Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of April 14, 1872

Overview

R. remains absorbed in the performance while a telegram about the planetarium goes out to Herr v. Gersdorff. The pair enjoy a bright afternoon walk to a nearby farmer, where R. talks expansively about music and praises Beethoven’s Pastorale as a true expression of nature. The evening is spent reading Menzel, though the note is shadowed by news that Claire’s mother is ill again.

Content

Sunday, April 14:

R. is still busy with the performance; I send a telegram to Herr v. Gersdorff about the planetarium. Loveliest of days. We walk in the afternoon to the friendly farmer’s nearby; R. talks about music, Der Freischütz, and then the Pastoral.

“There you see the true German,” says R. “What do the French express with their Arcadian rustics? What mawkish stuff! Beethoven writes a Pastoral and in it shows us the whole of Nature.” In the evening we read Menzel’s book, which interests R. very much. Letter from Claire: Mama is ill again.