Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of April 23, 1870

Overview

Wagner’s gloomy mood is partly redirected by Tieck’s reflections on old Italian music, which lead him to define the modern orchestra as an all-embracing natural space for human action. Cosima continues embroidery and teaching amid the ordinary household rhythm. The garden’s hedgehog and Fidi’s first toy bring small, concrete pleasures into an otherwise subdued day.

Content

Saturday, April 23:

R. in gloomy mood. I embroider and teach. At lunch R. reads me a passage about old Italian music by Tieck, which he finds very significant. “We have discovered the magic formula with which to solve this dilemma—the large orchestra, which, like Nature, is all-embracing, and within whose confines the human being can roam.” — Delight in a hedgehog which has made its nest beneath a bench in our garden. Fidi’s first toy, brought home for him by R. (Letter from Claire.)