My dear friend,
You were going to send me your “Artists”: why have they not arrived? -
How are you getting on with the Faust Symphony?
I am now writing the “Rhinegold” straight out in full score, with the instrumentation: I could not find any other way of writing out the prelude (the depths of the Rhine) as a sketch so that it was clear; that is why I had recourse straightaway to the full score. The only problem is that it will now take much longer to complete: in addition, my head feels somewhat confused.
The Frau Kapellmeister has done admirably well: give her my kind regards and tell her how very grateful I am to her. Who knows what will become of it? For myself I do not wish to know.
Please send me an answer soon in reply to this sign of life on my part.
Yours,
Richard W.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 172