Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of September 19, 1876

Overview

The trip to Venice began with an immediate sense of delight: the city’s first sights, the hotel, and the walk through San Marco all made a strong impression. The evening was crowned by workers from the dockyard singing for them, and the music struck the writer as a direct expression of the people’s soul.

Content

Tuesday, September 19:

At 11:30, departure for Venice; arrival at 3:30. Very fine impression from the start. Put up at the Hotel de l’Europe. Walk through the Piazza San Marco with R. and the children. Ate at 6 o’clock; afterward, a serenade by the dockyard workers, who delight us and regale us with songs, lighthearted, devout, and serious. I ask them for the Canzone del Tasso, which moves me greatly. Indescribable pleasure in this music, the soul of the people!