Dear Franz,
Many thanks for your “Artists”. You had to overcome a good deal of resistance on my part to this composition, or perhaps I should say rather that I was not in the mood for it. I have grown so unused to passing judgement - in the objective sense - that I tend now to be influenced purely by my own inclinations and to concern myself only with those things that really arouse my sympathy, with the result that I simply enjoy the works I listen to, without seeking any critical justification for the enjoyment that they give me. Imagine what contradictory feelings you were bound to rouse in me by your choice of this of all poems! It is more or less a didactic poem: what we hear is the voice of a philosopher finally reverting to art and doing so with the most emphatic resolve imaginable — Schiller, to the life! — And then a concert chorus - : I have no mind for that sort of thing any longer and could not compose anything similar at any price; I would not know where to find the incentive to do so. - And then - another thing! As a musician, I find that my attitude to spoken verse has changed enormously from what it used to be; not at any price could I produce a melody to fit Schiller’s verses, which are clearly intended only to be read. With lines like these one can only proceed in a somewhat arbitrary fashion musically, and, since the melody can never really flow freely, such arbitrariness will inevitably drive us to eccentricities of harmony and prodigious efforts to produce artificial waves on the surface of an unmelodic well-spring. - I have already been through all this, and have now reached a stage of development where I have adopted a totally different approach: thus - just think of it! - the whole of the instrumental introduction to the “Rhinegold” is constructed on the single triad of E flat! Imagine, then, how sensitive I am on all these points, and how taken aback I was on opening your “Artists” to run full tilt against an example of a procedure which is the total opposite of my present procedure! I cannot deny that I shook my head as I continued to peruse the score, and stupidly began by examining only what alienated me, i.e. individual details, for all I could see were individual details. But then again many of these details helped me to get over my ill-humour; at the end of the piece I was again taken aback, and so I hit on the sensible idea of letting the whole thing pass through me at a single sitting - and this time I was fortunately able to get into it! I suddenly saw you on the rostrum - saw, heard and understood you! In this way I gained further proof of the fact that it is simply our own fault if we are incapable of accepting what is offered in a spirit of generosity. This call of yours to artists represents a great and beautiful and splendid aspect of your own existence as an artist. I was deeply stirred by the force of your intention. [...]
I am hard at work. Do you know of anyone who would be suitable for writing out a fair copy of the full score on the basis of my disorderly pencil sketches? On this occasion I have adopted a completely different method of working. But the fair copy will be the death of me! It is taking up time that could be more profitably spent on other things, in addition to which I am so exhausted by all this writing that it is making me ill and taking away my inclination for any real work. Without such a skilled person I am lost; with him I could complete everything in two years. That is how long I would need the man; any periods during which he was not occupied writing out the full score could be filled copying out the parts. Have a good look round! There is nobody here. — I must say it sounds somewhat ridiculous wishing to keep a secretary when I can scarcely afford to keep myself! - You have asked me, my dearest friend, how much my most pressing debts amount to. Since you ask, I shall tell you frankly that my only way out has been to present bills of exchange to artisans etc. (who were most in need of money). These bills of exchange fall due in the middle of April. God knows how I shall pay them! if only I could keep going until the autumn, when I shall again receive monies from the various theatres. If you were able to obtain five thousand francs in the form of a loan (till the end of the year), you would indeed deliver me from the torments of hell! I have borrowed all I can from the only person I could approach here - poor Sulzer, whom I have reduced to a state of extreme embarrassment by my inability to repay him. This is a further source of torment - I can scarcely bring myself to look him in the eyes. - This is what happens when one is luxury-loving by nature, and yet is condemned to sackcloth and ashes. -
If you can help me, it would be an act of divine mercy. Is there no German music-enthusiast at home who considers me worth a few thousand thalers for half a year? I can refer him directly to my autumn revenues. -
[...]
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 173