Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of October 14, 1873

Overview

R. finishes a page of orchestration while their visitor departs from Neumarkt, and he reflects on whether the Greeks actually read their dramatists or knew them mostly by memory. The silence from both Regensburg and Leipzig remains ominous and puzzling. In the evening they read Uhland again, but the day also brings welcome political news in Bismarck's railroad decision and the recognition of Bishop Reinkens, both seen as satisfying and important steps.

Content

Tuesday, October 14:

Drove with our friend to Neumarkt and there said goodbye to her; in the meantime R. completed his page of orchestration. After lunch, he wondered whether the Greeks ever read their great dramatists; probably they did at the time of Aristotle; the quotations presumably all from memory, but they probably read Aeschylus and Sophocles as well as Homer.

The Baron from Regensburg keeps silent! Our family in Leipzig is also silent, in both cases ominous and puzzling. In the evening read Uhland. Before that, pleasure in Bismarck’s decision to take over the railroads, a great step against the profiteering. The recognition of Bishop Reinkens is also a very gratifying deed.