 distracts and helps me to endure the otherwise abominable 
 stay here. 
 
 Yesterday I also resumed my work, in which I had 
 been interrupted awhile by hideous ill-humour. Nothing 
 came of the excursion to Rockel at Bath as you per- 
 ceive since Praeger couldn't accompany me ; in return, 
 I'm expecting Eduard here. Liszt's visit is out of the 
 question : you read aright ; he is going to Hungary. Has 
 Hiilsen sent that money yet to Sulzer ? 
 
 Your finding nothing more about our concerts in the 
 Zurich papers is natural enough ; it can't be kept up thus 
 for ever. The ordinary reports in the press here are 
 brief, and disparaging or appreciative according to party. 
 Moreover, there has been nothing special to discuss ; only 
 because there was a novelty at the last concert, the sym- 
 phony by Lucas, has Dawison written something in the 
 Times again : for that matter, I didn't have to conduct 
 the nonett of Spohr, the execution whereof he found so 
 poor. Quite funny tales are told me of this Dawison. It 
 is certain that he has been bought by Meyerbeer's agent 
 (the Jewish music-dealer Brandus) to pull me down, to
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 219 
 
 prevent my making any way here lest I might have a 
 shot at Paris later. In any case he felt he had lent 
 me more weight by his enormous tirade in the Times 
 than he naturally meant to ; also, his editor may have 
 given him a hint ; so he has confined the venting of his 
 gall on me to his own rag, the " Musical World." To 
 criticise me to the bottom there, he has also instituted in 
 the said rag a literal translation of the text of Lohengrin, 
 which, as I have been assured, isn't at all bad. Now this 
 translation is being generally read with great interest, and 
 arouses the liveliest sensation ; so the stupid fellow simply 
 is playing into my hands again. But I have further 
 been assured that he Dawison himself is quite en- 
 raptured with this poem and told a friend of Liiders 
 the other day point-blank, The man who wrote this 
 text must be a very demi-god ! Now, what is one to 
 make of it all ? Praeger says, it is just like him : he can 
 be quite transported by a thing one day, and tear it to 
 pieces the next if his position requires. Pretty tales ! 
 I must still wait for anything solid and sane to be written 
 about me, although a fitting opportunity to make my full 
 acquaintance will in no case arise. Meanwhile, however, 
 my hand alights on something in the Spectator anent the 
 second concert ; it is appreciative, exactly as far as the 
 man who wrote it [Hogarth] could know me. Please give 
 it to Sulzer for his provisional edification. 
 
 That will be about enough for you to-day, dear Muzius 
 (why ever do I choose to call you so? mustn't there be 
 something behind that as well ?) Take good care of your- 
 self and keep in thorough good health for me, and all will 
 come right. If Pepsel gets lame again, just give his paw 
 another sound rubbing ; give him and Knackerchen my 
 very best regards. Yesterday I saw a perfectly beautiful
 
 220 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 puppy for sale, but remained faithful and staunch ; as I 
 am in everything, to sing my own praises for once. Have 
 I forgotten anything else ? ? 
 
 So farewell, accept my heartiest kisses ; be thoroughly 
 sensible, hold me dear, and salute the whole Switzery a 
 1000 times. 
 
 Thy 
 
 WILHELM RICHARD WAGNER. 
 
 89. 
 
 LONDON, --//awty the Wi of May 1855. 
 
 DEAREST SPOUSE, 
 
 Yesterday completed the 9th week of my dog's-life 
 in L/ondon ; 7 weeks from to-day I put an end for ever to 
 this joy. It's all calculated out already. Tuesday, 26. 
 June, I depart in the evening, reach Paris Wednesday 
 forenoon, and the only question is whether I shall leave 
 for Basle on Thursday morning, when I should get to 
 Zurich on a Friday, which you may not like. Write me 
 whether I shouldn't start from Paris a day later, so that I 
 might arrive at Zurich on the Saturday. You see, I'm 
 counting nothing but the time for leaving here and reach- 
 ing you again ; everything between this and then appears 
 to me a hell ! 
 
 When I had closed my last letter, and asked myself if 
 I hadn't forgotten anything, it finally occurred to me, too 
 late, that I hadn't answered your question about the 
 band here. At first I thought of making up for it at 
 once in a letter to Boom ; then I reflected that Sulzer 
 might take it amiss, perhaps, if I wrote to him before him. 
 So I shall report on that enquiry to yourself to-day. Un- 
 fortunately the orchestra of the Philharmonic Society, 
 which also is that of the Italian Opera, consists of almost
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 221 
 
 none save Englishmen : only one trumpeter, a trom- 
 bonist, and a third, are Germans ; of Frenchmen like- 
 wise only 3 ; all the rest are good English. Not that 
 there aren't many German and French bandsmen here ; 
 but Costa, who had the appointment of the bandsmen, in 
 his time, always engaged English in order to ingratiate 
 himself. Now, these gentlemen play quite well, no 
 doubt, have thoroughly mastered their instruments, and 
 can take anything that is set before them ; but like 
 machines, exactly like Geneva snuffboxes. For instance, 
 they strictly have only one volume of sound, and can't well 
 play softer or louder. The Paris orchestra is far superior. 
 These Englishmen are blocks of wood, and I would rather 
 fan a German dance-musician into fire, than one of 
 these wearisome fellows. Moreover, it comes very difficult 
 to me to make myself intelligible to them ; French, of 
 course, is no help at all, and whenever I have a minuter 
 explanation to give, Sainton has to translate it, excepting 
 a few short phrases which I have picked up, such as 
 " Once more, please ! ' ' i.e. " noch einmal ! " However, 
 I have been rewarded at last for my bassoon long-sufferings 
 at Zurich : the first bassoon here, a Belgian, is truly 
 excellent, perhaps the best musician in all the orchestra, 
 excluding Sainton ; he often has made me quite happy. 
 The oboist albeit an Englishman is also first-rate, and 
 especially devoted to me ; on the other hand, the clarinet 
 one of the directors is bad, and I much preferred Ott- 
 Imhof (you may get him told that). But Sainton is a long 
 way preferable to the good Hessian Heisterhagen ; he is 
 the best leader I have ever had by no means barring 
 Dresden. If I ever produce the Nibelungen, he is to be 
 with me. Last Friday he had arranged a quartet at his 
 rooms in my honour, with Piatti, the first violoncello-
 
 222 
 
 virtuoso in London ; to anyone who knows the ropes here, 
 and that these gentry are not in the habit of handling 
 their bows under 10 pounds apiece in the season, it was 
 an enormous distinction. 
 
 So much for the orchestra. These last few days I've 
 had the pleasant occupation of studying the scores of the 
 magnificent works to be extra-rehearsed the day after to- 
 morrow for performance in course of the ensuing concerts. 
 Sterling English compositions ; as unimpeachably correct 
 as an example in arithmetic, but without one trace of 
 fancy or invention : the joy it gives me to be let conduct 
 these tone-poems, you may readily conceive ! My bitter- 
 ness is awful, and only with the most ferocious irony, 
 which it is lucky that no one understands here, am I able 
 to stand it any longer and hold out. However I don't 
 intend to start that tale again ! 
 
 I have had to submit at length in the month of 
 May to putting my skin into an under- vest ; naturally 
 not of flannel, though, but of knitted silk, such as 
 Dr R. recommended me at Zurich before. Everybody 
 here wears such a vest, and declares it impossible to 
 survive here without one. Hitherto I had rebelled ; 
 but my catarrhal state became so serious with the per- 
 sistent cold wind, and so affected my brain in particular, 
 that I yielded to the advice of my friends here at last. 
 I have worn the under- vest the last 3 days, and at any 
 rate feel somewhat better for it already. I bought them 
 with Eduard Rockel, and luckily found a bargain ; a 
 remnant of exactly 2 vests of a pattern now gone out 
 of fashion, for which reason I got them at 18 schill. 
 apiece after 24 had been asked. As I have been com- 
 pelled to wear a foulard under-vest at Zurich in the 
 winter, this will be of further service to me there as
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 223 
 
 well, I hope ; so tell R. that I've followed his former 
 advice. The trouble given me by this everlasting chill 
 quite baffles description ; now its seat is in the lower 
 regions, now in the brain, and I'm so tormented all 
 the time, that I could often cry aloud at this eternal 
 obsession by an evil spirit. And you, too, don't appear 
 to have been quite the thing again of late, since you 
 speak of having been so hoarse ? I haven't suffered 
 yet from that here excepting at the concerts, where 
 I've always had the best occasion for catching cold 
 thereafter. Well, take the greatest care of yourself ; 
 if N. tends you nicely, I may bring her something 
 back as well. Sulzer's indisposition is nothing serious, 
 I suppose ? I wish him good recovery, and hope my 
 wish may come too late. Send the Major word he's 
 to be up and about again soon, and I'll bring him a 
 superb collection of corns : meanwhile he must be 
 strengthened with chicken-broth from you without 
 eyes.* 
 
 Hiilsen's not having sent the money yet is most 
 provoking ! I'm simply waiting for your answer to 
 my last enquiry, to write the gentleman at once, to 
 whom I had to send my receipt in advance. How 
 fatal it is to me, good God, I can't possibly tell you ! 
 Neither has Anderson made me another payment yet ; 
 he's in a horrible fix himself now which I'll narrate 
 to you by mouth. 
 
 All my friends here are taking it into their heads 
 to visit us in Switzerland ; I shouldn't be surprised if 
 Praeger came nearly as soon as myself. Ed. Rockel, 
 who wants to see his father at Wiesbaden at the same 
 
 * The pun is on " Hilhneraugen? lit. " hen-eyes." Tr.
 
 224 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 time, will visit us almost for certain. He really is a 
 very decent fellow ; last Sunday he treated me and the 
 Praegers to a famous fish-dinner at Greenwich. To-day 
 I go to Sainton and Liiders, tomorrow to Praeger's ; 
 yesterday Klindworth dined with myself. Liszt has 
 written me in a very friendly tone again ; he will visit 
 us in Switzerland next September. May I only have 
 recovered my voice then ; but I fear the wretched thing 
 will never return. 
 
 There, I have talked myself dry for once again ; 
 which often is a need to me in this shameful existence. 
 For your Sebastopopopol news I thank you most sin- 
 cerely ; it's enough to make one laugh, that you should 
 have to supply me from Zurich with that sort of thing. 
 At bottom, however, this Popel is indifferent to me ; 
 the whole affair is arrant nonsense scarcely worth a 
 glance. How happy I shall be, on the contrary, when 
 I breathe the pure delicious air of Seelisberg again ; 
 here I simply grow stupider day by day. Often I stare 
 at my music-paper for half an hour at a stretch without 
 the remotest idea what to write ; as for that, I am 
 assured it's the same with everyone here, the heavy 
 English atmosphere seeming to choke all volatility and 
 freedom of the mind. I hardly think I shall get even 
 my second act finished now, so slowly my work is 
 crawling on. What a folly it was of me, by God, to 
 come to London ! ! ! No matter, one must buy one's 
 wisdom. Fare splendidly well, good old Mienel, hip 
 plenty of baths and think of your poor husband, who 
 well deserves that one should let Brex spinster come 
 again ! 
 
 Na, that will be a joy ; I hold my tongue ! Once 
 more, then, be well and of "food cheer ; I've already
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 225 
 
 been here 2 weeks longer than I have to go on being 
 here. Salute left and right, and hold him dear 
 
 who 
 
 Virtue 
 
 is 
 
 itself ! ! ! 
 
 90. 
 
 LONDON, 15. May 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR MINNA, 
 
 My last letter was merrily worded, not because 
 I felt merry, but simply because I wished to appear so 
 to you. I had previously given you to understand that 
 I should already have thrown up my engagement here 
 if it hadn't been for my regard for you; for I know 
 it would have greatly distressed you, whereas I don't 
 care in the least, for my own part, what the newspapers 
 might have written about my sudden throwing up of 
 that engagement. Not to let my resolution to hold out 
 here for your sake in particular appear too heavy a 
 reproach to you through my laments, I tried to brighten 
 myself up in my letter to you as much as possible ; 
 for I saw that you, too, were in need of good humour, 
 and I wanted to contribute to it that way. But unfor- 
 tunately I now perceive that all my show of mirth 
 could do, was to embitter you against me, and that 
 for reason of a money trouble so acute that it even 
 affects your health anew. Of course I shouldn't dream 
 of making that a reproach to you, and I must admit 
 your perfect right to feel bitter ; only, you do wrong 
 to lay the blame for the present dilemma on me. As 
 I foresaw that no fees would be coining in from theatres 
 just now, at the very commencement of my being here 
 VOL. i 15
 
 226 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I wrote to Sulzer that I meant to try and raise the 
 whole amount of my fee for the concerts on a promissory 
 note with Praeger's assistance in order at once to 
 send you out of it the money needed for your keep at 
 Zurich. Thereupon Sulzer wrote and begged me on no 
 account to do so, particularly since it was unnecessary 
 for your sake, as he could assure me he had already 
 prepared himself to supply from his own pocket what- 
 ever you needed during my absence. That wouldn't 
 have eased my mind, however, had not the prospect 
 at the same time opened to me of receiving the advance 
 of TOO Ld'or from Berlin, which as I begged you at 
 once to tell Sulzer I should direct to be forwarded 
 to the latter. Finally, a month from to-day I received 
 consent to that advance, and the receipt demanded for 
 it went off to Berlin the selfsame day, together with 
 my instructions to despatch the money to S. forthwith. 
 Consequently you will agree with me, I hope, that I 
 was justified in feeling at ease about your situation, 
 and in believing I had done everything needful for 
 your security. That Hiilsen should not have sent the 
 money even to this day, I certainly couldn't have 
 anticipated from a gentleman so extolled to me as 
 supremely handsome in his dealings ; your latest in- 
 formation, however, with your assurance that Sulzer has 
 left you in the lurch despite his protestations, sufficed 
 to induce me to get money from Anderson at once so 
 as to send Sulzer a bill of exchange for 1000 //'., which 
 will have reached Zurich as I write these lines to-day, 
 I hope, and thus have put a thorough stop to your 
 dilemma. I am also expecting a reply from Hiilsen 
 during the next few days, and if I don't hear that the 
 100 L/d'or have arrived at Zurich within a fortnight,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 227 
 
 I shall ask for money again here after the 6th concert, 
 to forward to Zurich. 
 
 As for my life here, the worries of your situation 
 (deeply felt by me, in truth !) inspire you with a bitter- 
 ness which renders you unjust to me. It would be 
 most foolish to want to pay you out in kind, but just 
 to guide you away from that injustice for your own 
 sake I again must repeat to you that you are under 
 a mistake about my style of life here. In that regard 
 I must confess it needed nothing save a money fix to 
 do for me completely. I lead the dreariest, most 
 melancholy and lonesome life one can conceive, and 
 which is the worst of it with neither aim nor profit. 
 Moreover, the smallest attempt at distraction always 
 sets my budget in disorder ; a thing which those alone 
 can comprehend, however, who are really acquainted 
 with London and can allow for a heap of expenses 
 which nobody leading a life like that at Zurich, for 
 instance, can form the least idea of. Do not expect 
 me to go into everything here ; in due season you 
 shall hear it all by word of mouth. Only thus much : 
 whenever I have visited a theatre, e.g., it has cost me 
 5 schill. each time not counting omnibus ; when I 
 have been invited to the Italian Opera gratis I have 
 always had to fetch Mad. Hogarth and daughter (in 
 whose box I sat) and escort them home, the cab-fare 
 costing me exactly 5 sch. again. The transaction for 
 the remittance to Sulzer cost 5 sch., and the cab-fare 
 (twice since everything is shamefully dilatory and 
 complicated especially for foreigners) another 5 sch. 
 If I buy a fresh supply of stamps especially for busi- 
 ness letters to Germany I have to put upwards of 
 ^ a pound down ; 22 cigars cost me 6 sch. When I
 
 228 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 lay in a fresh stock of provisions, ham or wine, it 
 promptly runs into pounds. It is so cold here, that 
 I still consume 4 schillings' worth of coal a week, 
 etc., etc. In brief, I've given up all thought of more 
 extensive outings, to the country, the sea-side, or such- 
 like, and hereby declare that I shall bring back 1000 fr. 
 of money saved, but not a penny more : whoever under- 
 stands it better, let him go to London in my place 
 next time ; a pleasure I accord him with all my heart ! 
 To be sure, I've provided myself with sundry articles, 
 and in particular a whole new suit ; you also are to 
 have your little presents : but this itself only becomes 
 possible through my throwing in a small fee for my 
 Faust overture from Hartels with which I had intended 
 to surprise you as a gift. As said, whoever under- 
 stands it better, let him come next time in place of 
 me ; I cannot manage otherwise, and there's an end ! 
 
 The Tannhauser overture went quite beautifully at 
 yesterday's concert ; when it was over, the first thing I 
 heard was loud hisses from a single person, but then it 
 was applauded fairly well, although the hissing was kept 
 up by one or two. Besides a Mozart symph., we had 
 the Pastoral symph., which went quite passably, a half- 
 hour pianoforte concerto by Chopin, 4 vocal pieces, and 
 to wind up, the overture to Preziosa. I need say no more 
 about this concert. The Frankfort correspondent in the 
 Zurich Tageblatt might be corrected [to the effect] that 
 the dissatisfaction is not "mutual," but confined to my- 
 self ; the Directors have no inkling of it, and the concert 
 audience, on the contrary, is said to set much store 
 upon me, though it certainly might prove it somewhat 
 more adroitly than appears to be good English tone. 
 Thus much is certain : there was a large attendance
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 229 
 
 yesterday, and the room for the first time was packed : 
 this was generally attributed to the interest in my com- 
 positions ; possibly that is so. For the rest, these concerts, 
 with all that comes to light there, are a penance to me, 
 and I will keep silence to-day on the bitterness that often 
 fills me to the point of nausea. Enough I shall conduct 
 3 concerts more, and 6 weeks from to-day I depart ; God 
 grant I may find all well at Zurich, and that your own 
 atrocious cares don't further undermine your health ! It 
 only needed that as climax, that one should fret oneself 
 to death about these cares. Of a truth, dear Minna, 
 we've no luck ! Just as everything always turns out 
 as badly for us as it possibly can, so with this Berlin 
 Intendant once more ; who could have foreseen such 
 remissness ! Instead of my considering you quite well 
 provided for, at this very moment you are in the most 
 objectionable straits : I should like ! But we shall see. 
 I have nothing further to communicate to you to-day ; 
 it isn't worth the while. Sainton (a Frenchman), L,iiders 
 (a Hamburger), and Herr and Frau Praeger (the latter 
 French, and far advanced in pregnancy) send you their 
 kindest regards ; they came to my rooms after yesterday's 
 concert, and devoted much good will to helping me rectify 
 my not particularly rosy mood. All that dissatifies them, 
 is that every day of my sojourn here should not be turned 
 into a festival of thanks for the extraordinariness of what 
 I offer people ; and if things went according to their 
 mind, I should be carried round in triumph all the while. 
 This time Herr Ellerton took me to the concert in his 
 carriage ; you should hear him speak about his fellow- 
 countrymen ! He also is the first and only Englishman 
 who thinks nothing of Mendelssohn ; something quite new 
 to me.
 
 230 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Give our friends my best regards. Tell Mad. Stockar 
 
 [their landlady] I'm very CUrioUS to see her new works [water- 
 colours] as to which you write me such extraordinary 
 things. 
 
 I hope to learn from your next letter that my bill of 
 exchange has arrived, and better furnished with money 
 you are now in better humour also. What you write me 
 about the bad effect upon your health, worries me more 
 than I can tell you ! At any rate don't trouble on the 
 score of visitors ; probably nothing much will come of 
 it, and they shouldn't prove a load to von at all. So 
 farewell, poor good Wife ; restore yourself, and make me 
 happy with good tidings of your health ! Greet Nette, 
 too, and rest assured I am leading no life of pleasiire 
 here, but looking forward to home in every respect ! 
 Farewell, 
 
 Thy RICH. 
 
 Hearty greetings to Sulzer. I send him best thanks 
 for his letter : but tell him, as concerns the philosophic 
 part of it, I've racked my brains to find its application to 
 my words ; and as for England's decadence, I had simply 
 listened to the song which the birds on the eaves all sing 
 here, the text whereof is most indifferent to me on the 
 whole. 
 
 Give Boom my greetings too. 
 
 91. 
 
 'Twas in the lovely month of May 
 that Richard Wagner burst his shell : 
 therein had he prolonged his stay, 
 his best friends think it were as well. 
 
 Thus I congratulate myself in the name of you all for 
 my birthday !
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 231 
 
 LONDON, 19. May 1855. 
 
 I've simply nothing to write you to-day, dear Minna, 
 beyond my anxiety lest my letter to Sulzer with the bill 
 of exchange may not have arrived safely, as I haven't 
 yet heard from him, though he easily might have dropped 
 me a couple of lines. I sent him that letter last Satur- 
 day a week from to-day consequently he must have 
 received it Tuesday morning. Your writing me on 
 Tuesday (15. May) without any mention of it, I explained 
 to myself yesterday on the simple assumption that you 
 posted your letter to me in the afternoon, whilst Sulzer 
 did not call on you till evening. But then you could 
 have written me on Wednesday, to relieve my mind about 
 the bill's arrival? However, that's always the way; 
 what I expect for quite certain, is never punctual in 
 turning up, and so my head is always filled with nothing 
 but unrest. Neither has Hiilsen answered me as yet. 
 On the other hand a young man here, son of a deceased 
 tailor at Riga, has presented a bill for over 34 roubles ; 
 with the best conscience I don't know if I really owe the 
 money still [from 1837-39!]. In any case it is unpleasant 
 for me to have to refuse the young fellow, who was quite 
 delighted at the prospect of recovering the sum here 
 where I stand in such glory. It's a veritable joy. If 
 this ragamuffin world becomes too mad for me ere long, 
 I shall clothe myself in sackcloth and ashes ; but of a 
 certainty I also shall make no more music then : you may 
 all depend on t licit. 
 
 For the rest, I thank you profusely for your yester- 
 day's pink letter. I shall have to forgive your repeated 
 enquiry touching my debt to Karl Ritter, together with 
 your singular allusions to "after-pains from Sitten," since 
 I unfortunately have had to accustom myself to seeing
 
 232 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 things brought on the carpet again and again by you after 
 they had been fully discussed and set right. Therefore it 
 shall not vex me to explain to you once more that from 
 Zurich in vSeptember of last year I borrowed 1000 thaler 
 (3800 //'.) from Karl, to pay off pressing debts, which 
 he has refunded to himself by keeping back my year's 
 allowance : 1500 fr. last autumn, 1500/7'. this April, and 
 800 fr. next autumn. Accordingly, instead of my having 
 to devote my takings to repaying Karl, they have been 
 employed to fill the place of that withheld allowance ; 
 which comes to the same thing, only that their incoming 
 was not so regular. Now that is at an end, however, 
 through Berlin and my London savings. So set your 
 mind at rest on this point also. But next time you are 
 writing me to London^ please ask me questions about 
 other things ; I have disagreeables and annoyances enough 
 here already, God knows ! 
 
 I will attend to the cotton stockings with pleasure. 
 I have abandoned all idea of gifts for our acquaintances ; 
 I think you are quite right. Next time I'll write you all 
 particulars about my advent ; I fancy we had better stay 
 a week at Zurich first, and not go to Seelisberg till after 
 that as you originally proposed ; but you might as well 
 order our rooms in advance. I'm very sorry for Baum- 
 gartner's misfortune ; give him my condolence. 
 
 It continues cold and wintry here. Yesterday I had 
 a call from Dr. Franck, who means to get his son trained 
 in the English marine. Tomorrow I'm invited by Eller- 
 ton. Otherwise my life is supremely amusing, glorious 
 and gay, as you indeed will suppose. Yesterday I took 
 to sweating again. Reassure me about your health ; it is 
 to be hoped you'll soon be looking out for a good maid. 
 I have a good, handv and willing indoor servant here ;
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 233 
 
 shall I bring him with me ? I know of absolutely nothing 
 fresh, but am very uneasy about Sulzer's silence concern- 
 ing the draft ; let us hope a letter from him is already on 
 the road. 
 
 Best greetings to the house ; I shall thoroughly 
 appreciate the week there. The inner affliction I put 
 up with at having to abide by this mortifying engagement 
 here, I can hardly express. Be glad you're unacquainted 
 with that sort of affliction. Take care of your health : 
 
 The most instant request of Thy 
 
 R.- 
 
 92. 
 
 LONDON, 22 May 1855. 
 
 MY POOR DEAR MINNA, 
 
 You have made me a very mournful birthday- 
 present with the news of your illness ! Your last tidings, 
 however, already pointed to your having caught a severe 
 cold, and I almost must deem it as well that the immanent 
 storm is discharging its force in a sound inflammation, 
 which is always better than dragging an uneasy feeling 
 about with one of being inwardly unwell. Thus it was 
 a good thing in the end that you underwent that fever 
 and inflammation before your journey of last year, as you 
 got rid of what was lurking in your system, and then felt 
 so much better at last that I still remember with great 
 joy how well you looked on your return. You will see 
 from these remarks that, to support the bad news, I at 
 once am trying to forecast this case's progress in a 
 favourable light ; in which I luckily believe I've hit the 
 mark this time. But I hope you kindly think of sending 
 me oftener than usual a few lines however few to keep 
 me posted in your state of health ; at any rate do so as
 
 234 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 soon as this letter arrives, and continue it each day till 
 you can write me that you're quite restored again. To 
 be sure, that thorough restoration is generally a slow 
 affair, because fever always pulls you down and leaves 
 much weakness behind for some time ; yet I may hope 
 to find you quite well again on my return, and whatever 
 may still be lacking we shall certainly put to rights 
 together on the Seelisberg, where I am going to behave 
 myself as gently as a lamb this time, am I not? So 
 bear up, my dear old Minna ! 
 
 Unfortunately you have lately received a pair of cross 
 letters from me, and what particularly grieves me is that 
 to-day itself, as I'm writing these lines, you will be 
 getting my last letter, in which I express myself some- 
 what testily about an enquiry of yours. Ah, child, if you 
 only knew how these silly money difficulties on your side 
 helped to put me out just then ; it seemed to me as if one 
 were never to experience anything reasonable and cheering 
 again ; which with all the rest I have to swallow here 
 gave me a regular fit of the blues. All that has since 
 come straight, however, and if friend Sulzer had only 
 fulfilled his own offer a little more punctually, neither 
 would you have suffered care, perplexity and bother, nor 
 I have needed to give myself somewhat away with 
 Anderson here and with Hiilsen at Berlin which was not 
 exactly to my taste ; for Hiilsen wrote me yesterday that 
 the money had been despatched before receipt of my 
 reminder, which Sulzer simultaneously confirmed. Don't 
 be angry with me, then, if in such circumstances I was 
 less able to conceal my ill-humour than, out of due regard 
 for you and your condition, I usually endeavour to. No 
 matter, everything's in order now, and I can only wish 
 your health may also soon be quite restored, as it really
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 235 
 
 was my concern for it that most disturbed and nettled me 
 on that occasion. Do give me a thorough good account 
 of it soon ! 
 
 I haven't much to tell you of the progress of my life 
 here. Unfortunately my own health is not in the very 
 best order ; what plagues me most is weakness of diges- 
 tion : I greatly miss the tender vegetables you always 
 serve me up so excellently ; here I stuff myself with 
 strictly nothing but meat and potatoes, which suits me 
 very badly. I can hardly ever get to sleep before i in 
 the morning, and therefore always rise quite late and very 
 peevish ; then I stare for long into the cold grey atmo- 
 sphere, and need an effort to constrain myself to do a little 
 work. For some time past I have been taking cocoa for 
 breakfast again, with rusks, which I've unearthed here at 
 last. When I feel less of a weight on me, for lunch I 
 take a cup of bouillon with an egg ; otherwise a small 
 bottle of seltzer water, frequently in fact with milk. 
 Then I slink from the house toward 3 o'clock, prowl 
 about in Regents Park, where the beautiful ducks and 
 swans form my chief entertainment ; hunt up Liiders or 
 Klindworth ; and then, if I'm not dining at the former's 
 (with Sainton) or Prager's, return home to my lonely 
 dinner, which usually concludes my day's work. - 
 
 Last Sunday I had been invited by Ellerton ; his wife 
 (a Lady) still being ill in the country, he entertained me 
 at a club he is member of, where one is very well served. 
 Sainton, whom he had also invited, was unfortunately 
 detained ; but besides Liiders and Anderson there were 
 present two old gentlemen, subscribers to the Phil- 
 harmonic, who seemed very satisfied with me. It is 
 certain I'm making quite a singular sensation here, and 
 my friends say that the actual success of my appearance
 
 236 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 will only shew up later, perhaps after a few years, when 
 I might even get marvellous orders from here. Thus the 
 Tannhauser overture seems to have really made more 
 impression upon many people than I believed ; Ellerton 
 shewed me, among other things, a letter from a lady of 
 high rank expressing the most rapturous admiration of it. 
 So much, accordingly, seems certain : already I have a 
 small party here that regards me as a heaven-sent 
 wonder, and upon which as also on the audience in 
 general the venomous critics, who could almost burst for 
 gall and fury, exert not the smallest influence, or at most 
 an influence in my favour. But alack, I've neither taste 
 nor time to cultivate all this and wait, since I know too well 
 the insufficiency and inappropriateness of my position ; 
 whilst this public's true distinctive feature, incompetence 
 for music, repels me far too much. Get to know a thorough 
 English soul, what a wooden creation of God's it is ! 
 
 On the top of it all I have only to inform you that 
 people in America have been casting strong glances my 
 way, and an enquiry has already reached Prager from a 
 Air. Mason, whether I might be prepared to accept the 
 call and offer of several combined societies in New York 
 to present my things there ; they hope to let me have the 
 formal invitation in a few months' time. Just imagine 
 the bliss of that prospect, immediately after my return 
 from London to have to set sail again for America ! At 
 any rate you would be of the party, would you not ? or 
 should we prefer to remain in the Escherhauser after all ? 
 I rather think so. For my own part at least, I am 
 licartily sick of it, so sick that I swear that nothing shall 
 decoy me from my work again ; indeed I am not made 
 for this farrago, and should precious soon be done for, 
 were I forced into it. No, my dear Minna, let us quietly
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 237 
 
 keep to our beautiful Switzerland, attending to health 
 and good temper ; and if a contented mind can help 
 toward that, I'll be content in every way henceforward, 
 and gladly not grudge to others their being better off. 
 Full stop ! 
 
 If Klepperbein can make nothing better than such 
 portraits, I should advise him to drop it ; I could do as 
 well myself by smearing a handful of ink over the paper. 
 And yet the stupid photograph has touched me : there 
 always is something direct about it that attracts ; the 
 outline of your form is plainly recognisable, and it 
 suddenly seemed as if you were standing before me. Peps 
 surprises me whenever I see him again, and so in this 
 picture ; it always moves me deeply when I think of the 
 old fellow's being still alive and with us. He doesn't 
 appear to have grown very slim, though ; as he lies at 
 your feet there, one remarks his old podgy obesity. I 
 hope you're out of bed again by to-day ; if not, how goes 
 it with Knackerchen ? Hasn't he come flying into the 
 bedroom again to find you ? As soon as you've a little 
 strength again, give Peps a good dig in his fat ribs, in 
 my name, and follow 7 it up with a spank ; that will do 
 him good ! 
 
 I shall leave here five weeks from to-day, and get to 
 Zurich and my old Muzius on Saturday the 3Oth June at 
 latest. All details concerning my arrival we will settle 
 later on ; we've plenty of time for that, alas ! But don't 
 you worry in the slightest as to guests ; probably Prager 
 will be unable to come at all, and Rockel at the outside 
 would only come to Seelisberg for a day. In no case 
 should we put ourselves the least bit out. So relieve 
 your mind and keep your courage up. The worst is over 
 now, and in general I trust we both have got the worst
 
 238 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 part of our life behind us ! A thousand fervent wishes for 
 your welfare are herewith sent you on his birthday by 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 I have just written a letter to Wesendonck also, his 
 (which reached this house, remarkably enough, two hours 
 earlier than yours) has given me great and hearty joy ; he 
 wrote me very amiably and nicely. Poor devil that I am, 
 though, I couldn't help almost laughing at the purse. 
 
 93. 
 
 LONDON, 25. May 1855. 
 
 Your letter of to-day, dear good Mienel, has conferred 
 a great boon on me ; the very first glance dispelled my 
 serious fears about your health ; for I saw that you had 
 been able to write so much, though it is only 3 days since 
 you were hardly able to write at all. Indeed I had been 
 very anxious, and as I know how long the weakness after 
 high fever continues, I was almost afraid I should get no 
 letter from you to-day whatever : the greater, naturally, 
 was my delight. But I am sure it was a transgression 
 of R.'s orders, and all I now fervently wish, is that you 
 haven't harmed yourself thereby and brought on a fresh 
 attack of fever. Still, you appear to be getting over it 
 better this time than last autumn, on the whole, and I 
 congratulate you with all my heart. Your being able to 
 make such beautiful verses straight off, however, surely 
 is also a result of the fever ; I should think you must 
 have been quite exhausted after this poetic effusion. If 
 that sort of thing goes on, you'll be writing me opera- 
 texts in the long run ; Lord, had I known it before, what 
 a deal of pains you might have saved me ! Who knows 
 how it may turn out yet ? If my head remains as dull
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 239 
 
 and heavy as it is at present, I'm unlikely to write poetry 
 again in all my life. The trouble any working gives me 
 is boundless, and my condition wellnigh insupportable ; I 
 feel each day as if I had been up all night, heavy, limp, 
 a wreck. Of the Walkiire I shall bring back nothing 
 finished beyond the first half of the second act, and just 
 this act is such a great exertion because it contains none 
 but situations of atrocious suffering ; the " Young Sieg- 
 fried " will naturally go much easier and faster, so much 
 depends upon a cheerful subject. I no longer believe I shall 
 begin it this year, though ; my mind is very weary ! 
 
 You surely do not doubt my holding out here to the 
 end ; after my supporting the last 3 months, it would 
 be very stupid if I finally lost patience with the remnant. 
 So we won't speak of that again. Tomorrow I have the 
 rehearsal for the 6th concert : a symphony by an English- 
 man Potter, a queer old fish who thoroughly amuses me, 
 and has turned my initial anger at his fabrication into 
 laughter ; a symphony by Mendelssohn (which I once 
 gave at Dresden ["Scotch"] and at any rate is better than 
 the earlier) ; an overture by Spohr (awful !), singings of 
 sorts, and as recompense for it all, at last the Beethovenian 
 overture to Leonora ! Moreover, Sainton will play a violin 
 concerto of Beethoven's, which he already has rendered 
 to me at his rooms, and which I am glad to conduct this 
 time. Whether the Queen will yet come to a concert, is 
 still undecided ; neither does it concern me any more. 
 Herr Benecke, who may have been offended by my rather 
 cold conducting of a Mendelssohnian symphony (in glace 
 gloves), has become reconciled to me again through the 
 last concert, and in particular through the Tannhauser 
 overture ; so I have at last had to accept for next Sunday, 
 when as I hear he also has invited all the music-Jews
 
 540 
 
 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 of London in my honour. God, how absurd I appear to 
 myself here ! 
 
 I feel as grateful to you for your present as if I had 
 already received it ; but I think it very luxurious of 
 you to want to spread such a beautiful cover on the 
 piano-stool at once ; surely you will put the new em- 
 broidery away to save for me. You had a happy 
 thought with the camp-stool, for which I thank you 
 much ; but before you get the carpenter to make it, 
 remark my ensuing description of such a chair, taken 
 from a pattern one meets in almost every house in 
 England in mine as well. It consists of two portions, 
 which are joined in the middle of the seat in the following 
 fashion, and can be shut up flat : 
 
 i. a 
 
 2. 
 
 i. The chair when it is set open. E is the axis with 
 the screw ; from A to C forms the seat (C the knee, E
 
 241 
 
 the most honourable, A the head) at a most agreeable, 
 nearly recumbent angle, in which one gets excellent rest. 
 D and B are the legs. From A to E, and from E to C, 
 the space between the two supports is filled with rushes 
 or even with plaited straw ; if you liked, you could also 
 fill it up with your embroidery. A band can also stretch 
 from ii to 5, to rest the arms on. 
 
 2. The chair when it is shut. As the part from A 
 to B is rather longer than the other, one could shorten 
 it above by means of a hinge, where it would likewise 
 shut to. 
 
 God the Omniscient may know if I have expressed 
 myself plainly ; but you are so immensely clever that I 
 believe you will at least have understood me. 
 
 On my birthday I spread out on my bed all the things 
 I've procured here, and couldn't resist the temptation to put 
 them all on and display myself to an astonished world ; 
 you'll be delighted with the suit. I and Klind worth 
 spent the evening at Prager's, who devoted half a bottle 
 of champagne to your health. Otherwise the day passed 
 pretty drearily. But there, such birthdays shan't occur 
 again ; one learns wisdom in the end, does one not ? 
 
 I have had many another look at your photograph, and 
 at last made out from it the portrait, so that to my delight 
 I saw you quite lifelike before me ; the notion was there- 
 fore quite capital, and I thank you for it much. Peps 
 looks hugely like a sausage ; everyone has had to laugh to 
 whom I've shewn him. Now Heaven grant I may soon 
 receive news of your total recovery ; even your letter of 
 to-day has quite picked me up, as you doubtless will see 
 from these lines. Continue that way, and it will end in 
 a reunion of the first water, will it not ? Fare quite 
 enormously well, so well that you won't be able to 
 VOL. i 16
 
 242 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 contain yourself ; greet R., and thank him on my behalf 
 as well for his care of you. Adieu, many, many hearty 
 kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 94. 
 
 LONDON, 29. May 1855. 
 
 GOOD MORNING, DEAR MlNNA ! 
 
 In good London fashion I have risen at 10, after 
 somewhat restoring myself from the racket of yesterday's 
 concert. So tliat too is over, and 4 weeks from to-day 
 I depart, to convince myself at Zurich whether you've 
 recovered entirely. Your unexpectedly swift convales- 
 cence, or at least your leaving bed again, has been the 
 solitary good experience, and the fondest, I have had of 
 late ; it has relieved me greatly, and put me in as good 
 humour as possible. So I give you the testimonial that 
 you have behaved very well this time, and you shall be 
 rewarded for it to the best of my ability at our re- 
 union, especially if I see that you've procured yourself 
 the needful blood again. Let me take this opportunity 
 of assuring you that I can't abide blood-letting ; I am 
 convinced you haven't too much blood, and also am of 
 opinion that in inflammatory cases the application of 
 water by cold compresses is more beneficial. Now 
 do your very best, as said, to get your blood back ; 
 provide yourself with a good appetite and good spirits : 
 I hope the riddance of the money trouble will be a help 
 toward that. You are perfectly right : harassments of 
 that sort are most depressing, and injuriously affect the 
 health ; which also was the reason I was so worried and 
 put out myself, when in spite of my provisions against
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 243 
 
 it I learnt of your strait. Now I have begged Sulzer 
 after deducting his last disbursements to place at your 
 immediate disposal the 1500 fr. for the current half-year, 
 together with the 500/7-. for last Easter, so that you will 
 receive your full house-keeping money down to October 
 i, and in addition 150 /r. of the 500 fr. extra, of which 
 you have already had 350 fr. for the rent. So be of good 
 cheer ; then blood and courage no doubt will return to 
 you also. 
 
 Yesterday's concert went off as usual ; the principal 
 piece was the violin concerto by Beethoven, which 
 Saiiiton played wonderfully and I got very delicately 
 accompanied for him. For the rest, as regards the 
 applause I have grown accustomed to expecting the 
 opposite of what really ought to be expected. Anything 
 majestic and powerful is always received pretty coldly ; 
 anything natty and trite, on the other hand, always gives 
 these people great delight : it seems to be fashionable 
 never to excite oneself, and for God's sake never let 
 oneself be carried off one's feet it would be against 
 good tone. Certainly it is the most unimpressionable 
 audience in the world, and nobody has any other aim 
 with it, than to pocket its money ; as to which Albert 
 Wagner was perfectly right. They practise the pro- 
 prieties each time, however, toward myself, i.e. I'm 
 always fairly well received ; that goes without saying. 
 Moreover, the Queen will attend the next concert ; which 
 will cost me a white cravat. Prince Albert will draw up 
 the programme himself ; I have been told that at least 
 Jour pieces by Mendelssohn would be played inconsequence. 
 Doubtless I shall survive it. 
 
 Last Sunday I had the good fortune to dine with the 
 family Benecke in the company of a number of music-Jews.
 
 244 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 That entertainment cost me 8 schilling ; as all the Sunday 
 omnibuses were full, I had to take a cab there and back 
 (8 English miles each way). Of such are my joys ! 
 
 Indeed I shouldn't know what else to write you on my 
 humdrum life here ; I am always in perplexity what to 
 find to tell you. In return for the wretched looofr. I'm 
 saving by it, this expedition has thrown me far, far back : 
 I inwardly feel so disgraced and maltreated, that I've long 
 since almost lost my artistic belief ; it will be a hard job 
 to recover it : with my work as I've already written you 
 I am far in arrear. The worst of it is, I have only 
 myself to reproach for it justly ; for I alone know this 
 public world of music as no one else can know it, and 
 / alone know my position toward it : consequently, even 
 when everybody else was speaking up for it, I ought to 
 have declined this invitation most emphatically. How 
 free and strong should I then have stood, whereas I now 
 give every vagabond the right to say I never was in 
 earnest with my former views, but simply playing the 
 fox with the grapes. That will do : what's done, cannot 
 be undone. 
 
 You misunderstood me, if you thought the Riga 
 tailor's son had touched me by \nsfriendliness; on the 
 contrary, it tormented me to find that the fellow had 
 such perfect faith in his claim. His father died a long 
 time back, and among his papers they found an acceptance 
 of mine, which the young man treasured up as an heir- 
 loom, and, lighting upon me in London, now hoped to 
 cash. I turned him away, however, as I really cannot 
 remember this debt, though I have a very good memory 
 for everything else. It was disagreeable to me in any 
 case. 
 
 I must beg you for the contents of Pusinelli's letter,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 245 
 
 as I heard from Fischer that Meser was on the eve of 
 going bankrupt, whereon I begged him to urge my 
 business-creditors to make my property secure. As for 
 that, people all behave like muffs, and from nowhere 
 so it seems can I ever learn anything pleasant. Did 
 Pusinelli write reassuringly, then ? I should have been 
 glad to learn that, you silly Muzius ! I don't like hearing 
 that you have such confidences with Sulzer that he has 
 told you something with regard to money which you are 
 not to repeat to me ; in that case he would have done 
 better also not to make such an absurd remark to you as 
 this distasteful question whether I hadn't been receiving 
 money from the theatres and sending part to you. You 
 did very right to tell me that, and my giving Sulzer an 
 explanation on the point was quite in order. In your 
 state of health I should scarcely have expected you to be 
 champagning on my birthday, and when you told me of 
 it I was almost horrified ; as it did you good, however, I 
 naturally was very glad, above all since I saw that your 
 illness had passed off more smoothly this time. Knacker- 
 chen's feather gave me great delight ; it was quite an 
 excellent idea of yours and his. 
 
 Tell me, you seem to have been wanting to come as 
 far as Paris to meet me ? That surprised me ! Dearest 
 Minna, I am looking forward to home and to Switzerland, 
 and to rejoin you there will be the most agreeable to 
 myself ; unfortunately also, I have been unable to earn 
 enough here to afford a stay in Paris with any pleasure ; 
 whilst I dislike the idea of gadding about in Paris again 
 even with you just after leaving London. I should 
 much prefer going direct from here to the Seelisberg ; 
 yet I gladly consent to a week of home comforts at Zurich 
 beforehand. But let me get over the journey, and set
 
 246 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 foot in our home, as quickly as possible ; and what I 
 should like best, would be for you first to receive me in 
 Zurich itself, where I hope to find rest. To me it has 
 a truly moral meaning, and for God's sake do not seek 
 behind my wish some slight upon yourself, but directly 
 the opposite. I want to be reminded as little as possible 
 of this whole expedition, and can hope to grow mirthful 
 only when at home and with yourself, our animals, etc., 
 I forget this entire metropolitan joust. 
 
 But there, I've time enough to tell you all particulars 
 of my arrival. In any case I shall travel back as fast 
 as possible, and my only question is where to sleep a 
 night en route, so as not to reach you too exhausted. 
 
 vSo farewell, dear good Minna. Be sure your letters 
 are always very welcome to me, and contribute whatever 
 is possible to bring me a good day ! So keep your spirits 
 up ; our parting will soon be over now ; let us celebrate 
 a right joyful reunion ! A thousand salutes and kisses 
 from 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 95. 
 
 LONDON, i .June 1855. 
 
 DEAR GOOD WIFE, 
 
 To-day, this ist of June, I've had a roaring fire 
 lit again ; which will shew you the delicious climate I 
 am living in. Everything combines to make my sojourn 
 here as charming as possible ! However, I already am 
 thinking almost less of that sojourn, than of the de- 
 parture ; for I shall be at Zurich 4 weeks from tomorrow ! 
 The day before yesterday I commenced my purchases, 
 Mad. Prager helping me ; for which I had to remember 
 her as well with lace, of course, and presented her with
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 247 
 
 a collar and cuffs in revenge for much that I have 
 enjoyed in her house. Concerning this lace, however, 
 a doubt has now cropped up in me ; for Mad. Prager 
 declared that only collars and cuffs of it are generally 
 worn, as people always have high bodies to their dresses. 
 As to the Wesendonck, it immediately occurred to me 
 that she always wears high bodices, and therefore needs 
 no embroidered chemisette (chest) ; but how about your- 
 self? Of the richest lace I've only bought collar and 
 cuffs for you, as also for the Wesendonck ; in the less 
 expensive lace, however such as Mad. Wolfensperger 
 wears I have added a chemisette. So, if you think a 
 stomacher of the richer lace should also be purchased 
 both for yourself and the W. please send exact instruc- 
 tions, that I may buy it yet. Of course the thing is 
 not precisely cheap for there's a difference in the 
 quality ; but if it is needful, don't hesitate to speak 
 straight out, and the cost must be saved off something 
 else. I have also got you stockings: ITT pound the 
 dozen, 
 
 At the French Customs they're very strict, and I 
 have been generally advised to declare the things, 
 especial!}- the lace, and pay duty, which comes to 25 
 per cent, though. -But there's no hurry about that. 
 
 As to news from here, unfortunately I know of 
 absolutely none to give you, however much I rack my 
 brains ; so that I really am only writing to give you a 
 sign of life and thank you most sincerely for your letters, 
 which have truly rejoiced me by relieving my mind in 
 respect of your health. As for ))iy own, I couldn't remain 
 here much longer without becoming downright ill : my 
 lower regions are badly out of order ; the food here is 
 doing me great harm, particularly the lack of soft
 
 248 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 vegetables and plenty of them ; the only way I can 
 remedy it, is to eat as little as possible. However, I 
 don't intend to fall into laments again ; you have heard 
 them often enough. If I only had anything pleasant 
 to tell you instead ; but I know of nothing good, except 
 that it's drawing to an end here. 
 
 What we shall set before the sovereign Court at our 
 next concert, I haven't heard yet ; moreover it is in- 
 famously indifferent to me. At last I have the score of 
 ' ' Rheingold ' ' in in)' hands again ; the Dresden copyist 
 hadn't even yet got through the half of it, so I lost 
 patience and begged Fischer to send the whole bundle to 
 me here, as I meant to get the copy finished at Zurich. 
 (It cost a tidy sum per post.) Tell me (before I forget 
 it), has Schmidt of Frankfort had the present I intended 
 for him ? ? 
 
 A lady here is plaguing me for my portrait for Berlin, 
 where the last doesn't satisfy and they want a better one 
 of me. For that purpose she wishes me to get photo- 
 graphed again, which I won't ; nothing decent will come 
 of it in all my life, and I haven't the least desire for 
 any of that sort of nonsense now. The day before 
 yesterday I and Prager were at a theatre no farther off 
 from our abodes than 7 Engl. miles ; it is called the 
 City-of-Loudon theatre. The dearest seat was i schilling ; 
 Publicus was in its shirt-sleeves etc., and kicked up such 
 a row that it took me a long time to get as accustomed 
 to it as the actors had, who played on quite calmly albeit 
 not a word of theirs was understood. They played 
 Schiller's Robbers, and after it a French piece, the 
 Corsica n Bro fliers. In the Robbers it startled me to 
 see Frau v. Marschall as Amalie ; please tell her I should 
 never have believed she was playing comedy incognito
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 249 
 
 in London. At one point in the last piece there appeared 
 the ghost of the slain brother, which was represented so 
 vividly that I've been quite afraid of it at home of nights. 
 There also was a duel in. it, carried out so intensely naturally 
 and excitingly that I rarely remember my interest being 
 so held at the theatre. Prager has assured me, moreover, 
 that the most celebrated English actors do not play a 
 hair's breadth otherwise or better than those at this out- 
 of-the-way theatre which I simply wished to see for 
 the sake of enlarging my experience. 
 
 There, I have pumped up all my news now, and 
 it's your turn to tell me Zurich novelties, which will 
 amount to pretty much the same. That doubtless arises, 
 dear child, from our having led so moving and eventful 
 a life that we no longer take an interest in what strikes 
 others as still of account. Neither do we need anything 
 of the kind, and the beautiful Seelisberg shall narrate 
 us more news than this whole big political and artistic 
 Jew-world, to which / at least am dead for good. God 
 rest its soul ! 
 
 Klindworth, who is better again, has just turned up ; 
 we are dining together at Sainton and Liiders' to-day. 
 If it were not for these good amiable fellows, and the 
 Pragers, decidedly I should have been unable to hold 
 out here. Within their limited means they give them- 
 selves all conceivable pains to make my life agreeable. 
 What nonsense, that they should need to ! 
 
 As for that, I did not invite them after the last 
 concert ; to speak candidly out of economy (you will 
 laugh at that, but it's the truth). The disappointment 
 was general, however, and I shall invite them again 
 after the next Royal concert in the white cravat. 
 
 Now fare immensely well, good Muzius ! Keep brave
 
 250 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and of good humour. Hearty thanks for your letters 
 once more. To a speedy, glad, glad Wiedersehen ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 96. 
 
 LONDON, 5. June 1855. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL, 
 
 It is too bad that I should really have nothing 
 to write you from here ; I do not even know the 
 programme for our next concert yet, and probably shan't 
 till this evening at Sainton's. Consequently I am only 
 writing lest you should come by evil thoughts if a 
 letter were skipped, though they never do occur to 
 you (do they ?). Nevertheless I have a little trip to tell 
 you of, which I took this last Sunday to Brighton 
 (pronounce, Breiten), where Prager is spending a few 
 days with his family, and whither he had invited me. 
 Unfortunately it was so windy that I caught a fresh 
 cold on our sea jaunt the chief amusement there ; 
 then I tried to rid myself of the results by sweating, 
 which always makes one still more liable. But the 
 winter will never end here, and with the exception of 
 a few days I have been wearing winter clothes for 
 nine full months now God be praised ! my wadded 
 overcoat, for instance, is on my body almost all the 
 time. The only thing wanting, is for this bad weather 
 to break loose at home when I get back. That prospect 
 exists, to judge by your accounts of the constant fair 
 weather at present ; what bliss ! If one could only 
 throw off the habit of life, since it really is made such 
 an affliction ! 
 
 That you are passably well again, and seem to be 
 in good spirits, gives me just as much joy as your
 
 25 1 
 
 illness and bad temper (in consequence of that silly 
 money fix) made me uneasy a little while back. So 
 I'm in a somewhat better frame of mind myself. As 
 for Sulzer, whom yon appear to be treating extraordinarily 
 harshly, he told me he had placed the whole 250 fr. 
 for April at your disposal ; if he really only gave you 
 150, no doubt it was because he remembered my having 
 left you an advance of 100 fr. before I started. How- 
 ever, that will soon explain itself when I get back, 
 which won't be much longer to wait for. Three weeks 
 from to-day I depart (in the evening) ; already I feel 
 that I ought to be packing, so absolutely am I in 
 London no longer in spirit. To-day, too, I've come to 
 a stop with my work ; I have only reached the end of 
 Wodan's great scene in the 2nd act of the Walktire 
 horrible to relate ! so that I have instrumented some- 
 thing over 100 pages in all here ! ! I haven't the 
 smallest relish to begin a new scene here, and shall 
 merely pass the remaining time away with the fair copy 
 and preparations for it. 
 
 By all means you might write to Truttmann [Seelisberg 
 hotel] : I want a small room in the old house for my 
 study, and on the Chapel side, that I may have no 
 morning sun ; I also should think it as well if you 
 engaged for our parlour and bed-chamber those rooms 
 in the new house, on the other side of it, which Frau 
 Landamtmannin Reding occupied last year, as they are 
 the least exposed to the sun which, as you know, is 
 a great consideration. 
 
 It would be dreadful if Peps couldn't go out with 
 us any more. He had that lameness in his fore-paw 
 once before, and yet it left him ; so I still have hope 
 this time : only do not let him eat too much. God,
 
 252 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 the thought that one soon must lose the good old chap 
 entirely, makes me quite doleful ! Give him my kindest 
 regards. 
 
 As spinster Breck is making such lovely things for 
 me, I suppose you must give her my regards as well ; 
 only don't make them quite too cordial ! Apropos of 
 my domestic luxury, I've been led by chance to an 
 increase thereof which mustn't make you cross with 
 me. Prager's wife saw one of my Paris silk shirts, 
 and declared one could get them still better and cheaper 
 here, as these materials are more largely made here than 
 in France. In brief she has shewn me samples, and 
 I have bought material for three shirts ; which must be 
 made up here, however, as I should have to pay duty 
 otherwise upon the stuff. But set your mind at rest : 
 you too shall have an extra something nice, especially 
 if you behave yourself, and I shall still bring back that 
 1,000 fr. intact. 
 
 I've also had annoying business matters to attend 
 to ; Meser, in particular, has cost me a bad day. What 
 a champion piggery that is ; it is enough to make one's 
 heart bleed, to see how such a fine and hard-won 
 property is managed! Lucky I'm not there, God knows! 
 If only the world would accord me at least one thing : 
 my keeping good humour for work ; for indeed that's 
 the sole thing I want in the end. 
 
 I know absolutely nothing further of Berlin ; but 
 there is ample time for that ! The whole thing is 
 terribly indifferent to me at bottom. 
 
 Now wheedle Sulzer into suppl ying good weather 
 for my return ; a Director of Finance on the English 
 model can do anything ! As for yourself be nice and 
 calm, look after your health, lie down and take things
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 253 
 
 easy, don't slave about anything : that I may find you 
 in thorough good condition. Then we'll do nothing 
 but fool around the whole first week. Adieu ! A 
 thousand heartfelt greetings and kisses from 
 
 Thy 
 R. W. 
 
 97. 
 
 LONDON, S.June 1855. 
 
 MOST EXCELLENT MUZIUS, 
 
 I cannot write you anything definite about the 
 next concert, even to-day. Tuesday evening Sainton told 
 me the programme had already appeared in the news- 
 paper, and my Tannhauser march was upon it. Therefore 
 Prince Albert must have demanded some of my music, 
 and, without a word to me about it, these stupid devils 
 of directors blindly set down this march since it chanced 
 to be still in reserve. For we had run through it at an 
 extra rehearsal before the 5th concert, that it perhaps 
 might be given in course of the concerts as a closing 
 number. After the 6th concert, however, w T hen I attended 
 a committee to arrange the programmes for the remainder, 
 they shewed me a written sketch of the last two concerts 
 (before they knew whether the Queen would attend one 
 of them), and behold you, they hadn't included this march 
 in it. At any rate, then, the undecided success of the 
 Tannhauser overture had made it advisable to these gentle- 
 men to give nothing more of mine ; whereas / in the 
 meantime had made up my mind, should they still w r ant 
 the march, that I won /</;/'/ consent to it, since I have lost 
 all desire to produce myself here. For all that, these 
 gentlemen behaved very shabbily in vouchsafing me no 
 word about it, but slinking away like cats from hot broth ; 
 so I have just taken my revenge. Immediately I heard
 
 254 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 of the programme arranged with Prince Albert, I wrote 
 the latter : It much rejoiced me to perceive that the 
 Court wished to make acquaintance with some of my 
 music, but I regretted that the directors of the society, 
 without consulting me, had fixed upon a march that 
 was merely a piece of scenic decoration, and to myself 
 did not seem qualified to give a sufficient idea of my 
 music ; consequently, if the Court insisted on its wish, 
 I besought the Prince to command an execution of the 
 Tannhauser overture, which had certainly been given 
 once before, but in any case could only gain through 
 better understanding by the audience on a second hear- 
 ing. Sainton himself delivered this letter next day at 
 the Palace, where he had to give a lesson. At the same 
 time I wrote to the directors, telling them that this 
 march, which they had considered unworthy to set on 
 the programme of their ordinary concerts, was bound to 
 strike myself as still less worthy of an extraordinary 
 concert, if it were a question of giving the Royal Court, 
 in compliance with its desire, an adequate idea of my 
 music ; consequent!}' I had written to Prince Albert, and 
 begged him to demand the Tannhauser overture. Well, 
 it appears that the Prince has at any rate fulfilled my 
 wish and asked the directors for the overture, as I'm 
 bidden to an extraordinary committee for 5 this afternoon ; 
 whereas if the Prince had not entertained it, he would 
 certainly have told me so direct through Ids secretary, 
 for which purpose I had written him my address. It 
 would be droll, accordingly, if in this way I arrived at 
 a minor amende after all ; although I could have done 
 quite well without it, as this whole L/ondon expedition 
 simply strikes me as a sin committed by me, for which 
 I heartily admit the justice of stern punishment. For the
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 255 
 
 rest, we have a thorough good programme, and one that 
 if it weren't for too much music may give me pleasure : 
 the lovely symphony of Mozart which I conducted once 
 at Zurich ; then the 8th symphony of Beethoven, the 
 second movement whereof we once had to repeat at 
 Zurich (by request !). So we shall see : I'll write you after 
 the concert ; meanwhile you may assume with tolerable 
 certainty that the Tannhauser overture will be given. 
 
 Thank you for your 4~leafed clover, though it will 
 have caused you no very great effort, as you hardly find 
 any but 4-leafed clover ; it shall be a token to me, how- 
 ever, that you are well and in good humour. I am 
 equally glad that you're satisfied with my economy and 
 my purchases : I'm not quite at the end of the latter 
 yet, and you shall get something pretty besides ; neither 
 did you need to give me any orders for lace insertion ; 
 instead of ij ell I had already purchased several, which 
 I hope will suit you. The stockings I've bought you 
 will certainly be considerably finer than the previous 
 ones ; they are of the best quality. 
 
 The other evening I went with Prager and Liiders to 
 the Surrey Gardens, where there are wild beasts in variety 
 (among them many lions), and Sebastopol is so surprisingly 
 represented in the open, that I really didn't know at first 
 where I had got to. When it grew dark, the bombard- 
 ment was copied in fireworks, ending with the final 
 capture of Sebastopol while the band very touchingly 
 played " God save the Queen." The irony of the thing 
 became complete for me when I learnt that the same 
 soldiers were employed for this sham fight who had been 
 in the Crimea and, after fighting in reality, returned here 
 wounded, to go through the thing again with pasteboard, 
 canvas and rockets, but victoriously this time. The
 
 256 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 public naturally feels very gratified : what more would 
 one have ? 
 
 Otherwise I have nothing to communicate from here, 
 except that I'm counting the days to my longed-for 
 departure already. Liszt has written me very amiably : 
 at Dtisseldorf, where he also was invited to the Music- 
 festival, he likewise heard on all sides that I had left 
 London, at which all the world felt hearty joy (namely, 
 at my having been kicked out) ; a joy Liszt spoilt for 
 them by the assurance that it wasn't true. Ah, this 
 adorable crew of musicianers ; how odious I seem in my 
 own eyes for its having assumed the appearance again 
 as if I were one of themselves ! God preserve me in 
 future even from that appearance ! Farewell, best of all 
 Minnas ; continue so sensible and bright, and you shall be 
 rewarded by having in me the very dearest of husbands, 
 who now presents himself with olden love as 
 
 Thy superlatively faithful partner and spouse, 
 
 R. W. 
 
 98. 
 
 LONDON, Saturday, after the rehearsal. 
 
 DEAREST MINNA, 
 
 I must send you just a word, to tell you the 
 Tannhauser overture will really be repeated. 
 
 I haven't a postage-stamp left in the house, so you'll 
 have to bleed 55 cent, for this bulletin, which will aw use 
 you, however. 
 
 Adieu, I'm very tired, and have just ordered a small 
 bottle of stout (porter). 
 
 God save the Queen ! 
 
 Your 
 
 very truly 
 
 RICH. WAG.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 257 
 
 99. 
 
 LONDON, 12. June 1855. 
 
 Good Lord, dear Mienel, I am quite hoarse from so 
 much talking with the Queen ! First she asked me how 
 was Peps ? Then, if Knackerchen was well-behaved ? 
 Then, if I was taking anything back for my wife ? 
 Finally she asked after Sulzer, and whether Baumgartner 
 had really failed the other day ? And so on, without end. 
 You may imagine what a deal I had to answer ; in short, 
 I can't squeeze out another word to-day. 
 
 No, don't you believe that's my fun ; it's all in 
 earnest, and the Queen of England had a very long 
 conversation with me. Further, I can assure you that 
 she isn't fat, but very short and not at all pretty, alas 
 with a slightly red nose ; still, she has something un- 
 commonly kind and familiar about her, and even if she 
 isn't precisely imposing, she is pleasing and amiable. 
 She doesn't care for instrumental music, and when she 
 attends a long concert like this which is by no means 
 the case every year she does it simply for her husband's 
 sake, who goes in more for music and is fond of German 
 instrumental music. This time, however, she really 
 appears to have received an impression. Sainton, who 
 kept her in eye the whole time from his desk, declared 
 she followed my conducting and the pieces with unwonted 
 and increasing interest, whilst she and Prince Albert 
 quite warmed at the Tannhauser in particular. So much 
 is certain : when I faced about at the close of that 
 overture, both of them applauded me most heartily, and 
 looked towards me with a friendly smile ; of course the 
 audience did not leave them in the lurch, but honoured 
 me this time with very decided, universal and prolonged 
 applause. That was at the end of the concert's first part, 
 VOL. I 17
 
 258 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and the Court thereon withdrew to a refreshment room, 
 whither I was summoned forthwith and handed first to 
 the L/ord Chamberlain for presentation. That lord I 
 treated much en bagatelle ; on the contrary, I must confess 
 I felt touched to the heart by this kind and gracious 
 Queen when she assured me quite cordially that she was 
 delighted to make my acquaintance, for I involuntarily 
 recalled my outward situation toward her, which really 
 could not be more difficult and embarrassing. Pursued 
 by the police in Germany like a highway robber, with 
 passport difficulties made for me in France, I am received 
 by the Queen of England, before the most aristocratic 
 Court in the world, with the friendliest sans gene : it 
 really is very nice ! Neither did I hesitate to give her 
 to understand this quite frankly ; whereon ensued a 
 lengthy conversation about my operas, in which Prince 
 Albert a very handsome man ! joined with most 
 gratifying interest. To the Queen's opinion that my 
 things might perhaps be translated into Italian, to be 
 given at the Italian Opera here, the Prince quite intelli- 
 gently replied that probably my texts would not be suited 
 for it, and certainly Italian singers would not know how 
 to sing them. Upon that said the Queen very naively 
 " But most of the singers at the Italian Opera now, you 
 see, are Germans ; consequently they would only need 
 to sing in their mother-tongue." We were obliged to 
 laugh, and I then replied that unfortunately the German 
 singers also had much deteriorated, and if I wanted one 
 day to produce the big work I now was working at I 
 should seriously have to think of first training my people. 
 No doubt they didn't altogether understand that, but they 
 expressed themselves sympathetically, adding that they 
 had been quite enraptured with the overture ; whereon
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 259 
 
 I thanked once more for its commanding, and assured 
 them both that they had greatly rejoiced me by this proof 
 of their interest. And that was the truth ; for, although 
 this evening can bear no further outward fruit, it has 
 given me a most agreeable satisfaction, so that I can 
 depart from London with some sense of reconcilement. 
 At the close of the concert both very kindly applauded 
 me again to my face (they were sitting in front, quite 
 close to the orchestra), and thereby elicited from the 
 audience a longish outburst of applause. My handful 
 of friends, who assembled at my rooms thereafter, were 
 swimming in bliss. Prager had lent me a white cravat ; 
 he means to hoard it up in memory of a German dema- 
 gogue who struck up ' ' God save tJic Queen " in it before 
 the Queen of England. For the ' ' God save ' ' had to be 
 played when the Queen entered, and I had to beat time 
 for it. I should think the German police might let me 
 pass in peace now ! 
 
 At bottom this event rejoiced me chiefly for your own 
 sake, since I knew that the account of it would affect you 
 most agreeably. If you are greedy of honour for me, it 
 has been dealt me in full measure this time. It will 
 take the press a long while ere it swallows this revenge 
 vouchsafed me ; the reporters' wrath may pass all bounds. 
 
 I hereby make you a present of the whole occurrence ; 
 do with it as you please. If it affords you satisfaction, 
 communicate some of my account to Marschall or Spyri, 
 that they may narrate a portion of it in their journal. 
 Whether the other newspapers will say much about it, 
 I almost doubt. 
 
 So I still shall conduct my last concert (a labour of 
 Hell every time to me, which I shouldn't care to under- 
 take again for all the money in the world) and then
 
 2 6o RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 take leave as cheerfully as possible. A fortnight from 
 to-day, at 8 in the evening, I depart from Londonbridge ! ! ! 
 May it be for a right joyful reunion ! Farewell, very 
 best Muzius ; be of good cheer ! Greet all our dear 
 friends heartily from 
 
 Thy 
 Knight of the Order of the Garter. 
 
 100. 
 
 LONDON, 15. June 1855. 
 
 GOOD MORNING, DEAR MlNNA ! 
 
 This morning you'll be getting the letter about 
 the last concert, which is sure to entertain you highly. 
 I'm still quite hoarse from so much talking with -the 
 Queen ; which appears to have made a great impression 
 here. Of course the principal papers, to whom the affair 
 was a thorn in the eye, mention nothing of the interview ; 
 but the " Globe " has been brought me, wherein it stands 
 that the Queen had had me summoned after my over- 
 ture, and spoken with me for some time. Yesterday I 
 sent this sheet to Sulzer in a wrapper : to-day I learn 
 that he has already left for Winterthur. Please find out 
 at once from the usher whether the sheet has been sent 
 after him ; if not, beg it back, and pass it on to Spyri 
 or Hagenbuch ; perhaps the latter would be glad of it 
 for the N. Zuricher Z. 
 
 As a fact, the kind and distinguishing behaviour of 
 little Victoria has ended by putting me in quite a good 
 humour. You know the only thing I ever care for when 
 I ply my art :. a kindled, sympathetic glance affords me 
 satisfaction, whilst other tokens of applause, which I have 
 to share with so much rubbish, mostly leave me in un- 
 certainty. And it came straight from the tiny person's
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 261 
 
 heart ; I marked that well. In any case both she and 
 her husband had been informed of the vulgar campaign of 
 abuse pursued against me by the noble English army of 
 reporters ; consequently they gave me a conscious satis- 
 faction, made easier to them, which delights me most, by 
 the impression they derived from what I offered. Sainton 
 has given another lesson at the Palace to the young 
 Princess Hohenlohe, a relative of the Queen's on the 
 mother's side : the young lady was likewise quite en- 
 raptured still, and told Sainton the Queen and Prince 
 Albert had declared that they only regretted being unable 
 to hear the overture once more forthwith and so on. 
 
 Dear God ! if I could really bring myself to make 
 my footing firm here, so as to play a big role, perhaps 
 very soon, and even become a rich man, probably it 
 would stand entirely in my power. Already I'm very 
 famous here, and all are beginning to think me some- 
 thing quite unusual ; and this has largely been effected 
 by the fury of the press against me. Among my 
 audience there are many enthusiasts who positively 
 take me for the greatest genius of the century, and 
 people never speak of me otherwise than as of a " great 
 man." So much is certain : the Times critic (Dawison), 
 in particular, has merely been waiting for me to take 
 some kind of step to win him over, which is also said 
 to have been the reason of his temporary silence about 
 me after his first long article in the Times ; people 
 assure me it would have cost me nothing further than 
 the according him some sort of notice. The greater, 
 naturally, has been and is his anger at my doing 
 nothing of the kind. And that is quite in order ; for, 
 once granted that one doesn't need the Press here, the 
 whole fear thereof, and consequently its whole import-
 
 262 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 ance, would be lost. They tell me be is keeping the 
 door open even yet, to change front as soon as I took 
 the smallest notice of him. But nobody, I hope, will 
 expect that of me ; it would be a poltroonery I could 
 never forgive myself ; however, it also is sheer impossible, 
 because I simply cannot do it. Under any circumstances, 
 moreover, I have nothing at all to seek here ; and even 
 if they praised me to the skies, I should never return 
 here just because I have nothing to seek here, and in 
 particular, such a concert-conductorship is not my affair. 
 Consequently I am only too glad that the whole dreary 
 time is drawing to its close now, and I shall be regiven 
 to myself : care and suffering are not the worst evil, if 
 one only is free in his noblest conscience ; but nothing 
 in the world could delight me, if it made me a dependent 
 on demands that go against my insight and my feeling. 
 So Tuesday week I travel back. I am pleased, however, 
 to be concluding this distasteful sojourn with a little 
 reconcilement, and I owe that sense of consolation this 
 time to my little Victoria. 
 
 The only difference of opinion is as to how I 
 managed to make such a favourable impression on the 
 Queen. Prager declares, I looked so handsome in his 
 white cravat, that she fell in love with me ; others 
 maintain, it was the beautiful Zurich tail-coat. For 
 my own part, I have to reproach myself with having 
 deceived her throughout the whole concert ; she is said 
 to have stiibbornly fancied, to wit, I had entirely new 
 gloves on, whereas they were nothing but cleaned. In 
 that you'll recognise my savingness, no doubt, but alas, 
 a lack of candour too. 
 
 Yesterday J had a call from Berlioz, who is tramping 
 for his daily bread, and really is hard pushed ; he cannot
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 263 
 
 earn a sou in France, so has to eke out a scanty sub- 
 sistence by concerts in England and Germany (which 
 as I happen to know bring him mighty little in). 
 Here he is invited by the New Philharmonic for two 
 concerts. He has made his peace already with the local 
 press, after being likewise torn to tatters by it to begin 
 with. Besides his Romeo and Juliet symphony, he also 
 conducted a symphony by Mozart, which he let them 
 murder so horribly that I turned tail. But that's quite 
 English ; they like it that way, and Berlioz, who only 
 looks to money now, knows how he has to do things. 
 For that matter, he lacks all depth. 
 
 So farewell for to-day once again, my very best 
 Muzius. Congratulate yourself that I still associate with 
 you ; after my Rendez-vous with the Queen, I've grown 
 so proud that I speak to strictly no one any more. 
 I'm very sorry about Sulzer's illness, though if the 
 man would but give up his cursed legislating ! He easily 
 might leave it to his thick-skulled, phlegmatic fellow- 
 countrymen ; they never ruin their health with it, but 
 it's different with such a sensitive nature as his. He 
 seems to have had a severe attack this time, or he would 
 never have given in. Will he be remaining at Winterthur 
 awhile for the present ? 
 
 Now, the very best farewell ; greet left and right ; 
 tell people, too, they'll not be rid of me. Adieu, dearest 
 Wife ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 GOOD HUSBAND. 
 
 Pragers send kindest regards. The wife has marked 
 your stockings, and had them washed ; otherwise I should 
 have had to pay duty in France for them ; it's terribly
 
 264 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 strict there, and several people have told me they were 
 searched to the skin. 
 
 101. 
 
 LONDON, 19. Jime 1855. 
 
 O YOU WICKED MINNA ! 
 
 How can you declare that I never mention your 
 letters? Please look mine through, and you'll find that 
 almost every time I thank you for the letter last received. 
 So it shall be this time also, and I will give you the 
 good advice besides to clear out of the house next time 
 you have upholsterers in it, that you may not hear the 
 knocking. To abide by your news to commence with, 
 I am glad you've had some rain at last ; when / return, 
 there'll probably be rain and cold enough, just as I 
 continually enjoy them here. At Sainton's yesterday we 
 had the fire lit to dine by, and I had gone out in my 
 wadded coat. Doubtless I shall have the same thing 
 again on the Seelisberg ; I know its ways. That fore- 
 boding, however, shan't hold me back. 
 
 Yesterday I had my pass vise by the Swiss and 
 French consuls for the journey home (which cost another 
 half a sovereign !). These gentry live behind the Bank 
 and at London-Bridge : to get there, I drove ; back to 
 my lodgings I walked, which took me exactly tivo 
 hours at a fairly sharp pace. That teaches one what 
 Time is made for ! And charming rain all the time. 
 It's magnificent ! 
 
 But there : a week from to-day I depart at 8 P.M. 
 I have the last concert the evening before, and shall 
 therefore approach my night-journey as tired as a dog. 
 The more need of my having a good night's sleep in 
 Paris, which I Jiopc to do from Wednesday to Thursday ;
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 265 
 
 to that end I shall get a first-rate bed engaged for me 
 by Kietz. From Thursday to Friday I shall already 
 have less chance of sleep, as I must leave for the station 
 very early in the morning ; then [the night] from Friday 
 to Saturday I shall pass on the Basle mail-coach again, 
 arrive very shaky at Baden [Aargau] at 5 in the morning, 
 wash and rinse my mouth there, to reach my spouse 
 a bit presentably at Zurich 6 o'clock. I think it will 
 be enough for you to do, to get to the station by 6, 
 when we shall have the whole day before us for a gossip. 
 If you wanted to meet me at Baden, you would have to 
 go there the evening before, sleep there till 4, and so 
 on which perhaps would be too much for you. So 
 receive me on the spot where you left me four months 
 before ; that has the best sense, has it not ? Certainly 
 I don't require an evening-party ; it would be different 
 if Boom etc. were just to look in. 
 
 So I am back in Zurich already, you see, whence 
 no devil shall lure me so soon again ! Consequently 
 I'll tell you at once, as to L/obmann, that the good 
 man has dropped down on me most inconveniently ; in 
 my conviction he is quite a mediocre musician, and 
 also violinist. I cannot keep compromising myself by 
 friendly recommendation of mediocre people ; it is a 
 hard thing to ask of me, who am otherwise so strict 
 in my demands, and have so entirely withdrawn from 
 all that sort of company. And to Spohr, of all men, 
 with whom I stand in all but no connection ! And 
 what could Liszt do for him ? The whole thing is so 
 vague and void of prospect, that I'm only too sorry 
 if L,6bmann came away from Riga on this account. 
 It really is very painful to me, and I cannot decide so 
 at random to give him a recommendation from here ;
 
 266 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 we will go into the thing again at Zurich. What a 
 misfortune that every one insists on taking me for 
 something altogether different from what I am ! 
 
 Well, my time is running to its end here, and the 
 Devil may care for the rest of it ! Yet it amuses me 
 to look on at my (so highly disputed) successes here. 
 There exists here, you know, a New Philharmonic 
 Society (which got Lindpaintner over from Stuttgart 
 last year, and had my Tannhauser overture conducted by 
 him), and it would gladly have me for conductor next 
 year. Its present conductor (Dr. Wylde, an execrable 
 musician, but good fellow) puts it to me that I should 
 have a much larger and less starchy audience there, 
 besides all conceivable means, and in particular, as many 
 rehearsals as I chose. Of course I've given him an 
 answer in the negative. Yet he will not be denied the 
 repeating of my Tannhauser overture at their last concert 
 (beginning of July) when Berlioz conducts and gives 
 things of his own ; he wants me to instruct either him 
 or Berlioz in the tempi most minutely, that I may be 
 sure of its going according to my wish. Perhaps I may 
 consent : for, once I'm out of London, they can do what 
 they like behind my back ; moreover, it would really be 
 another good revenge. 
 
 Fischer also wrote me a few days since, asking if I 
 couldn't give him a little information about my position 
 here, which he might communicate to the editor of the 
 Sachsische Constitutionelle-Zeitung in order to refute 
 false rumours. I since have done so, and told him in 
 particular about my interview with the Queen : that will 
 make a deal of stir in Saxony. You musn't let the 
 heap of detractions and lies in the journals disturb you : 
 in the first place, it is only scamps who write there, to
 
 ZURICH PERIOD (LONDON) 267 
 
 pick up money ; no respectable person ever writes to a 
 newspaper until some lie becomes too shameless and needs 
 disproof. Prager has now seen to that for several German 
 papers : a New York music-sheet, in which he also 
 writes, has already begun a regular campaign against 
 the critics here, and shewn up their mendacity ; since 
 Dawison has been so stupid as to take furious notice of it 
 in his journal, this American paper has suddenly become 
 widely read in London, and a long war has accordingly 
 commenced, the end whereof is not in sight yet. To 
 myself thai end is immaterial, for nobody will lure me here 
 again, and some day no doubt I shall find an occasion for 
 letting these people know why. For the present, however, 
 I stick to it : it would have been better if I had declined 
 the invitation hither, as even in the most, favourable event 
 I have nothing to seek here. I have other things to do, 
 than conducting symphonies and concert-arias for asses. 
 Full stop to that ! 
 
 So farewell, dear old Minna ! Probably you will 
 get 2 more letters from here ; then one from Paris, and 
 finally in supreme person 
 
 Thy 
 magnificent husband R.W. 
 
 The evening before last Prager gave me some pills 
 to assist me ; but I couldn't lay hand on the confounded 
 little box, and have been unable to take any of them yet. 
 I've found it again to-day, though ; so it shall do the job ! 
 
 102. 
 
 LONDON, 23. June 1855. 
 
 YOU ENTIRELY GOOD MlENEL OF MINE, 
 
 I really must send you a letter, even if there 
 cannot be much in it. I have just been slightly resting
 
 268 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 off the last rehearsal I ever am like to have held of a 
 concert, it pulls me so utterly down now. In thought 
 I left England long since, of which I therefore shall have 
 seen but little. I don't believe I shall even get to 
 Richmond still ; but it also is quite immaterial to me. 
 So wretched a life as I have enjoyed here these 4 months 
 can only conclude with sheer disdain. 
 
 Such a cold wind has been blowing the last few days, 
 that my catarrh has become wholly unbearable. By 
 Prager's advice I am taking a daily aperient now. Finally 
 the rheum has invaded my nose, in such force as to make 
 me already fear getting my Face-rose [eruption] again. 
 That flower would be the only one still lacking in the 
 garden of my London joys ! Indeed it is a deuced dog's 
 life I have led here ; I can't look back on it with any 
 other feeling than upon a hell. But this latest lesson 
 no doubt will leave some fruit behind it I think and 
 hope so ! 
 
 Well what more shall I write you from this loath- 
 some hole ? I know of nothing better than the assurance 
 that on Tuesday (the evening of the day on which you 
 uncover these lines) I shall be clearing out ; whilst a 
 week from to-day I shall have drunk coffee and eaten 
 my dinner already in the arms of my children and 
 on the neck of my spouse : so all in fact is well. 
 Now see that that spouse is tlioroiighly well herself, 
 in good health and good humour, that I may have 
 the whole delight I wish in her ! Be on your best 
 behaviour, take good care of yourself this remaining 
 week, that w r e poor souls may reunite in thorough 
 gladness. 
 
 Tuesday I probably shall write once more, ere 
 starting ; if not, I shall write from Paris.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 269 
 
 Fare i oooooo times well, and hold me 30 oooooo 
 times dear ! 
 
 Kind greetings to our good friends from Thy 
 
 RRRRlCHARD. 
 
 Thanks for Schmidt's letter. I expect to write him 
 yet from here. 
 
 [The Parts letter is missing, and husband and wife had no further 
 need of written communications till he was ordered away to attend to 
 his health next summer. TrJ} 
 
 103. 
 
 MORNEX, Wednesday, \\June. 1856. 
 
 At last, dear good Minna, I breathe again and com- 
 mence to hope! I moved in here yesterday afternoon, 
 and now propose pursuing my thorough restoration, 
 without which I should not care to go on living ! But 
 first of all I must narrate to you at length, after my 
 two brief telegrams, how things have gone with me ; 
 for which reason I have taken a large sheet of paper 
 straight off, as a smaller would never hold even the half 
 of what I intended to write to you.- -Now for it ! 
 
 First the journey ! It was the unluckiest and most 
 miserable I've ever made unfortunately it came to a 
 Friday while I still was en route ! From Baden in the 
 evening on the diligence to Aarau, in an awful coupe 
 with two stout chaps who naturally would have been 
 choked if they hadn't opened the windows, which com- 
 pelled me in turn to draw my cloak over my head and 
 sweat like a joint in the oven. At Aarau change of 
 carriage in the night then the same story till Biel. 
 There in the morning I hoped to be released and board 
 the steamer ; but all water-traffic had been suspended 
 owing to the inundations, and consequently the whole
 
 2/0 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 advantage of this route was lost ! So by coach again to 
 Neuf- Chdtel : terrible rain there ; 2^ hours by steamer 
 to Yverdon, in the cabin of course, the whole landscape 
 veiled in clouds. Then it began in earnest ! The 
 steamer arrived half an hour late, and instead of taking 
 the i o'clock train which had left already I had to 
 wait for the 5. Good ! When I get to the station, they 
 declare that my dog must be put in the dog-box ; you 
 may imagine what a scene ensued ! All my pleas, 
 entreaties, threats, were of no avail ; at last I took Fips 
 under my arm, and tried to mount in spite of all denials : 
 fresh uproar ! Finally it was heard by some ladies who 
 were seated in a coupe : they declared themselves perfectly 
 willing to admit myself and puppy to their carriage ; so 
 the martinets gave way at last, and I got in with Fips 
 in triumph but after shameful vexation ! 
 
 That is by no means all, though ! At 7 the train 
 arrived at Morges on the L/ake of Geneva ; the steamer 
 which, if we had left Yverdon by the right train, would 
 have brought me to Geneva in 2 hours, so that I should 
 have arrived there by 5 this steamer of course had long 
 gone, and its missing would have to be remedied by a 
 fresh journey of 5^ hours in the diligence i.e. half 
 another night ! So I decided to stay the night at Morges, 
 and take the first steamer next morning ; but the station 
 people had already put my luggage on the diligence, 
 which I mistook for a mere omnibus to Morges. Ponder- 
 ing what's to be done, suddenly I am ordered out of the 
 coupe into which I had mounted ; my coupe ticket does 
 not hold good here, the passengers from Lausanne have 
 first right,, Very well, say I, I shall get out and remain 
 here ; give me my luggage ! That's stowed away, they 
 tell me, there's no time left to get it down. A running
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 271 
 
 accompaniment of rain and storm ! I was beside myself, 
 used all the bad language I could think of but in the 
 end was obliged to give in, as I didn't want to be left 
 with no luggage. Which seat ? Inside, the middle 
 place back to the horses ; opposite me two pedlars with 
 big bundles on their laps, beside me a woman with an 
 enormous hump exactly poking my way and added to 
 it all, a screaming child ! The best, moreover, was that 
 the incensed conductor wouldn't even let me keep the 
 dog : Not allowed in the interieur, must be tied to the 
 carriage ! ! I thought I should go mad ! The other 
 passengers naturally intervened, however, all burdened 
 as they were, God knows, and Kips remained without 
 so much as stirring the good, well-behaved beast ! That 
 journey to Geneva was the crown of all joys, and truly I 
 had not believed I should ever have to go through such 
 a thing again in my life ! At last I arrived, half past 
 twelve ! At 2 o'clock to bed, in hideous agitation and 
 constant terror of another outbreak of the Roses ! There's 
 a plectsu re-trip for you ! ! Via Berne it would have gone 
 almost uninterruptedly smoothly, but I wanted it pleasanter ! 
 However, it was all the inundation's fault otherwise, 
 and especially with fine weather, everything would have 
 been decidedly better. So there you have my travelling 
 adventures ! 
 
 At Geneva a hurricane from the north raged for two 
 days, which certainly was to bring fair weather, but made 
 it extremely risky for me to go out. On Saturday I sent 
 Dr R.'s letter to M. John Coindet, who had left home, 
 however ; so I followed R.'s counsel, and sent the letter 
 with his card to the brother, Doctor Coindet : instead of 
 appointing me an hour to consult him, he was so kind 
 as to call at once himself. He directed me to Momcx,
 
 272 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 as the only place where I should find what I sought, and 
 further gave me good advice about my malady. So I 
 took a carriage on Sunday, and saw to everything ; only 
 I couldn't get consent as yet, for reasons which you shall 
 learn in an instant. In the afternoon I returned to 
 Geneva, and made another excursion that evening, to 
 Cologny, to see Pastor Bourris (whom I know r from 
 Albisbrunn) ; but he, too, had gone for a holiday. 
 
 Well, my new landlady kept me waiting until Monday 
 evening for her answer, which turned out favourably in 
 the event : yesterday afternoon I finally moved in. Now 
 let me describe my place of refuge. Mornex a sort of 
 village is two leagues from Geneva, already in Savoy ; 
 it lies on the other side of Mont Saleve, half way up 
 that mountain, which is ascended by tourists from 
 Geneva for the sake of its beautiful view. The air is 
 splendid, since the spot itself stands very high. I'm 
 living at the pension Latard, in a summer-house that 
 lies quite isolated, divided from the pension by a garden ; 
 it really is the garden salon intended as a drawing-room 
 for the boarders. There is quite a good piano in it ; 
 which was a great consideration to me, as I should other- 
 wise have had to get one from Geneva at huge expense. 
 I had only one condition to agree to, for the immense 
 favour of obtaining this pavilion to myself : every Sunday 
 I must clear out from 9 to 12 in the morning, as the 
 salon is arranged for Divine service then for the Genevans 
 staying here ; the parson comes, and the devil takes flight. 
 I have to accept it with a good grace, as the other 
 advantages are so numerous that I could have attained 
 them nowhere else. Firstly : complete seclusion, private 
 attendance, warm bath (enormously important !), meals 
 to my choice ; then a hydropathic institute close by,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 273 
 
 where I shall be able to have my cold baths later in the 
 greatest comfort ; still later I shall have the Arve (the 
 river) fairly near. From my door I step direct into a 
 pretty garden ; from the window I step on to a balcony, 
 with the most glorious view of the entire Mont Blanc 
 range and a lovely broad valley between. Naturally it 
 wasn't to be had very cheap, but I must hit on some 
 means of enjoying it as long as possible ; for / need it 
 and it isn't to be had any else ! I have bargained for 
 the most complete non-disturbance ; except Francois, the 
 waiter, I never see a soul ! 
 
 My malady indeed has made great strides ; last winter 
 it used to vanish entirely at times, and I knew no more 
 of it for weeks : now I don't pass an hour without dread- 
 ing a fresh outbreak, so that I feel myself the wretchedest 
 of men. That must be radically altered, and I am doing 
 everything that promises it. Dr Coindet assured me, 
 the principal thing was the strictest dieting and rest : I 
 might have remarked, he said, that the outbreaks were 
 always connected with preceding errors of diet and 
 irregularities, the results whereof I no longer experienced 
 in my abdomen, as before, but precisely in an attack of 
 these Roses. How right he is : I can prove it to have 
 been so, and feel it, moreover, at last. I am therefore 
 to live wholly by rule, never the slightest deviation ; beer 
 and the like lead direct to attacks. He has also for- 
 bidden me coffee, and that most strictly, not even half 
 milk. (Just ask Dr R. what he says to that !) Out of 
 doors I must avoid both wind and sun ; in the sun I'm 
 to bear an umbrella. He expects much from the air 
 here, great repose without any excitement, and regular 
 diet. Do tell Dr R. that no one here has ever heard of 
 Tavaster water ; Coindet recommended Laxir lemonade 
 VOL. i 1 8
 
 274 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 of a morning instead ; meanwhile I stick to Carlsbad 
 salts, two doses of which I take each morning. I'm to 
 begin the sulphur baths to-day God grant me restora- 
 tion of my health ! No sacrifice can be too great to me 
 for that ; for in this condition I'm the most unbearable 
 of men, and can give no one any pleasure ! 
 
 To write Pips' praises I should need to take another 
 whole sheet, the animal is so touchingly well-behaved, 
 kind, docile and reliable ! Seated on the little table, 
 when the train left Zurich he suddenly began to howl, 
 and kept his eyes fixed on the side from which you 
 vanished ; he took no notice of me at all, talk to him 
 as much as I liked. When I got into the diligence he 
 reconciled himself, and behaved so well, so quietly and 
 quite unnoticeably throughout the journey, that I can't 
 possibly praise him enough. But he would neither eat 
 nor drink the first few days, and it was only with the 
 choicest morsels that I could tempt him in the end. 
 Even now he'll hardly take anything else ; though I 
 make him his soup at dinner-time with tit-bits, be it 
 said -and he's gradually coming round. He seems very 
 pleased with this place ; when I open the doors for him, 
 he first goes and lies on the balcony, taking stock of the 
 landscape, the people and cattle, then makes his pro- 
 menade round the garden. He is watchful beyond all 
 measure : people like him very much. He sends best 
 greetings ! On our promenade this morning [. . .]. 
 Suddenly a cuckoo was heard ; he pricked up his ears 
 and whined : he imagined it was Jacquot ! I took 
 Pepsel 's portrait with me purposely : I shall observe 
 the death-day of that dear good friend with all my 
 heart ! This fine weather makes me wish you would 
 go to the Seelisberg quite soon yourself; I don't like
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 275 
 
 to think of your being at home with that eternal pro- 
 vocation ! Do go very soon. But you must take 
 Jacquot with you I stick to that his big cage too : 
 please see to it. 
 
 Now I thank you again most kindly for your good 
 letter ; agreed, we remain the same old pair. If I could 
 only make life thoroughly agreeable to you, and banish 
 all provocation, how happy it would make me ! So hold 
 me clear, as I hold you ; be cheerful, do all you can for 
 your health and hope for a right merry reunion, un- 
 ruffled by the cares of illness ! Farewell, good Muzius, 
 be heartily greeted and kissed 
 
 by Thy RICHARD. 
 
 I've had news from Liszt that the M. family thinks 
 of spending the summer at Zurich and seeing a lot of 
 me : I couldn't help laughing when Liszt expressed 
 regret at it ! Well, I have happily escaped from that, 
 and its like ! ! How fortunate that I'm away ! 
 
 Give my kindest regards to the Wesendoncks ; I 
 think of writing them tomorrow or the next day. 
 
 No letters can get here direct, because there's no post 
 here whatever ; so just go on addressing postc-restante, 
 Geneve. A messenger goes to Geneva even- day, taking 
 letters in, and fetching them out. 
 
 104. 
 
 s t c \ % 
 
 > ' 
 
 MORNEX, Thursday 19. June .'856. 
 
 I've only just received your telegraphic answer, dear 
 Minna ! You cannot have written the first sentence quite
 
 276 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 plainly ; it was pure nonsense till an inspiration came 
 to me that it should run : " Karl seit heut hier " [" Karl 
 reached here to-day "] instead of which it said, u Nurt 
 seit heut sieger." Your letter had already reassured me : 
 everything arrives here very late. To-day, however, I 
 merely wanted to retrieve what I couldn't write more 
 fully yesterday.* So, I have had to move out, and 
 therefore to renounce the lovely solitude of my garden- 
 house ; that sort of joy seems really not appointed me, 
 and all my life I shall have to suffer from disturbance, 
 disquiet and outward commotion : if only I be not made 
 entirely unfit for further work through no prospect ever 
 opening to me of a pleasant, quiet refuge for my home ! 
 already I've highly taxed my nerve-endurance. 
 
 In no case should I have removed to where I'm 
 staying now, had I had nothing but commencement of 
 my work in view ; but I have been feeling more and 
 more that the first question could only be the restoration 
 of my health, and in that respect I believe I have done 
 very right. Even Dr Coindet, to whom R. recommended 
 me, was startled when I shewed him R.'s prescriptions, 
 especially about the sulphur baths, and told me to entrust 
 myself regarding baths to Dr Vaillant, who presides over 
 an institute here, and not to do too much. Well, scarcely 
 had I installed the baths with difficulty in strict pursuit 
 of R.'s instructions when I fell into such a fluster again 
 that I didn't know what to do with myself. Dr Vaillant, 
 to whom I addressed myself anent the ordinary baths, was 
 horrified when he heard of the sulphur baths, and implored 
 me to stop them at once ; with which I very willingly 
 complied. Under Yaillant's treatment, I feel considerably 
 
 A missing letter; see also the opening of No. 105. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 277 
 
 better since ; he is handling me with uncommon care, 
 extremely cautiously and soothingly, and getting at the 
 mischiefs seat so thoroughly that I already have the 
 greatest trust in him which he seems to have won from 
 others also, for it is he who was summoned to Florence 
 express by Rossini, and owing to whose advice the latter 
 is so much better now than 2 years back. In short, my 
 health is now ensured, and I recognise that R.'s quack- 
 sal veries, just as they haven't yet cured me, would never 
 have thoroughly healed me ; consequently the drug-shop, 
 God willing, shall cost me nothing more. But please tell 
 Hcim, the only thing Vaillant allows me to take internally 
 is Carlsbad salt. As to my life here otherwise, I'll write 
 you more another time ; the situation is splendid, the 
 air wonderful, and the garden walks most agreeable. Fips 
 finds much amusement in them, and is making himself 
 quite at home. About him, too, another time. But now 
 to conclude with something serious ! 
 
 Dearest Minna, N. must go : there's nothing else for 
 it. Rather put up with anything, than this everlasting 
 provocation, recurring every instant, which not only is 
 hurtful to yourself, but truly sours my life. It is utterly 
 impossible to accustom her to our persons ; it would be 
 a misfortune for her, as well as for us, if she remained 
 an}- longer. I cannot tell you how our domestic life is 
 spoilt for me by this eternal irritation, which I partly 
 observe in you, partly also feel myself ; no longer can 
 I tolerate this everlasting scolding, occasion for which 
 never ceases, alas ; and you are ruining your health with 
 it, just as it is completely hardening N. and estranging 
 her from us. God knows what her future is to be, as 
 she is so totally unfit for household duties ; but thus much 
 is certain, in other social relations, such as at Zwickau
 
 278 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 perhaps, she will get on better, and also lead a more 
 contented life herself. For all that, she shall not be 
 abandoned by us, and I therefore pledge myself for good 
 and all to pay her the 100 fr. quarterly your good parents 
 received before. That shall be an absolute fixture ; 
 consequently I don't think she will prove a burden to 
 anybody, and even the Trogers will be sure to take her 
 willingly into their house on this condition. I beg you, 
 make the settlement of this affair your chiefest care now, 
 and if possible get rid of her before I return ; for, I 
 swear it, this disturbance and vexation in the house is 
 a terrible strain on me. If my circumstances improve 
 toward which I shall take steps we're sure to find a 
 suitable young person soon, to fill the place we intended 
 for N. ; you might even begin to think of it now, and 
 any handy girl may congratulate herself on entering 
 siich an agreeable relation as N. might have had if she 
 had possessed but a modicum of the qualifications. Now 
 you know my opinion ! 
 
 So farewell for to-day, dear old woman ; I dreamt 
 of you quite vividly the other night ! Lord, if I could 
 have anything like an agreeable, quiet, semi-rural abode, 
 and kind, congenial household, I am the most domesticated 
 man in the world and never should wish myself anywhere 
 else for a moment : in a strange house like this I'm 
 always very dull and mopish. So adieu ! 
 
 The best of wishes from Thy 
 
 RICH. 
 
 Fips is imceasingly on the watch again. To-day 
 the weather has also turned fine. I have obtained a 
 piano from Geneva, for diversion at least. Please send 
 me the musical and illustrated journals in wrapper it
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 279 
 
 won't cost much. Perhaps also the 3 volumes of 
 Beethoven's sonatas, but in a parcel otherwise I shan't 
 be able to hold out. 
 
 105. 
 
 MORN EX. Paste restante No. in. 
 
 A GENEVE 
 
 22. June 1856. 
 
 MOST EXCELLENT MlNNA, 
 
 How cross you get at once, whenever it appears 
 to you I'm lazy ! You will be having two letters from 
 me now ; so just consider the impression such reproaches 
 make on me, after I've long since told you everything 
 there was to tell ! But, that apart, the postal arrange- 
 ments here are absurd enough : I wrote you Wednesday 
 that I should write again on Thursday, assuming that 
 the Thursday letter, which unfortunately doesn't leave 
 Geneva till Friday, would reach you at Zurich on Sunday 
 morning. On Friday comes the messenger, and brings 
 me a letter it was mine to you, which the asses at 
 Geneva had sent me back because it was addressed to 
 "Wagner" : they hadn't regarded the " Frau." Con- 
 sequently you will have received that letter also a day 
 late, presumably at Seelisberg, whither I shall send 
 to-day's direct. 
 
 Naturally I haven't much to tell you from my solitude, 
 except that the weather has at last turned fine again 
 to-day, and I've already had a glorious walk with Fips 
 on Mont-Sal&ve, whence I bring you back this gentian 
 to compare with that on the Seelisberg. It was bad 
 weather almost the whole of last week, cold and damp, 
 so that I couldn't well do much with my cure ; nevertheless 
 I already feel infinitely better than when I left Zurich :
 
 28o RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 the dread of a relapse of the Roses has already left me ; 
 I have gambolled outside in the deadliest rain and storm, 
 got my face cold, and yet had no uneasiness about it. 
 Who ever would have told me that ten days ago, when 
 I always went out with my nose muffled if the tiniest 
 breeze was blowing ? No doubt I owe it in the first 
 place to the wholesome, frugal diet, without coffee etc., 
 the repose and removal of all effort and vexation ; but 
 chiefly to the baths I'm taking under excellent Dr. 
 Vaillant's guidance with the greatest energy and success : 
 washings and rubbings with a wet clout, first lukewarm 
 then colder. The cold foot-baths also do me special good ; 
 you must try them yourself : only a little walk first, to 
 get the feet warm, then 20 minutes in cold water, gently 
 rubbing the feet one on the other, and after that a good 
 half hour's march. You will hardly believe what an 
 excellent effect these foot-baths have ! 
 
 I told Vaillant of the infamous water R. had pre- 
 scribed me through you ; he thought we might just wait 
 for its arrival, when he would analyse it, and if it 
 contained nothing injurious, would gladly consent to its 
 use. So I'm in the hands of no water-cure fanatic, you 
 see. For the rest, R. must leave me at peace with his 
 Aix. I'm getting well, I know it now : my complaint 
 resides in the abdomen, as you are aware from the terrible 
 flatulence ; that must be thoroughly remedied, and there- 
 with by the middle of August I hope to arrive at my 
 goal.- 
 
 I'm living in another part of the house now, quite 
 comfortably, two pretty rooms, one of which I have ar- 
 ranged as a little salon. From my windows I can alight 
 on a big balcony which runs right round the house ; 
 it is a piece of luck for Fips in particular, who always
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 281 
 
 lies on the window-sill, and springs out as soon as he 
 sees anything after which I always have to help him 
 in again. In fine weather I mostly walk or sit in the 
 pretty hilly garden-grounds, which likewise is very 
 agreeable to Fips. The air is quite exquisite ; headache 
 vanishes immediately one gets here ; I have experienced 
 no particular heat as yet. 
 
 So much for myself: I hope you're pleased with 
 it ? Strictly, no doubt, I ought to write you on nothing 
 but Fips, as you appear more concerned about him 
 for which I can't find any fault with you ! But it has 
 moved me to tears, that you poor thing should be wanting 
 to break off your soporific reading just for me to get the 
 Eidgenossische here ; for your consolation I must tell 
 you, I didn't mean the Eidgenossische at all ; by all 
 means keep it, and simply send instead the Illustrirte 
 (which you must renew for me, by the way ! !) and 
 perhaps the music-journal, which the Wesendoncks might 
 see to for me. But every time in rvrappcr. 
 
 Now, I am heartily glad to know you're on the 
 lovely Seelisberg ; enjoy it to the top of your bent ! 
 As my present hope stands, I'm thinking of another little 
 undertaking for late summer, in which you shall play 
 a fine part : would you like to ? ? So, fare splendidly 
 well, greet the Seelisbergers, and hold very dear 
 
 Thy 
 
 not at all so bad 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 Business is looking up ; orders have come in from 
 Hanover and Carlsruhe ! 
 
 An organ-grinder has just begun playing, at which. 
 Fips is furious. He has jumped down.
 
 282 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Do tell me if you duly received my letter on N. 
 
 I have written to Fr. Miiller, Weimar, as well to-day. 
 
 1O6. 
 
 MORNEX, 25. June 1856. 
 
 DEAR MIENEL ! 
 
 Morning. Last night I had bad dreams, 
 
 which I luckily can very well explain : my former 
 eruption has now been reduced to the ancient catarrh, 
 which will be easy to thoroughly get at, but meanwhile 
 resides in my brain too, and tries to work itself out there 
 during sleep. On the other side, the last few days I had 
 often been thinking of the arrangement in respect of N., 
 particularly of the allowance she is to have, which your 
 good parents formerly received, and so I also thought 
 a deal of them. Add to it your last letter, which in- 
 formed me you were not taking Jacquot with you to 
 the Seelisberg, but he was to stay behind alone. Out 
 of all this, with the harassing aid of my still not 
 fluidified rheum, there shaped themselves the following 
 dreams, which unfortunately I haven't got pat in my 
 memory, but the first whereof commenced pretty well 
 thus : You had gone away from me, and would have 
 nothing more to do with me ; I hunted for you ( as 
 really happened once, long years ago ! ) and found 
 you rather poorly housed with your parents, which 
 made me more and more distressed, the more you refused 
 to come with me ; till at last I called to you in horror, 
 " But your parents are dead ! " which ended in my 
 shouting your name aloud and waking up. My shout 
 alarmed someone above me, who tumbled about for a 
 long time before he grew quiet again. Then I had 
 another dream : I was roaming with Pcpscl, and seeking
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 283 
 
 you again, for you had run away from me once more ; 
 it made Pepsel grow weaker and weaker ; I looked at 
 him steadily, and his eyes sank the more and more in, 
 so that it gave me indescribable grief. At last I found 
 your lonely dwelling ; you had gone out, and the little 
 room was empty. Inside, though, I heard Jacquot 
 whistling and chattering vastly merrily ; I went in, 
 and was met by a strong draught : a window stood 
 open, which I did my best to close, without fully 
 succeeding ; there were all kinds of slides and cross- 
 sashes, so that it took me all my time till I woke up. 
 You will easily recognise how this second dream in 
 particular was occasioned by what you wrote me of your 
 fears about Jacquot if you took him with you to the 
 Seelisberg. 
 
 There you have my dreams : of my waking I've 
 little to tell you, except that we have had very fine 
 weather since Sunday, that it has made me feel very 
 well, my cure offers excellent promise, and I live in 
 the best hopes of a radical restoration. You shall give 
 me the cue for more through the letter I am expecting 
 to-day, as there isn't much to answer for the present 
 in your last. 
 
 Afternoon. The hoped-for letter hasn't come; the 
 recent scandalous confusion is sure to be to blame for 
 it ; you will have left Zurich before my letter reached 
 there, and some time may still elapse before it is sent 
 after you, so that you will have received my letter 
 to Seelisberg, perhaps, before the other. It is doubly 
 annoying to me, as I should so have liked to have news 
 from you to-day ! 
 
 Now I shall hope for tomorrow, when I may get 
 two letters at once perhaps, as the last time. From
 
 284 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 your last, by the way, I gathered that you might be 
 changing your mind as to N. again : I am awaiting 
 your answer to my proposal about it, but be assured 
 in any case that I abide by my opinion. It isn't a 
 question of N.'s forgetting herself grossly for once, 
 and then begging pardon but of the whole relation, 
 which cannot possibly remain as it is, for all of our sakes. 
 I shall write to N. myself about it, and try to convince 
 her in all kindness and tranquillity that she has no choice. 
 However, I shall write you at length on this, as said, 
 when you have answered me. 
 
 I'm looking forward much to a report from Seelisberg, 
 where I hope you have arrived safe and sound now. 
 From here, apart from the already-mentioned, I really 
 have nothing to relate ; I go on calmly living for my 
 health without disturbance. Yesterday I took my first 
 hip-bath, which has rendered me extraordinarily good 
 service [. .] : I take a little Carlsbad salt still, but nothing 
 beyond; we will wait for R.'s water, all the same. In 
 the evening ( we dine at 5-^) I usually take a long walk 
 with Fips on Mont Salevc, whence I return much invigo- 
 rated ; I always ascend, never go down to the valley on 
 account of the beautiful air. 
 
 In no case shall I go to Aix ; I must write to R. 
 about it shortly. 
 
 I have to check Fips already from eating too much, 
 especially small bones, of which there are a number here 
 owing to the frequency of cutlets ; otherwise he does very 
 well, and is exemplarily faithful. 
 
 Now, adieu for to-day. I hope to dream somewhat 
 more calmly to-night, and, most to be hoped of all, that 
 my dreams bear no ill omen. So hold me dear !
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 285 
 
 1O7. 
 
 MORNEX, i.July 1856. 
 
 DEAREST MINNA, 
 
 The most important thing for me to answer at 
 once, in your letter just received, concerns your health. 
 During my cure I have often had to think of your own 
 condition, and especially your nervous agitation and 
 sleeplessness ; for only now, under the treatment of my 
 present doctor, Vaillant, have I arrived at the secret of 
 treating such disorders with success. I really am shocked 
 when I see how these ailments, so frequently recurring 
 with us, can be thoroughly got rid of by the simplest and 
 most natural means ; and how bungling, ineffectual, even 
 harmful, on the contrary, was the mode recommended 
 by R. After having been so terribly upset by the 
 shameful sulphur-baths that I had those awful twitch- 
 ings of the arm again at night, one single treatment by 
 Vaillant sufficed to procure me a peaceful night at once. 
 Yesterday I found myself in a similar condition again, in 
 consequence of a sleepless night occasioned by the late 
 and noisy arrival of strangers, who had made me vilely 
 lose my temper ; but directly after Vaillant' s most in- 
 genious treatment, I. who before had still been trembling 
 with excitement, found myself calm and most agreeably 
 drowsy : a good night has restored me completely. 
 
 I therefore bcseecli you to do as follows : Each day 
 take one or better, two (should you think needful) cold 
 foot-baths, such as I described to you and you haven't 
 answered me about : namely for 20 minutes on end, 
 and then go for a good half hour's walk to get the feet 
 properly warm again : beforehand, too, a little walking, 
 that the feet mav at least not be cold. Everv evening- 
 
 o 
 
 ere retiring to bed, moreover, get the maid to rub, or
 
 286 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 lave, your whole body gently with a folded towel (like a 
 clout), which she must repeatedly dip in water, using up 
 a whole bucketful ; she must alternately rub the back, the 
 hips, then the chest, the legs (but gently !) : beforehand 
 you must also lave your forehead. Then a sheet around 
 you quick, gentle rubbing and drying, then into bed - 
 and you will feel a most agreeable soothing, which is 
 certain to help you to sleep. But you must employ the 
 maid for it ; if you do it yourself, you will agitate your- 
 self again. If you have a rooted objection to undressing 
 before the maid, you must just take a wet towel, pass it 
 gently over the back like a shawl the chest, and the 
 rest of the body, for a goodish time, so that you re-wet 
 the towel pretty often ; then dry, and to bed. You can 
 also do this if you feel flurried and sleepless at night : light 
 a candle at once, and use the wet towel as I have said. 
 But it is better to let the maid manipulate you every 
 evening in the manner stated also by day, should there 
 be need. If you're immoderately excited, though, I'll tell 
 you what restored me yesterday at once. Vaillant spread 
 a blanket on the bed, and over it the sheet : the latter 
 he sprinkled with a little water, then swathed me first 
 in it (only as far as tinder the arms, however, and the 
 same with the blanket) sprinkled me again with water, 
 using two bottlefuls in all ; then the blanket over it, 
 likewise tucked in lightly, and finally a feather mattress 
 couvre-picd above it all : mark well, though, only to the 
 arm-pits ; my arms and breast he simply covered with a 
 sheet, or any article of clothing you please. Thus he left 
 me till I felt thoroughly warm, but not until I sweated ; 
 then he repeated it, uncovering me again and sprinkling 
 me once more with water, till I got warm a second time ; 
 thereon a slight ablution with the wet clout a wipe
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 287 
 
 down, and a little walk about, but quite moderate and 
 leisurely, or straight to bed. I tell you, all agitation had 
 vanished without leaving a trace ; I was so drowsy that 
 I scarce could wait for night, which I slept through like 
 a top. 
 
 I entreat you do not let this have been said in 
 vain ! ! ! 
 
 I would rather get you to come here forthwith, as 
 I'm convinced that Dr Vaillant's treatment would be of 
 the greatest benefit to you, better than anything ; for the 
 moment, however, a few scruples restrain me : 
 
 i. It's very dear (which I think quite reasonable, 
 however, with so exceptional a physician) and I don't yet 
 know how I am to run to it myself. 2. Not a creature 
 speaks German except the cook and you would have 
 a difficulty with conversation. 3. Candidly fond as we 
 are of each other I fear our mutually exciting ourselves 
 more often than quite suits a cure. You know that, 
 owing to a difference of views for all affection it comes 
 at times to small disputes, which it is better for both of 
 us to escape now and then ; although I cordially admit 
 that /am more to blame than you, particularly when I'm 
 flurried and fretful, which is not to be avoided with a 
 serious cure like that in front of me, when it's better for 
 one to be left alone. Nevertheless, these are all objec- 
 tions to be overcome by the consideration for your JiealtJi. 
 I fancied you were safe and sound at Seelisberg, especial ly 
 as regards your health ; but if you really don't feel well 
 there, and feel the necessity of a more thorough cure, just 
 let me know by return, and means must be found ; for I hold 
 it best for you to get yourself properly treated for once. 
 Money must be forthcoming, without precisely burdening 
 anvone : we could dine in our own sittine-room, to dis-
 
 288 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 pense you from conversation in French ; whilst peace and 
 quiet we should have to guarantee ourselves by mutual 
 good resolve. 
 
 So think it over, as I myself shall think it over ; I 
 should so like to help you ! 
 
 But I must close now, as I've another application 
 to go through myself: moreover, I have told you the 
 most important ; absolutely nothing else has occurred. 
 Touching myself, rest assured I am rid of tJie Roses, and 
 getting thoroughly restored in general. 
 
 Farewell for to-day, dear old woman ! Fipsel sends 
 greetings, and we both are true as gold. A thousand 
 hearty salutations from 
 
 Thy OLD MAN. 
 
 Once more : 
 
 Set all else on one side, and answer me merely on this : 
 If you feel the necessity of a thorough cure, 
 accept my offer unconditionally ; write me 
 so that I may meet you at Geneva ; every- 
 thing else must give way ; one's health is 
 the main point ! 
 
 1O8. 
 
 MORNEX, 12. July 1856. 
 In haste ! 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 You see, I take your groans more seriously than 
 you do mine ! I am sorry to have upset and even 
 alarmed you thereby, and rejoice on the other hand that 
 my fears about your health were groundless. 
 
 In 4 weeks I expect to have finished my cure, and 
 then to return without stop ; for I shall have much to 
 attend to with vourself at Zurich that won't be disagree-
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 289 
 
 able to you. On that I'll write more within the next 
 few days. For the present I withdraw my last proposal to 
 Aufdermauer ; * don't speak of our first project to him 
 any further. 
 
 Continue feeling so well that you give me no more 
 reason for anxiety. 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. W. 
 
 109. 
 
 MORNEX, 1 8. July 1856. 
 
 I've nothing in particular to write you, dearest Minna ; 
 yet your letter just received induces me at least to give you 
 a faint sign of life. I should hardly have thought you 
 would have taken my brief hint so gloomily and glumly. 
 It's to be hoped my last letter will have agreeably dis- 
 pelled all your fears, and taught you the contrary ; for 
 you will have seen by it that I'm feeling the need of a 
 fixed place of residence more keenly than ever, and even 
 longish summer outings have now become a nuisance to 
 me, since they never afford what one seeks, nor that which 
 a snug hearth of one's own, meeting all one's require- 
 ments, alone can supply. So I need waste no more 
 words on it, as you will know exactly what I had in 
 mind. Surely you are pleased with me ? 
 
 As I believe I may look towards my amnestying, 
 which will make it possible to take a trip to Germany 
 from time to time especially in the winter half-year at 
 first I merely thought of procuring ourselves a fixed 
 summer residence, and therefore cast my eye on 
 Brunnen, with nothing but a smaller pied-a-terre at 
 
 * Landlord at Brunnen see Life vi, 157 the proposal, evidently 
 broached in a letter missing from this series, appears to have been for 
 permanent summer quarters at that spot ; see also next letter. Tr. 
 
 VOL. I 19
 
 290 
 
 Zurich. However, I soon reflected how disagreeable it 
 would be for yourself in particular to go through a 
 removal once a year, to say nothing of accompanying me 
 on each of my possible trips to Germany and so leaving 
 the house and our domestic pets forlorn. Wherefore I 
 tightened my hold on the plan of obtaining the long- 
 wished-for estate near to Zurich itself, where everything 
 could remain in like order both winter and summer, and 
 pursue its even course ; till at last I have hit on the right 
 way of procuring the money in the most honourable 
 fashion, and I am sure in any case to get from Hartels as 
 much as is needful for the purchase and erection by which 
 I mean twenty thousand francs. I have already written 
 Wesendonck about it too. As I am detained here by my 
 cure, and cannot be back before the middle of August, I 
 beg you to pave the way for me nicely by your best 
 enquiries and commissionings, so that if all goes well 
 the building may be commenced the beginning of Septem- 
 ber, and the foundation-stone laid by yourself on the 5th 
 (your birthday). That shall be your birthday-present this 
 time ! 
 
 Only let us come to a thorough understanding about the 
 situation of the property. The closer to town, the better 
 I shall like it, and the harder will it also be to find to suit. 
 As I wrote you previously, I don't set much on an exten- 
 sive view : one gets that on one's walks ; but I set every- 
 thing on a quiet, un-cooped situation, with big trees : and 
 we probably shall find the latter in particular only at some 
 distance from the city. Don't be afraid of that, however, 
 but overcome your timidness for my sake ; for your com- 
 fort I draw your notice to the following : Sooner or 
 later I shall invest in a horse and carriage : when I have 
 no more rent to pay which stands in prospect- I can
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 291 
 
 apply the money to that purpose ; meantime the new 
 Zurich droschkes, with which one could make a contract, 
 would stand us in good stead. In any case we shall 
 engage a man : I have considered the means, and we 
 couldn't possibly do without one ; so you'll be well pro- 
 tected, even if I go away for a couple of weeks in the 
 winter and you don't want to accompany me. Please 
 don't fear solitude : / love it beyond measure ; and then 
 remember the company you'll always be having, and what 
 occupation the fowls, turkeys, ducks, etc., will give you 
 even in the winter ; so that, what with myself, N. (or 
 another feminine companion), a maid and a man, big dog 
 and little, parrot and so on, you are sure not to feel 
 yourself lonely. For my own part I'm looking forward to 
 (hat loneliness as if to Heaven, and after every little 
 outing full of toil and agitation, I shall always be only 
 too glad to get back to recover. 
 
 So, do your business well ! I am most eager for your 
 reports, and to know if you're fortunate. The future 
 architect Alter must know of something. 
 
 Otherwise I am doing well ; my cure is forging ahead, 
 and every week I feel the progress toward a thorough 
 restoration. As to the character of this establishment, I 
 can fully explain it to you only by mouth ; but take my 
 word for it, I had no notion before of such a careful treat- 
 ment, or one that so completely suited me. The company 
 isn't large, and offers no temptation at all. I take my 
 dinner at the general table, whither Fips always accom- 
 panies me : make your mind easy about it ; he is very 
 popular, and unfortunately gets more to eat than I like. 
 For the rest, I'm living very comfortably, and you would 
 have thought yourself in Heaven, compared with the 
 Seelisberg ; whatever it is, it isn't such a band-box.
 
 292 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 However, since your indisposition was merely transitory, 
 as you declare, I can find no fault with you for having 
 returned home, where you'll be able to do good service to 
 our plan, and whither I shall return direct myself, by the 
 shortest route, on the completion of my cure. So farewell, 
 good old girl, soon to be landed proprietress ! Keep well, 
 and good to me. 
 
 Liszt has written me very amiably. Touching my 
 Pardon, he earnestly begs me to let no one hear anything of 
 it, though he firmly hopes I may be able to visit him so 
 early as this winter. A general amnesty is in preparation, 
 it appears. Liszt comes the end of September. 
 
 For 3 performances Berlin has brought me in 900 fr. 
 again, which I have had despatched to Sulzer. 
 
 You say nothing at all about that charming Dr. 
 Burkhart ? (Eh ! Eh !) 
 
 110. 
 
 MORNEX, 26. July 1856. 
 
 GOOD DAY, SILLY WOMAN ! 
 (I meant to say : 
 
 Prodigiously good, sage Minna !) 
 
 You got your dressing yesterday : * to-day I merely 
 add a little further information about myself. 
 
 First of all, though, I beg you to go at once to Heim, 
 and ask him to be so good as to reclaim his letter to me 
 from the Post, as I haven't accepted it. The matter 
 stands thus : 
 
 Heim did not address " poste restante a Geneve" but 
 a Mornex pr^s Geneve. 
 
 Now, as Mornex lies in Savoy, the Zurich people put 
 the letter in the Savoy mail, which in the first place costs 
 
 * A missing letter ? Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 293 
 
 40 centimes single weight, whereas it was only franked 
 with 20 cent. ; then they had reckoned the weight at 4 
 times, and charged me two francs including messenger ; 
 besides which, the letter took 2 days longer. The same 
 thing happened to me before with a letter of Wesendonck's, 
 for which, however, they only asked one fr. So I thought 
 I must put a stop to this palpable knavery, and as there 
 could be nothing pressing or particularly important in 
 Heim's communications, much as I enjoy them, I deter- 
 mined to let our friend know, that he might expose this 
 swindle at the Post and relieve me of similar trouble in 
 future. He mustn't take it ill of me ; I really only did it 
 to lend no further countenance to such abominable extor- 
 tion. Will Heim be so good, accordingly, as to re-address 
 his letter, and simply : 
 
 ^ paste rest ante, No. in 
 
 a Geneve" 
 (as you do quite correctly) 
 
 For that matter, I'm looking forward to his letter so 
 much, that I almost regret sending it back. Kindest 
 regards to him and his wife ! 
 
 Well, I am curious to hear if you have received my last 
 letter to Seelisberg yet. For the rest, I of course shall 
 have a deal to tell you of my cure, but it is so disagreeable 
 to me to write about it that I broke off a letter recently 
 commenced to Dr R., and must beg you to give him the 
 assurance that I hope to satisfy him thoroughly on my 
 return, and receive his pardon for apparent disobedience. 
 I know R. wasn't pleased with my refusing in advance to 
 go through a regular cure at a Kurhaus or pension ; had 
 I declared myself willing, and had he known all about 
 Dr Vaillant and his institute, I am firmly convinced he
 
 294 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 would have had nothing against it if I had expressed a 
 wish to take my cure there. As it turned out, however, 
 I felt that without the daily supervision of a doctor I 
 couldn't even carry out R.'s orders with advantage ; and 
 this conviction was so strong that, after Vaillant had 
 inspired me with perfect confidence, I resolved on the 
 heavy sacrifice of starting a strict cure at a pension and 
 willingly enduring all its inconveniences, such as total 
 abstention from work, forced contact with often disagree- 
 able company, and so on. As for the character of my 
 cure, tell Dr R. simply this : Dr Coindet, to whom he 
 recommended me himself, is in complete agreement with 
 it, and only begged me to hold out and remain under 
 Vaillant' s treatment as long as possible. The result, 
 though, as I firmly expect, will be the thing's best 
 advocate. The functions of my skin are already so well 
 regulated, that a recurrence of the Roses is no longer to 
 be dreamt of ; my abdominal complaints are gradually 
 decamping, and I look for perfect healing of my 
 hsemorrhoidal ill. Added to which, my nerves are 
 quieting down to the best of my wish, so that I can 
 count with certainty already on at least six hours of 
 unbroken sleep each night. Consequently, I believe I 
 haven't spent my time in vain here, and don't repent the 
 sacrifice entailed. But it is a sacrifice, and please don't 
 think I'm dawdling here for my amusement. I must keep 
 to it for three weeks longer : I began the i6th June, and 
 shall have my final cure-day the i6th August ; I've pro- 
 mised Vaillant that, in return for which lie gave his word 
 to set me up complete!}' in that time. 
 
 Accordingly I shall return to Zurich the i9th, at latest 
 the 20th August ; I shan't break my journey anywhere, 
 save for a day at Karl's. On your side, dear Minna, see
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 295 
 
 that I find everything ready by then to proceed to our 
 house-building : you can't do much in it alone, beyond just 
 giving orders; and if Alter isn't competent, please make 
 further enquiries as to who accepts commissions of that 
 kind. On the other hand, spare yourself too much 
 running about in search of estates ; it only tires you, and 
 you will not find any. Whatever is referred to you, how- 
 ever, inspect it yourself, and use the new droschkes to do 
 so. Manage in this way that, when I return, I shall have 
 nothing to do but decide ; on my side I shall see to the 
 needful money lying ready then. Thus, we shall share 
 the toil between us. 
 
 Adieu, dear old girl, for to-day. Remain in such 
 good health, and forbid them to wake you next time. 
 Fips is first-class, and we both are looking forward to 
 kind faces in the Escherhauser. 
 
 T[hy] RICHARD. 
 
 111. 
 
 MORNEX, 2. AugUSt 1856. 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, Madame Wagner ! 
 
 So, a fortnight from to-day I leave here, and shall be 
 a sound Monsieur. 
 
 Karl and his wife came to see me on Wednesday ; we 
 took a donkey -ride up Mont Saleve, which I originally 
 had saved for your arrival here ; next morning they 
 went back, after breakfasting with me in my room after 
 my fashion, when I brewed the tea myself. On my 
 journey home, as said, I shall pay them a day's visit, and 
 then we're to eat cakes. 
 
 I have nothing against Klare's and Mathilde's 
 [Frl. Schiffner's] visit ; only I should have thought that 
 Klare, who cannot well repeat the visit for some time,
 
 296 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 would have found herself better off with us next year. 
 It suits me thoroughly, however, to go on lollopping 
 awhile at first on my return ; only it mustn't cost me 
 much more money, I may tell you, for I have the less 
 idea how my exchequer will hold out this time, as it 
 naturally has been drained already through my very ex- 
 pensive cure ; for your health it would have been another 
 matter. However, we shall see. I expect you'll have 
 made some tidy savings during my absence presumably (?) 
 hm ! hm ! 
 
 That good Franz Miiller also will come from Weimar 
 about the same time ; but I shall be glad if Liszt doesn't 
 come till mid-September, as I begged him, for during 
 his visit I am sure to have a lot of excitement, which 
 wouldn't be good for me so soon after the cure. 
 
 Semper can't be quite so wrong regarding Tichatscheck ; 
 of sheer thoughtlessness certainly not from /// will he 
 is certain to have damaged Semper. For he [T. ] resorts 
 daily to a certain club which includes two police- 
 councillors among its members, as he told me himself one 
 of them a regular chieftain. Naturally Tichatscheck and 
 his like do not remark that they are being spied on by 
 these gentry ; in his simplicity he will have told the 
 story of that evening, without knowing what he was 
 doing and perhaps he doesn't know even yet that it 
 was he who blackened Semper. Thus children often 
 do one just as much harm as actual rogues. Please pass 
 on this guess of mine to Semper, and give him my 
 best regards. 
 
 For the rest. I naturally have nothing more to report 
 to you from my monotonous cure-life, beyond the assur- 
 ance that I shall not get the Rose again. The Heim 
 letter affair is annoying enough to me, but there was
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 297 
 
 no other means of obviating similar cases ; all one should 
 do, is to reclaim the letter at Zurich and demand an 
 explanation of such swindles. 
 
 Now, God the all-bountiful shield you ! Fips is 
 blooming like a cabbage-rose ; both of us greet you 
 most respectfully and humbly. 
 
 I am curious to know when you will have even 
 a commencement of explorations for the plot of ground 
 to report to me ; you should have been able to send to 
 Alter long ago. 
 
 An enquiry from Vienna about Tannhauser. 
 
 To-day I combed and flecked Fips single-handed ; he 
 had something like a dozen. 
 
 112. 
 
 MORNEX, 5. Allg. 1856. 
 
 Very good, Mietzel, I won't be stubborn ! So put 
 on your best clothes at once, and pay a call on Frau 
 Bodmer-Stockar. Tell her you would like to know if 
 she believes I should have any success if I wrote to her 
 husband about the estate I have in mind : she is pretty 
 sure to know if there is any possibility of their giving the 
 Triimplers notice. What I should propose, would be 
 to take this property on a life lease or for 10 years to 
 do up the interior and make it comfortable for winter. 
 Tell her how much I need to live in solitude, and that I 
 meant to go away from Zurich at last if I couldn't find 
 anything suitable. In short, do all you can to get 
 a favourable decision from the lady who appears to me 
 the leading person. All else shall then depend on it, 
 and in a favourable event I shall be quite content to 
 satisfy my need in /his way, by which I should get what 
 I want for less monev.
 
 298 
 
 So play your part well, and tell me the result at once. 
 Indeed I've nothing more to tell you, excepting that 
 it's 9 o'clock at night, and I am soon going to bed. 
 
 A fortnight from to-day we shall be hammering away 
 again ! 
 
 Adio, car a arnica ! 
 
 II tuo 
 
 Riiicardo. 
 Am I not lamb-like ? 
 
 113. 
 
 MORNEX, Monday, 11. August 1856. 
 
 MY SPOUSE, 
 
 So, a week from tomorrow I shall reach you 
 again. On the Monday I still have a rendezvous with 
 the Wesendoncks at Berne, for which he pressed me, 
 as I had declared I couldn't visit them at Thun. Will 
 Klare really have arrived by then ? 
 
 My God, I have nothing at all to write you of my 
 terribly monotonous life here ; I'm at the end of the cure 
 now, and merely have still to recover from the exhausting 
 treatment in its middle : by mouth on all that. I 
 now enjoy good sleep and an agreeable calming of my 
 whole nervous system ; I've no more terror of the Rose, 
 as I have my health completely in my hands now, and 
 simply need to live accordingly, to be secure against 
 relapses. 
 
 By chance I knew all of your news, even the story 
 of Bohland's going mad in Dresden. I have my sources, 
 you see ! Many thanks for the Illustrirte, though I 
 could have dispensed with that also now ; lyord knows, 
 I've grown entirely indifferent to everything that's going 
 on. On the other hand I have to inform you that 
 H artels' definitive answer arrived to-day ; it confirms all
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 299 
 
 my hopes, and through the contract soon to be concluded 
 I am placed in the position to proceed to the execution 
 of my project without any fear, as I shall obtain all 
 needful means for it thereby. I must admit I have 
 gained great respect for Hartels.* I am to receive from 
 them fifteen thousand francs cash in 3 instalments, and the 
 interest on another fifteen thousand francs throughout my 
 life and yours ; so that I have 30,000 frc. at my dis- 
 posal, which ought to suffice, I imagine, if the property 
 were sought and found a little farther from Zurich not 
 quite in the immediate vicinity (where it certainly is dear 
 indeed impossible). 
 
 Nevertheless I honestly hope the Bodmer business may 
 come off ; if I can get a life-lease of their property, one 
 could fit it up quite nicely for oneself, and we really 
 have no use for a hereditament. So do your share ; I 
 shall write Frau Wesendonck this very day, and follow 
 your advice. But time presses ; the season is already 
 advanced, and I should like to know where I am, not 
 to lose the chance of being able to work away in the 
 quiet of a pleasant home next summer. 
 
 So you see I'm doing all I can, and have already 
 succeeded in drawing money from my \vork ; rejoice me 
 in exchange with thoroughly good news on my return. 
 
 Fare excellently well ! If you write me once more 
 by return (assuming that to be Thursday) the letter will 
 still catch me at Geneva. Adieu, dearest old woman ! 
 
 Thy R. 
 
 Pvc flecked Fips again to-day ! 
 
 * Nevertheless the entire arrangement (re the whole Ring, of course) 
 fell through in less than three \veeks, lor Otto Wesendonck is informed at 
 the end of the month that this " all but instant certainty is foiled once 
 more " ; see Life vi, 146 et seq. Tr.
 
 300 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 114. 
 
 MORNEX, 13. August 1836. 
 
 DEAREST Muzius, 
 
 Really you are very wooden people, all of you ; 
 you cannot even start a thing without me. Surely Herr 
 Dr R. might have had a talk with Frau Trtimpler in 
 the first place ; others can often speak up for one with 
 more importunacy than oneself. But all these people 
 seem to have a dread of one another ! So I shall have 
 to go begging from Pontius to Pilate again, and that 
 means a loss of time. Can't you get introduced to 
 Frau Triimpler by Heim, then or Dr R. ? You could 
 speak better in my interest yourself, than I. Not one 
 of you can do anything isn't that true ? 
 
 It is awful to me, to hear that you've had to take 
 opium again ; it's to be hoped you will listen to reason, 
 and let yourself be supplied with rest and sleep by me for 
 once, which I promise you if you only will follow my 
 orders a bit. 
 
 For the rest, I'm waiting for the day of my 
 departure now with great impatience ; probably I shall 
 not write you again, unless anything very important should 
 happen unforeseen. I expect to arrive from Berne on 
 Tuesday morning by the Baden train, as I prefer travel- 
 ling at night in this heat. Please do not have my bath- 
 tub filled with water, but leave it empty in the alcove : 
 I shall only use it to do my washings in. But go at 
 once to the Post and tell them to send on no more letters 
 here from Friday morning onward, but to give them 
 to the postman. True, I wrote to the bureau yesterday, 
 myself, but it will be as well for you to ascertain if they 
 duly received that letter. 
 
 Now let me hope for a kindly reunion ; I expect
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 301 
 
 you'll be satisfied with me and my health. What I have 
 lost by the sweating, Fips has picked up, so that you can 
 abide by him if I don't please you. If you want a few 
 good nights' sleep ere my arrival, carefully follow the 
 advice I have given you ; but of course you don't appear 
 to think of it, and would rather take that curs, opium. 
 At the least take a couple of cold foot-baths. 
 
 Adieu, bad woman who gives me so much anxiety ! 
 To a speedy good Wiedersehen ! 
 
 Thy R. 
 
 [Between this and the next group of letters husband and wife do not 
 appear to have been parted even for twenty-four hours ; in the meantime 
 the famous " Asyl" had been acquired at Enge, a suburb of Zurich, and 
 entered in tlie spring of \ 857, the Wesendoncks taking possession of their 
 adjoining " Villa " the ensuing August. 7V.] 
 
 115. 
 
 PARIS, 17. January 1858. 
 
 DEAREST MINNA, 
 
 You gave me a miserable night with your unlucky 
 Hotel de Lyon, which had another landlord 8 years back, 
 and appears to have come down in the world since. I 
 arrived at ^ past n, and hunted out a passable room for 
 3 francs at last : when I examined it closer, the door gaped 
 half an inch ; the chimney smoked. Very good : finally 
 I get to bed, and the rattle of traffic literally doesn't cease 
 the whole night ; stupid fool that I am, I hadn't reflected 
 that this is the noisiest spot in all Paris, immediately off 
 the Rue Richelieu. I scarcely closed my eyes, and the 
 first thing in the morning I went to the new big Hotel du 
 Louvre, where I simply asked for a quietly situated room 
 at 3 francs. I was given one on the 3rd floor at once, 
 looking on to the courtyards ; small, but everything very 
 clean and solid ; a large fauteuil, even though no sofa. 
 No din of traffic, since the adjoining Rite Rivoli is not
 
 302 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 paved ; in short, just what I want. Every visitor to Paris 
 should go to the Hotel du Louvre ; you simply ask for 
 what you seek, and get it, from the most sumptuous 
 apartment to the plainest and cheapest. And then one 
 isn't gened in any way ; if one likes, one can dine in the 
 hotel restaurant a la carte, which I much prefer ; I can 
 always get my fish and veal-cutlet there. In brief, I am 
 glad to see peaceful nights before me ; also I have no 
 neighbours. 
 
 As I have only just unpacked, am fearfully tired, and 
 naturally have been able to make a commencement with 
 nothing as yet, I really shouldn't have thought of writing 
 you to-day if it hadn't been for the address. Kietz met 
 me at Epernay, at the station ; he can't come to Paris at 
 present, which is a pity for me and seemed to cause him 
 great regret. He entreated me by all that's holy to spend 
 a day with him and Chandon on my journey home. 
 
 The letter from yourself and Prager * I fetched from 
 Kietz' portiere this morning, and had to pay 16 sous for 
 it, as the postage was insufficient, and it had been treated 
 as unfranked. Please enquire at the Post exactly what a 
 letter costs to Paris ; it goes much by the weight. If you 
 come by any money, I would rather you franked every 
 time till I have some ; naturally my exchequer isn't at 
 its best. From Strassburg itself, however, I took fresh 
 steps to provide us with money, and I think the pinch 
 will soon be over. 
 
 Prager' s letter was very important to me ; it gives 
 me useful addresses, and saves many enquiries. 
 
 Now I must write to Dresden again, to prevent their 
 dawdling with the despatch of my operas.- I shall make a 
 
 * Meaning a letter from Prager sent on by Minna; see Life vi, 332. 
 -Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 303 
 
 start with iny affairs tomorrow, and shan't write you again 
 till I can report how things stand and when I may hope 
 to depart. 
 
 I'm delighted you have slept so well ; only continue 
 going to bed early, as soon as ever sleep comes on. Fips's 
 not eating for my sake shews him from an entirely new 
 side, and makes his character doubly precious to me. 
 Shake his paw ! Send me word soon that you have re- 
 ceived money and your heart is beating tranquilly. Fare- 
 well and hold me thoroughly dear in spite of all the 
 faults and turpitudes I have. We must really try and 
 pull along together now ; and at bottom things are going 
 quite passably, even though I unfortunately have more 
 fame than money. And you have seen for yourself now, 
 that it isn't the ... * alone : all the securer can you 
 feel about me. The embarrassment on account of my 
 journey really has preyed on my mind, and indeed I'm 
 more a man of feeling than you think ! 
 
 Now keep well, and soon rejoice me with good tidings ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 Address : RICHARD. 
 
 Monsieur Richard Wagner 
 
 Grand Hotel du Louvre 
 
 (No. 364) a 
 
 Paris. 
 
 * As these dots exist in the German edition, it will be as well to 
 reproduce the whole enigmatic and idiomatic context : " Wir mussen's 
 nun doch miteinander vollends durchmachen ; und im Grunde genommen 
 geht esjetzt doch ganz passabel, wenn ich leiderauch mehr Ruhm als Geld 
 habe. L'nd dass es die . . . nicht allein macht, hast Du nun auch 
 gesehen : desto sicherer kannst Du iiber mich sein. Mir stak wirklich 
 die Beklommenheit wegen der Abreise in den Gliedern, und ich bin eben 
 mehr Gemuthsmensch als Du glaubst ! " Under the circumstances, with 
 almost every word presenting ambiguities to the outsider, any translation 
 can only be tentative. Tr.
 
 304 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 116. 
 
 PARIS, 21. January 1858. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I fancy you will prefer my writing you something 
 in brief at once, to my waiting to write at greater length 
 tomorrow, when I shouldn't have much more to tell you 
 either. For your letter only reached me close on 3 o'clock, 
 and if I am to get my answer off by post-time, I can't be 
 long about it. 
 
 Matters stand in this way, that I expect to be able to 
 go back the end of next week for certain ; but I fancy I 
 shall have completely attained my aim then, and better 
 than I could have hoped, in spite of several misadventures 
 now detaining me. 
 
 My Mr Amat, to wit, had gone away the very night 
 of my arrival, to give concerts in the provinces, and isn't 
 expected back before next week. His wife gave me very 
 good information, though, and as it seems highly pro- 
 bable that my Tannhauser will be taken up in earnest 
 here sooner or later it is becoming certain that, together 
 with the declaration of my copyright in the pianoforte 
 scores etc., I shall also be able to secure myself the sole 
 right of performance. And the latter really is of great 
 importance ; for, not only will it place me in the position 
 to prevent any performance I do not approve of, but, if 
 it does come off at the Grand Opera, I shall also be able to 
 demand full author's rights with tantieme etc., which 
 should amount under circumstances to something decent. 
 With Mr dc Cliarnal the translator, at whose house I 
 am to cline to-day, and who is plaguing me to co-operate 
 with him in a new opera for the Theatre lyriqiie (the ass !) 
 I have agreed to make no further present enquiries of 
 the management of that theatre, but quietly to register
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 305 
 
 my declaration of copyright ; which will then give me 
 the right to lodge a valid protest even on the day of an 
 intended first performance. My strict concern accordingly 
 consists for this time in acquiring that right, and en- 
 trusting someone with authority based thereon to prevent 
 any such performance ; and Amat will do quite well for 
 that, as it will be to his own advantage in course of time. 
 So I must wait not only for this person's return, but also 
 for arrival of the copies of my operas from Dresden, for 
 which I've written pressingly once more ; with the end of 
 next week I hope to have them both behind me. By the 
 way, this business will bring me into contact with the 
 Saxon ambassador, who is needed for it ; which should 
 afford me much amusement. 
 
 Surely you must have received the small sum from 
 Berlin by now ? My having left you so in the lurch 
 gives me more anxiety than you believe. It is to be 
 hoped the Vienna affair will be also put straight now. 
 Liszt writes me, he'll send me some money in a few days ; 
 in any case I shall send you some of that, as I already 
 know how to help myself here at a pinch. Hartels 
 certainly make me a very different counter-offer [for 
 Trisfa/t] -only the half of my demand (400 louis d'or) 
 down, the other half from profits later. However, I shall 
 have to agree to it (for they advance really plausible 
 grounds), and am certain thus to get 100 louis from them 
 at Easter (even if not sooner). Moreover, I have been 
 hawking the Ricnzi like sour beer (Hanover, Frankfort, 
 Breslau), urging its prompt production and consequently 
 also a prompt remittance of the fees. If only some of 
 this comes off, we shall be all right, and then just let 
 me look ahead ! The thing shall not repeat itself so 
 soon. 
 
 VOL. I 20
 
 306 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I have written to England at once, and set forth 
 every ground for my excuse ; also begged in case of 
 confusion arising to excuse me to Prince Albert \yid. 
 inf.] These Zurich Post officials (may Sulzer forgive 
 me !) are really utter . . . ! 
 
 Concerning letters, don* t frank them at all in future: 
 the fat letter cost me 4-fold postage your double stamp 
 being too little. For letters to France have to be terribly 
 thin (at the utmost like this one), and if they are not 
 franked sufficiently, the franco isn't counted at all, but 
 the whole postage must be paid again (according to French 
 rates). Believe me, I didn't let myself be taken in by 
 any portiere : that is so ! in return I shan't frank my 
 few letters to you. 
 
 Liszt's other daughter only returns from Germany also 
 
 this week ; her husband (Ollivier) I haven't been able to 
 
 catch yet (Paris !) ; I shall call on him tomorrow, though. 
 
 Yesterday I dined with lyindemann etc. at the Taverne 
 
 anglaise (almost nothing but fish !) 
 
 I am writing letters nearly all day long, and expect 
 they'll bear fruit. 
 
 What does Eckert [Vienna dir.] write ? 
 
 Now, God be with you for to-day ! After dinner I'm 
 to go to the said Theatre lyrique (but not Euryanthe!) 
 with Charnal ! Fare wellest of well, and hold as dear as 
 you can 
 
 Thy immensely loving 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 The Strassburg incident has already got into the news- 
 papers. The attentat [Orsini] has not affected me at all : 
 make your mind easy about it ; I hear nothing of it what- 
 ever.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 307 
 
 117. 
 
 PARIS, 23. January 1858. 
 
 MY POOR Muzius, 
 
 You cannot think how it distresses me to have left 
 you in such straits for money ; so, even the small Berlin 
 return has not come in yet ? Really it's incredible ! I 
 wrote to Hoffmann forthwith, enclosing the letter to 
 Haslinger, though, as it is the latter who is to send the 
 money at once, and in case of need to make it up to a 
 round looo/r. Thus you will receive a bill of exchange 
 on Paris, which you must sign for me I hope it's allowed 
 best at Schulthess and Rechberg's ; the brother of 
 Squire Wyss is there. Perhaps it will be necessary for 
 you to beg it as a special favour, for strictly the bill ought 
 to be signed by myself (unfortunately I didn't think of 
 that yesterday). In the worst event, I shall probably be 
 coining back at the same time myself, or shortly after. 
 
 To go on with, however, I send you at once what 
 Liszt has sent me : namely, the enclosed 500 fr. He was 
 thoroughly averse to demanding the fee for Rienzi before 
 its production, and therefore advances me on it for the 
 present these 500 Jr. from his own as he says very empty 
 pocket. I send you the whole of this, that you may 
 have something in hand ; for my own part, as I wouldn't 
 rely on even Liszt alone (quite right !), I provisionally 
 borrowed 200 fr. from London, off Priiger, which I only 
 need repay at my convenience. That money will take 
 me back to Zurich. 
 
 Best thanks for your tidings. Though I strictly had 
 no further intentions here than what you know of, already 
 something more might come of it perhaps. Naturally / 
 am hunting no Director, but must lie in wait for their 
 hunting inc. That has been done now, under the rose,
 
 308 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 by the Director of the Tliedtre lyrique, who notified by 
 Charnal had me invited to a performance at his theatre, 
 and begged for the honour of presenting himself to me. 
 I was very stand-off towards him ; he, on the contrary, 
 couldn't contain himself for civility. I don't quite know 
 what to make of his intentions yet regarding Tannhiiuser, 
 and therefore keep silence ; but thus much is certain, he 
 wants something of mine. After having seen his theatre, 
 under circumstances I might decide to give him the 
 Rienzi but not Tannhauser ; as my only object with 
 the affair is money, I am cautious myself. There are 
 several other considerations here inclining me to Rienzi 
 as my first opera for Paris, all of which I'll tell you soon 
 by word of mouth : it isn't so easy to ruin as Tannhauser, 
 and I would even let them make some alterations in it ; 
 touching that fatal dialogue [however], the Grand Duke 
 of Baden would have to use his influence with the local 
 Emperor, and get him to give special commands for 
 permitting an exception. For an opera like this would 
 be regarded by the theatre in question as a decided stroke 
 of luck, and I should only give my consent under a 
 contract ensuring the most unusual exertions and the 
 engagement of singers who thoroughly pleased me, as also 
 and finally, under guarantee of very considerable pecuniary 
 advantages. All this may be, dear Minna, and is quite 
 possible ; but do not pin your faith to it just yet. 
 
 I am dining at Ollivier's to-day, who has received me 
 uncommonly cordially and placed his services as advocate 
 entirely at my disposal. He is a personal friend of Mons. 
 Carvalho (director of the Lvrique}, and has offered to set 
 everything in order with him when the time comes. 
 That is really something like ! 
 
 In that wav there would be an earlier result than I
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 309 
 
 anticipated here. I must leave the directorate of the 
 Grand Opera completely on one side for the moment ; 
 Meyerbeer still has influence there, and no doubt that 
 theatre must first have its hand forced through Rienzi's 
 success at the opera-house of second rank. But then it 
 will be forced, and I shall be able to lay down any 
 condition I please ; nor would Rienzi itself be lost 
 entirely for the Grand Opera later. 
 
 Now don't excite yourself too much ; all these are 
 merely plans as yet, but their possibility reposes on the 
 visibly strong desire of the Theatre lyriqne to have an 
 opera of mine. Only through my personal presence could 
 such openings have deen descried and seized ; consequently 
 I have no reason to repent any sacrifice incurred for this 
 journey even already. 
 
 The above was the chief thing ; for the rest, I spend 
 almost the whole day in my cubicle, writing letters and 
 reading. May my small remittance of to-day set you up 
 a little ; and forgive the stupid fix in which I placed you. 
 Let Miiller only wait till I come back, or for the Vienna 
 money to arrive ; I shall write him in a day or two. 
 
 So the best farewell, dearest Minna ! Salute the 
 household for me, stay good to me, and wish plenty of 
 luck to 
 
 Thy 
 
 truly good 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 118. 
 
 PARIS, 28. January 1858. 
 Grand Hotel die Louvre 
 
 (No. 365) 
 Chere Epousc, 
 
 Comment z'ous portez-vous f Avez vous bien dormi? 
 Que fait votre cceur ? Que fait Mr Fipps ? et Jacquot f
 
 3io RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Ja so ! I must speak German now ! I should have 
 written you the day before yesterday, dear Mutz, had I 
 really found time for it. In the first place I've a lot of 
 business correspondence still, and in the second my 
 engagements here are ever on the increase. Even to-day 
 I don't propose to write you much, though, to save up 
 for us both, in reality this time, the pleasure of having 
 quite a deal to tell by mouth ; which one always spoils 
 through too great circumstantiality by letter, leaving one 
 strictly nothing more to say when one gets home. Merely 
 the following general outline, then, to give you some 
 notion of the character of my present stay. 
 
 Neither could it have been the object of my journey 
 to bring anything to a definite conclusion, nor would it 
 have been possible during so brief a stay. Before next 
 winter, too, there can be no idea of a production of any 
 of my operas here, as the season is too far advanced 
 already. For my part I can make overtures in no 
 direction, but must wait for folk to come to me. Well, 
 the director of the TJiedtre lyriqne has come so far to me 
 already, that with 1000 bows and scrapings he has 
 expressed his wish and hope to acquire an opera from me 
 shortly, and to visit me at Zurich with that aim. Regard- 
 ing the Grand Opera, it is everyone's opinion that the 
 management must and will make offers to me soon. I 
 could hardly have believed how much they're occupied with 
 me in Paris ; certain proof of which I have received, as you 
 shall hear. But my greatest good fortune is the acquaintance 
 and friendship of Ollivier, about whom I shall have much 
 to narrate to you. He entirely sides with Liszt, and has 
 broken with the d'Agoult ; he is a most delightful man, 
 and eminent in many respects. For the present only this 
 much : he has taken to me in a way that makes me quite
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 311 
 
 secure. Here is an instance, which will shew you at 
 the same time how the eyes of people here are turned on 
 me. The evening before last, on my going to dine at 
 Ollivier's, he informs me he has seen a poster of the 
 Concerts de Paris the same day, on which the first Paris 
 performance (erroneous !) of the overture to Tannhauser 
 was announced for Friday in enormous letters. As, if I 
 mean to guarantee my copyright for performances also, I 
 must make even a concert execution of the overture 
 depend on my own consent (since it might otherwise be 
 regarded as a waiving of my right, and lead to serious 
 consequences later), here I have to take an immediate 
 step. So Ollivier at once dictated me a letter to the 
 director of those concerts, declaring that I would not 
 frustrate the proposed performance of my overture this 
 time, yet should only permit it on the express condition 
 of the maintenance of my rights, of which such permission 
 must involve no abandonment ; at the same time, more- 
 over, that a rehearsal of my overture must be instituted 
 in my presence, to convince me that its execution will 
 correspond to my wishes. Then we drove off to an avoue, 
 a friend of Ollivier's, whom the latter commissioned to 
 deliver this letter to the director in due legal form next 
 morning. And to-day I have received the politest 
 invitation to give myself the trouble of attending a special 
 rehearsal of my overture at i o'clock. Look you, thaf s 
 how one must act here ; Ollivier knows it, and is very 
 keen on it. How good it is, once more, that I was in 
 Paris myself at the moment ! All this, for example, would 
 have never been heeded, and my rights have thus been 
 viewed as half abandoned in advance and difficult to 
 re-establish. Moreover, as people are so impatient for my 
 compositions now, an inferior performance of precisely
 
 312 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 this overture would have been most injurious to me ; 
 whereas I now shall have it in my power to bring about 
 the best result. These are beginnings, but of decisive 
 weight. After the performance you shall learn the result. 
 General conclusion : fair prospect of seeing two operas 
 of mine Tannh. (at the Grand Opera) and Rienzi 
 produced next winter at full tantiemes. And as regards 
 the latter point the receipts -it's something quite 
 stupendous ! 
 
 For the rest, I have made very agreeable acquaint- 
 ances, who shew me Paris from a side I never knew 
 before. Last Sunday through Ollivier I was at a real 
 Conservatoire concert for the first time in my life ; seated 
 next me Mad. Herold, widow of the composer of Zampa, 
 such a pleasant, charming, genial and distinguished 
 woman, that I have fallen quite in love with her, not- 
 withstanding her grey hair and fifty years. We spent the 
 evening at her house, among her children and acquaint- 
 ances. Last autumn Mad. Herold was in Vienna with 
 her daughter and son-in-law, on their honeymoon, heard 
 my Tannhauser there (with a guest named Altkas in the 
 title-role), and was just as enraptured with the freshness 
 and fire of the performance, as she was revolted by the 
 flabbiness and chill of the Berlin performance she heard 
 thereafter. This really was news to me ; I had my doubts, 
 but her descriptions and her serious enthusiasm convinced 
 me it must be as she had said. So I wrote next day to 
 Hoffmann's Kapellmeister, told him what I had heard, 
 and thanked him. I made other notable acquaintances 
 there, on whom by mouth. 
 
 Yesterday I also drove to Madame Hrard, who is 
 living at Passy in a princely chateau. She and Madame 
 Spontini (her sister-in-law) were delighted with my visit,
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 313 
 
 and to cut the story short my first Paris receipt this 
 time consists in the present Mad. Erard is making me of a 
 grand piano, which will shortly reach the Asyl on the 
 Gabler. In return I have begged her to accept the dedi- 
 cation of my first opera that appears in Paris ; what 
 do you say to it ? Perhaps with your permission I shall 
 have to bring a sacrifice to Mad. Erard ; she very much 
 wished me to spend an evening there, and (as we shall be 
 at the Herolds' again on Sunday evening, with Blandine 
 Ollivier's wife who only returns from Berlin this even- 
 ing : an engagement I couldn't well refuse Ollivier) she 
 has appointed Tuesday next week. I haven't accepted 
 yet, but after her costly present (it is catalogued at 5000 /r.) 
 I think I ought to shew her that attention ; in which case 
 I should have to abandon the visit to Epernay. For 
 the rest, my departure hinges on the expected arrival of 
 the Dresden pianoforte-scores of my operas, with which 
 those odious people still are lagging. In any case, however, 
 I irrevocably fix next Wednesday (i.e. a week from to-day) 
 as the day of my departure ; therefore, as I mustn't arrive 
 on a Friday, expect me midday Saturday, and by all 
 means invite our oyster-party for that evening. Then I 
 shall either spend a day at Epernay after all, or remain 
 another day at Strassburg, where I have half promised 
 to call on the conductor, who probably would like to 
 make use of my presence for his benefit concert. In any 
 case I shouldn't care to knock myself entirely up by 
 travelling day and night, but to reach home nice and 
 fresh ; whither I indeed am strongly drawn particularly 
 for reason of my extremely pressing work. 
 
 My health really had somewhat run down, the long 
 course of un-nutritious diet I needed has been a great drain 
 on me in the end ; I am fearfully thin, and feel rather weak.
 
 314 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Therefore I'm going in for more nourishing food now, 
 which on the other hand always stirs up my blood troubles 
 again ; so that poor I am constantly between two evils. 
 I am bearing up, however, and strength is returning 
 already ; so have no anxiety. The surprising weakness 
 of my constitution is revealed to me now ; never before 
 have my wants been so small. Well, we'll see how that 
 turns out at Wagners'. 
 
 For the reason given above I omit any further account 
 of my experiences here, merely telling you that I shall 
 call on Rossini (if only for his physiognomy's sake), that 
 Berlioz read his operatic subject \_Troyens\ to me yester- 
 day, etc., and I'll just pass on to our immediate affairs. 
 
 How the devil did such a confounded address get into 
 your head, as that under which you imagine I sent my 
 notes to England? Anderson Sydenhampalast ! Stuff 
 and nonsense ! the address was : 
 
 " To Her most gracious Majesty 
 
 The Queen 
 
 To the care of Buckingham Pallace 
 
 the H r C l Phipps London." 
 
 Let there be no mistake about it and cause no fresh 
 confusion. 
 
 How can Spyri be so idiotic as to say that Tannhauser 
 has been accepted at the Grand Opera ? That's going the 
 round of all the German papers now, looks like brag, and 
 will draw down on me all kinds of fooleries. 
 
 Your wonder at my sending you some money really 
 pains me. My God, for whom do you persist in taking 
 me ? I don't deny that at times, and under circumstances, 
 I am inclined to extravagance ; but you never have found 
 me indifferent to the dilemmas thence arising for yourself ;
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 315 
 
 on the contrary, my one sole care then is to beat up money 
 to remove your difficulty, which I now am attempting 
 again in every quarter. I have no answer from Frankfort 
 and Breslau as yet (good sign !) ; from Hanover, where 
 they would like to see Rienzi at Dresden first (people are 
 a little distrustful of my earlier operas), they also beg me 
 to let them defer it awhile, as Armide was to be given 
 next : at any rate, then, it will be coining off shortly. As 
 soon as Rienzi has made its due sensation at Dresden and 
 Weimar, I hope to be able to put this opera's vending 
 in commission, against the deposit of an advance of 1000 
 thaler ; toward that, too, I've already taken steps. From 
 Hartels I expect to be able to draw 2000 fr. the end 
 of February. So just a little patience ! Meanwhile 
 Vienna will help, which must have put its tribute on the 
 road by now. Next month, too, probably something 
 more from Weimar. For the present, then, please lay out 
 the 500 /r. , and pay off our most pressing debts with it ; 
 I shall find some other means for Midler, I promise you. 
 
 There now you have a proper letter. Possibly I shall 
 not arrive at writing you much again ; I've a number 
 of business and other letters still ahead, whilst the nearer 
 I approach to my return, the less need I have of written 
 communications. But you, please write me regularly ; 
 I'm pretty sure to remain here till Wednesday, so you can 
 send me yet another letter on Monday. I have changed 
 my room, as it was far too cold and had no sun at all 
 I haven't got rid of my cold yet so no. 365 (exactly the 
 days of the year). 
 
 Farewell, good, charmante old girl ! Salute the 
 animals, and remain fond of 
 
 Thy 
 feeble old RICHARD.
 
 3i6 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Afternoon. They fetched me to the rehearsal before I 
 could close this letter. Lord, what a good father I am ! 
 This overture is 14 years of age now, and yet I couldn't 
 let it run alone. The band might have been better, and 
 the conductor, who had no full score, was obliged to leave 
 many important points obscure : what luck that I was 
 there ! I couldn't stand it at last, and placed myself at 
 the desk for two hours' drudgery. The orchestra gave 
 me a thundering ovation but couldn't satisfy me much. 
 I was so knocked up by this unexpected fatigue, that all 
 in a heat I had a closed carriage sent for quick, to take 
 me home. Consequently I have left the conductor to 
 finish his affair alone ; let us hope the orchestra and 
 he have made a note of everything. For that matter, 
 don't attach too much weight to this performance ; these 
 concerts aren't of much account. As I was unable 
 as yet to prevent the performance, at least it was 
 worth while making it as good as possible ; and that 
 I've done. Now farewell. I have ordered a veal-cutlet 
 and bowl of Julienne ; then I must be off to Ollivier's 
 again ; but I shall go to bed early this evening. Wishing 
 you a really good night ! 
 
 119. 
 
 PARIS, i. February 1858. 
 
 BEST Muzius, 
 
 I have to create a confusion again ; I can't get home 
 till midday Saturday toward 2 o'clock. It was impossible 
 to leave the kindness of Mad. Erard unrequited, who had 
 firmly reckoned upon me for Tuesday ; she had invited a 
 big assembly in my honour, among whom Rossini himself 
 may be present. So it will be late at night before one gets 
 home, and it would be too fatiguing for me to rise at 6 in
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 317 
 
 the morning and travel all night again (to arrive on 
 Thursday). Further, Kietz and Chandon have pressingly 
 begged me once more to give them a day at Kpernay ; 
 which I now shall do, and travel home quite leisurely, so 
 as not to arrive on a Friday. 
 
 I am bringing money too. The Vienna people sent 
 the looo/r. bill of exchange to me here, after all, as it 
 was drawn upon Paris ; it doesn't make much difference, 
 and saves in fact a trifling loss. 
 
 You will receive no further news from me, except 
 perhaps a hast}' confirmation of my departure. So bespeak 
 the part}- for Saturday evening ; I shall bring the oysters 
 with me, and thus be following your advice. 
 
 I had hoped for another letter from you to-day ; you 
 aren't unwell by any chance ? 
 
 Adieu, good old Madame ! Stay good to me till then ; 
 when you can reprove me again if I behave badly. 
 
 To the very finest of welcomes ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 much-loved 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 months after Wagner's return to Ziirich Minna intercepted a 
 letter of Ins to Fran II 'csendonck, leading to a now notorious " scene " be- 
 tween the two women see Familienbriefe, R. Wagner to M. Wesendonck, 
 Life vi, etc. immediately after which occurrence Minna temporarily de- 
 parted for a nerve-cure at Brestcnberg in Aargau. Ti <: > 
 
 12O. 
 
 ZURICH, 20. April 1858. 
 
 You made me very uneasy, dear Minna, with your 
 silence. I telegraphed about it yesterday to Herr Dr 
 Ktismanu, prepaying an answer ; remarkable to say, none 
 has reached me, and I mean to make inquiry into it. 
 Luckily I received your letter in the afternoon, however,
 
 3i8 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and that relieved my mind. Eh, eh, I told you you'd 
 experience wonders from your cure ; that a suppressed 
 catarrh came out at once, e.g., was quite in order, and you 
 may simply congratulate yourself upon it. Many another 
 thing will likewise come out, that has only been repressed 
 by the eternal feverish agitation of your nerves, but on the 
 other hand so sorely aggravated your complaint itself. I 
 could never prevent your exposing yourself to a chill ; you 
 took no notice of the consequences but they were partly 
 to blame for the increase of your illness. 
 
 Well, your having such good trust [in it] gives me 
 the most hope of the cure's successful issue. Just keep 
 to that, and so give me the relief of having a sound and 
 right sensible wife again soon. 1 know I've to overlook 
 much in you for the state to which your ailment has 
 reduced you ; so may everything turn for the best ! 
 I'll hope so ! 
 
 Now keep to it, think of nothing but your health. 
 Without it there's no hope for any of us ! 
 
 Nothing special has arrived in the way of letters ; 
 what pleased me most, was the kind reply of Dr R., 
 who really had been much offended : I enclose this 
 letter for your heartening. Nevertheless the old gentle- 
 man did indeed more harm than help you, and one is 
 really too considerate towards such people. But we'll let 
 that drop for this once. 
 
 I have received a second message from Erard's, that 
 the piano went off yesterday. For the rest, 1 am in 
 no particular humour yet, as you may easily imagine ; 
 I haven't the least disposition for work. Perhaps I there- 
 fore shall accept Wille's invitation to spend a couple of 
 days with them ; I suppose you'll have nothing against 
 it. Perhaps it will distract me a little ; the agitations
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 319 
 
 and exertions since the beginning of this month have 
 been a shade too great, you know. 
 
 As I haven't otherwise been much about yet, I can 
 only tell you of our household : that Friedrich is be- 
 having exemplarily and doing an enormous amount in 
 the garden ; it really will be very pretty. Lisette had 
 to get cupped yesterday. Both of them serve me very 
 well, and accordingly it's quite endurable at home here. 
 
 I have nothing further to tell you concerning ourselves ; 
 so soon as anything occurs, you shall hear of it at 
 once. Now give the Herr Doctor my hearty regards, and 
 thank him most profoundly for his care. For yourself, 
 dear old girl, don't be slack about writing, but go on 
 sending me a perfect diary of your treatment. Only 
 patience and courage ! Everything will come right, for 
 sure, and after all troubles and storms a peaceful, 
 contented old age will appear in the end ! 
 
 Farewell, behave yourself, and give me tranquillising 
 news as frequently as possible. 
 
 Thy 
 
 good RICHARD. 
 
 121. 
 
 ZURICH, 23. April 1858. 
 
 POOR DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Once more I cry to you, repeating it a thousand 
 times : Have patience, and above all else, have trust ! 
 If you knew how you torture me with your want of 
 the latter, I feel sure you would repent it. In brief, 
 when you assured me you really did love me, I adjured 
 you to prove it me by forgoing an> encounter, any 
 arraignment on that side, at least until after your cure ; 
 in return for which I promised you to fulfil on my side
 
 320 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 whatever you wished for your pacifying. But the 
 Tempter mastered you a second time, and this time 
 you openly broke your love and faith in me. I forgive 
 you that, to begin with, for the awful state of health 
 which made you almost irresponsible ; and more : I for- 
 give it you for all the future. But I now implore you, 
 put forth all your strength of mind henceforward to 
 preserve unshaken your belief in my sincere and lifelong 
 sympathy, my heartfelt wish to promote your welfare, 
 my steadfast will to harbour no ulterior hopes whatever 
 for this life. If you are unable to do so, you will make 
 yourself and me unhappy ! I should have no need of this 
 entreaty if you had yourself had so much mental composure 
 from of old as to judge me justly, and in particular to 
 form a clear idea of that relation which fills you with idle 
 fears, as I perceive, even after your procuring your- 
 self full satisfaction. From the other side but one 
 reproach has been addressed to me, namely that I had 
 ever omitted to make the purity of those relations clear 
 to you, so that it would have been impossible for you 
 so to insult the lady concerned. These reproaches were 
 made me by the husband, the man who, admitted from 
 of old to the minutest confidences of his wife, yet could 
 ever bear himself with nobleness and friendship toward 
 me, just because he was convinced of the purity of our 
 relations. The only excuse I could offer in reply, was 
 that I held it a sheer impossibility to convince yourself 
 of such a thing and that, alas ! in spite of all my 
 declarations, appears to be intending to prove true. 
 
 So once again, and for the last time (since you will 
 destroy yourself if you continue thus!) have trust! 
 Forget in what has happened whatever seems to remain 
 inexplicable to you (such as my familiar expressions in
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 321 
 
 that letter) and cleave alone to my explanations reiterated 
 to you to-day ! That also is what I meant by wishing 
 to have a right sensible wife in you soon, which I hope 
 you'll take amiss of me no longer. 
 
 For that matter, I may simply tell you that I was 
 really invited to Wesendonck's again last Sunday [i8th], 
 and quite alone. I have been at the Willes' two days. 
 Next week the Wesendoncks go away for some time. I 
 am longing for my work again at last, and think of 
 resuming it tomorrow. After this serious and truly well- 
 meant letter, I have nothing further of importance to 
 communicate to you to-day. 
 
 Your S2ifferings have touched and thrilled me much 
 again ; God is my witness how honestly and sincerely 
 I wish you speedy convalescence. Persevere ! Your 
 illness once alleviated, you'll look at everything again 
 more calmly, and recognise that the causes of life's suffer- 
 ings do not only lie outside us, but mostly also in us. 
 
 So, good recovery ! 
 
 We soon shall meet again ! 
 Thy 
 
 faithful Husband 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 122. 
 
 ZURICH, Tuesday 27. April 1858. 
 
 This, dear Minna, is the date on which I've determined 
 to get myself put, not in a hydropathic institute, but in 
 a mad-house for that now seems the only proper place for 
 me ! Whatever I say or write, even with the best intention, 
 I stir up nothing but misfortune and misunderstanding. 
 If I keep silence on certain things, I make you distrustful 
 and suspicious that I want to circumvent you ; then if 
 VOL. I 21
 
 322 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I write seriously and openly, and at trie same time 
 thoroughly composingly as I, poor ass, believed I learn 
 that I have been hatching a fiendish plot to hurry you 
 under the turf ! In the same breath I'm told to be a 
 man ! Good : not a man, but thy man I'll be. Tell 
 me exactly how I am to speak, think, and look on the 
 things of this world : I'll shape my course accordingly, 
 and say, think and see nothing that doesn't suit you : 
 are you satisfied ? L,ay down for me, also, what and how 
 I'm to indite and compose : indeed I shall conform to you 
 in everything, that you no longer may have a moment's 
 doubt about me. For whatever I do of myself, in 
 my own way, you still believe it doesn't spring from me, 
 but from someone or other who has an object with me. 
 Very good : that shan't occur again ; I'll look to left or 
 right no longer, and if you then can still doubt that 
 I live for no one but yourself, that I love and dote upon 
 you, at least /shall no longer be answerable. 
 
 God knows if the above has put you in good humour, 
 as my object was, or if I appear to you the refinement 
 of malice afresh. I'm so in doubt concerning all I 
 say or do, that I shall shortly get carried about like 
 a child. No matter, though, if only you will bid good- 
 bye to these terrible fancies, and recognise that at least 
 I have the best, most honest will to shew myself good and 
 grateful to you, faithful and attached, affectionate and 
 thoughtful. Or am I to end by following Sulzer's 
 example, before he married, hating "women" in the 
 lump, and wishing there were none but males upon this 
 earth ? 
 
 God in Heaven, what am I to do then, to make you 
 content ? 
 
 Now listen ! Thursday I shall write you exactly
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 323 
 
 when you are to fetch me from the station Saturday ; 
 then we'll come to some arrangement. Meanwhile abide 
 by the best you can think of me, and you always shall 
 find me still better. 
 
 Nothing has occurred. I shall bring with me a 
 letter from the Furstin to yourself. Its intention is 
 good ; she is much affected by the description I gave her 
 of your state of health and mind. 
 
 I am going to Wille's with Herwegh to-day. I had 
 really repented accepting, as I w r as in the vein for work ; 
 but your letter of to-day has made me so confused again, 
 that the distraction will come in just right. God only 
 grant that I'm not exciting you again with this letter ; 
 I literally no longer know what I am doing ! You 
 extract a black meaning from everything. However, we 
 shall see, and hope for the best when your mind has 
 somewhat quieted again. 
 
 I'm taking terrible walks with Fips, e.g. across 
 Kilchberg, Sihlwald etc., yesterday. He eats very little ; 
 he must be fretting. He, too, will be highly delighted 
 to see you again. Moreover, my visits may become much 
 more frequent when the railway is opened [the whole 
 way], and taking all in all, I really feel as if the worst 
 were got over in every direction. In truth it cannot be 
 but things must mend ; if they continued thus, neither 
 you nor I could stand it. 
 
 So, on Thursday full particulars about the Wieder- 
 sehen ! 
 
 Everything that is best, heartiest, and most reassuring, 
 as greeting from 
 
 Thy 
 
 age-worn 
 
 HUSBAND.
 
 324 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 123. 
 
 ZURICH, Monday 3. May 1858. 
 
 The Erard, good Minna, has just been unpacked and 
 set up in spite of rain and weather. What a delight it is 
 to play on such an instrument, only the player himself 
 can fully appreciate : the lightest pressure, scarcely 
 touching, at once brings out that gentle bell-like tone 
 which becomes a full clear, rich, but always mellow chime 
 if one presses somewhat harder. I can play on it so 
 softly that nobody in the next room would hear me when 
 composing. One joy at least, then, has stolen like a 
 friend into my life ! 
 
 Now you must soon give me the great joy of knowing 
 you're on the high road to improvement. That is the sole 
 joy whatever still in store, and then we'll thoroughly 
 enjoy your full recovery, and take good care that things 
 don't turn so bad again. 
 
 Ivast night I returned to our house with great sadness 
 and sinking of heart : it is indeed a sore trial ! 
 
 It filled me with sorrow to find you always falling 
 back, as at our taking leave, into your black self-torturing 
 fancies. For Heaven's sake don't fasten on single words 
 and expressions of mine, which you indeed always under- 
 stand wrong. Do reflect, with some approach to justice 
 and consideration, that I myself can't always keep an eye 
 alert, with everything I utter, upon its possible impression 
 011 yourself. If I point out to you what a serious frame 
 of mind my own has been, please always go by my 
 eventual actions, i.e. my ultimate resolves when the inner 
 conflict is ended. You really need a thoroughly intelli- 
 gent, experienced and heartily well-wishing friend of your 
 own sex just now, who on many points could give you 
 such advice and explanation as / cannot possibly give you
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 325 
 
 without starting fresh misunderstandings which truly 
 never lay in my intention. Perhaps that may also be 
 found, and then you will be radically tranquillised. But 
 do put some faith in my character ; on my last visit did 
 you not remark the genuine, ay, cheerful calm I now 
 have won ? Surely you noticed no unrest, distraction, or 
 dissimulation in me ; let that reassure you on the state of 
 matters in my inner self. Without, too, all is set in 
 order, and my sole remaining care is for your health ; a care 
 that fills me with sincere concern when I see you still 
 so ailing. Think of nothing beyond your cure ; firmly 
 and steadfastly believe I'm keeping nothing from you that 
 might give you reason for anxiety on my account ; be sure 
 of me, and rest assured I hope and long for nothing more 
 upon this earth and in this life, than peace and quiet to 
 be able to fulfil my task that keeps me on my feet. So 
 let us jointly bear the lot appointed us, be lenient toward 
 each other's foibles, and honestly assist each other to 
 fulfil life's heavy task with cheerfulness unruffled ! 
 
 So once more, and ever more : Get well ! Sleep calm 
 and free of an}' care for me ! I too am calm, and in my 
 breast there dwells a peace so deep that nothing save the 
 care about your health can shake it now. 
 
 Enjoy our Fipsel also, whom I truly left you at a 
 heavy sacrifice ; I miss him terribly, and when I drew his 
 basket on one side to go to bed, tears came into my eyes. 
 But you shall keep him ; I will eke out with the Erard 
 and my work now. Help me yourself as well, through 
 good news of your health ! 
 
 Kindest regards to the Herr Doctor and family ! Be 
 brave, as I am ; behave yourself, and thereby prove to me 
 you really love me ! Thy 
 
 RICHARD.
 
 326 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 124. 
 
 ZURICH, Thursday, 13. May 1858. 
 
 How goes it with you on Ascension day, good Mutz ? 
 We have rain again, and so far as I'm concerned, I 
 shouldn't care to join the flight to Heaven ; I'd rather fly 
 beneath the earth ! 
 
 God, what a melancholy time it is ! Yoifre in clover ; 
 the cure gives you plenty to do, you have dog, bird, and 
 agreeable male society. Since Monday, when I saw 
 Herwegh, / haven't caught sight of a soul ; which quite 
 suits me, all the same. At least I have declined another 
 invitation to the Hubers to-day ; to me it isn't any jollity. 
 Yesterday she called, in my absence, to enquire after your 
 health ; I shall look in for a moment tomorrow. If only 
 the Herwegh would get confined at last, at least there' d 
 be a human being the more in the world. She has been 
 in labour for 2 days, and Friedrich brought word to-day it 
 had got no forwarder. It must be a truly hard job for 
 her ! 
 
 I'm not at all the thing myself. Those Brestenberg 
 visits in bad weather have left their tracks in rheumatisms 
 of all kinds ; also I am troubled with my lower parts 
 again, apparently in consequence. Probably you will not 
 get sight of your husband next Saturday : I really should 
 like to fetch back a little good humour for once ; but the 
 weather will certainly have to do its share in that. More- 
 over, I'm just getting true zest for my work [comp. 
 Tristan ii] and all manner of delicious themes are occurring 
 to me, which I easily might lose 'twixt wind and weather 
 in that open chaise. Should it turn out very fine, how- 
 ever, I'll come for sure ; rely on that. 
 
 And not a cock crows, not a dog barks, not a cat 
 mews for one ; never a sound from abroad. It's really
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 327 
 
 getting on my nerves ! Na, send me good tidings 
 yourself, that one at least may have one prospect of things 
 mending. Yonr having got accustomed to the complete 
 packings so soon, is a good sign. The first time at 
 Vaillant's I felt alarmed in them myself; so don't let that 
 upset you. On the whole I see progress, and hope it will 
 continue. 
 
 Unless I were tempted before by fine weather, probably 
 you won't see me again till my birthday, when I hope 
 you'll already be feeling much better. Miiller will come 
 with me then, in any case ; he promised it me solemnly 
 at the parade. 
 
 I really do not know at all what else to tell you. I 
 am so living in my inner world now, that I literally do not 
 remark if aught is happening in the outer. It is possible 
 I may look in on Sulzer to-day, though ; perhaps I shall 
 hear something there. 
 
 Now, God and Dr Erismann preserve you ! I will 
 attend to your commissions ; if I do not come Saturday, I 
 shall send you the biscuits for Jacquot. I'm also getting 
 a new ring set with a green stone expressly for you ; 
 there was nothing of the sort in stock. Farewell, be 
 patient and hold out, that you may give joy to 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 (Fipps is a good fellow.) 
 
 125. 
 
 ZURICH, Sunday, 16. May 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 There it goes, raining the whole blessed Sunday 
 again, and though I'm not particularly delighted with it 
 here, it's well that we are not passing the rain-sunday
 
 328 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 together at Brestenberg in mutually affixing our crotchets 
 again. When the weather looked so promising yesterday 
 I felt quite sorry I hadn't come, but indeed I also think 
 the doctor is right that my visits excite you ; at least I've 
 never yet been able to bring home a true belief that I had 
 soothed you, however willing my intention. That also 
 will come in good time ; but the greatest equability and 
 true relaxation of spirit are doubtless the first essentials 
 for your present cure. Indifferent society, and particularly 
 reading, are very good then ; I know it from experience, 
 notwithstanding that my creative fancy always keeps me 
 in a certain agitation which is not unpleasant in itself, 
 but gets made painful by clashing with other vibrations 
 of life. Accept my heartiest congratulations on the 
 ' ' splendid night ' ' of which you wrote in your last letter ; 
 it did me worlds of good myself, to receive such good 
 tidings from you. Yes, simply rest ! rest ! both of us 
 need it so badly. Arid that will come, too ; only be kind 
 and continue reporting your faintest improvements. 
 
 I have not been at my best myself this week past. I 
 always feel worst of a morning ; it is the old abdominal 
 disturbance, connected with my blood trouble. I have 
 tried making an alteration in my breakfast, but remarked 
 no difference. It has its times and seasons, but I know 
 only too well on the whole where its seat is : I live too 
 much within myself, and have too little diversion without ; 
 which has been brought about, in turn, by my situation 
 since ever so long. Naturally, even the love for my work 
 suffers under it ; good God ! from whence can I expect at 
 last to draw my inspiration ? For two days I had made 
 no headway with my work at all ; yesterday morning I 
 quite fell into despair, and just to see human beings and 
 let off a little steam I promptly set out for the Willes',
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 329 
 
 where I remained until late in the evening. After hardly 
 speaking a word for a whole week, I properly unloaded 
 myself there of all manner of artistic plans. To-day I've 
 really felt a little better, and my work has gone well. 
 Yes, the body is not accountable for everything ; the 
 soul needs its excursions also ! 
 
 This evening I'm invited to Sulzer's, where whist is 
 to be played with M tiller. I called upon Sulzer the other 
 day, but couldn't do much with him ; what interests him 
 is most indifferent to myself, at bottom. He seems badly 
 put out, moreover ; the shooting business cropped up too. 
 But now for a principal item : the day before yesterday, 
 at 3 in the afternoon, the Herwegh was at last delivered of 
 a strapping boy ; so you may congratulate her. 
 
 I have had one joy : young Hirzel came back from 
 Leipzig and left me, as he didn't catch me, the wished for 
 photograph of father Geyer's portrait ; which really touched 
 me very much. It has turned out quite passably ; the 
 face excellently. With it there also lay a pencil copy of 
 the same picture, executed by Clemens Brockhaus, which 
 certainly leaves much to desire. That is all that has 
 occurred to me, tho' ; otherwise nothing but nonsense, 
 stupid letters from musicians, and so on. Consequently I 
 still am left in expectation of something decent turning up 
 at last. 
 
 If you write me of nights slept well through, it will 
 be what I should like best ; and if ever you feel bad and 
 wretched which I do not wish just think of your 
 husband, who often fares no better too. 
 
 Friedrich forgot the biscuits, and has got the sack for 
 it from me. His only passion is the garden, and the 
 housekeeping book is always blossoming into a mass of 
 plantings, to say nothing of 4^ fr. for bean-poles ; I must
 
 330 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 really put some check on his enthusiasm. Otherwise he 
 is quite a model of steadiness, so that I've really nothing 
 to complain of. Lasette is a cow ! 
 
 Now best greetings to your honoured company, and give 
 the Herr Doctor my kindest thanks for your good nights ; 
 you require plenty more of them ! 
 
 I shall be with you in good time Saturday, and Miiller 
 too. The rascal hasn't even shewn his face here, though ! 
 Now farewell, greet the animals, and Fippsius in 
 especial ; hold me dear, and continue rejoicing 
 
 Thy 
 
 HUSBAND, 
 who deserves it ! 
 
 126. 
 
 ZURICH, Tuesday, 25. Mav 1858. 
 
 Minna ! very, very bad weather ; rheumatic pains, 
 and all the rest ! To work it off, I climbed up the pear- 
 tree again yesterday. Heims came in the evening ; they 
 send you kind regards : I had to tell them a lot about 
 you. But what shall I tell yourself? Whence take, 
 without stealing? Stay, tho', here's something I have 
 stolen from the Tagblatt, but which had already appeared 
 in the Eidgenossische yesterday : Friedrich brought it up 
 to me with great importance it would interest me, he 
 thought. 
 
 1 have received no further letter of congratulation at 
 all, except from Herr Regierungsrath Franz Miiller of 
 Weimar, but another surprise in the garden, and we are 
 quite unable to find out to whom one owes it. On the 
 morning of my birthday an extremely choice rose-bed was 
 planted in the garden ; indeed, it was already there at 6 
 o'clock, when Friedrich got up. At first we believed
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 331 
 
 Lorck had received orders for it ; but then I remembered 
 having never expressed such a wish to the Wesendoncks, 
 albeit to Herwegh, whom I asked a month ago for his 
 opinion whether it wasn't too late to plant such a bed, 
 whereon I let the subject drop. Friedrich now declares 
 he knows for absolutely certain that L,orck did not lay out 
 the bed, neither he nor his men ; what is more, they 
 hadn't any rose-trees of that sort. They are all ticketed 
 and appear to be very expensive, consequently I presume 
 that Frobel [nurseryman?] supplied them ; and as I also know 
 that last year's cushion was not from Wesendonck, I'm 
 half inclined to think some unknown being is making 
 game of me. I really didn't want to tell you of it till I 
 found a clue ; so don't get angry over it, old dog in 
 the manger ! 
 
 Concerning the strawberries, I have to tell you that 
 they really have all come to flower. So soon as Lisette 
 finds some good asparagus, you shall have it sent you. 
 Everything else is in order, only Friedrich is grumbling 
 about the snails. I haven't been to town yet, to see after 
 the ring. 
 
 My little Tausig (Tausendsappermenter) played to us 
 magnificently yesterday ; almost a second Biilow. He 
 gives me great delight, affording me distraction, enter- 
 tainment, and incentive. To-day, too, I have again been 
 able to compose well. 
 
 There now ! But how goes it with yourself? Slowly 
 very gradually ! I know all that : but only so can 
 you be re-established in the end. Simply force yourself 
 to repose and indifference ! Rest assured it will work ; 
 I know it from my own experience. Often, if I have a 
 fit of the blues, I suddenly tell myself: "But if that 
 really is the case, cannot you prevail against it by sheer
 
 332 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 composure ? " So much will then pass over one with no 
 particular impression, and finally one sees it wouldn't 
 really have been worth the while, and everything would 
 only have worsened, if one had flown into a passion. 
 How should I have the heart left for any work you 
 please, for instance, if I dwelt on nothing but its future 
 bad performances ? 
 
 Apropos, Tichatscheck has sung Tannhauser at Berlin 
 with eclat ; consequently there will be good tantiemes in 
 July. We can do with them ! 
 
 I'm expecting news from you tomorrow, and hope for 
 thorough good ones. The doctor has firm trust ; so you 
 must let him prove it ! 
 
 Fipps was quite haughty when he got home, and 
 wouldn't deign a glance at Friedrich, so that the latter 
 felt quite hurt. Last evening, when there was company, 
 however, he thawed. Unfortunately I cannot take long 
 walks with him in this bad weather. 
 
 Now be right good and patient. My heart has really 
 great misgivings lest you should suddenly lose patience 
 and do yourself some injury through fretting. Simply 
 remember what a good husband you have ! So farewell ; 
 be good and sleep a lot ! 
 
 Thy out and out 
 
 GOOD MAN. 
 
 127. 
 
 ZURICH, 28. May 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I really would have gladly come to you to-day, if 
 a conveyance could have been anyhow arranged. So I am 
 waiting till 8 days hence, from which time forward I shall 
 be able to visit you regularly once a week and fetch myself 
 good evidence of your performance.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 333 
 
 In place of your broken ring I am sending you to-day 
 a whole it's to be hoped will wear better than the old 
 one, which was rather flimsy stuff. You shall have that 
 back as well, though. 
 
 I should have dined with the Wesendoncks at Huber's 
 to-morrow, but had already declined for the Willes. This 
 evening I'm expecting Herwegh and Semper here ; let us 
 hope I shall find the bottle of rum. Nothing has occurred 
 since yesterday ; everything is quiet and in order. It is 
 only with great emotion that I watch the garden, since 
 you cannot enjoy it in its waxing beauty. Friedrich is 
 exemplary in his care ; he has finished sowing the lawn 
 all alone, as the gardener never came ; whilst everything 
 is nicely planted, and transplanted. 
 
 The house is quite in order otherwise. When I cast 
 my eye around, I really must rejoice in the beautiful Asyl 
 prepared us. It is and will be saved to us ; we have to 
 do with pure and noble people. Yet the winter shall be 
 lightened for you, even next one ; in any case we'll pass 
 it somewhere that offers more distraction. About that in 
 due time ! 
 
 For to-day, all that's best and fairest ! and the heartiest 
 wishes for your mending ! 
 
 Thy 
 R. 
 
 128. 
 
 ZURICH, Friday, 28. May 1858. 
 
 This moment I've received your letter, dear Minna, 
 and am much rejoiced at its good humour, which leads me 
 to infer good health. I meant to surprise you Sunday 
 morning weather favouring but if you will and can 
 come yourself, the better shall I be pleased ; for even in
 
 334 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 bad weather of which there's a prospect it is easier to 
 rub on here than at Brestenberg. So, on the chance of 
 your really executing your proposal, I shall write you 
 nothing more to-day ; neither will I despatch your finished 
 ring as I should otherwise have done but simply beg 
 you to leave Wildegg by the i o'clock train tomorrow, 
 Saturday, when you will get here exactly at dinner-time, 
 and all needful cleaning up here can also be taken in hand 
 in the morning. Asparagus has been sent off to you 
 already, but I shall see to your finding some here as well. 
 That you may get these lines to-day itself, I must hurry 
 Friedrich to the post ; therefore nothing beyond Come if 
 you can, and it will greatly delight me to shew you every- 
 thing in good condition. 
 Auf Wiedersehen ! 
 
 Thy 
 RICHARD. 
 
 129. 
 
 ZURICH, Sunday evening, 30. May 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Fear nothing ! Be calm ! I'm greatly suffering ; 
 yet you touched me greatly [see pp. 340-1]. Perhaps every- 
 thing will so take shape that we can quietly await the 
 amnesty. Even a temporary separation will scarcely be 
 needed. Let your only care be for your health ; if you 
 recover that, and tranquillity of mind, you will alleviate 
 this time of trial for us. 
 
 It will be the last ; and perhaps enduring calm will 
 light the evening of our life. In the worst extremity God 
 helps, if the heart is pure and kind ! 
 
 Thy 
 RICHARD.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 335 
 
 130. 
 
 ZURICH, Monday noon, 31. May 1858. 
 
 GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I have had a lovely night, peaceful, refreshing 
 sleep ; what a blessing ! How I wish it were bestowed 
 on you again in ample measure ! So I feel tranquil again, 
 clear and strengthened. The sight of our beautiful garden, 
 of this agreeable Asyl, affects me ; your having suddenly 
 lost all taste for it yourself, after that grievous night, has 
 pained me. Reflect what sufferings / had undergone 
 before ; I who, to spare you for the present, during your 
 cure, had had the garden tended ! Yet I am calm and 
 collected. We will consider nothing altogether settled 
 yet ; God will help to make our hearts clear and com- 
 posed ; and out of the heart come all things, good and 
 evil. Take courage ; and whatever may some day prove 
 inevitable, forget in no ordeal still haply in store for you 
 that for you there beats a good, a grateful, and a loving 
 heart in mine. Be just, and acknowledge that in this 
 truly awful time for me as well my every action has 
 been finally dictated by that heart. What I have suffered, 
 moreover, you simply may measure by this : not only 
 have I felt my own, but fellow-felt the sufferings of 
 others also. Consequently I may regard myself as greatly 
 chastened, and now, after being unable as yet to spare 
 you many a hard word the last time, my calm is returning 
 to me fairer than before, and I can be nothing but kind. 
 A great seriousness has come over me, however, and will 
 abide with me for good. Win you this noble seriousness, 
 which constitutes true human dignity, and we shall easily 
 agree at all points. In that case, if I may argue from 
 my inner feelings, I hope for a benignant issue to what- 
 ever trials may be still appointed us. To begin with,
 
 336 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 though, it remains unalterably fixed [between us * ] that 
 I give up all personal intercourse with our neighbours ; 
 only thus has it become possible for me to retain the Asyl 
 for us till the fitting time. In the long run that will and 
 must seem best to all concerned. 
 
 Now, best greetings ! May these few lines of mine 
 have helped to calm you ! 
 
 Farewell, behave well ! I shall visit you very soon. 
 
 Thy 
 R. 
 
 131. 
 
 ZURICH, Monday, 31. May 1858. Evening. 
 
 Can you explain to me, dear Mutz, the meaning of 
 this telegram I have just received from Dresden? I can- 
 not make it out, and don't know how to answer it ; so I 
 presume you must have written to Frau Tichatscheck and 
 invited them. Please help me out of the dilemma. It 
 looks as if we had been expecting the Tichatschecks 
 shortly, and the wife would like to know if she may come 
 alone. Please answer me at once, if you know about it. 
 
 And be plucky and calm ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 132. 
 
 ZURICH, Thursday 3. June 1858. 
 
 Dear Child, you haven't quite correctly understood 
 and estimated the seriousness of my communications ; but 
 doubtless that is not given to you yet, and in any case it 
 alters nothing in mvself and course of action. So abide 
 
 * " To pacify her, at last 1 broke off all association with our neighbours 
 during that time '' to sister Clara next August : see Introduction to 
 R. Wagner to M. Wescndonck ; see also letter 132 below. Tr.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 337 
 
 by the latter, and infer my sentiments from that ; you 
 will never have to complain of it. So now above all, 
 and for ever, Peace ! No more brooding ; everything is 
 above-board, and the resolution, ay, the hope stands fast, 
 that all may take a smooth and favourable turn. So no 
 more about it now ! 
 
 The Dresden telegram explained itself the following 
 day in the evening. Frau Tichatscheck came to visit 
 us with her daughter (on an excursion from Soden, where 
 the daughter is taking baths) ; she was very distressed 
 not to find you, as the telegram, about which I had to 
 tell her at once, called her back in hot haste. After 
 passing the evening at our house with Miiller, she 
 travelled back at 5 next morning. Tichatscheck (as you 
 will see from the enclosed playbill) sang in Tannhauser 
 at Berlin a second time, by desire ; so good receipts ! 
 I shall bring you a little souvenir she left behind for 
 you. 
 
 Otherwise nothing has happened. The Wesendoncks 
 arrived the evening before last. He called upon me 
 yesterday and invited me to tea ; whereon I very deli- 
 cately explained to him in writing that we would remain 
 on friendly terms for the future, but without personal 
 intercourse. Let it stop at that, and I most earnestly beg 
 you to abstain from any kind of interference : which would 
 only have results I should be obliged to regard as a fresh 
 breach of your trust ! This must be entirely my affair ; 
 and I hope you will obey me this time at least. Here it 
 is no question of strength or weakness upon my side, but 
 solely of this : that it has appeared to me the sole resource 
 for avoiding possible unpleasantnesses, provided we mean 
 to remain here. 
 
 I have been invited with Tausig to Wille's to-day. 
 VOL. I 22
 
 338 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Baumgartner came yesterday afternoon, and opened his 
 mouth to his ears at Tausig's piano-playing. 
 
 Well we've weather now and no mistake ; it's bright 
 and hot, and you'll enjoy the water. Only see to going 
 nicely through your cure again : true, it can't do every- 
 thing, and the mind must help ; but the mind becomes 
 less irritable when bodily comfort increases. The one 
 must help the other, and just as the very best mental 
 distraction would have done you no permanent good if 
 the basis of bodily health were not first re-established, so 
 I hope that both may march hand in hand henceforward 
 to the advancement of your well-being. 
 
 I'll hunt for the key. Sunday for certain, I think 
 we shall see one another again. Farewell, and firmly 
 rely on Thy 
 
 good HUSBAND ! 
 
 I have only just received your last letter ; so the 
 Immediate didn't work ! You are enlightened now, tho'. 
 I will tell you more by mouth about the unlucky visit 
 [Frati T. 's]. Sleep well and accept best remembrances 
 from all the household. 
 
 133. 
 
 Wednesday, 
 
 (the such and such of June] 
 
 ( : ZURICH, 9. June 1858 : ) 
 
 Dearest Mutz, I have nothing at all to write to you, 
 and really am in a fix about it, as you will be expecting 
 a letter from me all the same. No letter for me, no 
 tidings, no occurrence, no call ; only bad nights, as I 
 have a sort of crisis again, and am constantly driven from 
 bed and sleep for several hours, when I make studies of 
 dawn effects and other fine things of the kind. In the
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 339 
 
 daytime I am not of much use then, nor in the best of 
 humour ; which is a hindrance to my work in particular. 
 Thus each has his torment, though mine is transient this 
 time, and it becomes me ill to vent my lamentations on 
 you poor tormented woman. For that I surely might 
 have awaited news from yourself; for state-of-health is 
 indeed the supreme question with you now, and every- 
 thing depends on how it promises. Is it progressing a 
 little ? Have you anything satisfactory to tell me ? 
 
 My God, I'm really growing somewhat impatient 
 myself, though I was fully prepared for a lingering cure. 
 However, once you've recovered your equilibrium after 
 its last disturbance, I believe a marked improvement will 
 soon appear. Good nights ; that is almost the chief 
 point ! Well, Fipsel is helping you again now ; I miss 
 him very much again myself. 
 
 Stay, tho', a letter: Billow has written about the 
 arrangements \_IpJiig. and Tristan\ and accepted once more 
 with his wife for the end of July. That fits in quite well, 
 and the agreeable distraction of having the house a bit 
 full will serve you very happily as after-cure. Tausig is 
 gradually worming his way into my heart ; small bad 
 habits apart, he really is a very intelligent, sympathetic 
 and good-hearted youngster ; he seems much attached to 
 me, and often surprises me with a torrent of thanks for 
 my kindness to him. So he forms a very agreeable little 
 companion to me and blues-conductor. Owing to the 
 great heat in his room, he often works in yours beneath 
 me now, where he makes his nest from 12 o'clock without 
 a sound. I hunted out your mantilla and ribbon to-day, 
 and have given them to Friedrich for despatch to you. On 
 the other hand, despite the most diligent search I've been 
 unable to find the lemonade extract and mv small umbrella.
 
 340 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 That must suffice you for this time ; I kept thinking 
 something might occur, to make this letter presentable 
 but nothing has chosen to come ; so please put up 
 with it. 
 
 Be thoroughly industrious with your cure ; be at rest 
 within your heart, and then the heart itself will soon 
 become more restful. Salute the Doctor, and tell him 
 that I hope to find you quite phlegmatic when next I 
 come. 
 
 Farewell and send fine tidings soon to Thy 
 
 good 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 I have had strawberries for the first time to-day ; only 
 a few, though. So soon as there are many, you shall get 
 some too. 
 
 The Grand Duke of Baden is winning my heart more 
 and more ; he has actually dismissed the Intcndant, so I 
 read, and Devrient accordingly remains. 
 
 134. 
 
 ZURICH, Friday, \\.June 1858. 
 
 My poor Mutz, only be calm and don't torment your- 
 self with fancied evils ! Be gentle, kind and patient ; 
 you can't believe what power it gives you over me ! Your 
 tears and laments that last night in our house touched me 
 more than any other argument. Even before that, how- 
 ever, I had nothing hostile to you in my mind with my 
 plan for the winter ; I even believed it must do you good 
 to divert yourself in Germany, whereas this retirement 
 here, in present circumstances, could bring you nothing 
 but continual fret and worry. Neither did I consider 
 Paris a happy thought for both of us, under straitened 
 conditions if I produced nothing of mine there and
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 341 
 
 since you speak no French. However, I've told you that 
 already ; so enough of it here ! Now I know how 
 differently you regard all that, rest assured I shan't 
 urge you to anything you do not like, or in which 
 you don't concur with me. Do let that suffice you ! 
 I am not going to turn you adrift, please don't think 
 that ! I am entire master of my actions ; whether I go or 
 stay, depends upon myself alone. She whom you hate so 
 wishes nothing more than that I should retain this pretty 
 Asyl, even if she never sees or has any other intercourse 
 with me ; the only condition, upon the other hand, on 
 which I deem it possible to remain here and wait for 
 my amnesty. Just comprehend, then, with whom you 
 have to do ! In truth as I told you before by kindness, 
 gentleness and magnanimity, you might have contributed 
 much to making everything easier and more bearable 
 here. It was not given to you then, and I forgive you ; 
 but please reflect that only so can you move me to all that 
 is good, just as only so can things in general take a 
 supportable shape in the future. I feel sure it will dawn 
 on you in time, how sound is my advice to you, and 
 how well it would have been if an experienced and 
 sympathetic feminine friend had stood at your side from 
 the first. I simply tell you this for your encouragement, 
 to corroborate you in your present milder view of things, 
 and at the same time to shew how you thereby prevail 
 over me. 
 
 So do not fret about your journey, either, any more ; 
 everything in that respect shall depend entirely on your- 
 self, and I demand nothing of you, just as I likewise have 
 made no fixed plans for myself. 
 
 Tranquilly wait for the end of your cure : I do not 
 expect a sudden total change in your condition ; if only
 
 342 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 the foundation be laid for a gradual improvement, 
 and you are now on the high road to that. Your body, 
 which has been quite undermined by the mass of opium 
 and physic, must first renew itself completely ; you must 
 get fresh blood and nerves, and that is not done so quickly. 
 Luckily you haven't fallen back on the old treatment, 
 and so are gradually regaining your former strength ; 
 whatever you do, tho', you must hold any excitement 
 aloof with all your energy, and to that end believe me, 
 good Minna you must also hold your heart itself in 
 rein ; in short, become what I call sensible, realise your 
 position, and remember how entirely different your part in 
 life would be if we had children, perhaps even grand- 
 children. Plainly imagine yourself in that position, and 
 you will soon find that true repose and dignity which will 
 benefit you so much. Be at ease about myself, however : 
 no doubt you can't quite look into the bottom of my 
 nature, but believe me I am not as every person, but 
 have something higher in me whereon I live and feed, and 
 do not need the common, trivial sustenance and distraction 
 of the world ! 
 
 The quartettists are to come to me tomorrow evening. 
 I shall coach them nicely up, and when the Btilows are 
 here I'll give you all a real surprise. I shall visit you also 
 next week ; until then just keep restful and steady. My 
 complaint, which is never more than periodic, has abated 
 somewhat ; I'm hard at work again, and should dearly 
 like to set something in front of me, for which it is time. 
 About the hip-baths another day. Farewell for to-day. 
 Don't touch on the subject discussed any further, if you 
 can help it, but pluck up courage and assurance ! 
 
 Thy 
 RICHARD.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 343 
 
 135. 
 
 Sunday, 
 
 ZURICH, 13. June 1^8. 
 
 DEAREST MINNA, 
 
 Your answer to me is a pack of nonsense : perhaps 
 I ought to have been prepared for it and rather not have 
 written you my letter. Let it pacify you if I give you my 
 word that you haven't understood me correctly, but much 
 too materially. Grant Heaven that this may have an end 
 now ; really it gives me no pleasure, and my only con- 
 solation is the consciousness of having meant well and 
 intended better. 
 
 So the quartet was here last evening. The fellows 
 scraped and squeaked so hideously again, that Tausig 
 bitterly bewailed me. Nevertheless I'll have another try 
 next week. 
 
 Hartels have sent me 25 louis d'or for the Iphigenia 
 [revision] ; consequently we're a little secured again on 
 that side too. 
 
 I am scrambling you these lines after work and before 
 dinner ; after dinner I can never bring it off. I have 
 nothing else to tell you ; my health is going better again. 
 I'll have another hunt for the umbrella ; the citric acid 
 can't be found. 
 
 The s/y elephant see enclosure will delight you as 
 much as it delighted me, Tell the doctor, If you don't 
 sleep well soon, I shall turn abusive, but in any case 
 I mean to contribute to it by never writing seriously to you 
 again, as it always seems to cause you great confusion. 
 
 Adieu for to-day, silly Mutz ! We shall see one 
 another this week ; may I find you quite corpulent then, 
 as the labourer found it, and I shall rejoice myself thin ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 good old MAN.
 
 344 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 136. 
 
 ZURICH, Wednesday, 16. June 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Weimar, 
 who have been at a Savoy spa until now, invite me to a 
 rendezvous at Lucerne for this day week. We'll see if 
 anything may result from this personal acquaintance, and 
 consequently I shall go. But I also intend to combine it 
 with my next visit to yourself, as I otherwise should have 
 to leave my work too quickly in succession, which would 
 much disturb me now that I am thoroughly into it and 
 should like to get something soon finished. So you will 
 be relieved of my presence till a week from tomorrow, 
 when I shall come to you straight from Lucerne via" 
 Aarau and tell you all fresh what I've contrived with 
 the Grand Ducals. You agree to that, I suppose, and 
 won't get any thoughts into your head ? After the longer 
 parting, I hope to find you've got a good step forward. 
 
 I learnt very sad news from the papers yesterday 
 through Heim. Tichatscheck is really dangerously ill : at 
 least, he overtaxed himself and had a haemorrhage after 
 his return to Dresden from Berlin ; scarcely recovered 
 a little from that, he attended rehearsals apparently for 
 Tannhauser and came by inflammation of the spinal 
 cord, which naturally is a matter of life or death : good 
 God, the suddenness of it ! Certainly there still is hope, 
 with his good constitution, but he naturally will have to 
 be very careful for a long time in any event ; so it's all 
 up with Rienzi again ! ! 
 
 And now for something passable. The Basle theatre 
 has just been taken over by a local heir to a fortune, 
 named Neukirch, who has got it into his head to produce 
 Lohengrin there with myself, cost him what it may. He
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 345 
 
 is afraid of no expense, an enthusiast, and absolutely bent 
 upon the reputation of having been the first through whom 
 I ever heard my opera. Orchestra, scenery, singers 
 everything as I decide. Well, that's a case for biding, 
 not thrusting out one's horns, especially as I'm thinking 
 of the possibility of winning this rich enthusiast for the 
 Strassburg undertaking \_Tristari\ in case my amnesty 
 itself hangs fire beyond the year. 
 
 Now you have had all of my news. Digest them 
 well ; they're rather mixed. 
 
 Four days ago to the alarm of little Tausig I went 
 up the Uetli, and haven't regained proper use of my 
 shanks even yet. Everything else here goes passably, 
 quiet and lonely. Take care you're able to return soon, 
 or the garden will all blossom away from you with this 
 heat. You shall have strawberries in a day or two ; 
 yesterday I had green peas. 
 
 Now farewell, and send consoling tidings to 
 
 Thy ^ 
 
 Grand Ducal 
 GUEST. 
 
 137. 
 
 ZURICH, Sunday, 20. June 1858. 
 
 GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I must hunt out a sheet of pink paper to-day, 
 although I'm so full of affairs that I don't know whether 
 I am standing on my head or my heels. Fresh proofs 
 arrived from Hartels yesterday [Tristan full score, act i] 
 and gave me great delight, since it all looks so nice now 
 it's engraved. To-day all manner of agreeable novelties. 
 In the first place a telegram from Tichatscheck : 
 " Sunday. Tannhauser to-day. Have slowly recovered.
 
 346 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Three conscientious band rehearsals held ; perform- 
 ance will go admirably. Johanna Elisabeth." Could 
 I do anything else than let it cost me a twenty- 
 franc piece ? I telegraphed back my thanks, delight and 
 greetings. 
 
 Then came an order for lyohengrin from Diisseldorf, 
 which doesn't precisely count for much, but still is 
 another beginning. 
 
 And then a letter from Hiilsen, about Lohengrin 
 for Berlin. I must see to extracting another advance 
 from him ; when I shall create no further difficulties. 
 Who knows if the King will not abdicate for good by 
 the commencement of winter? folk say October when 
 I shall apply to the young Prince of Prussia to let 
 me come there. If that doesn't succeed, why, I must 
 leave it in the lap of Fate once more. 
 
 I should soon be getting an answer to my demand 
 from Vienna also. 
 
 See now, that really looks a trifle promising. I mean 
 to have a serious talk with the Grand Ducals about Berlin 
 as well. 
 
 The only thing that lacks now, is my having a 
 passably healthy wife at home again. How stands my 
 hope of that, Mutz ? You, lucky soul, have Fipps at 
 least ; I've absolutely nothing fondling here. Is he 
 helping you to sleep well now ? The heat has somewhat 
 diminished, you know, and I'm in hopes you'll shortly 
 send me joyful tidings. Does the porter go on deliver- 
 ing you my greetings from the station ? All our 
 numerous grand pianos are newly tuned, and when you 
 come home I expect to hear you brilliantly extemporising 
 every morning ; anyhow you will be able to help in my 
 composing now.
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 347 
 
 Friedrich and Lisette are quite despairing of your 
 return ; it takes me all my time consoling them. By the 
 way, Lisette says you've made a mistake about her wages: 
 you hadn't engaged her at IOO/T. , but at 130 fr. yearly ; 
 if that is so, of course I must pay her the additional 
 *]\ fr. for the quarter. That can soon be set straight ; 
 but money keeps flying away, and it's a good job fresh 
 prospects are shewing. They will be giving Rienzi, too, 
 at Dresden after all ; for Tichatscheck's illness, though 
 serious, doesn't appear to have really been dangerous. 
 What a man he is ! not the Devil's strength itself can lay 
 him low ! I hope it will be the same with you, and in spite 
 of all your present sufferings you'll bonnily pull round again 
 and duly help me celebrate my resurrection in Germany. 
 The giving of my operas again at Dresden is really a 
 very good thing, and bound to contribute in the long run 
 to my amnesty ; one can hardly conceive otherwise. 
 
 Well, we shall see. In any case to-day's telegram 
 was highly momentous to me, and my answer will give 
 the good fellow great joy. Perhaps he is receiving it 
 this very instant. 
 
 It is Sunday to-day a beastly day. I think of 
 driving, swimming, or wading out to Wille's. Strictly, 
 I ought to have gone to Sulzer again ; but it gives 
 me the horrors. 
 
 I shall write you full particulars of my Lucerne 
 journey later, and beg you to send the carriage to the 
 station on Thursday. 
 
 God preserve you, good old Wife ! Be of good cheer, 
 hold me dear, and build on 
 
 Thy 
 
 good old 
 
 HUSBAND.
 
 348 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 138. 
 
 ZURICH, Monday early, 28. June 1858. 
 
 MY GOOD MUTZ, 
 
 I really meant to write you yesterday, but couldn't 
 get to it although I was invited nowhere. The conse- 
 quence, however, is that I have something extra good 
 to tell you this morning. For yesterday afternoon I 
 received a call from the Vienna Kapellmeister Esser, who 
 had been expressly sent by the management to arrive at 
 an agreement with me concerning Lohengrin and go 
 through the opera itself with me at the piano, that I 
 might instruct him in my minutest intentions. And all 
 the way from Vienna ! That really is deserving of all 
 honour, and [Director] Eckert has risen mightily in my 
 esteem ; it is a truly signal and handsome distinction, 
 such as I had never yet been treated to. The manage- 
 ment at the same time propounded its counter-proposals : 
 Tantieme is impossible, since the Karnthnerthor theatre 
 is too small, has no high prices, and in the very best 
 event can only take 800 gulden [a night], from which 
 the company's enormous salaries must be deducted ; not 
 before a new big theatre is built, can the tantieme system 
 be expedient. So they asked me to accept 1000 gulden 
 down for the first 20 performances, another 500 gulden 
 after the aoth, and the same after the 3Oth ; more they 
 could not offer me, in view of the present insignificant 
 takings, and anything nearly approaching this had never 
 yet been done. I considered that quite reasonable, and 
 was particularly delighted at their having sent me their 
 Kapellmeister express ; so I signed the contract, and 
 immediately received from Ksser my 1000 gulden cash. 
 There's Sunday trading for you ! We went through the 
 first act the same evening ; this morning the second is
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 349 
 
 to take its turn, and the third this evening. His dinner 
 he's to take with me, this Esser, who let us hope is 
 no Frcsser*- 
 
 One thing is certain : the Viennese production may, 
 indeed must prove excellent. They really have the best 
 singers there ; every part can be almost perfectly cast ; and 
 since the Kapellmeister also promises so well, I'm looking 
 forward to Vienna very much, and only wish I could 
 be there. From the accompanying you will see that the 
 Kaiser of Austria is also said to have intervened in my 
 favour at Dresden ; it's very possible, and in that case I 
 owe it to the Grand Duke of Weimar, who was at Vienna 
 quite recently and must have tackled the Emperor there. 
 How it stands with King Johann, on the contrary, you will 
 likewise gather from this notice ; not a bad joke, forsooth, 
 for me to submit to being tried and condemned at 
 Dresden first ! However, the affair is bound to take 
 a turn now. True, I have had no further news from 
 Dresden, neither from Tichatscheck nor from Fischer ; but 
 Tausig's father, who had just been there, has written his 
 son that it \_Tannhanser revival] was something extraordinary, 
 unprecedented, the enthusiasm not to be described. 
 
 I have written my political epistle to Berlin as well. 
 There the scenery and horses will have to do the trick : 
 the singers are too miserable, so that I should be unable 
 to do much with them myself. Lucky, on the contrary, 
 that I may expect such gratification from Vienna. But if 
 Hiilsen also forwards that advance, we shall be nice and 
 straight again for once, and I shall pay off all remain- 
 ing debts, furniture, shoemaker, bookbinder, and so on. 
 Heim, too, can promptly have his money back, and we 
 shall have enough left to wait for the future in safety. 
 * Esscr = " eater,'' l r >'csser = '' glutton." Tr.
 
 350 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 With such good prospects, then, the only thing still 
 lacking is that my poor dear Mutz should soon feel 
 better, and return to house and garden with firm trust 
 in her further convalescence. Mind you employ the 
 brief remaining time well, however long it seems to you. 
 You're in a good way now, I convinced myself of that 
 on the last occasion, to my great relief ; only pluck 
 up heart and confidence in your improvement, then it 
 can't be long deferred. If you don't come soon, the 
 birds will hatch everything away from us ; another 
 white-throat has built her nest in the vine under my 
 balcony ; ay think of it ! one has even built and laid 
 eggs in your apple-shaker. The white-throat in the rose- 
 bush has made great friends with me already ; she is 
 brooding, and no longer flies off when I pass, but just 
 peeps out complacently as if to say, You'll not molest me, 
 will you ? Here in my room, tho', I have a blue-bottle 
 that rinses its mouth out ; at least it sounds so : surely 
 I am not to put up with that ? 
 
 I have to pay i fr. 80 c. for chickens to-day ; isn't 
 it scandalous ? But that comes of having visitors from 
 Vienna ! 
 
 Now farewell ; be of good courage ; have trust ! 
 Everything is straightening, and will straighten still 
 better and better. Adieu, you good Minna ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 139. 
 
 ZURICH, Friday, 9. July 1858. 
 
 DEAREST MINNA, 
 
 But tell me, why don't you write to me, then? 
 
 Surely there is more of importance to tell me about 
 
 yourself and progress with your cure, than I can tell
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 351 
 
 you when simply nothing is happening to me ! How- 
 ever, I have been daily expecting a line from the Biilows, 
 concerning whom I had heard through Herwegh that they 
 intended getting here as early as the loth, which put me 
 on tenterhooks ; whereas they haven't written to this day, 
 and if they did not first announce to me their advent, 
 I should really think it somewhat too ill-mannered. 
 Consequently I suppose they are coming at the time 
 originally fixed ; in which I am supported by the latest 
 tidings, that B. has engaged himself for several soirees 
 at Baden-Baden. But it has kept me in suspense from 
 day to day, since if they had been coming earlier 
 I shouldn't have known whether I ought not to fetch 
 you earlier myself. Moreover, absolutely nothing has 
 occurred, and I'm living with Karlchen here as forsaken 
 as if in an enchanted castle. O yes, one thing : Tausig's 
 papa surprised us by arriving yesterday ; a nervous little 
 manikin, who will probably depart again tomorrow. 
 
 I have settled everything quite capitally with Fran 
 Ochsner ; they hadn't really noticed that one good wash- 
 stand, whereas the night-stand was already gone ; so 
 I agreed to accept 55 Jr. for the things returned, instead 
 of 15 fr. , which is quite another thing. She will also 
 make good to you the cover that has disappeared, if you 
 will only tell her what you claim as compensation. 
 
 The first tantieme account from Berlin has come, 
 255 thaler ; but no answer from Hiilsen as yet about the 
 advance which rather annoys me. All I hear, is that 
 Hiilsen wishes to resign, and had an audience lately of 
 the Prince of Prussia, who insisted on retaining him, 
 however. Something appears to be going on there. 
 
 There you have all my news, which no doubt won't 
 seem peculiarly important to you. I shall fetch you
 
 352 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Thursday morning, then ; I have already spoken to Furrer 
 himself. Your return really eases my mind in every 
 respect, for thus much is certain : the cure is greatly 
 pulling you down now, as I judge from the fatigue 
 you complain of. Remember, however, what I told 
 you beforehand : that one token of the efficacy of the 
 cure would be a feeling of tiredness and bruisedness in 
 your limbs ; it really is a proof that the great excitability 
 of your nerves is laid : I feel it every time when rest 
 at last returns especially through sleep after any com- 
 motion. So don't be concerned about it ; it only proves 
 for certain that the time has come when you require 
 a rest, and for that very reason it is well that the 
 exertions of the cure are drawing to an end. Be equally 
 unconcerned for your repose, under every aspect, after 
 your return ; here nothing reigns but calm, and any further 
 agitation is unthinkable. But you will soon convince 
 yourself of that ; perhaps it will be too quiet for you !- 
 
 I intend to make you well and comfortable ; I mean 
 it and all accordingly is well ! Whatever may be agree- 
 able to you, you shall find ; only you also must take 
 proper care of yourself. Frau Schiirli is working day 
 and night at your clothes, and you will be pleased I 
 hope with the other presents ; I have been fairly 
 particular with their choice, only that choice itself is not 
 particularly great. I will also see to the rug and napkin- 
 ring being quite according to your wish ; so what more 
 would you have ? 
 
 Ivisette is scrubbing and scouring, polishing and 
 sweeping. What more would you have ? 
 
 Friedrich is plucking the tiniest weed from the path, 
 and toiling away left and right. Both are looking for- 
 ward to Thursday. What more would you have ?
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 353 
 
 And your good husband ? ? 
 
 He would have repose ! repose ! ! exactly what 
 you want yourself. So come, be heartily welcome, and 
 contentment no doubt will soon appear. 
 
 Farewell for to-day. Write about your condition ; 
 slacken the cure, and prepare for a good rest. 
 
 From his heart 
 
 Thy dear HUSBAND. 
 
 140. 
 
 ZURICH, Sattirday, 10. July 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 Pardon ! I had realty won an easier mind about 
 yourself, than you had trust in me. I did not believe 
 the brief postponement of a letter from me now would 
 plunge you at once in disquiet again. I see I was mis- 
 taken, and unfortunately recognise that your idea of me is 
 still the prey of every wind that blows. Well, I never 
 thought I had deserved that now, but, relying on your 
 trust in me, for once I deferred writing you for 2 days, 
 simply because I had nothing to write and deemed mere 
 protestations of my own reliability superfluous. More- 
 over, I really was prevented at the time when I usually 
 write, namely between work and dinner, as I had to go 
 to town twice over to attend to presents for yourself. I 
 could willingly forgive your little plaguing of me thus ; 
 only your not ceasing to torment yourself as well quite 
 makes me sad, for I hardly see how it will stand in my 
 power to reassure you in the long run. But enough of 
 that now ! 
 
 I am writing these lines on the eve of X's [Tichatschek's] 
 expected arrival. Touching this visit, I may tell you very 
 candidly that I would rather have seen it omitted. Many 
 VOL. I 23
 
 354 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 people are fond of me whose affection I am unable to re- 
 turn, and what I have to say to him is so soon exhausted 
 that his daily companionship may become fairly trying to 
 me. This woman' s-brawl, moreover, has disgusted me in 
 the last degree, and I should almost have preferred your 
 having passed such a scandal by more quietly yourself ; 
 knowing you were at a cure, the wife would have done 
 better to spare you such muck. I hate this whole common 
 pack, one as much as another, for they're all of a much- 
 ness. In my retirement I have long since found uplifting 
 over such vulgarities, and any dragging of me down into 
 that odious stew affronts me past all measure. I wish 
 everyone of that sort would only leave me alone. 
 
 The B[iilow] also writes me to-day that they were 
 just starting from Berlin, but not when they'll arrive at 
 Zurich ; I presume they'll make a stay at Baden-Baden 
 first. - 
 
 Now, my good Mutz, do drum it into your head that 
 the expected visits are not to upset you in any way. Only 
 let me provide, and I'll try and keep everything off your 
 shoulders. Should I remark that a visitor isn't doing you 
 good, I'll bundle off the lot forthwith, and take a proper 
 pleasure-trip with you instead. But don't let that alarm 
 you either ; I mean merely what I say, and have my eye 
 on nothing save your quiet, your recovery. So let us 
 hope for the best ! 
 
 Whether I shall pay you another visit first with X, 
 I must leave unsettled. On the contrary, I don't think 
 of detaining him, and the sooner I am rid of him, the 
 better I shall be pleased. I tell you candidly, I should 
 prefer to come comfortably alone to you on Thursday 
 with the big carriage, and hope it may be so. Pull 
 yourself together, then ; anticipate nothing but what is
 
 ZURICH PERIOD 355 
 
 good and pleasant. I am looking after you ; so put your 
 trust in me, and don't let yourself be bent by every pass- 
 ing breeze, do you hear? 
 
 So to our speedy reunion ! Before then you shall 
 have had further news from me, especially concerning X. 
 Farewell, and prove yourself reliant and reliable to 
 me ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 141. 
 
 ZURICH, Tuesday, 13. /#/y 1858. 
 
 So I'm writing you for the last time, dear Minna, 
 to-day. From your yesterday's letter I reaped at least 
 the boon of reassuring news about yourself and your con- 
 dition. It was needed ; for I have been and am greatly 
 fatigued. Imagine it, on Sunday came Niemann besides, 
 and indeed with his fiancee, the famous Seebach. They 
 spent Sunday evening here, when I read aloud, and the 
 whole of Monday, when / had to keep at it of course, as 
 these people will hear of nothing but myself and my new 
 works. Early this morning the Niemanns departed. By 
 all means he is just born for Siegfried ; yet I have no 
 more hope of anything, and all I know for certain is the 
 unheard-of exertions I'm always strictly squandering. 
 
 But on all that by mouth the day after tomorrow. 
 Most likely X will come with me, though I gladly would 
 leave him at home ; there really will not even be con- 
 venient room in the carriage. We'll see. 
 
 Very well, no rug. Instead a very beautiful cigar-box 
 at 30 fr., and a napkin-ring at 16 fr. ; nearly 50 fr. 
 together. That is neither too much nor too little. [Present 
 
 for the Brestenberg doctor?]
 
 356 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 To-day holds out a prospect of fine weather ; the 
 barometer is also standing high : accordingly the hope 
 that you will make a thoroughly cheerful re-entry here. 
 I expect to arrive by u at latest, and hope we shall be 
 home by 7. Now shew that you understand the making 
 of a proper cure ; may God give his blessing ! I'm so 
 run down to-day, that I have sent X out awhile ; Miiller, 
 to whom I took him at once, unfortunately is on duty 
 at Kiissnacht this week, of all others ; he will drop in for 
 dinner to-day, though. It is getting time you also came 
 yourself ! May the distractions you will find here do 
 you good ! You will also find letters from Fraulein 
 SchifFener the faithful, and from Clara ; I don't think 
 there's any hurry with them. 
 
 So, a thousand best greetings ; strengthen yourself by 
 good sleep for my coming ; and then be kind and calm 
 toward 
 
 Thy 
 
 good HUSBAND. 
 
 [" Since a month ago, when Minna retttrned while we had guests in the 
 house, it had to come to a final decision. . . The most unheard-of scenes and 
 tortures never ceased for me, and out of consideration for tJic one as for 
 the oilier, I finally had to make up my mind to give up the fair asvlum 
 once procured me "with such delicate affection" (to sister Llara, Aug. 20). 
 'However insensately and passionately she behaved in tiic most delicate 
 situations, I cannot after all be really wroth ^cvith her. Everyone suffers 
 in his own way, and she suffers in hers ; but she suffers, and did suffer 
 most acutely. Only think of a heart continually beating as never with an 
 ordinary person save in instant terror of death ; and added to it, almost 
 total sleeplessness for a wlwle year ! It is impossible to make anyone who 
 suffers such agonies responsible for what is done in semi-mania. But it 
 had at last become unbearable for us to be together. To be able to exist, / 
 ivas obliged to draw a fresh supfily of strength from solitude. ; and Minna, 
 too, 1 knew that change and possible diversion must do her good" (to sister 
 Cdcilie next January). Sec Life vi, etc., etc. Tr.~]
 
 FROM GENEVA 357 
 
 142. 
 
 GENEVA, 19. August 1858. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 I have just received your telegram of to-day, and 
 at once fulfil your wish that I should write to you. 
 
 my God ! had I only the power to let you look into 
 my inner heart and clearly see my sufferings and battlings 
 of this year to win repose for my life-task ! In vain : all 
 stormed and tossed around me, all passion and blind rage ; 
 and whatever I laboriously built up to safeguard peace and 
 quietness, came toppling down again. You, my dear 
 child, can make light of all that : you help yourself out 
 with reproaches, perceive none but your own misfortune. 
 I am juster : I lay reproaches on no one, nor of a truth 
 
 on yourself. Much was required of you, and in your 
 terribly tormented state of health, too much. So let us 
 part in peace and reconciliation now, each to go his own 
 way for a season, to win composure and fresh mustering 
 of strength. For my own part, solitude, removal from all 
 company, is now an indispensable condition of my life ; 
 the dearest society, even such as we lately had at home 
 [the Biilows], only tortures me. 
 
 1 am bleeding from many wounds, and heartfelt con- 
 cern for yourself is not their slightest. Further, I feel the 
 urgent need of winding up a whole life ; I must clear my 
 mind on much that has passionately moved me in this 
 latter time, and above all I must take undisturbed counsel 
 with myself how to find peace and quiet for completion of 
 those works I still may be appointed to deliver to the 
 world. Where last year I believed that I had found 
 asylum, it is impossible any longer ; years would need to 
 elapse, before everything had cleared and subsided. For 
 the present, I have but one need, as said : to be left alone
 
 358 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and long in undisturbed possession of my inner self ; any 
 contact from without confuses and confounds afresh. A 
 little outward distraction, such as the visiting of a re- 
 markable city and so forth, can only be a help toward 
 that : I can more easily be alone and without company 
 there ; whereas it would have been impossible in the long 
 run where we were last. Thus I hope for inner con- 
 valescence and emancipation ; and once the mood for 
 work returns to me, I shall be rescued, since my solace in 
 this life can only flow from my own inner being. 
 
 L/ay this to heart, my dear Minna, and if you wish to 
 support me in my necessary and salutary resolve, please 
 do not make my heart too heavy through your cries and 
 lamentations. I know you are more dependent upon 
 what comes to you from without, so to speak, and conse- 
 quently more a plaything of the chance and change of 
 outward fortunes ; therefore you have a very hard time 
 with me, who am often so indifferent and callous to life's 
 outward relations : but do obey me now, and hope with 
 me for improvement in your state of suffering by the 
 thorough change of scene which stands before you. It is 
 natural that you should refuse to believe it at present, but 
 I know better, and all who have the least experience of 
 such a thing know that your stay in Germany, the renewal 
 of old acquaintanceships, the distractions and art-enjoy- 
 ments now in store for you, will have a more beneficial 
 effect on you than anything else conceivable. For this 
 reason, too, I can now depart from you with a grain of com- 
 fort : / know I shall receive good and better news from you 
 in a little while. Any other expedient would have proved 
 inadequate ; a radical step such as this had to be taken 
 perforce. So ma}' God bless you, my good old Minna ! 
 Be strong and win self-control ; bear this trial nobly and
 
 FROM GENEVA 359 
 
 as befits the character of Woman ! Thus shall we be 
 able soon, I hope, to send one another good news of our 
 inner condition. 
 
 Let us patiently leave the rest to Fate ; if we only 
 can rescue our inner peace, the world without will also 
 shape itself quite peaceably. 
 
 And now I beg you once more, shorten this worst 
 hour of yours as much as possible ; only with great grief 
 can I think of you as still within those walls which saw 
 us at the last so frequently in passionate dissension, and I 
 therefore also was so glad to quit. Set forth as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 As to my own farther journey, I can't well settle 
 anything as yet. The great heat is against one's going 
 straight to Italy, where I should like to be soon, however, 
 to find the point to fix myself as speedily as possible and 
 get to work. I intend waiting for Ritter's opinion. 
 Meanwhile, I have letters to write, proofs to correct, and 
 a copy of my text to see to ; which gives me a certain 
 amount of occupation. I should be unable to tax myself 
 much just yet, there's an aching weight in all my limbs ; 
 but rest will come ! Ah, if you would only help me to 
 it also ! You can, if you will write me shortly with a 
 little self-control, and tell me you are on the road I 
 deem so needful and alone essential now for your inner 
 recovery. Believe my word, dear Minna, had I not been 
 inwardly convinced that the decision I have had to come 
 to will be wholesome and beneficial to yourself as well, I 
 gladly would have hit upon some other. But everything 
 had been exhausted, we were wearing each other away, 
 and a break was obliged to be made for its promise of 
 thorough healing and improvement. If you are not 
 totally unlike myself, you must also come to feel that
 
 360 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 in the end : I cannot help it, only thus do I expect good 
 for us both ! 
 
 And now farewell, you good old Mutz ! Greet Fipsel 
 a* thousand times ; I left him to you willingly, although I 
 miss him very much. But -miss I must now ! Greet 
 Jacquot too, and tell him good of me. Farewell ; control 
 yourself, and tell me, for my consolation, that you are 
 calmer. Adieu : with God ! 
 
 Thy 
 RICHARD. 
 
 143. 
 
 GENEVA, 25. August 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I telegraphed to you yesterday that I should be 
 starting for Italy to-day ; that is now about to be 
 executed, and I hope to be already at Venice by Sunday 
 [29th]. In and for itself, my chief desire is to make 
 straight for the spot where I think of settling for some 
 time, arrange myself a tolerable abode, get the piano sent, 
 and find at last a frame of mind for work again. Geneva 
 could in no case have been that spot for long, and Venice 
 principally attracts me through its notoriously being the 
 only city that hasn't the smallest noise of traffic, to which 
 I have become extremely sensitive. Well, you know I 
 was only delaying on account of the heat of the sun ; but 
 Karl Ritter implores me afresh not to make that an 
 obstacle : Venice has an exceptionally healthy climate, 
 he says, and most people go there precisely at this season, 
 etc. That suited me perfectly ; for I couldn't have 
 remained here much longer without setting myself up with 
 piano etc., which I didn't want to do twice over. Now 
 I'm curious to see how this Venice will appeal to me ;
 
 FROM GENEVA 361 
 
 God grant I may find it supportable, for I shouldn't care 
 to travel farther, and mental repose, such as my work 
 alone can give me, has become my supreme need. 
 
 I have been feeling particularly wretched for some 
 days past, especially after receiving your letter, which 
 shewed me that it probably will forever remain impossible 
 to you to see clearly and correctly. With you, a definite 
 blame must and .should always be borne by a definite 
 person ; you do not comprehend the nature of things and 
 Fate, but simply think that if this person or that thing 
 had never been, all would have happened otherwise. 
 Upon that I can say nothing more to you ; others must do 
 so for once : Heaven grant you may find the proper person 
 to enlighten you. It also is repugnant to me to make a 
 fresh attempt, and I merely declare once more to you 
 emphatically that nothing drove me to abandon Zurich be- 
 yond the recognised impossibility of continuing in that close 
 neighbourship. Things could be requested of the husband 
 by his wife which you and I can request of him no more : 
 so long as silence reigned between the four of us, under 
 well-understood conditions of propriety, one could jog 
 along ; but so soon as it had come to speech between the 
 four of us, that would work no longer. He accepted my 
 announcement of removal with the greatest friendliness 
 and gratitude but he did accept it ; and I also was in 
 honour bound to go, since every other road to a good 
 understanding shewed itself harder and harder. But 
 enough, and already too much ! You'll go fumbling at 
 this again, I fear, and fail to find your way. Best we 
 should drop it entirely and each seek to conquer his past 
 for himself, thus to find for the future the only path that 
 promises repose and healing ! 
 
 Regarding yourself in particular, I abide by it that
 
 362 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 you will gradually feel better after your total removal 
 from Zurich ; it will be slow in coming, but come it will. 
 Your heart-complaint is terrible, and I can't tell you 
 how I pity you in these sufferings ; -but everybody knows 
 that change of air and surroundings is the first means 
 to improvement. Remember how it is when a certain 
 position in bed begins to irk you : if you remain in it, 
 the oppression increases, and may even become fatal ; but 
 as soon as you change your position, and so bring the blood 
 into proper circulation, it is relieved of a sudden. It is 
 just the same with moral situations ; believe me, and hope 
 for improvement ! 
 
 By the time I reach Venice I hope to have to address 
 you at Zurich no longer. Therefore as soon as the day 
 of your departure is fixed, write to Venice paste restante ; 
 my first letter to you from there will then catch you, 
 I hope, on your birthday in Saxony at Zwickau, if it 
 must be : against which place I have nothing in particular, 
 though it would have been better if you had gone direct 
 to Dresden, taken a small apartment there, and let N. 
 return awhile on trial to leave someone in charge of 
 the animals in the event of your making excursions and 
 visits. But I shall dictate nothing further to you on that 
 head. 
 
 What Tichatscheck may have understood when I wrote 
 him we were leaving Zurich, packing up and selling 
 trifles, I cannot comprehend ; he wrote to me as well 
 about the pictures and the Erard. Do you think he isn't 
 quite all there ? I shall answer him as soon as I get his 
 report on Rienzi. Of course you'll take no notice of this 
 stupid query ; I particularly want our departure from 
 Zurich not to bear the look of a breaking up, but simply 
 of a removal with everything kept together.
 
 FROM GENEVA 363 
 
 Now farewell, my good old Mutz ! Would to God I 
 had been able to provide you with quieter days ! I am 
 very sorry for you, and my compassion is heartfelt and 
 great ; I indeed have a singular life of it : that it brings 
 you so much trouble, I deeply deplore ! But put your 
 best foot forward now : act calmly and with dignity, shew 
 self-command, and soon give me good news of yourself. 
 Farewell ! Bear patiently, and God be with you ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Many kind greetings to Heim : tell him he mustn't 
 be cross with me for throwing so much upon him, and I 
 hope to be able to lighten his load before long. Please 
 also give orders at the Post that newspapers and the like, 
 such as theatrical journals, be either altogether counter- 
 manded or sent to Heim ; in no case forwarded. 
 
 Give Friedrich and Lisette hearty greetings too ; say 
 I want them faithfully to help you. O God, to think 
 how everything might have gone better ! It was possible ; 
 but I won't expostulate. To good Fipsel a thorough 
 good shake of the paw. 
 
 Conceive the present feelings of a domesticated, homely 
 man like me ! And yet it must be so awhile ! Farewell ! 
 
 The poor bed-clothes I always meet with, pampered 
 mortal, inspire me with the wish that you would send my 
 bed-linen along with that packet of music I asked you 
 for. Please think whether it can be done. The piano 
 mustn't go off before I have obtained a free pass for it at 
 Venice, which I then will send to Heim. 
 
 Perhaps the wadded quilt also, and feather-bed. Just 
 as you think. 
 
 (Yet perhaps not?)
 
 364 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 144. 
 
 LAUSANNE, 26. August 1858. 
 
 DEAR MINNA, 
 
 I am on the road, and can only just manage to 
 write you a couple of lines ; I shall be on Italian soil 
 tomorrow evening. I forgot to tell you yesterday that 
 Tichatscheck had written me he would allow Friedrich 
 10 thaler travelling-money. What he writes about the 
 pictures etc. is, pure nonsense in any case. 
 
 Yesterday I received another letter from Kapell- 
 meister Esser of Vienna, reporting to me on the second 
 representation of L/ohengrin already ; he says Eckert 
 telegraphed me directly after the first performance. Did 
 you receive that telegram ? I know nothing whatever 
 about it. 
 
 And now farewell once more. I am travelling with 
 Ritter alone ; his wife is going to Dresden also for the 
 winter. Farewell ! be calm, and bravely surmount this 
 evil time ! Many best and heartiest greetings ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 145. 
 
 VENICE, i. September 1858. 
 
 MY DEAR GOOD OLD MUTZ, 
 
 Here I am in Venice ; where are you ? I con- 
 fidently assume at Zwickau, but my having no tidings 
 at all from you yet makes me very uneasy. After my 
 telegraphing to you from Geneva, couldn't you at least 
 have written me a couple of lines, as I asked, to Venice 
 paste restante f I arrived here the 29th of August, and 
 really hoped to find a letter from you, but have enquired 
 each day in vain. To-day I'm at last getting really
 
 FROM VENICE 365 
 
 alarmed. You have a bad time to surmount now, and 
 certainly for you a very sad one ; I begged of you to 
 shorten it as much as possible, so I still think you must 
 have started on the 29th, since you had that day in 
 remembrance from your [first] arrival in Zurich. God 
 grant I ma}' have a letter from you tomorrow confirming 
 this, and at the same time telling me you have pulled 
 your whole strength together to face everything well. I 
 have nothing fresh to tell you to console and cheer you ; 
 all I can cry to you is, Hope and don't lose heart ! See 
 here, poor Wife, your destiny which surely should have 
 been appointed you on calmer and more even lines was 
 linked with the destiny of a man who, much as he also 
 wished for placid happiness himself, yet was appointed to 
 so extraordinary a development in every respect that at 
 last he believes he must even renounce his own wishes, 
 simply to accomplish his life-task. All I now seek is 
 inner self-collection, to be able to complete my works : 
 renown no longer has effect on me ; of succeeding in 
 representing my works \_Ring d, N. ] I even despair : 
 nothing nothing but work, the creative act itself, still 
 keeps me alive. It is natural that so extraordinary a 
 destiny should also rouse extraordinary sympathy ; there 
 are many persons who have turned to me with deep and 
 intimate regard. \lyou must suffer for it, those sufferings 
 will some day be accounted to you too, and your reward 
 must be my prospering, the prospering of my works. 
 Just now, however let us not be thinking only of the 
 future ; let us try to get over the present, and hope to find 
 rest for ourselves and prepare for one another kindness, 
 reconciliation. 
 
 Allow me not to write you much about Venice to-day ; 
 I'm terribly upset by the journey, and particularly through
 
 366 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 the search for an abode. Before I've set myself up so 
 well and comfortably as to make it possible to hold out, I 
 cannot recover my senses ; you know how much the 
 dwelling question counts with me, and I must aim at 
 staying glued to one spot for the present, to be able 
 to continue my work. Naturally I am living in furnished 
 apartments ; there are no others here. My landlord is an 
 Austrian, who was very happy to give shelter to my 
 famous name. All such lodgings here are in big palaces 
 relinquished by their former patrician owners, and arranged 
 by speculators for letting out to foreigners. But I will 
 write you on all that next time. For to-day only thus 
 much : I hope to hold out at Venice ; really the city 
 is interesting beyond all measure, and the positive still- 
 ness one never hears a vehicle quite priceless to me. 
 I am receiving no callers, and hope to live entirely with- 
 drawn upon myself here. For the present I see Karl 
 at dinner every day, for which we have made a restaurant 
 on St. Mark's Square our rendezvous ; should that prove 
 inconvenient to me later on, I can also have meals fetched 
 at home. Things do not really seem dear ; only the 
 lodging is not proportionately cheap. I am just writing 
 to Heim, to send me the piano forthwith ; there will 
 be no imposts to pay on it, were it only because Venice is 
 a free port. No doubt I shan't require the sheets and 
 bedding ; naturally I must content myself with coarser. 
 
 Now, my dear Minna, accept my heartfelt and sincere 
 congratulations on your birthday ! Poor Wife, I could 
 have wished you a better ; yet it is some consolation that 
 at least you're spending it with your relations, as 4 years 
 back. That did you then a heap of good ; may it be 
 a comfort to you on this occasion also ! Give them my 
 kindest regards ; divert yourself among them, and en-
 
 FROM VENICE 367 
 
 deavour to forget as far as possible ! Look up, and hope 
 that we shall meet again in Germany ere long. I am 
 sending you a true Venetian present, as souvenir of this 
 birthday ; I hope it won't arrive too late. So, courage, 
 composure, regard for your health ! If you want to send 
 a truly handsome present to me in my banishment, give 
 me tidings that you are somewhat amusing yourself 
 and deriving hopes of an improvement in your sufferings. 
 Farewell ; be a thousand times heartily, heartily greeted ! 
 And greet good Fipps, and eke the silly parrot, Mr 
 Jacquot ! I, on the contrary, am living in a world of 
 utter strangers ; nothing around me save my manuscripts, 
 to shew me what I've still to do and suffer ! You have 
 taken our home-brownies with you ; look after them, 
 they're very dear to me as well. Adieu ! Adieu ! Stay 
 good to me. 
 
 Thy 
 
 RICHARD. 
 
 Here's my address, which you must always get written 
 in a thoroughly legible hand. 
 
 Herrn Richard Wagner, 
 
 Canale Grande, Palazzo Giustiniani, 
 
 Campiello Squillini No. 3228, 
 in Venedig. 
 
 146. 
 
 VENICE, 14. September 1858. 
 
 MY POOR DEAR OLD MlNNA, 
 
 Rest assured that your condition and fate concern me 
 closely and deeply. Before I got your first paste restante 
 Venice letter (still from Zurich) I was in the most painful 
 anxiety about you ; how glad I was when I gathered from
 
 368 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 that letter that your practical labours and worries were 
 keeping you up ! Yes, with true relish I read of your 
 scene with that rascally man-servant, and even your 
 reflections upon certain others ; all this shewed me at 
 least that you were passing through the terrible time 
 of your departure with that strength peculiar to yourself : 
 which is certainly not to say, however, that the vul- 
 garities you encountered on leaving as you tell me in 
 your last letter did not revolt and thoroughly ashame 
 me. But who can foresee anything with an individual like 
 this fly-man Furrer ? Others at least remained decent, 
 in the confidence that I should not cheat them. Perhaps 
 it would have been better in many respects, if we had 
 simply closed the house and provisionally left everything 
 in it just as it was. I should then have been able to 
 attend to the packing up etc. later on, and even if I 
 hadn't been so practical as yourself in the sale of various 
 articles, and had lost something over it, yet you would 
 have been spared more drudgery and bother now than the 
 loss would have been worth, and above all there would not 
 have arisen such a fuss as necessarily must come now ; 
 which would also have been much more favourable for my 
 [future] settling down. You will remember, too, I once 
 proposed this to you ; but you preferred getting it all done 
 with at once. As for the chatter among those who have 
 still to present their accounts for the current year, I hope 
 to stop their mouths soon ; now that Rienzi has come out 
 [again] so happily at Dresden (Tichatscheck wrote me he 
 had been called 14 times in one night !), I have no doubt 
 of speedy good receipts [from other theatres], which I 
 already am busy about and soon will place me in the 
 position to wipe off everything. I was just rejoicing that 
 a small increase had befallen your exchequer through the
 
 FROM VENICE 369 
 
 proceeds from what was sold ; but you must have had 
 to dip pretty deep into it now, poor woman, and perhaps 
 even make a hole in the rest ? Please tell me how much 
 you have left, and whether you can manage comfortably 
 till the end of October, when you shall have money again 
 in any event. I shall pay that Furrer out for this ; don't 
 you bother any more about it. 
 
 My dear good Minna, when I thus review the uneasy, 
 almost mournful lot to which you've so long been exposed 
 by my side and through your union with my own uneasy, 
 changeful fortunes ; and when I ask myself, What if you 
 could provide and guarantee the poor sorely-tried woman 
 for the rest of her life a sure, abiding haven unexposed to 
 change it seems to me that I could only do it this way : 
 that I should beg you to take plenty of time in seeking 
 out the place of residence most pleasing to you, set yourself 
 snugly and cosily up there with all our goods and chattels, 
 and then regard it as your own fixed habitation. Thither I 
 would come to you as often as I needed a home ; and for 
 the rest, quite apart from my personal needs of sojourn, it 
 would be your peaceful nest to which I also could withdraw 
 at last when all the storms of life were weathered, to find 
 my lasting rest beneath your care. In any case that 
 dwelling-place should remain completely unsubjected to 
 my fate's vagaries. I cannot help thinking this arrange- 
 ment the most sensible, ay, the only one to give you 
 certainty of permanence. However, I know that it isn't the 
 dwelling-place that counts for everything with you either ; 
 you want to have your husband with you just as con- 
 stantly : ay, that has been your sole reason for enduring 
 all life's hardships of the past. Consequently I neither 
 can nor will make you this proposal seriously, for I 
 want to wound you in nothing I can avoid ; you have had 
 VOL. i 24
 
 370 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 hard enough lines to endure from me, for which I am 
 heartily sorry ! 
 
 I too, I won't deny it, at bottom am fond of a 
 permanent homestead ; and how to procure it, has been 
 my chief preoccupation of late. Neither can I believe 
 that a strictly vagabond life would suit me in the long 
 run. Our going different ways was really needful for the 
 present, and I haven't a moment's doubt that our passing 
 separation, with the complete change in our position, will 
 have had a truly curative effect on our minds, and also 
 on your health in particular. I made a very lucky choice 
 with Venice : I shall write you circumstantially about my 
 mode of life and installation here next time ; for to-day 
 merely thus much : the singular melancholy-cheerful 
 repose of this place, with the absolute retirement in which 
 I'm able and intend to live here, already begins to 
 strengthen and smooth me out, and in any case I hope 
 to pass the winter here. By the winter's end I definitely 
 hope to finish Tristan quite ; till then I shall not stir. 
 But once that's finished, I shall look around a bit to see 
 how the world is standing ; and I hope to find it standing 
 favourably for me. Whatever may be the case with the 
 full amnesty, so much is certain : the Grand Duke of 
 Baden in particular has received from Saxony the assur- 
 ance that I shall be allowed at any time to come to 
 Germany for a reasonable time for the production of a new 
 work of mine ; Liszt himself writes me so. That would 
 mean the gaining of the most important point already, 
 and the production of Tristan somewhere about next 
 Easter at Carlsruhe in my personal presence would be a 
 certainty. Isn't that already something? And once I 
 am there for a couple of months (for that's the suggestion) 
 no rational being will doubt but that the rest can be
 
 FROM VENICE 371 
 
 managed meanwhile ; toward which I even imagine my 
 personal acquaintance may contribute its share. This, 
 good Mutz, might have been happening now, had I only 
 got through with the Tristan. But perhaps even the full 
 amnesty may have arrived by next Easter, for I recently 
 heard that the Saxon Government harbours a project of 
 provisionally commencing the amnesty by permitting 
 fugitives to re-enter any part of Germany with the solitary 
 exception of Saxony. I no longer have much thought of 
 Saxony, however, for that country best would suit me 
 for a lasting foothold where the Court is best disposed 
 towards me and this, beyond all doubt, is Baden. This 
 young Grand Duke is said to be really unceasing in the 
 most energetic of efforts for me, and it is he not the 
 Weimar one who is said to have concerned himself for 
 me at Vienna. With his widely-famed great personal 
 amiability and staunchness, he attracts me the most ; 
 whilst worthy Devrient's family would also be very agree- 
 able to me. 
 
 See now, good Mutz, that really is a definite prospect, 
 and surely a great comfort to yourself as well. You thus 
 ma}' count with certainty on seeing me again next Easter, 
 and God willing we shall then have no difficulty in 
 also finding the spot where you may plant the abiding 
 tent of rest for this roaming life of mine. Very well ! 
 Recreate yourself till then. I have no doubt you will 
 soon feel better ; rest and retirement will heal your spirit 
 also, and valiant Troger's treatment will help you pick 
 up your health. It is certain that your bodily condition, 
 as with all nerve-invalids, is very closely connected with 
 your frame of mind ; once there's a tendency to improve- 
 ment in the one, it goes hand in glove with the other, 
 and I am sure of receiving good, comforting reports on
 
 372 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 your condition soon. Therefore remain at perfect rest 
 with your relations as long as ever you find yourself com- 
 fortable, and don't go travelling before you feel a decided 
 need of distraction, which will itself be a good sign of 
 improvement. 
 
 Touching myself, in my next letter, as said, I shall 
 tell you a lot about my life here. For the present merely 
 this to complete my Tristan, that's the main thing ! 
 With the completion of this work I shall have survived 
 a remarkable period ; I foresee the clearness, calm and 
 equanimity, which that will win me. Farewell. A thou- 
 sand hearty greetings to good Troger and your people ; 
 squeeze Fipps' dear little paw, and get Jacquot to say : 
 ' ' yet a good Husband 
 
 RICHARD WAGNF;R."* 
 
 147. 
 
 VENICE, 28. September 1858. 
 
 MY POOR GOOD MUTZ, 
 
 Hearty thanks for your letters, the first of which 
 crossed my last to you. You still have to report un- 
 pleasantnesses that have occurred to you, and thereby 
 afford me great regret and continual cause for legitimate 
 self-reproaches. May that soon alter, and you have 
 nothing to report but soothing and agreeable impressions ! 
 That is my heartfelt wish, and what / can do toward 
 realising it, I certainly shall. Only in one hardship 
 endured I cannot pity you ; for your travelling third class 
 on that long journey I am at a loss for words ! Don't 
 take it ill of me, but I consider that more than absurd : 
 
 * Apparently an allusion to the parrot's traditional " Boser Richard, 
 arme Minna!" which it must have picked tip Irom that superfluous 
 Natalie. Tr.
 
 FROM VENICE 373 
 
 your motive for such self-tortures and abasements makes 
 no appeal to me ; I know I'm not to blame for such 
 exaggerations, but am doing all I can to hold privations 
 of that sort aloof from you, which, comparatively speak- 
 ing, don't even yield a perceptible saving. In such-like 
 things, and there are many of them, I cannot truly pity 
 you ; for a certain stubbornness on your side, in which 
 there lurks a dumb rebuke of me, is solely to blame for 
 them. Forgive me, you deserved the tiny sermon ! 
 
 As for that scoundrel Furrer, I demand that he shall 
 ask your pardon ; I hear from Heim that his conduct 
 roused universal indignation. * For that matter, the whole 
 town behaved pretty disgustingly ; Heim told me that, to 
 account for my unexpected departure, they stumbled on 
 the idea that I had left Zurich on account of excessive 
 indebtedness. Well as it might suit us for people not to 
 guess the actual reason, really this belief was stupid and 
 low enough, especially as various tradesmen might have 
 stepped forward to whom I had paid considerable sums in 
 full this year for our furnishing. But a perfect panic 
 seems to have seized those who had yet to present their 
 annual accounts, and Heim couldn't send me the piano 
 because legal distraint had been laid on our things by 
 these asses. Naturally it only needed my simple declara- 
 tion that I acknowledged the claims in question, and 
 should pay them at New Year, to put an end to the 
 proceedings ; particularly as it had been discovered mean- 
 while, of course, that no one else had claims on me and 
 the whole thing was a blind alarm. Consequently public 
 
 * The man is said to have driven Minna to his own yard, instead of 
 the railway station, and refused to deliver up her luggage till she had 
 settled a former account of a few pounds ; at least that is the local tradition, 
 and something like it evidently occurred. Tr.
 
 374 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 opinion has been corrected also, and the damage rebounds 
 on the rascals who had bled me of so much money and of 
 a sudden behaved so abominably that, as Heim tells me, 
 they're being soundly rated for it now. So next week 
 I expect the piano, the music, and the bedding, which I 
 missed, to tell the truth, and should have missed. I got 
 the key all right ; best thanks. 
 
 My having to go without the piano so long, was very 
 provoking to me, for my best cordial had been the re- 
 covery of a good mood for resuming my work. Of late, 
 however, I've been occupied enough with letter-writing. 
 Naturally I'm trying all I can to coin Rienzi's great 
 success at Dresden into takings [from elsewhere], and 
 accordingly have been inviting all the theatres I'm friends 
 with to acquire this opera speedily. On the whole they 
 seem to be stand-off and distrustful toward this older work 
 of mine, and consider its success is merely due to local 
 interest and Tichatscheck. Still, a few good examples 
 will encourage the rest ; Breslau wants it shortly, also 
 Darmstadt. Hanover I haven't bagged yet, but there's 
 a prospect of it ; and by the new year I may hope to 
 have polished everybody off at Zurich. 
 
 And now to speak about my life here. Linking on 
 to the last point, I won't exactly say it's very cheap ; 
 which can scarcely be expected en garqon, when the 
 setting up of a whole establishment always costs such a 
 large amount at first. A small unfurnished lodging was 
 out of the question ; they are only to be found in the 
 business quarter of the inner city, from which God pre- 
 serve me ! Apart from those, there are none but the 
 furnished apartments in palaces bought from the im- 
 poverished old nobili and fitted up by speculators for 
 foreigners who visit Venice for a shorter or longer time.
 
 FROM VENICE 375 
 
 After long search I had to think myself lucky to find 
 something of the kind to suit me at last, and to submit to 
 paying more than I had anticipated. 
 
 Like all such apartments, it is in a big ancient palace, 
 with wide halls and spaces. For my living room I have 
 an enormous saloon looking on to the Grand Canal ; then 
 a very roomy bedchamber, with a little cabinet beside it 
 for a wardrobe. Fine old ceiling-paintings, splendid floors 
 inlaid with magnificent mosaic ; badly distempered walls 
 (once richly tapestried, no doubt), antique furniture, very 
 elegant in appearance, covered with red cotton- velvet, 
 but very rickety and miserably stuffed ; nothing quite in 
 working order, doors not shutting properly, all somewhat 
 the worse for wear. I had a big state-bed removed at 
 once, and replaced by a smaller iron bedstead with spring- 
 mattress, lyinen so-so ; pillows stuffed with wool ; for 
 the colder season a foot-quilt weighing 3 hundredweight. 
 The landlord, an Austrian, is delighted to have me in his 
 house, and does all he can to satisfy me ; I have contrived 
 a few conveniences myself, arranged a passable divan, 
 fauteuil, etc. Things now will do quite well, and the 
 piano is sure to sound glorious in my big saloon. The 
 want of air-tightness in windows and doors is said to be 
 no serious drawback even in winter here. The climate 
 and the air are really heavenly ; a regard in which 
 Venice is said to be one of the most favoured of places, 
 far more so than Florence, Rome, or even Naples. An 
 agreeably refreshing East wind constantly blows from the 
 sea, moderating any excessive heat, keeping the sky 
 always clear, and furnishing beautiful air. For a whole 
 month we've only had two rainy days, and only one at a 
 time. Of course, one never sees a trace of drought, as the 
 sea keeps the air always moist. I still go about in full
 
 376 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 summer clothing, and that of an evening, not until when 
 do I make my promenade. 
 
 My manner of life is as follows : The whole day till 4 
 I work at whatever there has been to do yet then I get 
 ferried across the Canal, walk up S. Mark's piazza, meet 
 Karl there at 5 in the restaurant, where I dine a la carte, 
 well, but dear (I can never get off under 4 to 5 francs ! 
 without wine, too) ; after dinner, so long as the fine 
 season permits, out in a gondola to the Public Garden, 
 promenade there, and return either afloat or on foot 
 through the town ; then another promenade on shore 
 for the length of the Molo, a glass of ice at the pavilion 
 there, and then home, where the lamp stands lit for me at 
 8 ; a book picked up, and finally to bed. So I have been 
 living for 4 whole weeks now, and am not tired of it 
 yet, even without real absorbing \vork. What affords 
 the never-flagging charm, is the strange contrast of my 
 dwelling with the part that serves me for a promenade : 
 here all still, supremely tranquil, a broad track of lapping 
 water from the sea, with ebb and flow ; instead of carts 
 and horses, gondolas moored to the houses' very doors ; 
 wonderful palaces in front and everywhere, all lofty, 
 silent, melancholy. Then of a sudden, on one's stepping 
 forth, mean alleys of the strangest twists and crossings, 
 often scarcely wide enough for two to pass, all flanked 
 with open shops and stalls in which one feels as if upon 
 the pavement ; continually flooded with a stream of people 
 one only needs to join, when without the smallest notion 
 of topography one either arrives at the Rialto the 
 business quarter or the Square of S. Mark, where 
 nobody does anything but promenade. 
 
 The amazing, unique and quite unparalleled splendour 
 of this Square, and everything connected with it down to
 
 FROM VENICE 377 
 
 the water's brink, is not to be described ; each time I 
 reach it from my house, the whole thing staggers me 
 afresh. By all means I must send you some good pictures 
 of it soon. One would never believe one was in the 
 street, if only since it all there being no horse traffic is 
 paved with slabs of marble just like some great prince's 
 court. (I've a bad foot, and for many days have been going 
 out in my slippers.) Everything strikes one as a mar- 
 vellous piece of stage-scenery. Here it is one continual 
 surging up and down, everyone doing nothing but stroll 
 and amuse himself. This peculiar gaiety never fails of 
 its effect on the newcomer ; one feels at ease, and the eye 
 is perpetually entertained. For myself the chief charm 
 consists in its all remaining as detached from me as if I 
 were in an actual theatre ; I avoid making any acquaint- 
 ances, and therefore still retain the feeling. The gondola 
 trip out to sea always has an extremely soothing and 
 beneficial effect : the battle in the sky twixt day and 
 night is glorious ; ever new isles in the distance to keep 
 the fancy alert with their gardens, churches, palaces. 
 
 In brief, I believe the choice of Venice was the 
 happiest I could have made ; for there was everything to 
 fear for me if I had not lit on such an element, if I had 
 felt uncomfortable, not come to rest, lost patience, roved 
 about, and never got to work which in fine is the one 
 and only thing to enthral me sustainedly. Now that is 
 overcome, and hope thereby won for a turn in our for- 
 tunes. 
 
 At the outset my landlord spread the news of my 
 arrival, and it got into the papers at once ; but I won't 
 let him admit anyone, and am enjoying the most com- 
 plete retirement. People in Vienna naturally jumped to 
 the conclusion that Lohengrin had prompted me to an
 
 378 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 attempt to get permission to go there ; but everything 
 that has come to your ears to that effect, of course, is 
 mere false rumour without the smallest foundation. On 
 the contrary, I am only too glad to be left at peace here. 
 True, they demanded my pass a second time, and I began 
 to fear lest demurs would be raised to my remaining 
 longer ; but the police returned it to me very flatteringly 
 addressed, in fact, "to the renowned Herr R.W." with 
 the assurance that no objection had been discovered to my 
 unmolested residence in Venice. Consequently I am now 
 enjoying full asylum. 
 
 So much for my life here, good Mutz. Tell Fipsel 
 also, there are dogs here too, quite good ones, both 
 spaniels and poodles. They set out marble basins every- 
 where for the dear good beasts to drink from, and I often 
 catch the good chaps at it. Tell Jacquot I haven't yet 
 quite found his like ; but when I open one of the windows 
 in my bedroom of a morning, I always pay my respects to 
 a pair of canaries placed in front of a window at right 
 angles to mine, so that I can almost reach across to them. 
 They know me already, and no longer are frightened. 
 But I'm providing myself with nothing, neither bird nor 
 dog, but remain faithful to our own good beasties. So I 
 hope Fipps in especial will keep faithful to me, and give 
 me a hearty good lick when I see him again, which shan't 
 be such an eternity off. 
 
 To yourself, dear Minna, I have to say that you do 
 wrong to make light of compassion ; which can only arise 
 from your understanding something erroneous by it. All 
 our relations with others have but one foundation, either 
 sympathy or decided antipathy : community of grief and 
 joy makes out the true essence of love ; but community 
 of joy is something most illusory, for there is little
 
 FROM VENICE 379 
 
 reasonable ground at all upon this earth for joy, and our 
 fellow-feeling has a solid footing only when directed to 
 another's grief. For my part, in all my relations to 
 whatsoever persons, I no longer wish for anything ex- 
 cepting that they shall not suffer on account of me ; but 
 where I feel this, it peremptorily drives me to sympathy. 
 Neither do I ask anything more, than to be able to 
 assuage the sufferings of others for me. Nothing, nothing 
 beyond ! 
 
 Enough of that. Carlsruhe, of course, was a mere 
 project ; I'm very pleased at your intending to set up in 
 Dresden. I wrote to Tichatscheck about it yesterday ; 
 Dresden, after all, is the only place where I'm at home, 
 so to speak everywhere else I'm abroad. Do so, and 
 write me all about it soon. And give my heartiest 
 remembrances to your people, make your mind easier and 
 easier, sleep well, and console with reports on your feeling 
 better your good Husband who greets you most heartily 
 and with sincere fellow-feeling. Farewell, and send good 
 tidings soon ! 
 
 148.* 
 
 VENICE, 22. October 1858. 
 
 MY GOOD MINNA, 
 
 1 have this moment received your letter, and 
 hurriedly sit down to answer you forthwith on the most 
 urgent point our things. 
 
 Simply write at once to Zurich ; whatever you want, 
 you will promptly receive. I told you the last time that 
 that injunction was merely a passing stupidity of the 
 creditors involved, set aside as soon as ever I heard of it. 
 
 * At least one letter must be missing between this and the last ; see 
 the allusion on page 381. Tr.
 
 380 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I only needed to commission Heim to acknowledge the 
 bills in my name so far as they should be found correct 
 and the injunction was removed at once. Believe me, 
 I wouldn't conceal anything from you. It was annoying 
 enough ; but it's over. So, get sent you whatever you 
 wish. 
 
 I'm curious to learn about Furrer's behaviour. I 
 sent Heim an open letter, which he was to read aloud to 
 that low person perhaps through Spyri if possible in 
 presence of the men concerned : a letter in which I 
 demand of him that he shall beg your pardon ; but Heim 
 hasn't let me hear anything further yet. I wrote for my 
 coverlet also ; I need it much, as my bedroom is splendid 
 for summer, but not for the winter, and I wouldn't give 
 much for the heating. 
 
 When you arrive in Dresden, you shall find a longer 
 letter from me at Tichatscheck's, which will supply you 
 with further news about myself and Venice. If my 
 pocket permits, I shall accompany it with views of sundry 
 parts of Venice. Anyhow I have already been hunting 
 some up at the shops for you.- 
 
 Really it's too cruel of you in our old age, to be 
 wanting to divide up our estate ; it will end by your 
 letting me starve when my other operas cease paying and 
 I've nothing but Rienzi to fall back on. For the present 
 I must beg you to allow me from your undisputed pro- 
 perty [Rienzi, jocularly; see pp. 386, 395] enough to pay off Heim 
 and Zurich bills, and to be able to live on till Tristan. 
 When the Tristan comes along, I'll hand you over some 
 of that in turn, and thus, I fancy, we shall keep each 
 other going. But joking apart, I hope for good takings 
 ere long from my ancient Rienzi ; which will really come 
 in very handy. Breslau has paid me already. What I
 
 FROM VENICE 381 
 
 get from Hanover, will go to Heim straight off. Pre- 
 suming on my new friendship with Lachner, I have got 
 Munich also after it now, and am hoping that will come 
 off ; then others will soon follow suit. No one has sent 
 me a refusal yet, merely puttings off; I hope to get 
 Frankfort and Prague after it yet, though, whilst Darm- 
 stadt also has to send its fee. 
 
 Well, no doubt you can manage awhile with the looojr. 
 from Ritters for the present. Just pay Frau Hanel, but 
 don't let that make you buy yourself anything inferior 
 to what you ought to have, I beg you for my sake. I 
 really don't draw any hard and fast line for you, and 
 whatever you need you may be sure of obtaining at once 
 from me ; don't be so absurd ! 
 
 Your throwing that Rottdorf ' ' houselet ' ' in my face 
 is just what I might have expected ; it came from my 
 merely thinking of our former little flat there, and your 
 meaning to take precisely such another in it. Forgive 
 my belittlement of the big house ! 
 
 For that matter, I could earnestly wish you once 
 more to come to rest at Dresden, the sooner the better. 
 I quite understand that, with Klarchen's familiarity with 
 our [moral] relations, a harping on recent occurrences 
 was less to be avoided than at Zwickau ; but that is just 
 what I should like to see prevented. There is nothing 
 more foolish and cruel, than the constant tearing open of 
 such wounds, and only with reluctance do I allude to it in 
 this letter myself. Dear Mutz, come to rest ; endeavour 
 not to think of what has tortured you and is to be over- 
 come for good. Believe me, I now am living [solely] for 
 my art and the heartfelt wish to make your life as sup- 
 portable and agreeable as possible in future. Nothing shall 
 shake my resolutions, not even yourself when you try to
 
 382 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 provoke me. I shall even overcome your contradictions. 
 I regard the world otherwise now, than but a few years 
 since, and can truly say, I feel that I've been tested in a 
 higher sense at last. Let this be evidence to you of what 
 I mean : that I can report how much better and calmer I 
 feel now, in every respect. For some time now I have 
 unintermittently had such beautiful sound sleep as I've 
 hardly ever known before. Oh, if I only could lend it 
 you, how soon you would get well ! But believe me, 
 this health and recovery doesn't come from without or 
 through physic ; it comes from nowhere but within : my 
 retirement and profound collectedness refresh me, give me 
 deep tranquillity and peace. If you look without for any- 
 thing, hold fast to me alone ! And if you would console 
 yourself for all you've suffered, hold fast to it that my heart 
 has stayed good to you, and surely you can see it ! 
 will stand unflinching by your side. 
 
 Enough ! I hope for the production of Tristan at 
 Carlsruhe toward Easter ; then we shall meet again, and 
 all the rest will arrange itself kindly and well. 
 
 Farewell, and rely on 
 
 Thy good HUSBAND. 
 
 149. 
 
 VENICE, 28. October 1858. 
 
 MY GOOD MUTZ, 
 
 I sent off the views of Venice yesterday ; I hope 
 you will find them on your arrival in Dresden, where I 
 also hope you will come to a little rest soon. I've had no 
 further tidings of you since your last ; I should have been 
 glad if Troger had written me,* but shall henceforth go 
 
 * His prognosis reached Wagner three days later; see the entry in 
 the Venice Diary for November i (A'. Wagner to ill. WesendoncK). Tr.
 
 FROM VENICE 383 
 
 by Pusinelli. Everything within me is becoming so calm 
 now, that I keep hoping you must also share that happi- 
 ness ere long. 
 
 To-day, however, I intended to amuse you a little 
 with Venice. The pictures will do the best for that. I 
 have sent the chief views coloured, although they're not 
 exactly works of art ; only, with Venice the vivid colour- 
 ing has so much to do with the effect, that one can really 
 form no notion of it from mere black outlines. The 
 Doge's Palace and church of S. Mark look just as bright 
 and dazzling in reality, as in the pictures. I have marked 
 the photographs on their backs ; a portion of my palace 
 comes into one of them, though unfortunately not the 
 part in which I dwell : still, it will give you some idea. 
 On the big bird's-eye view of Venice I have made a red 
 cross where my palace stands ; going up the Grand Canal 
 you must keep to the left, and at the first big bend you'll 
 find it. 
 
 I also have enclosed a folk-group that pleased me 
 most ; these are the feminine water-carriers, who really 
 have a very original look. The other women of the 
 people do not shew up to their advantage, and in 
 particular would be improved by some sort of head-gear, 
 which I miss in them greatly. True, they expend very 
 much art on their coiffure, and that is why they go about 
 bare-headed ; but unfortunately the good girls can't tidy 
 up their hair except on Sunday, and never again in the 
 week, so that of a Saturday they look like tousled hags. 
 Among the men, the sailors are often very interesting ; 
 striking physiognomies, with red caps a la Stumnie von 
 Portici. But your subscriber chiefly mixes with the 
 gondoliers, who naturally play a big role in Venice ; they 
 try to overcharge you when they can, but I am already
 
 384 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 well known in my district and no longer treated by them 
 as a foreigner, which makes it easier and cheaper for me. 
 They all have fine, clear, powerful voices. Nothing is 
 more thrilling, than when one hears a solitary gondolier 
 on the Canal at night suddenly begin with plaintive 
 accent "O Venezia ! " etc. ; it's quite unique. Then 
 one hears them answering one another from the distance 
 with a kindred chant, until it dies away ; which has 
 quite an indescribable effect. Moreover, there is a regular 
 Gondoliers- Vocal Union, with a workman at the Arsenal 
 for conductor and composer ; the voices are wonderfully 
 sonorous and robust. For the upper part they have altos, 
 which lends their singing quite a novel character ; and 
 then they sing the most diverse kinds of ballads in the 
 folk-style, all with incredible precision, purity of intonation 
 and nuance. They usually get hired by strangers to make 
 a slow tour of the whole Canal on a gondola lit with 
 coloured lanterns ; which is followed by a lengthening train 
 of boats with listeners, amid great silence, and actively 
 applauded from the windows. They have often entertained 
 me, 011 my balcony, very finely in this fashion. 
 
 That sort of thing here constitutes the limit of my 
 enjoyment from without ; otherwise I adhere to my 
 retirement, and see no one but Karl. I have to keep off 
 [would-be] friends by force ; the other day, however, a 
 prince pursued me down the Square, and regularly button- 
 holed me. This time 1 didn't regret it : it was the Russian 
 Prince Dolgontki, who really is a very clever and highly- 
 cultured man ; he told me a lot about Lohengrin, which 
 he had seen in Vienna, and gave me many very interesting 
 details. As he is soon going away, I make an exception 
 of him, and have allowed him to call. Otherwise I'm 
 merciless ; I have had a Count Kalenbers: dismissed twice
 
 FROM VENICE 385 
 
 over. Already I am as well known to the Austrian officers 
 as a spotted dog ; they always make for Karl to get my 
 news. Unfortunately I have been unable to avoid coming 
 into contact with the local military bandmasters. Perhaps 
 you know that the Austrian military bands are excellent ? 
 Well, there are three of them here, which take it in turns 
 to play in S. Mark's square of an evening, when the whole 
 of Venice is on its legs. One of these bandmasters got 
 round my landlord, but I had him turned away. In the 
 evening I heard the Tannhauser march performed by him, 
 however, and the dragging tempo vexed me ; so I sent 
 him word that the next time he gave anything of mine 
 he must let me know first, that I might shew him the 
 correct tempo etc. He promptly fetched me to a rehearsal 
 of the Tannhauser overture, for military band ! That 
 was in barracks, and all the officers dropped in. It really 
 went quite well, against all expectation. But then the 
 bandmaster of the Royal Marines got hold of Karl, and 
 begged him to persuade me just to honour him as well : 
 he wanted to perform the overture to Rienzi. What else 
 could I do? I had to go off to the Marine barracks, 
 where a regular high-ceremonial reception awaited me, 
 all the officers en masse. The overture went very well ; 
 I heard it from the restaurant with Karl, over dessert 
 and half a bottle of champagne [Liszt's birthday, Oct. 22]. 
 Next day the bandmaster of the Hungarian regiment 
 announced himself, with pieces from Lohengrin : but I 
 dismissed him for the nonce. 
 
 There those are about all my adventures ; otherwise 
 everything is going very uniformly. I am glad to be back 
 at my work ; I'm at it hard, and even take the evenings 
 now for instrumenting. It is all becoming very beautiful ! 
 
 I have heard nothing decent from abroad for ever so 
 VOL, i 25
 
 386 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 long ; for some time past no news at all, or else unfavour- 
 able. Unfortunately, things will not go so swimmingly 
 with u your" Rienzi as could be wished. They all would 
 prefer something new of mine ; but the worst is, that the 
 curs, subject gives such trouble. The day before yester- 
 day I received a great shock through it ; I was already 
 expecting the fee from Munich, and rejoicing in the ability 
 to forward Heim his cash at once, when L,achner writes 
 me : Unfortunately the reading committee has decided 
 that, in view of the present rigorously Catholic trend at 
 Munich, the production of Rienzi would be quite out of 
 the question on account of the religious topics occurring 
 in it, and accordingly the score cannot be accepted. That 
 was a knock-down blow, and I fear it will be exactly the 
 same in Austria ; even of Prague I've no more hope now. 
 What makes things worse, is the subject's having a political, 
 as well as an ecclesiastic splinter. That, at any rate, is 
 to be feared no more with my poorer, later and latest 
 works (a rub for you !). Even that wearisome dolt 
 Ed. Devrient has treated me to a refusal ; he is again on 
 the eve so he writes me of breaking with Carlsruhe ! 
 What a chapter of absurd confusions ! I must try and 
 pull through, however, and so am very busy correspond- 
 ing ; but thus much is certain rl cannot coiint much on 
 Rienzi, as you will see. My Tristan, on the contrary, 
 will go off next year like hot cakes ; even now I am 
 continually having to mollify theatres all clamouring for 
 the first performance. Thus Darmstadt, also Munich ; 
 I've had to promise Prague at least to give them second 
 place with this opera's production. For Rienzi my main 
 hope now is Hanover ; but I've had nothing from there 
 as yet. Don't you get anxious, however, and deny your- 
 self nothing ; it will all come right !
 
 FROM VENICE 387 
 
 And now be heartily welcomed to Dresden ! Lord, 
 how delighted I shall be to hear that you're getting 
 a little rest and some comfort in your provisional small 
 abode ! It will come for certain, poor dear Mutz ; your 
 health, so much dependent on your frame of mind, will 
 gradually improve ; the most distressing symptoms will 
 vanish step by step, and you'll draw courage and pleasure 
 from life again. I build great hopes on Dresden ; much 
 will suit you there, for sure, and if only you regain suf- 
 ficient strength to pluck yourself from troubling fancies, 
 you'll already have so much to reconcile you to the 
 present, that at last you'll also pluck up courage for the 
 future. 
 
 To begin with, give my heartiest greetings to 
 Tichatscheck and Frau Pauline. Lord knows how gladly 
 I'd be with you all ! -You ought to be pitying me and 
 yet I have to keep consoling you ! Tell Tschekel it's 
 a bargain that we're to be chiselled for Dresden.* And 
 greet Heine and Fischer ; I'm going to write to Pusinelli. 
 And good, good Fipsel, greet him a thousand times ; he's 
 not to over-eat himself ! A good thing the red-tail 
 [Jacquot ?] is coming else ! !-- 
 
 Now adieu, farewell, good Mutz, and you shall have 
 a thorough good buss for the first night's good sleep you 
 can write me of ; so do your best, and hold me dear ! 
 
 Thy 
 
 R. 
 
 Please tell me the house-number, and whether your 
 lodging is left or right of the parterre. A good thing you 
 have no stairs to mount ! 
 
 * To Tichatschek, in joke, Sept. 27 : " I mean to leave directions in my 
 will for setting up a monument to the pair of us in front of the Dresden 
 theatre,'' etc. ; see Life, vi, 375. Tr.
 
 38 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 150. 
 
 VENICE, 14. November 1858. 
 
 MY DEAR GOOD MUTZ, 
 
 To-day I'm merely sending you the most essential 
 answer to your letter just received, and reserve to myself 
 to write again tomorrow in case I forget too much. 
 
 I have been ill since the first of November, and only 
 the last two days have I gone into the air again a little, 
 about dinner-time. For three days I was confined to 
 bed ; a gastric-nervous fever threatened. The private 
 physician of a Prince Gallitzin has been treating me. 
 Now I'm on the mend, and think of resuming work in 
 a day or two. 
 
 Dear Mutz, I won't conceal from you that your last 
 letter from Chemnitz had its share in the development 
 of my illness. The grief of seeing you forever falling 
 back upon that chapter, where every fancy does you 
 harm, convulsed me deeply. Have we taken opposite 
 paths for a while, merely to renew from a distance those 
 conflicts which, alas, were so injurious to both of us 
 when last we were together ? Your letters from Zwickau 
 touched me so much, whereas those from Chemnitz only 
 shewed me how recklessly and insanely your wound was 
 being probed again there. 
 
 Do please discard the fatal notion that I'm keeping 
 something up my sleeve and mean to break away from 
 you insensibly, or anything like it. For the sake of 
 a clean slate and calmer future for the pair of us, I 
 deemed it best that we should separate at present for 
 a season, precisely to avoid the very thing you keep 
 relapsing into, to my sorrow. Whatever I have said to 
 you, and all I've adduced in support of it, was honestly 
 and truly meant. I reproach myself most bitterly for
 
 FROM VENICE 389 
 
 having let the irritation of the moment betray me [at 
 Enge] into joining issue with you harshly and saying 
 wounding and offensive things ; it is tJiat for which you 
 have to forgive me, just as I heartily repent it myself. 
 But nothing more shall shake me in my present resolution 
 to keep all that is wounding or slighting aloof from you. 
 I therefore tell you, please don't challenge me again : 
 'tis waste of breath, you will not draw me ; I shall 
 simply pay you back with gentleness and kindness. But 
 with that on which I'm silent, it is not because I need to 
 circumvent you, but solely since it is not meet (iiiclit taugt] 
 between us, and must be absolutely ignored and forgotten. 
 This is my only reason for not answering on that point, 
 believe me ! I have sworn it to myself for good and 
 all !- 
 
 Only take heart, my dear good Minna ! Overcome, 
 and steadfastly believe in the intense sincerity with which 
 I now aspire to nothing nothing on this earth save to 
 make up for what has been inflicted on you, support and 
 guard you, preserve you in all loyalty and love, that 
 your suffering state may also mend, you may regain an 
 interest in life, and together we may then enjoy life's even- 
 ing as cheerfully and cloudlessly as possible. Dear good 
 Mutz, what more can I say to you ? Would not all else 
 be utterly superfluous and vain ? 
 
 Can it be humanly conceivable that they are putting 
 serious difficulties in the way of your residence in 
 Dresden? I'm dumbfounded at it ! Still, I keep hoping 
 it is nothing but a mere scruple of the local police which 
 may easily be set aside. I am writing Pusinelli a couple 
 of lines, which please convey to him at once ; my next 
 step shall depend on his answer. I am determined to 
 pursue it [if need be] right up to the King ; in any case
 
 390 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 I shall write to L/iitticliaii about it, perhaps within the 
 next few days. My God, what does one really care, tho', 
 for this Dresden ? In the worst event I would beg you 
 to join me at Venice immediately, if it were not so dread- 
 ful to let you and your pets make a fresh stiff journey 
 in the heart of winter, and to tear you again from a rest 
 scarcely entered. The sole object with Dresden, accord- 
 ingly, is to afford you a point of repose for this winter, 
 for your [medical] tending, diversion and recreation, until 
 I can return to Germany myself; when we can't perhaps 
 so well choose Dresden, after all, as unfortunately that 
 stupid old publishing tangle (with Kriete's) hasn't spun 
 itself off even yet, making Dresden still a little awkward 
 to me. I rather think of our settling in Berlin or 
 Vienna ; you yourself shall have the casting vote in that, 
 as I am indifferent on the whole to the exact place, 
 provided only it's a large city with good artistic means. 
 The time for us to make our minds up isn't far off now ; 
 as soon as I have done with Tristan I shall in any case 
 be able to go to Germany for a while, and the settling 
 of the larger question must necessarily be knit with that. 
 But I anticipate with next-door to certainty that the 
 new change of Government in Prussia will expedite 
 everything ; at all events a Prussian amnesty will soon be 
 promulgated there, and if they do not think of me them- 
 selves, I am determined to address myself personally 
 to the Prince of Prussia and beg him to sanction my 
 residing in Berlin. I can't help fancying I shall receive 
 an invitation to Lohengrin even as it is, which would 
 almost plunge me in perplexity firstly, because it would 
 detain me for long from the completion of my new opera 
 (which we really need to live upon), and secondly because, 
 after these 10 years, I shouldn't care to obtain my first
 
 FROM VENICE 391 
 
 hearing of Lohengrin precisely in Berlin, turned to a. 
 weariness by their miserable singers, when I would far 
 rather choose Vienna, where the representation is said to 
 be unsurpassably fine. But more about all that tomorrow ; 
 for to-day only thus much : I definitely assume that we 
 two poor married folk shall come together again from next 
 summer onward, no matter where ! 
 
 But just you behave ! For God's sake don't play 
 havoc with yourself like a maniac ! Neither be afraid 
 you might never be able to see me again ; Troger has 
 written me, and the only thing to fear for you is a very 
 wearying malady if you do not yourself help to abate, 
 improve, and make your sufferings bearable through 
 tranquilness of mind, which is the only thing to help 
 here. But you have just got to be a bit stronger and 
 sounder when I see you again ! 
 
 And now farewell. I see I've still a deal to write to 
 you ; so a second letter tomorrow ! 
 
 Farewell, good, good Mutz. More tomorrow from 
 
 Thy 
 
 Get a warm carpet for your lodging at once ; / com- 
 mand it ! 
 
 151. 
 
 VENICE, 14. November 1858, [Sunday'] evening. 
 
 So, my good Minna, now I am quieter I'll write you 
 again at once, that nothing may remain forgotten, and 
 everything, if possible, be made still clearer. 
 
 Once more, I meant to have w r ritten you a couple of 
 days after your last letter, as I hoped to have overcome 
 by then the truly disheartening impression your terribly 
 excited letter had produced on me. Meanwhile, however,
 
 392 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 .my own illness became more and more critical ; I lost 
 all appetite, could keep nothing down at last, had fever, 
 and was utterly wretched. As soon as he heard of it 
 through Karl, Prince Dolgoruki sent me Prince Galitzin's 
 private doctor, when we parried the outbreak of an 
 apparently very bad illness which seems to have been 
 brewing in me for a long time ; and at the end of 14 days, 
 as said, to-day I've been out for the third time already 
 and feel set up again, only that I must still be very 
 careful with my diet. So that is done with, and let us 
 hope, for long ! 
 
 Then at the beginning of this week came good, good 
 Frau Pauline's answer, for which I am deeply obliged to 
 her. She wrote me about yourself as well, saying you 
 intended to write me next day quite calmly and nicely, 
 she hoped. I confess I waited gladly for that promised 
 letter, which would certainly have made my answer 
 easier ; but it did not arrive, alas, until a few days later. 
 You poor good Wife, for Heaven's sake don't plague 
 yourself so shockingly ! Never again will you move me 
 from my fixed determination, which distance itself makes 
 the easier for me in its first stage, since I there am master 
 of my mood and able to consult nothing besides my duty 
 to you. Only believe me, all else is quite useless, and 
 as I already have written you to-day if I keep silence on 
 certain points, it is not that I have anything to conceal 
 from you, but simply and solely because I know too 
 profoundly how foolish and unprofitable it is to keep 
 returning to such a subject, whereas oblivion is the only 
 anodyne even for yourself. Enough of it, I beg and 
 implore you by all that's most heartfelt and earnest ; 
 never another word on it ! Attest to me thus that you 
 really are fond of me.
 
 FROM VENICE 393 
 
 Think of nothing but our reunion, and to make that 
 a thoroughly great and enduring boon to both of us, 
 attend to nothing else whatever now beyond your health ; 
 toward which you can do nothing, nothing in the world, 
 unless you tranquillise your mind ! Fulfil my prayer, 
 and believe me, nothing now can grieve me more than the 
 knowledge that your malady is positively being increased 
 by those gloomy thoughts ; whilst nothing can more re- 
 joice me than to hear of your improvement, since it at the 
 same -time is proof to me that your mind is finding ease 
 about me and you are according me belief. That you can 
 only do by firmly carrying out the instant resolution not 
 to speak another word on that which still is so unsettling 
 you, and that to no one ; then it at last will happen of 
 itself that you won't think so much about it, until it 
 finally will vanish from you like a murky shadow, and in 
 its place the Present shall approach with fostering, up- 
 lifting, liberating hands. Open your eyes, and look un- 
 prejudiced on all that can afford you joy, amusement, 
 occupation. Gladden yourself with the performances of 
 my operas, and if you really must have something to 
 unsettle you be thoroughly impatient in your expectation 
 of my license to return at last, to present my works in 
 person and restore myself to the exercise of my art. At 
 Zurich we were far too buried and thrown upon our own 
 resources ; in the long run that was bound to act in- 
 juriously and set us grousing. Once we are back in a 
 big city, where I can busy myself with performances, and 
 you can tend me after tiring labours and rejoice with me 
 at their success, it will seem to yourself all a dream that 
 we ever were tucked into a crib like that and only with 
 an effort could get a reasonable guest or two into the 
 house from time to time. Well, well, all that will alter
 
 394 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 and a whole new life begin, full of honours, fame and 
 recognition, as much as ever I desire ; so get yourself in 
 trim to enjoy this harvest with me after a long and 
 arduous seedtime. Keep this future in eye, and if you 
 will, be thoroughly impatient for it to come about at last : 
 that sort of impatience won't harm you at all ; on the 
 contrary, it will heal and regale you ! And it won't be 
 long in coming now ; only give me free leisure to finish 
 my Tristan which, if I'm left undistracted, will be done 
 by next Spring and my return into Germany is ensured 
 me already. Perhaps it will come even sooner ; but 
 should it chance that I'm not let return at all (which of 
 course is inconceivable !) why, then you must return to 
 me, and we should have to say Valet to the pleasant 
 prospect of Germany. Then we should have to transplant 
 ourselves to Paris, where I should push the presentation 
 of my operas with all my might, and in the meantime 
 Tristan must provide us with the means to live agreeably 
 there. So, if I am not amnestied by next summer, you 
 would come to me again with dog and bird, and we'd defini- 
 tively emigrate to Paris ; which I should never quit again, 
 however, even if I were amnestied later. 
 
 Well, only don't grow too impatient, good Mutzinius ; 
 that also is not well. No, my own temper is so calm and 
 steady now, my outlook on the world so clear and void of 
 hate, that I shall get on very well with it henceforward ; 
 only you, poor Wife, disquiet me : nothing nothing else ! 
 so calm yourself, too, and nothing then will lack me 
 any more. 
 
 But it is imperative that I should get done with this 
 confounded Tristan ; it must bring us in much grist next 
 year. Rienzi unfortunately refuses to go down at all ! I 
 really had been reckoning on Hanover for certain ; but,
 
 FROM VENICE 395 
 
 apart from Breslau, not a theatre has taken it in earnest 
 yet, and we should have a very poor look-out if I had 
 written none besides this opera of yours ! You know I 
 had to pay Heim back his 1000 fr. last month ; I had 
 counted on Hanover, but nothing came in, -then my 
 good Tannhauser (already a long way off being so good as 
 Rienzi !) helped once again : the Stuttgart people addressed 
 themselves to me for it at last. You know that I had 
 strictly meant to keep them dangling, but I grappled to 
 and wrote that if they sent me 50 louis d'or at once, they 
 could have the opera, so far as I cared ; I received their 
 cash at once, and was able to repay Heim in the nick 
 of time. Good old Tannhauser ! rotten Rienzi ! At 
 Pesth, too, they want to have Tannhauser. I've offered 
 Lohengrin to Cassel. Dingelstedt writes about Rienzi 
 for Weimar naturally only with Tichatscheck ; probably 
 that will remain my last transaction with Rienzi. But 
 that is not to say that things are standing badly with us ; 
 Tannhauser and Lohengrin are still inexhaustible. Only 
 the other day there was another Berlin performance of the 
 former ; consequently another tantieme, which the entirely 
 good Minna shall have for New Year's gift. Lohengrin 
 also is bound to be coming out there soon, and even 
 though the advance must be worked off first, still there 
 will be good receipts to expect from Berlin again by Easter. 
 And by then I shall have finished my Tristan (God 
 willing !) and pocket another 100 louis d'or from Hartels. 
 I also hope to get a supplementary 500 gulden for 
 Lohengrin from Vienna this winter itself ; there have 
 been 12 performances already, at the least, and they have 
 to pay me again after the aoth. Moreover, Tannhauser is 
 set down for next season at Vienna ; consequently I must 
 be getting my 1000 gulden again for it in the summer.
 
 396 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 Then will come Tristan, which everybody wants to be the 
 first to have, and doubtless will bring me in a tidy sum 
 in no time. 
 
 It is Vienna that gives me most delight, though. 
 Kirchberger [Alex. Winterberger], the pupil of Liszt's 
 who was with him at Zurich two years ago, has arrived 
 here with a Russian princess whose sons he is teaching. 
 He has seen all the Vienna performances of Lohengrin, 
 after hearing it often at Weimar, and says it would be 
 quite impossible to imagine anything more perfect and 
 entrancing, compared with Weimar (in spite of Liszt !) 
 he absolutely would not have recognised the opera : all, 
 all were so excellent, from the first to the last, that it was 
 one continual transport ; Ander as Lohengrin bewitching, 
 and everything, orchestra, chorus and all, unsurpassable. 
 Prince Dolgoruki confirmed that also. And above all, the 
 success ! How would that have formerly been possible 
 in Vienna with Lohengrin straight off? The audience is 
 said to applaud like mad, and each representation to be a 
 perfect festival. I confess, it would give me joy, at last to 
 hear a thing like that. Naturally I have acquired a great 
 predilection for Vienna, and the place I think would 
 also please yourself. Well, we shall see ; only not too 
 impatient ! But one of these fine days all will suddenly 
 become magnificent, and we shall stare at each other and 
 ask in amaze, Where, wherever have we been all this 
 time ? Were we dreaming ? 
 
 There now, I've picked up nearly all I know about 
 myself to tell you ; may it please you to some extent ! 
 Just as winter has descended on the whole of Europe, so 
 on Venice too. What as a rule one experiences very 
 seldom even in the hardest winter here, actually came at 
 the beginning of November : snow lay on the ground for
 
 FROM VENICE 397 
 
 several days ! Not bad. And then the poor protection 
 of abodes here, ridiculous stoves, etc. ; it was awful. I've 
 been having fires all day long, especially during my illness, 
 and wood is the reverse of cheap here. It's really getting 
 time that we were done with it ! Now I have had 
 windows and doors duly protected with list, the stoves 
 repaired, and at last it's quite comfortable ; moreover the 
 weather has turned mild again. For God's sake, do keep 
 yourself sheltered ! I expected it, those d d parterre 
 apartments aren't fit for winter. Mind you have a 
 thoroughly warm carpet laid at once, else you shan't have 
 that New Year's tantieme ! But that fearfully good 
 Pauline, isrft she good ? It's almost more than one can 
 bear, so good as that ! What you write me about her has 
 rejoiced me exceedingly ; moreover it has done me an 
 amount of good it can scarcely have done even yourself, 
 to know that you are surrounded by such kind people. 
 Only see a lot of the Tschekels ; they'll soon drive away 
 all your doldrums, and help [to divert] your impatience. -- 
 
 So you haven't been to Heine's or Fischer's yet? 
 Soared straight to Laittichau ! Well, I'm glad to hear 
 that he expressed himself so nicely. O, if the man had 
 only treated me a shade more delicately then, as is fitting 
 with an artist of my stamp, how much might have 
 happened quite differently, or never have happened at all ! 
 But, oblivion of that as well ! I harbour no ill-feeling 
 against anybody now. For sure he'll send you decent 
 tickets ; otherwise Devil take him, and you'll proudly pay 
 your money for the amphitheatre that is self-under- 
 stood. 
 
 I cannot yet conceive their raising serious difficulties 
 against your stay in Dresden ; but your having to go to 
 the police-court yourself is really shocking ! The Devil,
 
 398 RICHARD TO MINNA WAGNER 
 
 is there no one who at once will see to all this rumpus in 
 your stead ? There I recognise the seamy side of Dresden 
 at a glance. Pusinelli must undertake it ; he is the most 
 suitable person : in case of need he is to recommend you 
 a good lawyer who will take the whole thing off your 
 hands. It quite revolts me to think of your going your- 
 self !- 
 
 For the rest, the fact of Zschinsky's place as Minister 
 of Justice not being filled yet is a good sign' to me : they 
 are waiting to see what Prussia means to do about the 
 amnesty, to shape their course accordingly. 
 
 And now farewell for to-day ; may you very soon give 
 me the unspeakable joy of your writing me quite calmly, 
 trustfully and hopefully ! Greet Fipsel and Jacquot, the 
 good, good beasts ; I often dream of them as well. I 
 shall write a couple of lines to N. myself.- And in 
 conclusion, another hearty salute and kiss from 
 
 Thy good 
 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 END OF VOL. i 
 
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