The Brown Book

Richard Wagner’s diary between 1865 and 1882

The Brown Book is the notebook, bound in brown leather, that Wagner began on the Hochkopf above the Walchensee in August 1865 and wrote in, on and off, until 1882. Its first pages are a diary addressed to Cosima, who was then still married to Hans von Bülow and travelling in Hungary with her father; Wagner wrote in it what he could not say in letters. Later the book became a store for whatever he wanted to keep: poems, sketches for dramas, the Annals of his life, forewords and stray thoughts.

The Hochkopf and Munich, 1865. From 9 to 21 August 1865 Wagner lived alone with his servant Franz and his dog Pohl in King Ludwig II’s hunting lodge, ill, longing for Cosima and still shaken by the death of Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, his first Tristan. The daily entries run on through the autumn in Munich. Among them, written at the King’s request between 27 and 30 August, is the first prose sketch of Parzival, in which the whole drama is already laid out. The diary breaks off with the days at Hohenschwangau in November and Wagner’s expulsion from Munich in December.

Exile and Tribschen, 1866–1868. A few entries follow from Lyons, Marseilles and Geneva, and after a long silence a handful from Tribschen in 1867, written while Cosima was away in Munich. In February 1868 Wagner copied into the book his Annals, a terse record of every year from 1846, made from the notes he used when dictating his autobiography to Cosima. Through 1868 come the forewords to German Art and German Politics and the second edition of Opera and Drama, the recollections of Schnorr, thoughts on Buddhism for The Victors, ideas for a drama about Luther, satirical sonnets, and the Annals for 1868, the year Cosima came to Tribschen for good.

The later entries, 1869–1882. Once Cosima was keeping her own diaries, the Brown Book was used less and less. The later pages hold dedicatory poems to King Ludwig, notes for the Beethoven essay, the sketch for the farce A Capitulation, poems on the Franco-Prussian War, an epitaph for Karl Tausig and verses to Georg Herwegh. The last entries, written in Naples, Bayreuth and Palermo between 1880 and 1882, are notes on war, property, religion and race, and the book ends with the fragment “On Male and Female in Culture and Art”.

After Wagner’s death the book passed to Cosima and then to their daughter Eva, who pasted over or cut out the pages she judged too private. Most of these were recovered when the book was published in full in 1975, edited by Joachim Bergfeld; the text here follows George Bird’s English translation of 1980. Where the book gives a German poem with a translation, only the translation is shown.

Showing all entries (148 total)

Entry	Word Count	Subject
August 10, 1865	372	Wagner describes his difficult ascent to the Hochkopf lodge and the confusion of settling in without water or light. The mountain landscape delights him, and a bright star that he associates with Cosima becomes a symbol of their love.
August 12, 1865	863	In a poem written at Hochkopf, Wagner imagines himself standing above an abyss, drawn toward the night of release associated with Tristan. The star above him becomes Wotan, and the poem turns toward Brünnhilde's awakening and Siegfried's promised revelation.
August 13, 1865	64	Wagner is confined by a bad cold and fever and feels acutely lonely. He hopes that writing even a few lines to Cosima will bring some relief.
August 14, 1865	296	After a restorative night's sleep, Wagner insists that he and Cosima must not be separated again. Reading Victor Hugo prompts a reflection on the difference between depicting misery and offering artistic deliverance from it.
August 15, 1865	258	Too ill at first to read Cosima's letters, Wagner describes their separation as an almost unbearable shared suffering. He reproaches Hans von Bülow and affirms that Cosima alone truly knows him.
August 15, 1865	144	Rain, intrusive visitors, and news of Zahlberg's death deepen Wagner's wish for seclusion with Cosima. He worries about her in Pest and turns to the Ramayana for distraction.
August 16, 1865	320	Feeling somewhat better, Wagner reflects on waking memories and dreams before immersing himself in the Ramayana. He admires its vast imaginative world and sees in Rama's exile the possibility of a magnificent drama.
August 17, 1865	236	Wagner resumes work on the Siegfried score and reflects on the suffering and calculated malice depicted in the Ramayana. A letter from Cosima renews his distress at separation, although his return to composition gives him encouragement.
August 18, 1865	261	Wagner angrily challenges Cosima's jealousy concerning Mathilde Maier and her apparent preference for her father's company. He also considers how to preserve his health so that he can complete his remaining works.
August 18, 1865	554	Wagner imagines an ordered artistic existence supported by the King, with Bülow handling practical work and Cosima always nearby. If royal support fails, he pictures an opposite life of poverty and constant labour in Bülow and Cosima's household.
August 18, 1865	64	Looking toward Munich, Wagner finds the prospect of home empty without Cosima. He calls her the soul of his life and ends with news of work and an encouraging letter from the King.
August 19, 1865	665	Wagner prepares to send the Rhinegold score for the King's birthday and considers a secluded life devoted to creation. Schnorr's death, worsening weather, illness, and another family death weigh on him, and he decides to leave the mountain lodge.
August 20, 1865	869	Preparing to leave Hochkopf, Wagner examines his alternating exaltation and despair and the difficulty of sustaining his work. He asks Cosima for lasting companionship and peace, while grieving the loss of the joy he had found in Tristan.
August 21, 1865	161	Wagner takes leave of the mountain retreat and resolves against repeating such experiments in solitude. The separation has confirmed his dependence on Cosima, whom he hopes soon to see again.
August 22, 1865	201	Crossing the Walchensee, Wagner contrasts the visible bottom of shallow water with the reflected world on deep water, making an analogy with human souls. Back in Munich, he enjoys his rooms and Cosima's letters while doubting how soon she will return.
August 23, 1865	321	Wagner recounts a visit to the children and his reaction to Isolde's resemblance to an imagined sister. He then criticizes the music and artistic claims associated with the Hungarian performers and contrasts them with the depth he hears in a German folk song.
August 24, 1865	220	The absence of letters from Cosima leaves Wagner anxious and resentful. Thinking of Schnorr as his Tristan, he imagines having drawn his friend toward an abyss and returns to his fear for Cosima.
August 25, 1865	210	A birthday poem celebrates Ludwig II as a source of hope and relief from sorrow. A second poem turns to Cosima's enthusiastic reception in Hungary and questions Wagner's claim to call her his wife.
August 26, 1865	11	Wagner welcomes the King's eagerness to hear about Parzival. The brief entry records his delight at this interest in the projected work.
August 27, 1865	1,586	The opening of the Parzival prose sketch establishes Anfortas's unhealed wound, the Grail community, and the threat posed by Klingsor. Anfortas's suffering culminates in a prophecy that a fool made knowing through compassion will redeem him.
August 28, 1865	2,093	The Parzival sketch develops Kundry's mysterious service and introduces the young hero through his killing of a swan. Parzival witnesses Anfortas's agony and the Grail ceremony but fails to respond, so Gurnemans drives him away.
Tuesday, August 29 – Wednesday, August 30, 1865	3,735	Wagner completes the Parzival sketch with Kundry's attempted seduction, the hero's awakening through compassion, and the destruction of Klingsor's domain. Parzival returns on Good Friday, heals Anfortas, assumes the Grail office, and brings Kundry release.
August 31, 1865	439	With the Parzival sketch finished, Wagner loses the imaginative refuge that had softened his separation from Cosima. He revisits her inability to accompany him to Schnorr's funeral and bitterly compares his suffering with her travels.
September 1, 1865	298	Wagner resents Liszt's influence over Cosima's itinerary and doubts his friend's affection and religious sincerity. His distress at separation turns into harsh accusations against both father and daughter.
September 2, 1865	661	Wagner weighs two explanations for the sacred lance's role in Parzival and its connection with Anfortas's wound. He asks Cosima's opinion, then returns to his emotional exhaustion and frustration over her absence.
September 3, 1865	565	Wagner urges Cosima to make their unavoidable suffering gentler and explains his inability to speak about Schnorr's death. He imagines transforming life and love into a sustaining dream from which artistic creation can emerge.
September 4, 1865	145	Photographs of Liszt and Cosima disturb Wagner's imagined refuge. He objects to Liszt's appearance and influence over Cosima's presentation, then hopes to regain oblivion through work on Siegfried.
September 5, 1865	100	A walk beside the Isar recalls an intimate moment with Cosima, but Munich gives Wagner no feeling of home. He wishes chiefly for a place where he can dream and sleep undisturbed.
September 9, 1865	316	Semper's arrival forces Wagner to confront a festival theatre project that he now finds burdensome. His criticism of the King's insistence becomes entwined with his resentment of Cosima's absence and her continuing activities with Liszt.
September 10, 1865	546	Wagner interprets life's repetitions through musical forms, comparing ordinary existence with a canon and his relationship with Cosima with a double fugue. He characterizes Liszt's public life as a series of variations centred on the same personality.
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