My noble and glorious friend,
My beautiful will and loving providence,
Heartfelt thanks for your inspiriting greeting! - I am at present engaged in writing a great essay which I shortly intend to submit to my august patron: its immediate cause was the invitation which I received to report on the future of the local Conservatoire, whose existence is now so seriously threatened. Once again, and for the last time - but this time in the energetic hope that I shall not have expended any wasted efforts upon it - , I am summarizing all my experiences in order to lay at your feet the final fruits of my deliberations, so that the thought therein expressed, fructified by the will of my glorious friend, may become an act which forms and fosters a noble art.
Fate - which has so fatally obstructed all my creative endeavours - has imposed this mission upon me: I must strive to establish what my King is called upon to execute.
Deep within me I feel that, without such a hope, my creativity, too, would now be paralysed. If I am to execute all my plans in the only way that I now know how, then I must have before me a constant image of the intended performance: since my return to Germany, however, I have been so appalled by my contact with our theatres that I now feel a genuine loathing and a desperate sense of disgust whenever I look beyond these plans of mine to the reality of present artistic conditions. My powers of imagination grow paralysed, and I feel that it is now high time for me to build up my courage and faith again by means of some fine and cheering experience.
That I may finally look forward to so decisive an improvement I owe to my beloved guardian angel, an angel made flesh as man and king. To the forthcoming performance of Tristan I attach a value which I see as definitive. It is now six years since I completed this work, and yet I have until now been unable to perform it. What has this experience not meant for me! - But now it is to happen. What will be achieved cannot be properly assessed as yet. But, whatever happens, the performance will be one of the rarest and most momentous of all artistic acts: for my ideal will be brought fully to life here, an ideal which is the dramatico-musical embodiment of the thought of which I have spoken; what I could previously only hint at will here find lucid expression. If I had not found so highly gifted an artist as Schnorr, if he had not been trained entirely by me and for me, and if he had not been completely devoted to me, the solution of my task would have remained impossible. He is utterly loyal in his love for me, and his tender-hearted docility in learning from my most gentle hints has once again completely enchanted me. He - another Ludwig - will be perfect. For Isolde I shall have to make do as best I can for now: not one of the relatively good singers who are available at present and who are known to me personally has inspired in me the hope of seeing this exceedingly difficult task overcome. Like her husband, Frau Schnorr is on the most friendly terms with me: for years she has lived for this task, and has made it her own with all the enthusiasm of true friendship. She will surprise everyone, perhaps even my august friend, whose demands in these matters are justifiably high: I am certain of that. For she is a true artist, possessing a quality which, most happily, often makes up for the most dazzling of natural talents which commonly serve only the world’s vanity. As Kurwenal, Mitterwurzer will be just as admirable as Schnorr himself: he belongs to me, and is my faithful pupil. For Marke it was, alas, not possible to obtain the admirable Beck from Vienna: but many gratifying observations during recent weeks allow me to hope that, spurred on by the achievements of my friends, I shall succeed in making the already most commendably talented Kindermann more than adequately effective in this touching role.
My kind master and friend has given me great joy by allowing the loyal Bülow to assume direction of the orchestra: only now do I set about my work without hesitation, and may hope to withstand the great emotions and exertions of the coming rehearsals without any danger to myself. A thousand sincere thanks for such sensitive and thoughtful concern for my needs! -
And so Tristan, this child of my sorrow, shall be born into the world noble and free, to the greater glory of my wondrous redeemer! -
The sweet lord of my life will soon hear more - much more - from me. My great essay shall be in his gracious hands by the end of this month!
Faithful in body and soul to my most glorious friend, and devoted unto death,
Richard Wagner
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 321