Wednesday, December 7:
I have to whisper in R.’s ear that I was wrong; this moves him to tears, for he had been pleased and had thought that Fate desired me to bring a child into the world without fear and in the full happiness of love. — To town to make Christmas purchases. Late lunch (5). In the evening more Strauss. Before that I come upon R. in conversation with Richter about Weber—how before the latter no one had any inkling of the sinister quality of certain instruments (oboe, clarinet); just as before Beethoven no one knew anything about repetition; what in Rossini is a sensual effect here becomes a form of melody; and everything combines to make it so, the instrumentation, the key, everything. — Telegrams from Leipzig about the great success of Die Meistersinger there.