Dear Mutz,
Here I am, sitting in yet another inn! What a life! And at the same time to have no other wish than to be able to work in peace and quiet! I must confess that if anyone were to invite me to be patient and to show perseverance, I should like to know who could then be allowed those qualities! - I was delighted to learn that you have seen Cornelius in the meantime; I feel as though I myself was there with you both. As far as I recall, you grew very fond of Cornelius that time that you were staying at the Altenburg. I got to know him only very gradually in Vienna, but finally discovered that in every respect he really is an extremely rare and unusual individual, as regards both his character and his intellectual abilities. He is really the only one of my younger friends (although he is well into his thirties) to whom I can attribute true genius. His sense of moderation, modesty, self-sufficiency and immense moral dignity, however, all set him apart. I can only hope that this amiable individual might come and live with us permanently: but he is pursuing his own independent course in life, which I respect. -
He will have told you a good deal about me and my plans. Both he and everyone else consider that it would be much the best idea for me to settle in Biebrich. The advantage of this lies in the fact that, since I am resolved never again to take up a fixed appointment in any theatre, it makes all the difference to me to be able to reach every part of the country by means of periodic excursions, while retaining my actual place of residence in some quiet and pleasantly secluded spot. Biebrich lies in a quite unique position in this respect. If I take the steamer, I can be in Mainz within 10 minutes: not only do the Schotts hold out their arms to welcome me here, but a tolerable and - outwardly - most imposing theatre offers me a certain amount of interest. Schmidt (from Frankfurt) is now Kapellmeister there, and I believe he may be there for some time, which suits me admirably. I can be in Wiesbaden in 10 minutes, where the theatre is very good both in summer and in winter. (I shall be seeing Gounod’s Faust there today.) In 1½ hours in Frankfurt. In ¾ of an hour in Darmstadt. In 1½ hours in Mannheim. (All of them leading theatres.) In 3 hours in Karlsruhe; in other words, I am as far from Karlsruhe as Leipzig is from Dresden. And I am almost exactly at the very centre for Vienna, Berlin & Paris. The place itself is charming: there is no pleasanter walk than to go on foot to Mainz, or Wiesbaden. Going down to the right are the most heavenly parts of the Rhine with walking tours at every turn.
And attached to the castle is a large and wonderful park with magnificent trees. I have noticed some very pretty apartments directly adjacent to this park. If I were to find one which fully met my needs and which was suited to my settling down here, it would be very difficult for someone like myself, who has been so harshly tossed around and yet who is in such need of domestic routine, to resist the temptation to rent it. For my own part, I should be in no two minds as to whether or not it suited my needs to settle down in this way. For - I have now got to know myself somewhat better, and may now organize the remainder of my life according to certain rules. To work and create something new: that is my element; to perform my works - all right! if I am asked to do so, and if all my wishes are met. Then shorter or longer excursions, but always with the prospect of being able to return to my silent hearth to work, following each such exertion. It is this that is most important of all, and this that I must always keep in view, since it is something that depends upon me alone. Everything external to me is outside my power; such things may happen, or they may not; I cannot depend upon them for my peace of mind. The last 12 months have brought this home in a painful way! -
In Karlsruhe I spoke to the Grand Duke for a whole hour: his wife had been ill; he will invite me back within the next few days, if possible to conduct Lohengrin, too. I must say that when taking my leave of this kind man I shook his hand most warmly. It was clear that his relations with me must have been very much on his mind ever since his last letter (which I did not answer). He was genuinely embarrassed, and assumed I was angry with him. I caught him feeling strangely confused with regard to his ideas concerning my present circumstances, and am inclined to suspect our dear over-excited Alwine of causing a certain amount of this confusion. It emerged, for ex., that he had not really understood how straightforward my proposal was, and assumed there were other things (such as large debts etc.) behind it. Nevertheless, I was glad that he did not relent when, with considerable hesitation, I allowed him to say all he wanted to say, but kept on repeating how much he felt obliged to answer for my peace of mind and freedom from care. In response to this I said very calmly that I had certainly indicated this to him in my letter, and so I simply repeated to him now that, since I had no inherited wealth, there were only two ways open to me by which to survive: 1st, to produce such works as would in a short space of time provide me with a fortune on whose interest I could then live - something which, given the wretched manner in which people are rewarded for their services in Germany, is impossible, or 2nd, to accept a position as Kapellmeister, something which I hoped he would be the last person to demand of me, since there were other people far better suited to serving as Kapellmeisters than creative poets and composers like myself. In response to this the Grand Duke did not raise even the hint of a protest, but maintained that I needed to be given the kind of appointment in which absolutely no obligations of any kind would be imposed upon me; everything must be left entirely to my own discretion as to whether I wished to trouble myself with performances of my works, or not. He knew only that I needed to be able to lead a quiet and carefree existence. Well, I said, that is quite simple: those who recognized this should join forces and pay me an annual pension. But no one seemed willing to understand this: Liszt had told me that he had conveyed this same idea to the GD. of Weimar, but that he had not been given a hearing; I had already conveyed a similar suggestion to him, and he, too, had considered it impossible. What, I asked, was there now left for me to do but fight my way through the world living from hand to mouth and feeling happy whenever I found a publisher who might pay me enough by way of an advance on a piece of work to enable me to survive while working on it? - No, he cried, things must not go on like this. I shall immediately take the lead and hope that, thanks to my example, I may persuade a number of other princes who are friendly towards you to join with me and take steps to ensure that you receive a fixed pension. Tell me honestly: how much do you think you need as a fixed annual allowance? - My God, I said, if I can rely upon a fixed income as a matter of certainty, a small amount would be sufficient, and if you were able to assure me of 1500 to 2000 gulden on these conditions, I should know where I stood: I would cut my cloth accordingly, and would be able to survive with the help of my other random receipts. He was delighted to hear this, and undertook to see that my wish was fulfilled at the earliest opportunity. And in order that we should not lose contact again, he asked me to visit him again soon in Karlsruhe in order to attend a rehearsal of Lohengrin, and, if I were entirely satisfied with it, to do them the honour of conducting the work myself. I promised to do so. - He was well pleased, moreover, with my plan to settle in Biebrich: he said he wished me to be entirely independent and that he would then attach even greater value to whatever occasional pleasures I was able to give him. - In spite of this really most gratifying and (I do not doubt) successful renewal of my relations with the Grand Duke, I have now completely abandoned my idea of settling in Karlsruhe, not least because of Devrient, whom I did not even visit on this occasion. I should never be able to get on for any length of time with this obstinate old pedant, whose principal concern is how best to maintain a state of mediocrity and who has done me persistent harm, moreover, with his shameless talk about the practicability of Tristan: I should lose my patience, and - God knows! my present motto is peace and quiet. But I might still decide to go on arguing with the old fogy. It will be a different matter to go there now and then at the Grand Duke’s invitation. -
These, my dear Mutz, are the affairs that are of outward concern to me. I have told you exactly what my needs and wishes are, and also - in certain circumstances - my resolve. There is only one thing that fills me with trepidation: - Where do you stand in all this? Would you wish to settle in Biebrich? Would it give you pleasure to do so? Would you not prefer somewhere else? - You will understand that, since I have set out here on the basis of my own needs, I am bound to be anxious lest my choice does not coincide with yours. It appals me to think of doing anything which I may possibly soon have cause to regret! The place itself is extremely quiet, and in itself - during the winter - offers few resources. Of course, I am very indifferent to this, for I have noticed in Paris and elsewhere that what I really want is simply to feel at home. It is true that even in winter we can live at the same time in Mainz & Wiesbaden, for a visit there is the same as driving in a cab from one end of a moderately large town to the other, except that it is much cheaper and more convenient. It is worth having a try at it. I should prefer to make a start here in the winter, in order to see how things turn out. I can have visitors at any time; I need only invite them to Wiesbaden or Mainz. There is always something refreshing about such an excursion. - And so I think that for the time being I shall leave fate to decide the matter, at least to the extent that I am making detailed and careful enquiries to see whether I can find a really suitable apartment that accords with all my needs. This must now be the case: for in such circumstances there would be no pleasure in simply seeking some makeshift solution. Whether I find the apartment I want is still very uncertain. Food and everything else is said to be very cheap: if we wanted a whole floor to ourselves, I am told that we could have the very best for 250 to 300 fl. - All right then - , I intend setting to work in a quiet way, and not rushing anything, since I have learned a real horror of repentance. - Let us see what happens. If I find something, my need for domestic comfort is now so great as to be absolutely decisive: you would then have to see whether it suited you as well.
I shall soon be acquiring a little dog! -
My visit to Berlin will now no doubt be called off completely. My God! There was not a single person in Paris to whom I could have showed a line of my new poem. I thought of spending an evening with you, with Old Fromm-maid and with the Bülows: it would certainly have been a pleasant evening. We would have convinced each other that we were still alive, and would have conferred with each other: it would all have been quite splendid! But I would only have had to waste time looking for somewhere to sleep and spend 2 days; one thing after another: then Albert and his wife - whom I had completely forgotten were living there, Old Fromm-maid and her royalist fears, and, last but not least, the Jews and the critics, and God knows what else! Well, I can certainly do without that! No, it is not this that I wanted! I hope Cecilie will be patient in her sisterly affections, and agree to some other occasion. I am heartily sick of travel, and of living out of a suit-case! Oh! and the money that it costs! I am thinking not of the boarding charges, but simply of what I spend in tips! No! God forbid! - Heavens, yesterday evening, when I arrived here and was again rummaging around in my trunk, looking for some article or other, I began to howl, poor devil that I am, and the tears poured down my cheeks. And all this at a time when I have such a splendid work in my head, for which no one can provide me with a quiet corner into which to retire. It’s a crying shame! - I am expecting the Erard in a couple of days’ time, and then all hell will be let loose! - Wish me good luck, and remember me with a tiny bit of affection, you old woman of Dresden.
Bye-bye for now.
Very best wishes from
Your R.
(You will have some money before the month is out, that goes without saying, Mutz!)
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 275