Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of February 18, 1870

Overview

Cosima records with severity a quarrel in which she insisted on her preferred tempo for Beethoven’s Fifth and wounded Wagner by what he felt as willfulness. Her self-reproach turns the incident into a moral lesson about the frailty and pride of human nature. A visit with the children to Countess Bassenheim adds a gentler counterweight through sympathy for another woman’s difficult lot.

Content

Friday, February 18:

Today, children, I committed a grave wrong; I offended our friend, and since this is something I wish never to do again, regarding it as the blackest of sins, I use this instance to identify the pitifulness of our human nature. We were speaking of Beethoven’s C Minor Symphony, and I willfully insisted on a tempo which I felt to be right. That astonished and offended R., and now we are both suffering—I for having done it, he for having experienced willfulness at my hands. After lunch with the children to Countess Bassenheim, whose hard lot and excellent disposition always touch me.