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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31526-8.txt b/31526-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d19728 --- /dev/null +++ b/31526-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4488 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Wagner, by Louis Nohl + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Life of Wagner + Biographies of Musicians + +Author: Louis Nohl + +Translator: George P. Upton + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31526] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF WAGNER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS._ + + LIFE OF WAGNER + + BY + + LOUIS NOHL + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN + + BY + + GEORGE P. UPTON. + + "_Who better than the poet can guide?_" + + CHICAGO: + JANSEN, McCLURG & COMPANY. + 1884. + + + + +BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS. + +I. + +LIFE OF MOZART, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +II. + +LIFE OF BEETHOVEN, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +III. + +LIFE OF HAYDN, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. Price +$1.25. + +IV. + +LIFE OF WAGNER, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +JANSEN, McCLURG & CO., PUBLISHERS. + + COPYRIGHT + BY JANSEN, McCLURG & CO., + A. D. 1883. + + + + +[Illustration: RICHARD WAGNER.] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The masters of music, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, advanced this +art beyond the limits of their predecessors by identifying themselves +more closely with the development of active life itself. By their +creative power they invested the life of the nation and mankind with +profounder thought, culminating at last in the most sublime of our +possessions--religion. No artist has followed in their course with +more determined energy than Richard Wagner, as well he might, for with +equal intellectual capacity, the foundation of his education was +broader and deeper than that of the classic masters; while on the +other hand the development of our national character during his long +active career, became more vigorous and diversified as the ideas of +the poets and thinkers were more and more realized and reflected in +our life. Wagner's development was as harmonious as that of the three +classic masters, and all his struggles, however violent at times, only +cleared his way to that high goal where we stand with him to-day and +behold the free unfolding of all our powers. This goal is the entire +combination of all the phases of art into one great work: the +music-drama, in which is mirrored every form of human existence up to +the highest ideal life. As this music-drama rests historically upon +the opera it is but natural that the second triumvirate of German +music should be composed of the founder of German opera, C. M. von +Weber, the reformer of the old opera, Christoph Wilibald Gluck, and +Richard Wagner. To trace therefore the development of the youngest of +these masters, will lead us to consider theirs as well, and in doing +this the knowledge of what he is will disclose itself to us. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE. + + +Just as this volume is going to press the announcement comes from +Germany that the prize offered by the Prague Concordia for the best +essay on "Wagner's Influence upon the National Art" has been adjudged +to Louis Nohl, an honor which will lend additional interest to this +little volume. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +WAGNER'S EARLY YOUTH. + + His Birth--The Father's Death--His Mother Remarries--Removal + to Dresden--Theatre and Music--At School--Translation of + Homer--Through Poetry to Music--Returning to Leipzig--Beethoven's + Symphonies--Resolution to be a Musician--Conceals this + Resolution--Composes Music and Poetry--His Family distrusts his + Talent--"Romantic" Influences--Studies of Thoroughbass--Overture in + B major--Theodor Weinlig--Full Understanding of Mozart--Beethoven's + Influence--The Genius of German Art--Preparatory Studies ended 9-22 + +CHAPTER II. + +STORM AND STRESS. + + In Vienna--His Symphony Performed--Modern Ideas--"The + Fairies"--"Das Liebesverbot"--Becomes Kapellmeister--Mina + Planer--Hard Times--Experiences and Studies--"Rienzi"--Paris--First + Disappointments--A Faust Overture--Revival of the German + Genius--Struggle for Existence--"The Flying Dutchman"--Historical + Studies--Returning to Germany 22-44 + +CHAPTER III. + +REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART. + + Success and Recognition--Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court--New + Clouds--"Tannhaeuser" Misunderstood--The Myths of "The Flying + Dutchman" and "Tannhaeuser"--Aversion to Meyerbeer--The Religious + Element--"Lohengrin"--The Idea of "Lohengrin"--Wagner's + Revolutionary Sympathies--The Revolution of 1848--The Poetic Part + of "Siegfried's Death"--The Revolt in Dresden--Flight from + Dresden--"Siegfried Words." 45-72 + +CHAPTER IV. + +EXILE. + + Visit to Liszt--Flight to Foreign Lands--Three + Pamphlets--"Lohengrin" Performed--Wagner's Musical Ideas Expressed + in Words--Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem--The Idea of the + Poem--Its Religious Element--The First Music-Drama--In Zurich--New + Art Ideas--Increasing Fame--"Tristan and Isolde"--Analysis of this + Work--In Paris Again--The Amnesty--Tannhaeuser at the "Grand + Opera"--"Lohengrin" in Vienna--Resurrection of the "Mastersingers + of Nuremberg"--Final Return to Germany 73-105 + +CHAPTER V. + +MUNICH. + + Successful Concerts--Plans for a New Theatre--Offenbach's Music + Preferred--Concerts Again--New Hindrances and Disappointments--King + Louis of Bavaria--Rescue and Hope--New Life--Schnorr--"Tannhaeuser" + Reproduced--Great Performance of "Tristan"--Enthusiastic + Applause--Death of Schnorr--Opposition of the Munich Public--Unfair + Attacks upon Wagner--He goes to Switzerland--The + "Meistersinger"--The Rehearsals--The Successful + Performance--Criticisms 106-131 + +CHAPTER VI. + +BAIREUTH. + + A Vienna Critic--"Judaism in Music"--The War of 1870--Wagner's + Second Wife--"The Thought of Baireuth"--Wagner-Clubs--The "Kaiser + March"--Baireuth--Increasing Progress--Concerts--The Corner-Stone + of the New Theatre--The Inaugural Celebration--Lukewarmness of the + Nation--The Preliminary Rehearsals--The Summer of 1876--Increasing + Devotion of the Artists--The General Rehearsal--The Guests--The + Memorable Event--Its Importance--A World-History in Art-Deeds 132-158 + +CHAPTER VII. + +PARSIFAL. + + A German Art--Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results--Concerts + in London--Recognition Abroad and Lukewarmness at Home--The + "Nibelungen" in Vienna--"Parsifal"--Increasing Popularity + of Wagner's Music--Judgments--Accounts of the "Parsifal" + Representations--The Theatre Building--"Parsifal," a National + Drama--Its Significance and Idea--Anti-Semiticism--The Jewish + Spirit--Wagner's Standpoint--Synopsis of "Parsifal"--The Legend + of the Holy Grail--Its Symbolic Importance--Art in the Service + of Religion--Beethoven and Wagner--"Redemption to the Redeemer." + 159-197 + +LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF WAGNER. 197-204 + + + + +THE LIFE OF WAGNER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +1813-1831. + +WAGNER'S EARLY YOUTH. + + His Birth--The Father's Death--His Mother Remarries--Removal to + Dresden--Theatre and Music--At School--Translation of + Homer--Through Poetry to Music--Returning to Leipzig--Beethoven's + Symphonies--Resolution to be a Musician--Conceals this + Resolution--Composes Music and Poetry--His Family Distrusts his + Talent--"Romantic" Influences--Studies of Thoroughbass--Overture in + B major--Theodor Weinlig--Full Understanding of Mozart--Beethoven's + Influence--The Genius of German Art--Preparatory Studies ended. + + "_I resolved to be a musician._"--Wagner. + + +Richard Wilhelm Wagner was born in Leipzig, May 22, 1813. His father +at that time was superintendent of police--a post which, owing to the +constant movement of troops during the French war, was one of special +importance. He soon fell a victim to an epidemic which broke out among +the troops passing through. The mother, a woman of a very refined and +spiritual nature, then married the highly gifted actor, Ludwig Geyer, +who had been an intimate friend of the family, and removed with +him to Dresden, where he held a position at the court theatre and +was highly esteemed. There Wagner spent his childhood and early youth. +Besides the great patriotic uprising of the German people, artistic +impressions were the first to stir his soul. His father had taken an +active interest in the amateur theatricals of the Leipzig of his day, +and now the family virtually identified themselves with the practical +side of the art. His brother Albert and sister Rosalie subsequently +joined the theatre, and two other sisters diligently devoted +themselves to the piano. Richard himself satisfied his childish +tendency by playing comedy in his own room and his piano-playing was +confined to the repetition of melodies which he had heard. His +step-father, during the sickness which also overtook him, heard +Richard play two melodies, the "Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit" and +the "Jungfernkranz" from "Der Freischuetz," which was just becoming +known at that time. The boy heard him say to his mother in an +undertone: "Can it be that he has a talent for music?" He had +destined him to be an artist, being himself as good a portrait painter +as he was actor. He died, however, before the boy had reached his +seventh year, bequeathing to him only the information imparted to his +mother, that he "would have made something out of him." Wagner in the +first sketch of his life, (1842) relates that for a long time he dwelt +upon this utterance of his step-father; and that it impelled him to +aspire to greatness. + +His inclinations however did not at first turn to music. He was rather +disposed to study and was sent to the celebrated Kreuzschule. Music +was only cultivated indifferently. A private teacher was engaged to +give him piano lessons, but, as in drawing, he was averse to the +technicalities of the art, and preferred to play by ear, and in this +way mastered the overture to "Der Freischuetz." His teacher upon +hearing this expressed the opinion that nothing would become of him. +It is true, he could not in this way acquire fingering and scales, but +he gained a peculiar intonation arising from his own deep feeling, +that has been rarely possessed by any other artist. He was very +partial to the overture to "The Magic Flute," but "Don Juan" made no +impression on him. + +All this, however, was only of secondary importance. The study of +Greek, Latin, mythology, and ancient history so completely captivated +the active mind of the boy, that his teacher advised him seriously to +devote himself to philological studies. As he had played music by +imitation so he now tried to imitate poetry. A poem, dedicated to a +dead schoolmate, even won a prize, although considerable fustian had +to be eliminated. His richness of imagination and feeling displayed +itself in early youth. In his eleventh year he would be a poet! A +Saxon poet, Apel, imitated the Greek tragedies, why should he not do +the same? He had already translated the first twelve books of Homer's +"Odyssey," and had made a metrical version of Romeo's monologue, +after having, simply to understand Shakspeare, thoroughly acquired a +knowledge of English. Thus at an early age he mastered the language +which "thinks and meditates for us," and Shakspeare became his +favorite model. A grand tragedy based on the themes of Hamlet and +King Lear was immediately undertaken, and although in its progress +he killed off forty-two of the _dramatis personae_ and was compelled +in the denouement, for want of characters to let their ghosts +reappear, we can not but regard it as a proof of the superabundance +of his inborn power. + +One advantage was secured by this absurd attempt at poetry: it led +him to music, and in its intense earnestness he first learned to +appreciate the seriousness of art, which until then had appeared to +him of such small importance in contrast with his other studies, that +he regarded "Don Juan" for instance as silly, because of its Italian +text and "painted acting," as disgusting. At this time he had grown +familiar with "Der Freischuetz," and whenever he saw Weber pass his +house, he looked up to him with reverential awe. The patriotic songs +sung in those early days of resurrected Germany appealed to his +sensitive nature. They fascinated him and filled his earnest soul with +enthusiasm. "Grander than emperor or king, is it to stand there and +rule!" he said to himself, as he saw Weber enchant and sway the souls +of his auditors with his "Freischuetz" melodies. He now returned with +the family to Leipzig. Did he, while at work on his grand tragedy, +occupying him fully two years, neglect his studies? In the Nicolai +school, where he now attended, he was put back one class, and this so +disheartened him, that he lost all interest in his studies. Besides, +now for the first time, the actual spirit of music illumined his +intellectual horizon. In the Gewandhaus concerts he heard Beethoven's +symphonies. "Their impression on me was very powerful," he says, +speaking of his deep agitation, though only in his fifteenth year, and +it was still further intensified when he was informed that the great +master had died the year previous, in pitiful seclusion from all the +world. "I knew not what I really was intended for," he puts in the +mouth of a young musician in his story, "A Pilgrimage to Beethoven," +written many years after. "I only remember, that I heard a symphony of +Beethoven one evening. After that I fell sick with a fever, and when I +recovered, I was a musician." He grew lazy and negligent in school, +having only his tragedy at heart, but the music of Beethoven induced +him to devote himself passionately to the art. Indeed while listening +to the Egmont music, it so affected him that he would not for all the +world, "launch" his tragedy without such music. He had perfect +confidence that he could compose it, but nevertheless thought it +advisable to acquaint himself with some of the rules of the art. To +accomplish this at once, he borrowed for a week, an easy system of +thoroughbass. The study did not seem to bear fruit as quickly as he +had expected, but its difficulties allured his energetic and active +mind. "I resolved to be a musician," he said. Two strong forces of +modern society, general education and music, thus in early youth made +an impression upon his nature. Music conquered, but in a form which +includes the other, in the presentation of the poetic idea as it first +found its full expression in Beethoven's symphonies. Let us now see +how this somewhat arbitrary and selfwilled temperament urged the +stormy young soul on to the real path of his development. + +The family discovered his "grand tragedy." They were much grieved, +for it disclosed the neglect of his school studies. Under the +circumstances he concealed his consciousness of his inner call to +music, secretly continuing, however, his efforts at composition. It is +noticeable that the impulse to adapt poetry never forsook him, but it +was made subordinate to the musical faculty. In fact the former was +brought into requisition only to gratify the latter, so completely did +musical composition control him. Beethoven's Pastoral symphony +prompted him at one time to write a shepherd play, which owed its +dramatic construction on the other hand to Goethe's vaudeville, "A +Lover's Humor," to which he wrote the music and the verses at the same +time, so that the action and movement of the play grew out of the +making of the verses and the music. He was likewise prompted to +compose in the prevailing forms of music, and produced a sonata, a +string quartet, and an aria. + +These works may not have had faults as far as form is concerned, but +very likely they were without any intrinsic value. His mind was +still engrossed with other things than the real poesy of music. +Notwithstanding this, under cover of such performances as these, he +believed he could announce himself to the family as a musician. They +regarded such efforts at composition however as a mere transitory +passion, which would disappear like others especially so as he was not +proficient on even one instrument, and could not therefore assume to +do the work of a practical musician with any degree of assurance. At +this time a strange and confused impression was made upon the young +mind, which had already absorbed so much of importance. The so called +"romantic writers" who then reigned supreme, particularly the mystic +Hoffmann, who was both poet and musician, and who wrote the most +beautiful poetic arrangements of the works of Gluck, Mozart, and +Beethoven, along with the absurdest notions of music, tended to +completely disturb his poetic ideas and mode of expression in music. +This youth of scarce sixteen was in danger of losing his wits. "I had +visions both waking and sleeping, in which the key note, third and +quint appeared bodily and demonstrated their importance to me, but +whatever I wrote on the subject was full of nonsense," he says +himself. + +It was high time to overcome and settle these disturbing elements. His +imperfect understanding of the science of music, which had given rise +to these fancies and apparitions, now gave place to its real nature, +its fixed rules and laws. The skilled musician, Mueller, who +subsequently became organist at Altenburg, taught him to evolve from +those strange forms of an overwrought imagination the simple musical +intervals and accords, thus giving his ideas a secure foundation even +in these musical inspirations and fantasies. Corresponding success +however, had not yet been attained in the practical groundwork of the +art. The impetuous young fellow and enthusiast continued inattentive +and careless in this study. His intellectual nature was too restless +and aggressive to be brought back easily to the study of dry technical +rules, and yet its progress was not far-reaching enough, for even in +art their acquisition is essential. + +One of the grand overtures for orchestra which he chose to write at +that time instead of giving himself to the study of music as an +independent language, he called himself the "culmination of his +absurdities." And yet in this composition, in B major, there was +something, which, when it was performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, +commanded the attention of so thorough a musician as Heinrich Dorn, +then a friend of Wagner, and who became later Oberhofkapellmeister at +Berlin. This was the poetic idea which Wagner by the aid of his mental +culture was enabled to produce in music, and which gives to a +composition its inner and organic completeness. Dorn could thus +sincerely console the young author with the hope of future success for +his composition, which, instead of a favorable reception, met only +with indignation and derision. + +The revolution which broke out in France in July, 1830, greatly +excited him as it did others and he even contemplated writing a +political overture. The fantastic ideas prevalent at that time among +the students at the university, which in the meantime he had entered +to complete his general education, and fit himself thoroughly for the +vocation of a musician, tended still further to divert his mind from +the serious task before him. At this juncture, both for his own +welfare and that of art, a kind Providence sent him a man, who, +sternly yet kindly, as the storm subsided, directed the awakening +impulse for order and system in his musical studies. This was +Theodore Weinlig, who had been cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, +since 1823 and was therefore, so to speak, bred in the spirit and +genius of the great Sebastian Bach. He possessed that attribute of a +good teacher which leads the scholar imperceptibly into the very heart +of his study. In less than a year the young scholar had mastered the +most difficult problems of counterpoint, and was dismissed by his +teacher as perfectly competent in his art. How highly Wagner esteemed +him is shown by the fact that his "Liebesmahl der Apostel," his only +work in the nature of an oratorio, is dedicated to "Frau Charlotte +Weinlig, the widow of my never-to-be-forgotten teacher." During this +time he also composed a sonata and a polonaise, both of which were +free from bombast and simple and natural in their musical form. More +important than all, Wagner now began to understand Mozart and learned +to admire him. He was at last on the path which subsequently was to +lead him, even nearer than Beethoven came, to that mighty cantor of +Leipzig, who by his art has disclosed for all time the depths of our +inner life and sanctified them. + +For the present it was Beethoven, whose art unfolded itself before +him, and now that his own knowledge was firmly grounded, aided him to +become a composer. "I doubt whether there has ever been a young +musician more familiar with Beethoven's works than was Wagner, then +eighteen years of age," says Dorn of this period. Wagner himself says +in his "Deutscher Musiker in Paris:" "I knew no greater pleasure than +that of throwing myself so completely into the depths of this genius +that I imagined I had become a part of him." He copied the master's +overtures and the Ninth symphony, the latter causing him to sob +violently, but at the same time rousing his highest enthusiasm. He +now also fully comprehended Mozart, especially his Jupiter symphony. +"In the genius of our fatherland, pure in feeling and chaste in +inspiration, he saw the sacred heritage wherewith the German, under +any skies and whatever language he might speak, would be certain to +preserve the innate grandeur of his race," is his opinion of Mozart +expressed in Paris a few years afterward. "I strove for clearness and +power," he says of this period of his youth, and an overture and a +symphony soon demonstrated that he had really grasped the models. +After twenty years of personal activity in this high school of art, he +succeeded in thoroughly understanding the great Sebastian Bach, and +reared on this solid foundation-stone of music the majestic edifice of +German art, which embraces all the capabilities and ideals of the +soul, and created at last a national drama, complete in every sense. + +The school period was passed. He now entered active life with firm and +secure step, armed only with his knowledge and his power of will. In +his struggles and disappointments the former was to be put to the test +and the latter to be strengthened. We shall meet with him again, when +by the exercise of these two powers he has gained his first permanent +victories. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +1832-1841. + +STORM AND STRESS. + + In Vienna--His Symphony Performed--Modern Ideas--"The + Fairies,"--"Das Liebesverbot"--Becomes Kapellmeister--Mina + Planer--Hard Times--Experiences and Studies--"Rienzi"--Paris--First + Disappointments--A Faust Overture--Revival of the German + Genius--Struggle for Existence--"The Flying Dutchman"--Historical + Studies--Returning to Germany. + + _The God who in my breast resides, + He cannot change external forces._--Goethe. + + +Beethoven's life has acquainted us with the pre-eminence of Vienna as +a musical centre. In the summer of 1832 Wagner visited the city, but +found himself greatly disappointed as he heard on all sides nothing +but "Zampa," and the potpourris of Strauss. He was not to see the +imperial city again until late in life and as the master, crowned +with fame. In music and the opera Paris had the precedence. The +Conservatory in Prague however performed his symphony, though right +here he was destined to feel that the reign of his beloved Beethoven +had but scarcely begun. + +In the succeeding winter the same symphony was performed in Leipzig. +"There is a resistless and audacious energy in the thoughts, a stormy +bold progression, and yet withal a maidenly artlessness in the +expression of the main motives that lead me to hope for much from the +composer;" so wrote Laube, with whom Wagner had shortly before become +acquainted. Here again we recognize the stormy, restless activity of +the time, which thenceforth did not cease, and brought about the unity +of the nation and of art. The ideas which prevailed among the +students' clubs, the theories of St. Simon and would-be reformers +generally had captivated the young artist's mind. In the "Young +Europe," Laube advocated the liberal thoughts of the new century, the +intoxication of love, and all the pleasures of material life. Wagner's +head was full of them and Heine's writings and the sensual +"Ardinghello" of Heinse helped to intensify them. + +For a time however his better nature retained the mastery. Beethoven +and Weber remained his good genii. In 1833 he composed an opera, "The +Fairies," modelled after their works, the text of which displayed the +earnest tendency of his nature. A fairy falls in love with a mortal +but can acquire human life only on condition that her lover shall not +lose faith and desert her, however wicked and cruel she may appear. +She transforms herself into a stone from which condition the yearning +songs of her lover release her. It is a characteristic feature of +Wagner's ideal conception of love that the lover then is admitted to +the perpetual joys of the fairy world, as a reward for his faith in +the object of his love. The work was never performed. Bellini, Adam, +and their associates controlled the stage in Germany, and he was +greatly disappointed. That grand artiste, Schroeder-Devrient, who +afterwards was to become so essential to Wagner, had achieved unusual +success in these light operas, especially in the role of _Romeo_. +He observed this and comparing the sparkling music of these French and +Italians with the German Kapellmeister-music which was then coming +into vogue, it seemed indeed tedious and tormenting. Why should not he +then, this youth of twenty-one, ready for any deed and every pleasure, +earnestly longing for success, enter upon the same course? Beethoven +appeared to him as the keystone of a great epoch to be followed by +something new and different. The fruit of this restless seething +struggle was "Das Liebesverbot oder die Novize von Palermo," his first +opera which reached a performance. + +The material was taken from Shakspeare's "Measure for Measure," not +however without making its earnestness conform to the ideas of "Young +Europe," and leaving the victory to sensualism. _Isabella_, the +novice, begs of the puritanical governor her brother's life, who has +forfeited it through some love affair. The governor agrees to grant +the pardon, on condition that she shall yield to his desires. A +carnival occurs, and, as in "Masaniello," a young man who loves the +maiden, incites a revolution, exposes the governor, and receives +_Isabella's_ hand. The spirit which pervades this tempestuous +carnival pleasure is sufficiently characterized by a verse in the only +chorus-number, which has appeared in print from this opera: "Who does +not rejoice in our pleasure plunge the knife into his breast!" + +There were, it will be observed, two radically different +possibilities of development. The "sacred fervor of his sensitive +soul," which he had nourished with the German instrumental music, had +encountered the tendency to sensualism, and, as we find so often in +Wagner's works, these two elements of our nature were powerfully +portrayed, with the victory ever remaining to the judicious and +serious conception of life. Struggles and sorrows of various kinds +were to bring this "sacred earnestness" again into the foreground, to +remain there forever afterward. + +In the autumn of 1834, during which this text had been written, Wagner +accepted the position of Kapellmeister at the Magdeburg theatre and +thus entered the field of practical activity. The position suited him +and he soon proved himself an able director, especially for the stage. +His skill in music, composed for the passing moment, soon gained for +him the desired success and induced him to compose the music to the +"Liebesverbot." "It often gave me a childish pleasure to rehearse +these light, fashionable operas, and to stand at the director's desk +and let the thing loose to the right and left," he tells us. He did +not seek in the least to avoid the French style but on the contrary +felt confident, that an actress like Schroeder-Devrient could even +in such frivolous music invest his _Isabella_ with dignity and +value. With such expectations in art and life before him, he took +unhesitatingly the serious step of engaging himself to Mina Planer, a +beautiful actress at the Magdeburg theatre, who unfortunately however +was never destined to appreciate his nobler aspirations. + +In the spring of 1836, before the dissolution of the Magdeburg troupe, +an overhasty presentation of his opera was given, the only one that +ever took place. It was said of it by one: "There is much in it, and +it is very pleasing. There is that music and melody, which we so +rarely find in our distinctive German operas." He had himself for some +time completely neglected "The Fairies." The score of both operas is +in the possession of King Louis of Bavaria. They were to be followed +by one destined to survive--"Rienzi." + +He had sought in vain to secure a performance of the "Liebesverbot," +first in Leipzig, then in Berlin. In the latter city he saw one of +Spontini's operas performed and for the first time fully recognized +the meagre resources of the native stage, particularly in scenic +presentation. How Paris must have aroused his longing where Spontini +had introduced the opera upon a grander scale and with stronger +ensemble! The financial difficulties however, which followed +the dissolution of the Magdeburg theatre and the failure of his +compositions forced him to continue his connection still longer with +the German stage, wretched as it was. He next went to Koenigsberg. The +position there was not sufficiently remunerative to protect him from +want, now that he was married. One purpose he kept constantly in view, +namely, to perform some splendid work of art and with it free himself +from his embarrassing position. In every interesting romance he sought +the material for a grand opera. Among others, he selected Koenig's +"Hohe Braut," rapidly arranged the scenes and sent the manuscript to +Scribe in Paris, whose endorsement was considered essential, and whose +"Huguenots" had just helped to make Meyerbeer one of the stars of the +day. Nothing came of it however. Of what importance in this direction +was Germany at that time? The Koenigsberg troupe was also soon +dissolved. "Some men are at once decisive in their character and their +works, while others have first to fight their way through a chaos of +passions. It is true however that the latter class obtain greater +results," it is said in one account of this short episode. He was soon +to accomplish such an achievement. In the city of Koenigsberg, the old +seat of the Prussian kings, he had won a friend for life who, as will +subsequently appear, proved of service to him. The general character +of life in Prussia also greatly contributed to strengthen in him that +independent bearing of which Spontini's imperious splendor had given +him a hint, and which subsequently was to invest his own art with so +much importance in the world's history. + +During a visit to Dresden in 1837 he came across Bulwer's "Rienzi, the +Last of the Tribunes," in which he became deeply interested, the more +so that the hero had been in his mind for some time. The necessities +of subsistence now drove him across the borders to Riga. His Leipzig +friend Dorn was there, and Karl Holtei had just organized a new +theatre. He was made director of music and his wife appeared in the +leading feminine roles. Splendid material was at hand and Wagner went +zealously to work. He was obliged however to produce here also the +works of Adam, Auber, and Bellini, which gave him a still deeper +insight into the degradation of the modern stage, with its frivolous +comedy, of which he had a perfect horror. About this time he became +familiar with the legend of the "Flying Dutchman," as Heine relates +it, with the new version that love can release the Ahasuerus of the +sea. The "fabulous home sickness," of which Heine speaks, found an +echo in his own soul and excited it the more. He studied moreover +Mehul's "Joseph in Egypt" and under the influence of the grave and +noble music of this imitator of the great Gluck, he felt himself +"elevated and purified." Even Bellini's "Norma," under the influence +of such impressions, gained a nobler tone and more dignified form than +is really inherent in the music. "Norma" was at that time even given +for his benefit! He now took up the "Rienzi" material in earnest and +projected a plan for the work which required the largest stage for +its execution. The lyric element of the romance, the messengers of +peace, the battle hymns, and the passion of love had already charmed +his purely musical sense. It was however by a solid work for the +theatre, of which the main feature should not be simply "beautiful +verses and fine rhymes" but rather strength of action and stirring +scenes, aided by all available means for producing effect through +scenery and the ballet, that he hoped to win success at the Paris +grand opera. In the fall of 1838 he began the composition. + +The first two acts had scarcely been completed when Paris stood +clearly before the poet-composer's eyes. Meanwhile the contract with +Holtei drew to a close, but there were difficulties in the way that +could not easily be removed. He had contracted many debts and without +proof of their liquidation no one could at that time leave Russia. +Flight was determined upon. His friend from Koenigsberg, an old and +rich lumber merchant, in whose house he had spent many a social +evening, took his wife in a carriage over the border, passing her as +his own, while Wagner escaped in some other way. At Pillau they went +on board a sailing vessel, their first destination being London. Now +began the real lifework of Wagner, which was not to cease until he, +who had struggled with poverty and sorrow, was to see emperors and +kings as guests in his art-temple at Baireuth. + +The long sea voyage of twenty-five days, full of mishaps, had a very +important bearing upon his art. The stormy sea along the Norwegian +coast and the stories of the sailors who never doubled the existence +of the "Flying Dutchman," gave life and definite form to the legend. +He remained but a short time in London, seeing the city and its two +houses of Parliament, and then went to Boulogne-sur-Mer. He remained +there four weeks, for Meyerbeer was there taking sea baths, and his +Parisian introductions were of the highest importance. The composer of +the "Huguenots" immediately recognized the talent of the younger +artist, and particularly praised the text to "Rienzi," which Scribe +was soon to imitate for him in his weak production of "The Prophet." +At the same time he pointed out the obstacles to success in the great +city which it would be extremely difficult for one to overcome without +means or connections. Wagner however relied on his good star and +departed for that city which he conceived to be the only one that +could open the way to the stage of the world for a dramatic composer. +The result of the visit to Paris was an abundance of disappointments, +but it added largely to his experience, increased his strength, nay +more, even gave rise to his first great work. + +Meyerbeer recommended him to the director of the Renaissance Theatre +and besides acquainted him with artists of note. An introduction to +the Grand Opera however was out of the question for one who was an +utter stranger. Through Heinrich Laube, then in Paris, he made the +acquaintance of Heine, who was much surprised that a young musician +with his wife and a large Newfoundland dog should come to Paris, where +everything, however meritorious, must conquer its position. Wagner +himself has described these experiences in Lewald's "Europa," under +the title of "Parisian Fatalities of Germans." His first object was +to win some immediate success and he accordingly offered to the above +named director the "Liebesverbot," which apparently was well suited to +French taste. Unfortunately this theatre went into bankruptcy, so all +his efforts were fruitless. He now sought to make himself known +through lyrics set to music and wrote several, such as Heine's +"Grenadiers," but a favorite amateur balladist, Loisa Puget, reigned +supreme in the Paris salons, and neither he nor Berlioz could obtain +a hearing. His means were constantly diminishing and a terrible +bitterness filled his soul against the splendid Paris salons and +theatre world, whose interior appeared so hollow. + +It happened one day that he heard the Ninth symphony at a performance +of the Conservatory, whose concerts were always splendidly and +carefully executed, and, as before, it stirred his inmost soul. Once +more his genius came to his rescue. He felt intuitively--what we now +know with historical certainty--that this work was born of the same +spirit which bore Faust, and thus in him also this "ever restless +spirit seeking for something new" was called into being and activity. +The overture to Faust, in reality the prelude of a Faust symphony, +tells us in tones of mighty resolve that his power to do and to will +still lived, and would not yield till it had performed its part. This +was toward the close of the year 1840. + + "The God, who in my breast resides, + Can deeply stir the inner sources; + Though all my energies he guides, + He cannot change external forces. + Thus by the burden of my days oppressed, + Death is desired, and life a thing unblest." + +With such a confession he regained strength to battle against Parisian +superficiality, which even in the sacred sphere of art seemed to seek +only for outward success and to admire whatever fashion dictated. His +criticisms on the condition of life and art in Paris are very severe. +Even the noble Berlioz does not escape censure from the artist's +stand-point, while Liszt, who resided there at the time, he had not +yet learned to appreciate. But again the saving genius of his art, +German music, rose resplendent, and she it was who recalled him to his +own self and to art. + +He now entirely gave up the "Liebesverbot," as he felt that he could +not respect himself unless he did so. He thought of his native land. +A heroic patriotism seized him, although tinged with a political +bearing, for he did not forget the Bundestag and its resistance to +every movement for liberty, and yet withal he beheld the coming +grandeur of his fatherland. Now he himself first fully comprehended +Rienzi's words about his noble bride, whom he saw dishonored and +defiled, and a deep anger awakened in him those mighty exhorting +accents which his enthusiasm had already intoned in Rienzi's first +speech to the nobility and the people, and which had not been heard in +Germany since Schiller's days. As Rienzi resolved not to rest until +his proud Roma was crowned as queen of the world, so now there flashed +through him also the conviction, as he has so beautifully said in +speaking of Beethoven's music, that the genius of Germany was destined +to rescue the mind of man from its deep degradation. In the merely +superficial culture, which the Semitic-Gallic spirit had impressed +upon the period, and with which it held all Europe as in a net of +iron, he saw only utter frivolity. The great revolution had brought +about many political and social reforms but the liberation of the +soul, like that accomplished by the Reformation, it had not effected. +There was a material condition and mental tendency which he afterward, +not without reason, compared with the times of the Roman emperors. +Heine and his associates formed the literary centre, but even more +effective in its influence was Meyerbeer's grand opera. The imperious +sway of fashion had usurped the place of real culture and the problem +was therefore again to elevate culture with his art to its proper +sphere. He became more and more conscious of a mission which went far +beyond the realm of mere art-work. Even in this foreign land, which +had treated him so coldly and with such hostile egoism, he was to find +the ways and means to carry out his mission and to create for us +actual human beings instead of phantoms. In his "Parisian Fatalities," +Wagner said of the Germans in Paris that they learned anew to +appreciate their mother tongue and to strengthen their patriotic +feeling. "Rienzi" was an illustration of this patriotic sentiment. He +now resolved to produce this composition for Dresden and the thought +gave him fresh zeal for work. Elsewhere, he says of the Germans: "As +much as they generally dread the return to their native land, they yet +pine away from it with homesickness." Longing for home! Had he not +once before beheld a being wasting away in the constant longing for +the eternal home and yet destined never to find rest? The "Flying +Dutchman" recurred to his imagination and to the outward form of the +ever-wandering seaman was added the human heart, constantly longing +for love and faithfulness. After having come to an understanding with +Heine, he rapidly arranged the material of this Wandering Jew of the +sea. A fortunate circumstance, the return of Meyerbeer to Paris, even +gave promise that the work might secure a hearing at the grand opera. + +That he might be at rest while engaged on this work he earned his +daily bread by arranging popular operas for cornet-a-piston. He +submitted to this deep humiliation for he was conscious of the prize +to be obtained by "serving." A partial compensation in thus working +for hire he found in the permission given him by the sympathetic +music publisher, Schlesinger, to write for his _Gazette Musicale_ to +which he contributed many brilliant articles. In these he could at +least do in words what he was not allowed to do otherwise. He could +disclose the splendor of German music, and never before has anyone +written of Mozart, Weber, and Beethoven with keener appreciation or +profounder thought. Of the last named he proposed to write a +comprehensive biography and entered into correspondence with a +publisher in Germany.[A] He confronted the formal culture of the Latin +races with the character of the German mind, as it were the head of +the Medusa, and the consciousness of his mission kept up his spirits +under the most trying circumstances. With Paris as an art centre he +had done. Like Mozart's "Idomeneo" to the Opera Seria, "Rienzi" was +his last tribute to the Grand Opera. They have forever extinguished +the genre in style by exhausting its capabilities. + +[Footnote A: The letter appears in the book entitled "Mosaics," +published in Leipzig, 1881.] + +In the meantime "Rienzi" had been accepted at Dresden, and he now +hoped through Meyerbeer's influence to see it also accepted by the +Grand Opera. The director, however, had been so well pleased with the +"Flying Dutchman" that he wished to appropriate the poem for himself, +or rather for another composer. In order therefore not to lose +everything, Wagner sold the copyright for Paris for 500 francs and it +soon after appeared as "Vaisseau Phantome." It naturally followed that +for the present his most urgent task was to complete the work for +himself and in his own way. The performance of the "Freischuetz" had +increased his ambition and his other experiences had completely +disgusted him with the modern Babylon. The romance--for such it +was--was soon finished. He had allowed a beautiful myth simply to tell +its own story and had avoided all the nonsense of the opera with its +finales, duets, and ballets, wishing simply to reveal to his +countrymen once more the divine attributes of the soul. But now that +the romance was to be set to music he feared that his art might have +deserted him, so long had it remained unused. However the work +progressed rapidly enough. He had in his mind as the main motive of +the work, _Senta's_ ballad, and around it clustered at once the whole +musical arrangement of the material. The Sailor's Chorus and the +Spinning Song were popular melodies, for the "Freischuetz" continually +kept them humming in his ears. In seven weeks the work was completed, +with the exception of the overture, which every day's pressing wants +retarded for a few weeks longer. + +Leipzig and Munich promptly declined the work with which he had +proposed to salute his fatherland once more. The latter city declared +that the opera was not adapted to Germany! Through Meyerbeer's +influence it was then accepted in Berlin. Thus hated Paris led to the +production of two works in which he touched strings that find their +fullest response only in a German's heart. The prospect of returning +to his fatherland delighted him. What could be more natural than that +his mind strove to study more and more closely the spirit and +development of his fatherland, in order to raise other and better +monuments to it? He renewed his studies in German history, although +solely for the purpose of finding suitable material for operas. At +first, Manfred and the brilliant era of the Hohenstauffens attracted +him. But this historic world at once and utterly disappeared when he +beheld that figure in which the spirit of the Ghibellines attained in +human form its highest development and greatest beauty--_Tannhaeuser_! +His previous readings in German literature had made him familiar with +the story, but he now for the first time understood it. The simple +popular tale stirred him to such a degree that his whole soul was +filled with the image of its hero. It revealed the path to the +historic depths of our folk-lore to which Beethoven's and Weber's +music had long since given him the clues. The story had some +connection with the "Saengerkrieg auf Wartburg," and in this contest, +he saw at once the possibility of fully revealing the qualities of his +hero, who raises the first German protest against the pretended +culture and sham morality of the Latin world. The old poem of this +"Saengerkrieg," is further connected with the legend of Lohengrin. +Thus it was that in foreign Paris he was destined to gain at once and +permanently a realization of the native qualities of our common +nature, which, from primeval times, the German spirit has put into +these legends. + +After a stay of more than three years abroad, he left Paris, April 7, +1842. "For the first time I saw the Rhine; with tears in my eyes, I, a +poor artist, swore to be ever loyal to my German fatherland," he says. +Have we not seen that this "poor artist" with the might of his magic +wand has created a world of new life, and what is far more, has +aroused the genius of his people, aye, the very soul of mankind, and +has led his epoch and his nation to the achievement of new and +permanent intellectual results? + +We now come to his first efforts towards the accomplishment of such +results. They were to cost hard labor, anxiety, struggles, and pain of +every kind indeed, but they were done and they stand to-day. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +1842-1849. + +REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART. + + Success and Recognition--Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court--New + Clouds--"Tannhaeuser" Misunderstood--The Myths of "The Flying + Dutchman" and "Tannhaeuser"--Aversion to Meyerbeer--The Religious + Element--"Lohengrin"--The Idea of "Lohengrin"--Wagner's + Revolutionary Sympathies--The Revolution of 1848--The Poetic + Part of "Siegfried's Death"--The Revolt in Dresden--Flight from + Dresden--"Siegfried Words." + + "_Give me a place to stand._"--Archimedes. + + +In an enthusiastic account of the first presentation of the "Flying +Dutchman" in Riga, May, 1843, it is said: "The 'Flying Dutchman' is a +signal of hope that we shall soon be rescued from this wild wandering +in the strange seas of foreign music and shall find once more our +blessed home." In a similar strain, the _Illustrierte Zeitung_ said: +"It is the duty of all who really cherish native art to announce to +the fatherland the appearance of a man of such promise as Wagner." +Indeed Wagner himself says that the success of the work was an +important indication that we need but write "as our native sense +suggests." That he himself perceived a new era of the highest and +purest outpouring of a new spirit is shown in the composition of this +year (1843), the "Liebesmahl der Apostel," wherein he quotes from the +Bible: "Be of good cheer for I am near you and My spirit is with you." +A chorus of forty male voices exultingly proclaimed this promise from +the high church choir loft in Dresden, on the occasion of the +Maennergesangvereins-Fest. + +"Rienzi" was performed in October 1842, and the "Flying Dutchman" +January 2, 1843, both meeting with an enthusiastic reception. Wagner +himself had conducted the rehearsals and secured the support of +newly won friends and such eminent artists as Schroeder-Devrient +and Tichatschek. His success gained for him the distinction of +Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court. The position once held by Weber +was now his. The objects which he had sought to accomplish seemed +within reach and he heartily entered into the brilliant art life of +the city, the more so as hitherto he had not enjoyed it though +possessing the desire and knowledge to do so. Although "Rienzi" +retained a certain degree of popularity, the "Flying Dutchman" however +had not really been understood, and the more it was heard, the less +was it appreciated. How could it be otherwise amid such a public as +then existed in Germany? In the upper and middle classes French novels +were the favorite literature, while the stage was controlled by French +and Italian operas. With all their superficiality they combined +perfection in the art of singing, but failed to awaken any sense +of the intrinsic worth of our own nature. There were but few of +sufficiently delicate feeling to perceive in this composition the +continuation of the noble aims of Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. Wagner +himself while in Dresden was destined to continue the struggle against +all that was foreign as these three masters had done before him. +"Professional musicians admitted my poetic talent, poets conceded that +I possessed musical capacity," is the way he characterizes the +prevailing misunderstanding of his endeavors and his works, which +required a generation to overcome. + +He constantly sought to direct public attention to the grander and +nobler compositions, such as Gluck's "Armide" and "Iphigenia in +Aulis," Weber's "Euryanthe" and "Freischuetz," Marschner's "Hans +Heiling," Spohr's "Jessonda," and other grand works for concerts, like +Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" and Bach's "Singet dem Herrn ein neues +Lied," all of which were performed in a masterly manner, while such +compositions as Spontini's "Vestalin" he at least helped to display in +the best light. He was also very active in having Weber's remains +brought from London. He not only composed a funeral march, for the +obsequies, upon motives from "Euryanthe," which was very powerful in +effect, but he also has reminded posterity of what it possesses in +this the youngest German master of the musical stage. "No musician, +more thoroughly German than thou, has ever lived," he said at the +grave. "See, now the Briton does thee justice, the Frenchman admires +thee, but the German alone can love thee. Thou art his, a beautiful +day in his life, a warm drop of his blood, a part of his heart." Thus +at times he succeeded in arousing the public. But on the whole, his +ideas were not accepted, and it retained its accustomed views and +continued in the old pleasures. Wagner began again to feel more +and more his isolated position. The complete misunderstanding of +Tannhaeuser, which he began to write when he first arrived in Dresden, +and the refusals of the work by other cities, Berlin among them, +declaring it "too epic," rendered this sense of isolation complete. +The recurrence of such experiences as these showed him how far his art +was still removed from its ideal and his contemporaries from the +comprehension of their own resources. He realized the fact that his +own improved circumstances had deceived him, and that in truth the +same superficiality of life and degradation of the stage prevailed +everywhere. The course of events during the next generation but proved +the truth of this. Whatever of merit was produced met with hostility, +as in the case of our artist. The growing perception of these facts +led him gradually to revolt against the art-circumstances of his time, +and as he became convinced that the condition of art was but the +result of the social and political, indeed of the existing mental +condition of the people, he at last broke out into open revolution +against the entire system. This very agitation of soul, however, +became the source of his artistic creations, wherein he attempted to +disclose grander ideals and nobler art, and they form therefore, as in +the case of every real artist, his own genuine biography. In tracing +the origin of his works, we follow the inner current of his life. + +Thus far we have availed ourselves of the biographical notes which +Wagner, prior to the representation of the "Flying Dutchman," gave to +his friend Heinrich Laube for publication in the "Zeitung fuer die +elegante Welt." We are now guided further by one of the most stirring +spiritual revelations in existence, his "Communication to my Friends," +in the year 1851, in that banishment to which his noblest endeavors +had brought him, written with his heart's blood, as a preface to the +publication of the three opera poems, namely, "Flying Dutchman," +"Tannhaeuser" and "Lohengrin." It is the consummation of his artistic +as well as human development out of which grew his highest creations. + +We must recur to the "Flying Dutchman," whose real name was "Hel +Laender," the guide of the deadship, or the fallen sun-bark, which, +according to the Teutonic legend, conveyed the heroes to Hel, the +region of perpetual night. We shall confine ourselves however to the +later version of the middle ages, the only one with which Wagner was +familiar. "The form of the 'Flying Dutchman' is the mythic poem of the +people; a primeval trait of humanity is expressed in it with +heartrending force," Wagner says to those who in spite of Goethe's +"Faust" had formed no conception of the vitality, and poetic treasures +that lay concealed in the myth. In its general significance the motive +is to be considered as the longing for rest from the storms of life. +The Greeks symbolized this in Odysseus, who, during his wanderings at +sea, longed for his native land, his wife, and home--"On this earth +are all my pleasures rooted." Christianity, which recognizes only a +spiritual home, reversed this conception in the person of the +"Wandering Jew." For this wanderer, condemned eternally to live over +again a life, without purpose and without pleasure, and of which he +has long since grown weary, there is no deliverance on earth. Nothing +remains to him but the longing for death. Toward the close of +the middle ages, after the human mind had been satiated with the +supernatural, and the revival of vital activity impelled men to +new enterprises, this longing disclosed itself most boldly and +successfully in the history of the efforts to discover new worlds. +An "impetuous desire to perform manly deeds" seized mankind as the +earth-encircling, boundless ocean came into view, no longer the +closely encircled inland sea of the Greeks. The longing of Odysseus, +which in the "Wandering Jew" has grown into longing for death, now +aims at a new life, not yet revealed, but distinctly perceived in the +prospective. It is the form of the "Flying Dutchman," in which both +expressions of the human soul are joined in a new and strange union, +such as the spirit of the people alone can produce. He had sworn to +sail past a cape in spite of wind and waves, and for that is condemned +by a demon, the spirit of these elements, to sail on the ocean through +all eternity. He can gratify the longing which he feels, through a +woman, who will sacrifice herself for his love, but to the Jew it was +denied. He seeks this woman therefore that he may pass away forever. +There is this difference however: She is no longer Penelope caring for +her home, but woman in general, the loving soul of mankind, which the +world has lost in its eager strife to conquer new worlds, and which +can only be regained when this strife shall cease and yield to a new +activity, truer to human nature. + +"From the swamps and floods of my life often emerged the 'Flying +Dutchman,' and ever with irresistible attraction. It was the first +popular poem which took deep hold of my heart," says Wagner. At this +point his career began as a poet, and he ceased to write opera-texts. +It is true there was still much that was indecisive and confused in +the experiment, but the leading features are pictured verbally with +remarkable clearness, and the music invests them with a sense and +distinctness of convincing force as an inseparable whole, such as had +not been previously known in opera. It may be said that with the +"Flying Dutchman" a new operatic era began, or rather the attainment +of its dimly conceived destiny as a musical drama. It also expresses +the mental activity of the time and the longing for a new world, which +was to redeem mankind and secure for us an existence worthy of +ourselves. It still appears to us as the native land, encircling us +with its intimate associations, and yet there also appears in it the +longing for a return to our own individual identity, in which alone we +can find the traces of our higher humanity, which a narrowing and +degrading foreign influence had banished. Goethe's "Faust," Byron's +"Manfred," and Heine's "Ratcliff," all give utterance to the same +feeling, with more or less beauty and power; but the blissful repose +of deliverance really secured, they could not express with the +perfection displayed by Wagner. He was not only secure in this +advantage, but he was able to pursue it with increasing energy, so +as to push away to a great distance the obstacles which burdened the +time. + +We perceive the same characteristic in "Tannhaeuser," which, it seems, +even at that time had impressed itself upon him with great force. This +legend also had its origin in the myths of nature. The Sun-god sinks +at eve on Klingsor's mountain castle in the arms of the beautiful +Orgeluse, queen of the night, from whose embraces the longing for +light drives him again at dawn. We must, however, also here confine +ourselves to the particular mediæval form of the legend, as Wagner +himself relates it. + +The old Teutonic goddess, Holda, whose annual circuit enriched the +fields, met the same fate after the introduction of Christianity, as +Wotan, that of having her kindly influence suspected and described as +malignant. She was relegated to the heart of the mountains, as her +appearance was supposed to indicate disaster. At a later period, +her name disappeared in that of the heathen Venus, to which all +conceptions of a being that entices to evil pleasures could be more +easily attached. One such mountain region was the Hoerselberg +(Orgelusa Mountain), in Thuringia, where Venus maintained a luxurious, +sensual court. Jubilant melodies were heard there, which led him, +whose blood ran riot, unwittingly into the mountain. A beautiful old +song, however, tells us that the noble knight, Tannhaeuser, mythically +the same as Heinrich von Ofterdingen, remained there a whole year, +and then was seized with the recollection of the life on earth, and +made a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain indulgence for his sins. It reads +thus: + + "The Pope had a stick white and dry, + Cut from the branches so bare; + Thy sins shall all be forgiven, + When on it green leaves appear." + +Tannhaeuser wanders again into the mountain. But the good sense of the +people knew what was just: + + "To bring consolation to man, + The priest is commissioned of Heaven; + The penitent, sorrowing heart + Hath all its sins forgiven." + +The condemnation of the penitent is the curse of the old church, for +according to the true doctrine of the Gospels, as accepted and +faithfully treasured by the German people after long struggles, it is +not deeds but faith that secures salvation. So in the progress of the +legend leaves sprout from the dry stick, for "high above the universe +is God and his mercy is no mockery." + +Wagner gives to the loving Elizabeth the knowledge of this eternal +mercy and from a simple child-like being she ascends to the heights +of martyrdom. Not until one human soul had gained the strength to die +for his redemption is the vehemence of his own nature broken, and he +finds relief in death, thus verifying the essence of religion and +rejecting forever false church-doctrine. + +"A consuming glowing excitement kept my blood and nerves in a state of +feverish agitation," Wagner says, speaking of the first presentation +of this "Tannhaeuser." His fortunate change of circumstances, contact +with a luxurious court, and the expectation of material success had +fostered a desire for pleasure that led him in a direction counter to +his real nature. There was no other way to satisfy this craving except +by following as an artist the reigning fashion and the general +striving after success. "If I were to condense all that is pernicious +and wearisome in the making of opera-music, I should call it +Meyerbeer," he says, "inasmuch as it ignores the wants of the soul and +seeks to gratify the eye and ear alone." After all, was it the mere +gratification of the senses that he really longed for? His aspirations +grew in the natural soil of those life-feelings which dictate that +religion and morality shall not destroy natural impulses, but sanctify +them. Before his soul stood a pure, chaste, maidenly image of +unapproachable and intangible holiness and loveliness. In his own +words, his nature passionately and ardently embraced the outward forms +of this conception whose essence was the love of all that is noble and +pure. No other artist ever possessed a deeper sense of the need of our +time. With this protest against the violence done our purely human +nature, he places us again on a solid footing and symbolizes in art +the highest accomplishment of religion--regeneration by knowledge. It +is to this that we owe the regeneration of our national life. The +religious element of our nature has preserved us and made us a great +nation. + +He confesses he had been so intensely engrossed in composing +"Tannhaeuser," that the nearer he approached the end, the more the +idea possessed him that sudden death would prevent its completion. As +he wrote the last note it seemed to him as though his life had been +in danger till then. The "Flying Dutchman" was a protest against the +purposeless wanderings of the human mind in every external department +of knowledge, while "Tannhaeuser" was a bold historical protest +against all that would subject the hidden sense of truth in our nature +to violent interpretation and arbitrary dogmas. From this time forth +his sphere became the purely human, and in this too he shows us by +his powerful art that which is indispensable and eternal in human +existence joined with the complete realization of the only natural way +to develop all our qualities. We have come to "Lohengrin," conceived +in 1847, and completed in its instrumental parts in March, 1848. It +was in truth "his child of pain." + +After the completion of "Tannhaeuser," his native sense of humor +prompted him to design a satirical play on the "Saengerkrieg auf +Wartburg," namely the "Meistersinger von Nuernberg," of which, more +further on. The painful experience of being misunderstood in all his +earnest efforts as a man and as an artist, his failure to make +the assistance he longed to give acceptable, drove him back with +passionate vehemence into a serious frame of mind, in which condition +he could well understand the Lohengrin material. Hitherto, in the +mystic twilight of its mediæval presence, it had inspired him with +some degree of suspicion, but he now recognized in it a romance, +wherein was embodied the longing desires of pure human nature, and the +imperative necessity of love, as well as its artistic meaning. + +The fundamental trait of this legend, as in "Tannhaeuser" and in the +flight of Odysseus from the embraces of sensualism, had already +appeared in the Greek myth of Zeus and Semele. Like the God from the +cloudy Olympian realms, so Lohengrin from the boundless ether to which +Christian imagination had assigned Olympus, descends to the human +female in the natural longing of love. There was an old tradition in +the legends of the people who dwelt near the sea, to the effect that +on its blue surface an unknown man of indescribable grace and beauty +approaches, whose resistless charms win every heart. He disappears +again, retreating with the waves, whenever it is sought to discover +who he is. So also in the Scheldt region once appeared a handsome +hero, drawn by a swan. He rescued a persecuted, innocent maiden, and +married her, but when she asked him who he was and whence he came, he +was compelled to forsake her. How does our poet interpret the legend? + +Lohengrin, the son of Parcival, the royal guardian of the Holy Grail, +who represents the ideal in humanity, although he was probably +originally identical with the German Sun-god, who longs to rest in the +arms of night--this Lohengrin seeks the wife that believes in him, who +will not ask who he is and whence he came, but will love him as he is, +and simply as he appears to her. He sought the wife, to whom he need +not declare himself, need not justify himself, but who will love him +without question. Like Zeus, he had to conceal his divine nature, for +only in this way could he know that he was really loved, and not +simply admired, which was all he longed for when he descended from his +ethereal heights to the warm earth below. He longs to be human, to +experience the warm feelings of humanity, and gain a loving heart; +with these longings he descended from his blissful, lonely heights, +when he heard the cry of this heart for help in the midst of mankind. +The halo of his higher nature, however, betrays him. He can not but +appear as miraculous. The staring of the vulgar and the rancor of the +envious cloud the heart of the loving Elsa. Doubts and jealousy show +that he has not been understood but simply adored, and this draws from +him the confession of his divinity, after which he returns, his +purpose unaccomplished, to his solitude. + +We must bear in mind how highly our poet even at that time prized this +artistic wealth. To Goethe, art was "like good deeds;" Schiller hoped +with its aid to unify the nation, and Wagner, especially after the +discovery of such grand art-material as those myths contained, +regarded it as the real fountain of health for the nation and the +time. We shall soon observe that at last his art embraced our highest +ideals in religion as well. Such an art, however, exists only in the +heart which believes in it, and we have seen how antagonistic was the +spirit of the time, particularly to this artist, who had emerged from +the blissful solitude of his own creative mind and sought the sympathy +of the warm human heart. He justly felt that the theme was a tragic +symbol of the time, and he was therefore enabled to present Lohengrin +as an entirely new artistic conception, something no poet had +previously succeeded in accomplishing. + +More than this he discloses to us that which his Elsa imparted to +him--the nature of the feminine heart. "I could not help justifying +her in the outbreak at last of jealousy and at that moment for the +first time I fully comprehended the purely human nature of love," he +says. "This woman, who by passion is brought from the heights of +rapturous adoration back to her real nature and reveals it in her +ruin, this magnificent woman, from whom Lohengrin disappeared because +his peculiar nature prevented him from understanding her, I had now +discovered." The effect of this was to clarify his vision, as we shall +likewise learn. The lost arrow that he sent after this valuable +treasure had been his Lohengrin, which he had to sacrifice in order to +discover the track of the "true womanly" which Goethe was the first to +long for ardently, and which music had revealed as it were the sound +of a bell in the dark forest. This alone can explain why the +masculine egoism, even in so noble a form as our idealism had hitherto +assumed, was forced to yield to its influence. But this Elsa was only +the unconscious spirit of the people and the perception of this must +of necessity have made him, as he says, "a thorough revolutionist." +He felt that this spirit of the people was restrained by wrong +conceptions of morality and false ideals. He heard its lamentations, +and verily, if ever a genius served his people, then did the genius of +Wagner avail him as the worker of "good deeds." He prophetically +indicated at that time what subsequently became an exquisite reality. +"Only a good deed can help here," he writes after the completion of +"Lohengrin." "A gifted and inspired man must with good fortune attain +to power and influence who can elevate his inmost convictions to the +dignity of law. For it is possible after all, if chance will have it +so that a king will permit a competent man to have his way as well as +an incompetent one. The public can only be educated through facts. So +long as an immense majority is carried away by the mezza-voce of a +virtuoso, its needs are readily discerned and satisfied." + +It is now our duty to record how he arrived at this remarkably +independent action of the artist; we follow his notes, as they furnish +the clearest testimony. Their stirring recital is touching enough for +any one who can look upon the nation in the light of the history of +mankind, to which has been assigned its own peculiar ideal problems. + +In the meantime the revolution of 1848 had broken out. Although never +really much inclined toward politics, Wagner had foreseen its +necessity; but as soon as he came in contact with its various +elements, he recognized only too clearly that none of the warring +factions had the least conception of his own aims. Notwithstanding +this, he perfected a plan for the reorganization of the stage by which +alone under the circumstances the nation and the time could be +strongly impressed again with the ideal in thought and art. The +political rostrum showed soon enough how blunt were its arrows. And +what of the Catholic syllabus and Protestant "Culturkampf" as well? +Dead children born of dead mothers! Most of all it was important to +create anew for that stage the ideals which would serve to elevate the +time. Even while at work on "Lohengrin," which always made him feel as +if he were on an oasis in a desert waste and for which he gathered +strength from the performance of the Ninth symphony in Dresden, +Siegfried and Friedrich der Rothbart appeared to him. Each contained +the elements which lie nearest the heart. Each was a type and model of +our distinct characteristics. He recognized at once however that +Friedrich I. (Barbarossa) was only the historical regeneration of +Siegfried, and that the latter was in reality the youthful handsome +hero to form the object and centre of a work of art and to convey to +us in its fullness and beauty the purely human idea as Wagner +conceived it. How he found and interpreted this Siegfried, he has told +us in the pamphlet, "The Wibelungen, History from Legend" which +appeared in 1850. + +The delight produced by the discovery of this "actor of reality, +this man in the fullness of highest and boundless power and most +indisputable loveliness" revealed to him by his Elsa, only intensified +for the present at least the feeling that in his best efforts and his +knowledge he stood sadly alone. His longing was intense, the more so +that in this actual life he could accomplish his purpose as Faust +says: + + "The God, who in my breast resides, + He can not change external forces." + +This longing grew until it seemed as if self-annihilation alone could +bring relief, and then appeared to him the image of Him whose death +brought salvation to mankind. He conceived the idea of picturing a +human "Jesus of Nazareth," to represent the universal rejection, +in all its malignity and rancor, to which Jesus fell a victim. +The reflection, however, that he certainly could not secure a +representation of his work under existing circumstances, and the +additional fact that after the Revolution, which seemed bound to +destroy every favorable condition, such a declaration of internal +struggle would have counted for nothing, induced him to leave the plan +unexecuted. Besides, in this year (1848), he had already finished +"Siegfried's Death," in its poetic form, and had even sketched some of +the musical thoughts connecting with that new world, to which he had +looked forward with such buoyant hope. At last came also the complete +rupture with the world that surrounded him, even while he was devoting +the best endeavors of his life to it. Wagner himself informs us of the +clear insight he had gained into the nature of the political movement. +Either the old state of things must remain intact or the new must +sweep it entirely away. He recognized the approach of the catastrophe +which was certain to engulf every one who was in earnest and unselfish +enough to desire a change of the deplorable conditions so generally +felt. The ancient spirit of a decayed past had outlived itself and +openly and insolently offered defiance to the existing and ruling +conditions. Knowing well the unavoidable decision which he would have +to form, he ceased all productive activity. Every stroke of the pen +appeared ridiculous, inasmuch as he could no longer deceive himself in +regard to his prospects. He spent these May-days of 1849 in the open +air, basking in the sunshine of the awakening spring and casting away +all egoistic desires. + +At this time the revolt in Dresden occurred, which, as a sort of +forlorn hope, he thought might be the beginning of a general uprising +in Germany. "After what has been said, who could be so blind as not to +see that I had now no choice but to turn my back upon a world, to +which no ties of sympathy bound me," he says, thus clearly indicating +his active participation in the May-revolt. It was not long before the +Prussians appeared, who had only waited the signal from Dresden. With +many others Wagner had to take to flight. A long, sad banishment +followed, but out of its necessities and privations rose the full man +and artist who restored to his nation its ideals, or rather first +established the ideal in its perfection. How this conception came +to him is disclosed in the last words he uttered about the men and +circumstances which combined to wickedly conceal it. It is as bold as +it is inspiring, and it is only the deepest solicitude for our most +sacred treasures that could give utterance to such words. It reads: + +"There is nothing with which to compare the sensation of pleasure I +experienced after the first painful impressions had been overcome, +when I felt myself free, free from a world of tormenting, ever +unsatisfied desires, free from conditions in which my aspirations had +been my sole absorbing nourishment. When I, persecuted and proscribed, +was no longer bound by any considerations to resort to a deception of +any kind; when I had given up every hope and desire, and with +unconstrained candor could say openly and plainly that I, the artist, +hated from the bottom of my heart this hypocritical world which +pretended to be interested in art and culture; when I could say to it +that not one drop of artist's blood flowed in all its veins, that it +had not one spark of manly culture or manly beauty,--then for the +first time in my life I felt myself completely free, happy, and +joyous, although I sometimes did not know where to conceal myself the +next day that I might still breathe the free air of heaven." + +These are words such as a Siegfried might have spoken. From this time +on he did not rest until the Siegfried-deed was done and the sword was +thrust into the dragon's heart. + +The preparations for it were conducted with untiring energy and +great wisdom. The works of art which he had already forged were the +sword. The true and noble art, which had begun with Goethe, was +now introduced in the various European centres of culture "with +considerate speed," and finally inspired in Germany, the very centre +of this culture and art, an understanding of their real elements. In +the modest Zurich where the banishment began, in London--Paris had +rejected it--in Petersburg, in Vienna, in Munich, and at last also +in Berlin, which at that time did not appear to have "one drop of +artist's blood in all its veins" the world's attention was aroused +anew by actual representations, though often only in parts, to the +fact, that the latter-day art of the last generation had removed us a +great distance from our ideals. And finally he succeeded, at first in +Munich, subsequently in Baireuth, in securing for the art of the stage +a proper representation, and with it an awakening of the age to a +correct perception of art as expressive of the ideal which stimulates +the whole world. The thrust which pierced the heart of the dragon of +the modern theatres was his "Parsifal," and the Siegfried, who dealt +the blow, gained with his art the slumbering bride, the re-awakening +heart of the nation and mankind. + +Who is there to-day who will doubt that Faust denial of the curse and +the prophetic presentment of a new world? Is it not true that the +governing powers of the present time have seized upon the ideas in +politics and society, which were the kernel of the movement of 1848 +and 1849? Whenever they shall understand the mental strivings of the +nation, as well as the political and military, then art and religion +will gain the dignity and the right to which they are entitled. The +revolt of Wagner was the revolt of the better soul of the nation which +had been estranged from itself. Thirty years of deeds have shown that +his word was the truth. We now come to their recital. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +1850-1861. + +EXILE. + + Visit to Liszt--Flight to Foreign Lands--Three + Pamphlets--"Lohengrin" Performed--Wagner's Musical Ideas Expressed + in Words--Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem--The Idea of the + Poem--Its Religious Element--The First Music-Drama--In Zurich--New + Art Ideas--Increasing Fame--"Tristan and Isolde"--Analysis of this + Work--In Paris Again--The Amnesty--Tannhaeuser at the "Grand + Opera"--"Lohengrin" in Vienna--Resurrection of the "Mastersingers + of Nuremberg"--Final Return to Germany. + + _Seeking with all the soul the Grecian land._--Goethe. + + +The first impression following his sudden change of fate appeared in +Wagner's own world as a good omen. "What I felt as I conceived this +music, he felt when he conducted it; what I intended to say as I wrote +it, he said as he interpreted it," he says of the Tannhaeuser +rehearsal under Liszt's direction in Weimar, where he had gone for a +few days for the sake of this "rarest of friends," who had already of +his own accord given "Rienzi" and "Tannhaeuser" in the small +Thuringian court-residence to which the Wartburg belongs. + +His stay was cut short however, and disguised as a waggoner he left +the city. Unfortunately the only place which he could reach in safety +was Paris, and from this city he also speedily fled as from a dismal +spectre whose disgusting features were again recognized. And yet he +was destined to return to it, to retrieve his fortunes, with a +possible success as an opera-composer, but also to be permanently +convinced that this "modern Babylon," where others had conquered the +world with their art-substitutes, was in absolute contrast with that +which he sought and needed for his labors. But of Weimar he exclaimed: + +"How wonderful! By the love of this rarest of friends, in the time +when I was homeless, I secured the long desired and true home for my +art, which I had hitherto sought in vain elsewhere. When I was doomed +to wander in foreign lands, he who had wandered so much, retired +permanently to a small town and there provided me a home." + +Liszt had given up entirely his career as a performer, and acted +mainly as Hofkapellmeister at the grand-ducal court in Weimar. Wagner +made his acquaintance "in the terrible Parisian past," but did not +then understand him. Liszt, however, lovingly watched his progress +like an elder brother, and drew the misunderstood genius to his great +heart. "Everywhere and always he cared for me. Ever prompt and +decisive where aid was required, with a cordial response to all my +wishes, and devoted love for me, he was to me what I had never found +before, and with that intensity whose fullness we only comprehend when +it actually embraces us in all its vastness." + +Among the inspiring mountains of Switzerland he wrote a protest +against the pretense of the momentary victors of the revolution, +that they were the protectors of art. His pamphlet, "Art and the +Revolution," disclosed the real nature of this so called art in +the unsettled political and social condition of the time, and +energetically rejected as art anything which under any guise sought +to speculate upon the public. The "Art-Work of the Future" was a more +extended paper which described the deadly influence of modern fashion +upon art itself and the egoistic dismemberment of it into distinct +branches, and revealed the art of the future as embracing all human +art-capacities. + +This misunderstood assertion gave rise to the term, "music of the +future," first used by a would-be professor, L. Bischoff in Cologne, +and immediately repeated everywhere by the thoughtless multitude. In +the first pamphlet he assailed the governments which only sought their +own particular advantage. In the second, likewise misunderstood, he +irritated all the artists. His fiercest indignation was expended upon +the born arch-enemies of our art and culture in the same year, 1850, +when he published "Judaism in Music," under the name of "Freigedank." +"What the heroes of the fine arts have wrested in the course of two +thousand unhappy years of strenuous and persistent efforts, from +the demon hostile to art, the Jew to-day converts into drafts on +art-merchandise. Who would imagine that this great work has been +cemented with the sweat and toil of genius for two thousand years," +he exclaims in the exasperation of his soul at these flippant +time-servers who dominated in the concert-hall and on the stage. +Naturally the legion of their followers did not become his friends. +They controlled the press, and it is due to this, that his most +important writings are known even to-day only by his friends. + +About this time he wrote the poetry to "Wiland der Schmied." It was in +Paris he showed the Germans how dire necessity contrives the wings +with which to escape from bondage and regain sweet liberty. Under the +peculiar constraint which work, foreign to his nature, imposed upon +him and which made him sick in body and soul, his eyes one day fell +upon the score of "Lohengrin." Two words to Liszt and the reply +determined him upon its performance. It occurred, August 28, 1850. It +was in fact a fresh protest against a false art-world and in 1870, +when the German people stood arrayed in arms against our foreign enemy +everyone exclaimed in astonishment, "Lohengrin!" This selection for +the celebration of Goethe's birthday was worthy of his memory, for +Wagner, as great a poet as he was musician, had invested the work +with every charm of tragic beauty, both in the text and poetical +construction as well as in the ingenious design of its dramatic +situations. The work marks a notable era in the history of German +music. + +Wagner now fully explained in his book, "Opera and Drama," published +in 1861, the object of his art-revolution. The opera hitherto, as he +said, was not even the germ, how much less the fruit of the art-work +he purposed. On the contrary, the methods hitherto applied must be +completely changed. Music must be made the essential and highest +method of expression of poetry and the drama; but not the principal +theme to which words and situations are subordinated. In this he +unfolded all his artistic experience and claimed that whoever failed +to understand him now, did so because he was determined not to +understand. This can be found more fully treated in the "Allgemeine +Musikgeschichte." To his real friends he presented in the autumn of +the same year that "Communication" which reveals to us his manhood and +is a biography of the soul without parallel. + +The high purpose, perceivable from afar, whither his endeavors tended, +appears in the real work of our artist taken up again at last. The +noble and affectionate regard of the family of the rich merchant +Wesendonck, in Zurich, provided him with a pleasant place of rest and +needed support. The performance of "Lohengrin" was a summons to new +deeds. He resumed the Nibelungen poem, and we shall see its powerful +influence upon the national spirit and national art. + +"Man receives his first impressions from surrounding nature, and in +it no effect is so strong as that of light." Thus he begins in the +"Wibelungen" of 1850. The day, the sun, appears as the very condition +of life. Praise and adoration are bestowed upon it in contrast with +the dark night which breeds terror. Thus light becomes the cause of +all existence, Father, God. The day-break appears as the victory of +light, and naturally there grow out of it at last moral impressions. +This influence of nature is the foundation of all conceptions of +divinity, the division into distinct religions depending upon the +character of different tribes. The tribal tradition of the Franks, +as the noblest type of the Germans, has the advantage of a steady +development from its ancient origin into historic life. It likewise +shows us in the far distant past the individual God of light as he +slays the monster of the chaotic night--Siegfried's struggle with the +dragon. + +But as the day surrenders to the night and summer is followed by +winter, so Siegfried finally is conquered and the god is changed into +mortal man. Now that he has fallen, he kindles in the human heart a +deeper sympathy. As the victim of a struggle that enriches us, he +arouses the moral sense of vengeance against the murderer. The +primeval struggle in nature is therefore continued by ourselves and +its success is seen in the vicissitudes of human life through the +ages, moving on from life to death, from joy to grief, and thus in +perpetual rejuvenescence clearly discloses the character of man as +well as of nature. The embodiment of this constant motion, the active +life itself, however, ultimately finds in Wotan (Zeus) as the father +of light, its distinct form. Although Zeus reigned supreme as the +father of all the gods, yet his origin is due to the advanced +knowledge of man while the God of light, Siegfried, is natural and so +to speak born with him. + +"The most important part of this tribal legend of the Franks is +the treasure which Siegfried obtains and which henceforth bears +his attributes as opposed to those of the primeval myth. The +Scandinavians, for instance, have preserved a Nifelheim as the abode +of the black demigods in contrast to the demigods of light. These +Niflungars, children of night and of death, search the interior of the +earth, discover its hidden treasures and invest them with new life by +forging them into weapons and ornaments. The Nibelungs, whom we also +find as the Myrmidons accompanying Achilles, the Siegfried of the +Greeks--are now with their treasure elevated by the Franks to a moral +importance. When Siegfried slew the Nibelungen dragon he gained its +treasure. The possession of it increases his power immeasurably +inasmuch as he now commands the Nibelungs, but it is at the same time +the cause of his death, for the heir of the dragon seeks to regain the +treasure and treacherously slays him as night does the day and draws +him into the dark realm of death. Siegfried is transformed into a +Nibelung! Although the acquisition of the treasure dooms it to death, +still each new generation inevitably strives to obtain it. The +treasure represents the embodiment of worldly power. It is the earth +with all its glory as we see it at dawn, our own sunny property after +the night has been driven away which had spread its dragon wings like +a horrid spectre over the rich treasures of the world. + +"The treasure itself, which the Nibelungs have gathered, is the metal +found in the bowels of the earth which enables us to improve the +earth, and to fashion weapons and golden crowns, the means of power +and its symbols. The divine hero Siegfried, who first obtained it and +thus became a Nibelung, left to his race the claim to the treasure. To +revenge the slain hero and regain the treasure is the aim of the whole +race of the Nibelung-Franks, and by it they are recognized in history +as well as in legend." + +Accordingly we find the noblest hero of the "Wibelungen," Friedrich +Barbarossa, of the Hohenstauffen race ruling in the mountain, +surrounded by Wotan's ravens. It is possible that the Franks were the +ruling tribe even in the Indo-germanic home; at all events they laid +claim to the mastery of the world as soon as they appear in history. +Of this impulse or desire Charlemagne must have been conscious when +he gathered the old tribal songs which contained the religious ideas +of the race. Upon it Napoleon based his claim to the realm of +Charlemagne. Is it not even possible that the Hohenzollerns were +influenced by the recollection of this Germanic past when they +endeavored to regain their old tribal seat in the Hohenstauffen land? + +Here we close the intimate connection of the Nibelungen legend with +our history. Temporal power, however, is not the highest destiny of a +civilizing people. That our ancestors were conscious of this is shown +in the fact that the treasure, or gold, and its power, was transformed +into the Holy Grail. Worldly aims gave place to spiritual desires. +With this interpretation of the Nibelungen myth, Wagner acknowledged +the grand and eternal truth that this life is tragic throughout, and +that the will which would mould a world to accord with one's desires +can finally lead to no greater satisfaction than to break itself in a +noble death. This latter truth, which even the ancient Orient saw +clearly when in its history the Lord himself breaks the self-will of +Jacob in a dream, moves as a deep consciousness through the Germanic +myths, and induced the Germans to accept not only the higher faith +developed from such a basis to which alone they owe the preservation +of their impetuous activity, but also tended to give this Christian +truth itself a wider and deeper significance. In their myths they had +already indicated that the possession of this world is not the only +thing to be desired. They have the world-devastation, Muspilli, the +"Twilight of the Gods." It is this conquering of the world through the +victory of self which Wagner conveys as the highest interpretation of +our national myths. As Brunhilde approaches the funeral pyre to +sacrifice to the beloved dead, Siegfried, the life--the only tie which +still binds her to this earth--she says: + + "If, like a breath, the gods disappear, + Without a pilot the world I leave. + To the world I will give now my holiest wisdom: + Not goods, nor gold, nor god-like pomp, + Not house, nor lands, nor lordly state, + Not wicked plottings of crafty men, + Not base deceits of cunning law,-- + But, blest in joy and sorrow let only love exist." + +Such was the "Ring of the Nibelungen" which Wagner created out +of the vast collection of German legends and not merely out of +the distinctively national Nibelungen epic. The completion of +"Siegfried's death," now the "Goetterdaemmerung," led to Siegfried's +"Schwertschmiedung," (Sword-wielding); "Drachenkampf," +(Dragon-struggle) and "Brautgewinnung," (Bride-winning) and further +investigation of the subject led him in the "Walkuere" to picture +Brunhilde's guilt and punishment, and finally in the "Rheingold" a +psychological foundation for the whole. The work took this mental +shape as early as 1851. Two years later, the poem, for which he had +chosen the alliterative style of the Edda as the only suitable form, +was given to his friends, and in 1863 to the world. From that time his +sole ambition was to bring this first all-comprehensive German +national drama into life by having it performed as a distinct +festival-play far from the everyday theatre. Nearly twenty years +elapsed between this and the realization of the idea. But why take +note of time when great and grand things are to be accomplished? + +The following decade brought with it many changes to Wagner, without +however at any time diverting his mind from the purpose of his life, +which constantly became clearer. Every opportunity was improved to +direct attention and approach nearer to it. The death of Spontini gave +occasion to a memorial tribute, closing with the words: "Let us bow +reverently before the grave of the creator of the 'Vestalin,' +'Cortez,' and 'Olympia.'" He sought with operas and concerts to +develop the limited musical resources of Zurich, where he had taken up +his permanent residence, because he had always met with a most cordial +personal reception there. In this he was aided by scholars who came to +him from Germany, most prominent among whom was Hans von Buelow, who +had been in Weimar with Liszt, and had become enthusiastic over +"Lohengrin." Wagner overcame his own repugnance to the operas of +Meyerbeer and his associates, which he hoped his "Lohengrin" was +destined to obliterate, and directed their performance. To do the +same for his own works, the requisite strength was lacking. "Some of +us are old, others are young. Let the older one think not of himself, +but let him love the younger for the sake of the inheritance which he +places in his heart to cherish anew, for the day will come when the +same shall be proclaimed for the welfare of humanity the world over," +are the closing words of his "Opera and Drama." He found consolation +and compensation in performing the symphonies of Beethoven, for two of +which he prepared a special program; but as he desired to have the +real motives of his work understood by the hospitable little city, he +wrote a pamphlet, "A Theatre in Zurich," wherein he advocated the +establishment and maintenance of a theatre by the citizens themselves, +as the Greeks had done. It was another evidence of his firm conviction +that the stage had a high mission in the culture of our time. He even +lectured on the subject of dramatic music, and recited the poem of +"Siegfried's Death," which made a profound impression. + +Very soon thereafter appeared the remarkable "Letter to Liszt in +Regard to the Goethe Memorial," wherein he confidently asserted that +painter as well as sculptor would decline to compete with the poet +acting in harmony with the musician, and that they would with +reverential awe bow before an art-work in comparison with which their +own productions would seem but lifeless fragments. For such an +art-work there should therefore be prepared a suitable place rather +than continue contributions to the support of the individual arts, +which the former would invigorate and elevate anew. We see to-day that +the plastic arts also strike out in new paths. Liszt and Wagner have +inspired their epoch and the sculptor Zumbusch in Vienna has given us +their busts. In a similar strain he challenged musical criticism and +thereupon began with the gradual spread of "Tannhaeuser," and soon +also of "Lohengrin," those seemingly endless disputes which, however, +at the same time increased the strength of some younger men, among +whom were Uhlig, Pohl, Cornelius, Raff and Ambros. These practical +performances, as little as they presented an artistic ensemble, yet +tended to arouse and shape talents that Wagner could avail himself of +later for his own higher purposes. Among them were Milde and his wife, +Ander, Schnorr, Formes, Niemann and Beck. Wagner's niece Johanna, was +already familiar with his method from her Dresden experience. He +endeavored in a pamphlet discussing the way to perform "Tannhaeuser" +to rescue it from banishment and familiarize the artists with its +merits but they remained deaf or hostile. He became absorbed the more +in his Nibelungen-poem, leaving to his good genius his deliverance +from external isolation. And yet the latter became a source of +pleasure when, in the manner of von Eschenbach's Parcival, who also +presented the sorrows and deeds of the mythical sun-hero, familiar to +him since 1845, he undertook to portray the forest-solitude in which +his young Siegfried grew up and gained all the miraculous power of +nature, above all, that inner confidence which banishes fear from the +human breast. + +A brighter future seemed to open when, notwithstanding the doubts of +his friends of the ultimate success of his "monstrous undertaking," +the knowledge of which began to spread, the German artists generally +accepted his invitation to spend a Wagner week in Zurich, and parts +of his masterly works were performed with such effect that "the +amiable maestro stood buried in flowers." For the overture to the +"Flying Dutchman," as well as for the prelude to "Lohengrin," he +composed an explanatory introduction. + +In the autumn of the same year he was in Italy, and, lying sleepless +in a hotel at La Speccia, he found for the first time those plastic +"nature-motives" which in the Nibelungen-trilogy with constantly +increasing individuality are made the exponents of the passions and +the characters which give expression to them. He immediately returned +to his dreary, involuntary home to proceed with the completion of his +colossal work, which was to engage his attention for many years. A +visit from Liszt, in October, led to a profounder understanding of +Beethoven's last sonatas, so that their language was fully identified +with his own. "Rheingold" and the "Walkuere" were soon finished. + +His fame meanwhile grew steadily. He received an invitation for the +concerts of the Philharmonic society in London, for which Beethoven +had written the Ninth Symphony and designed the Tenth, which, +according to his Sketches, was to show what all great poetic minds +longed for--the union of the tragic spirit of the Greeks with the +religious of the modern world. It was the same high goal that Wagner +touched in the "Nibelungenring" and attained in "Parcival." The +English at that time were even less disposed to appreciate his efforts +than the Germans, and the Jewish spirit of their church inclined them +to look with suspicion upon the "Jew Persecutor." He also found at +first some difficulties in the rushing style of execution, which was a +tradition from Mendelssohn, who was idolized in England. His untiring +energy, however, prevailed everywhere where art was at stake, and the +last of the eight concerts, in which Mozart's C Major Symphony and +Beethoven's Eighth were given, and the "Tannhaeuser Overture," was +encored, brought him, in a storm of applause, compensation for the +unworthy calumniations of the press, notably, of the _Times_. +Notwithstanding all this, he could not be induced to re-visit London +till twenty years later. The invitations from America he declined at +once. + +His art-susceptibility at that time was very keen and active. He +remarked to a German admirer, in the autumn of 1856, that two new +subjects occupied his mind during the Nibelungen-work, which he could +with difficulty repress. The one was "Tristan," with which Gottfried's +brilliant epic had already made him familiar in composing the +"Walkuere," and the other, probably, was "Parcival," whose Good Friday +enchantment had impressed him many years before. In October Liszt +visited him again, and heard the "Walkuere" on the piano. A musical +journal in Leipzig was emboldened to speak of a forthcoming event that +would agitate the whole musical world. With what joyous cheerfulness +he composed "Siegfried," and his Anvil-song is shown in a letter about +Liszt's symphonic poems, which appeared in the following spring. +Accident and irresistible impulse, however, led immediately to the +completion of "Tristan and Isolde." + +The seeming hopelessness of success in his endeavors at times +discouraged him. "When I thus laid down one score after the other, +never again to take them up, I seemed to myself like a sleep-walker +who is unconscious of his actions," he states. And yet he had to seek +the "daylight" of the German opera, from which he had fled with his +Nibelungen, if he would remain familiar with the active life of his +art. He proposed therefore to arrange the much simpler Tristan +material within the compass of ordinary stage representation. +Curiously enough he received just then an offer to compose an opera +for the excellent Italian troupe in Rio Janeiro. He thought, however, +of Strasbourg, and it was only through Edward Devrient, who visited +him in the summer of 1857, that he destined the work for Carlsruhe +where Grand Duke Frederick and his wife, Princess Louisa of Prussia, +displayed a growing interest in art. It was also the home of an +excellent singer, Ludwig Schnorr from Carolsfeld, of whom Tichatschek +had already informed him and who was to be the first to assume the +role of Tristan. + +"Tristan" belongs, like "Siegfried" and "Parcival," to the circle +of the sun-heroes of the primeval myth. He also is forced to use +deception and is compelled to deliver his own bride to his friend, +then to discern his danger and voluntarily disappear. Thus Wagner +remained within his poetic sphere. But while in "Siegfried" the +Nibelungen-myth in its historic relations had to be maintained and +only the sudden destruction of the hero through the vengeance of the +woman who sacrifices herself with him, could be used in "Tristan," on +the other hand the main subject lies in the torture of love. The two +lovers become conscious of their mutual love through the drinking of +the love-potion that dooms them to death. It is a death preferred to +life without each other. What in "Siegfried" is but a moment of +decisive vehemence appears here in psychological action of endless +variety, wherein Wagner has woven the whole tragic nature of +our existence, which he had learned from the great philosopher +Schopenhauer, to esteem as a "blessing." There was however in this +similarity, and at the same time difference, a peculiar charm which +invested the work. It is supplementary to the Nibelungen-material +which in reality embraces human life in all its relations. + +It is wonderful how readily he found the means to unfold before our +eyes the revelation which involved the death of the two lovers. +Commissioned by his uncle, King Marke, Tristan has conquered the +tributary Celts and slain their leader, Morold, in battle. Isolde, +the betrothed of the latter, to whose care the wounded Tristan is +consigned, is completely captivated when at last her eyes meet his, +but unconscious of this he wooes the beautiful woman for the "wearied +King" and conducts her to him. Inwardly aroused by this and the death +of her former lover, she plans to kill him and while yet on the vessel +offers him the cup of poison in retaliation for the slain Morold. Here +Brangaene appears and secretly changes the draught so that these two +who imagine they had drunk a coming death in which all love should +pass away, in this fancied final moment became conscious of life, and +confess to each other that love with which they cannot part. It is +therefore not the drink in itself but the certainty that death will +ensue, which relieves them from constraint. The act of drinking +betokens only the moment of consciousness and confession. Nevertheless +they cannot live, now that King Marke has discovered their love. +Tristan raises himself from the couch where he lies suffering from the +wound inflicted by the King's "friend" and tearing open the wound with +his own hand, embraces the approaching Isolde, who is now in death +united with him forever. + +While composing the work, which the prospect of speedy representation +hastened forward rapidly, and which he hoped would secure for him a +temporary return to his fatherland, an agreeable sensation of complete +unrestraint seized him. With utter abandon he could reach the very +depths of those soul-emotions which are the very essence of music, and +fearlessly shape from them the external form as well. Now he could +apply the strictest rules. He even felt, in the midst of his work, +that he surpassed his own system. The impressive second act was +projected in Venice, where he spent the winter of 1858-59, owing to +ill-health. Thence he removed to Lucerne. + +From his native land new rays of hope meanwhile penetrated his +retirement. Not only Carlsruhe but Vienna and Weimar now grew +interested. He ardently longed to strengthen himself, by hearing his +own music. "I dread to remain much longer, perhaps, the only German +who has not heard my 'Lohengrin,'" he writes to Berlioz, in 1859. He +begged permission to return, and sought the intervention of the +grand-duke of Baden, as otherwise he would have to go to Paris. +The grand-duke took all possible steps to help him, but it was of +no avail. His efforts failed, he says, because of the obstinate +opposition of the King of Saxony, but it was probably due more to the +dislike the unhappy minister, von Beust, himself an amateur composer, +entertained for the author-composer. Wagner, therefore, in the autumn +of 1859, again went to hated Paris, where he could, at least +occasionally, hear good music. + +He found in Paris a few really devoted friends of his art as well +as of himself, who promised to make his stay home-like in this respect +at least. They were Villot, Champfleury, Baudelaire, the young +physician Gasperini, and Ollivier, Liszt's son-in-law. The press, +however, commenced at once its vicious and corrupt practices against +the "musical Marat." Wagner replied with actions. He invited +German singers and in three concerts performed selections from his +compositions. The beau monde of Paris attended, and the applause was +universal, especially after the Lohengrin Bridal-Chorus. The critics +however remained indifferent and even malicious. At this juncture, at +the solicitation of some members of the German legation, particularly +the young princess Metternich, Napoleon gave the order for the +performance of "Tannhaeuser," in the Grand Opera-house, much to +Wagner's surprise. It must have caused a curious mixture of joy and +anxiety in the artist's breast. Standing on the soil of France, he, +for the first time, was destined to conquer his fatherland, but on a +spot which belonged to the "Grand Opera," and where all the inartistic +qualities were fostered that he endeavored to supplant. As his native +land was closed to him, he went to work with his usual earnestness, +and, as though it were a reward for his faithfulness, there came +during the preparations the long-desired amnesty, with the exclusion, +however, of Saxony. + +In the summer of 1860 he availed himself of his regained liberty to +make an excursion to the Rhine and then returned to the rehearsals. +Niemann, cast in an heroic mould, had been secured for the title-role. +For the instruction of the public he wrote the letter about the "Music +of the Future" adopting the current witty expression, which appeared +as preface to a translation of his four completed lyric works, +exclusive of the Nibelungen-Ring. With admirable clearness he +disclosed the purpose of his work. The press on the other hand made +use of every agency at its disposal to prejudice Paris from the start +against the work. To aggravate matters, Wagner would not consent to +introduce in the second act the customary ballet which always formed +the chief attraction for the Jockey-club, whose members belonged to +the highest society. He simply gave to the scene in the Venusberg +greater animation and color. It was for this reason that the press and +this club, the malicious Semitic and unintelligent Gallic elements, +the former unfortunately of German origin, united in the effort to +make the work a failure when presented in the spring of 1861. The +history of art discloses nothing more discreditable. The gentlemen of +the Jockey-club with their dog-whistles in spite of the protests of +the audience succeeded in making the performances impossible and the +press declared the work merited such a fate! Wagner withdrew it after +the third performance and thereby incurred a heavy debt which it +required years of privation to liquidate. At the same time as far as +he personally was concerned the occurrence gave rise to a feeling of +joyous exaltation. The affair caused considerable excitement and +brought him, as he says, "into very important relations with the most +estimable and amiable elements of the French mind," and he discovered +that his ideal, being purely human, found followers everywhere. The +performances themselves could not have pleased him. "May all their +insufficiencies remain covered with the dust of those three +battle-evenings," he wrote shortly after to Germany. + +He realized afresh that for the present his native land alone was the +place for a worthy presentation of his music and the enthusiasm which +he witnessed at a performance of "Lohengrin" in Vienna, then the +German imperial city, convinced him that the insult which had just +been offered to the German spirit was keenly felt. Vienna as well as +Carlsruhe now requested "Tristan," but the request was not conceded. +At a musicians' union which met in Weimar in August, 1861, under +Liszt's leadership, Wagner found that the better part of the German +artists had also measurably been converted to his views. These +experiences and the hope that with a humorous theme selected from +German life he might finally obtain possession of the domestic stage +and speak heart to heart to his dearly loved people and remind them +that even their every day life ought to be transfused with the spirit +of the ideal, prompted him to resurrect his "Mastersingers of +Nuremberg." It was in foreign Paris that he wrote, in the winter of +1862, the prize song of German life and art which enchants every true +German heart. This was the last work he created in a foreign land and +in a certain sense he freed himself with it from the sad recollections +of a banishment endured for more than ten years to reappear now "sound +and serene" before his nation. That this would finally come to pass +had always been his last star of hope. "To the Pleiades and to Bootes" +Beethoven had likewise marked in his copy of the Odyssey. + +We close therefore this chapter of banishment and dire misfortunes +with the prospect of a brighter future by communicating the plan of +the text of that work as he had already framed it in 1845. + +"I conceived Hans Sachs to be the last appearance of the artistic +spirit of the people" he says, "and placed him in opposition to the +narrow-minded citizens from whom the Mastersingers were chosen. To +their ridiculous pedantry, I gave personal expression in the Marker +whose duty it was to pay attention to the mistakes of the singers, +especially of those who were candidates for admission to the guild." +Whenever a certain number of errors had been committed the singer had +to step down and was declared unworthy of the distinction he sought. +The eldest member of the guild now offered the hand of his young +daughter to that master who should win the prize at the public +song-festival. + +The Marker, who already is a suitor, finds a rival in the person of a +young nobleman who, inspired by heroic tales and the minnesingers' +deeds, leaves his ruined ancestral castle to learn the art of the +mastersingers in Nuremberg. He announces himself for admission +prompted mainly by his sudden and growing love for the prize-maiden +who can only be gained by a "master." At the examination he sings an +inspired song which however gives constant offense to the Marker, so +much so, that before he is half through he has exhausted the limit of +errors. Sachs, who is pleased with the young nobleman, for his own +welfare frustrates the desperate attempt to elope with the maiden. In +doing this he finds at the same time an opportunity to greatly vex the +Marker. The latter, who to humiliate Sachs had upbraided him because +of a pair of shoes which were not yet ready, posts himself at night +before the window of the maiden and sings his song as a test, for it +is important to gain her vote upon which rests the final decision when +the prize is bestowed. Sachs, whose workshop lies opposite the house +for which the serenade is intended, when the Marker opens, begins to +sing loudly also because as he declares to the irate serenader, this +is necessary for him, if he would remain awake while at work so late, +and that the work is urgent none knows better than he who had so +harshly rebuked him for tardiness. At last he promises to desist, on +condition however that he be permitted to indicate the errors which, +after his own feeling, he may find in the song, by striking with the +hammer upon the last. The Marker sings, Sachs repeatedly and +vigorously strikes the last, and the Marker jumps up angrily but is +met with the question whether he is through with the song. "Far from +it," he cries. Sachs now laughingly hands him his shoes and declares +that the strokes of disapproval sufficed to complete them. With the +rest of the song, which in desperation he sings without stopping, he +lamentably fails before the female form at the window who shakes her +head violently in disapproval, and, to add to his own misfortune, he +receives a thrashing at the hands of the apprentices and journeymen +whom the noise has roused from slumber. The following day, deeply +dejected, he asks Sachs for one of his own songs. Sachs gives him one +of the young nobleman's poems, pretending not to know whence it came. +He cautions him to observe the melody to which it must be sung. The +vain Marker, however, believes himself perfectly secure in this, and +now sings the poem before the public master and peoples-court to a +melody which completely disfigures it, so that he fails again, and +this time decisively. Rendered furious, he accuses Sachs of deceit in +that he gave him an abominable poem. Sachs declares the poem to be +quite good, but that it must be sung according to the proper melody. +It is now determined that whoever knows this melody shall be the +victor. The young nobleman sings it and secures the bride. The +admission into the guild however he declines. Thereupon Hans Sachs +humorously defends the mastersingers and closes with the rhyme: + + "The Holy Roman Empire may depart, + Yet will remain our Holy German art." + +A few years later the German empire arose to new glory and blessing, +and yet a lustrum, and with the rise of Baireuth, came the German art. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +1862-1868. + +MUNICH. + + Successful Concerts--Plans for a New Theatre--Offenbach's Music + Preferred--Concerts Again--New Hindrances and Disappointments--King + Louis of Bavaria--Rescue and Hope--New Life--Schnorr--"Tannhaeuser" + Reproduced--Great Performance of "Tristan"--Enthusiastic + Applause--Death of Schnorr--Opposition of the Munich Public--Unfair + Attacks Upon Wagner--He Goes to Switzerland--The + "Meistersinger"--The Rehearsals--The Successful + Performance--Criticisms. + + _O, thus descendest thou at last to me, + Fulfilment, fairest daughter of the Gods._ + Goethe. + + +The pressure of circumstances, as well as the natural desire, to break +ground for himself and his new creations, induced him for a time to +give concerts with selections from them. He met with marked success +before the unprejudiced hearers of Vienna, Prague, St. Petersburg, and +Moscow. His visit to Russia especially yielded him a handsome sum, +with which he returned to Vienna to await the representation of +"Tristan," but owing to the physical inability of Ander, the work +finally had to be laid aside. Wagner felt also that intelligence as +well as good-will for the cause were lacking; even the Isolde-Dustman +did not at heart believe in it. "To speak frankly, I had enough of it +and thought no more about it," he tells us. + +During this time he published the Nibelungen-poem, and in April, 1863, +wrote the celebrated preface which eventually led to the consummation +of his desires. He had with Semper conceived the design of a theatre +which after the Grecian style should confine the attention of the +entire audience to the stage, by its amphitheatric form, thus +rendering impossible the mutual staring of the public or at least +making it less likely to occur. Because of the oft repeated experience +of the deeper effect of music when heard unseen, the orchestra was to +be placed so low that no spectator could see the movements of the +performers, while at the same time it would result in the more +complete harmony of sound from the many and various instruments. In +such a place, consecrated to art alone and not to pleasure of the eye, +the "stage-festival-play" was to be produced. But would it be possible +for lovers of art to provide the means, or was there perhaps a prince +willing to spend for this purpose only as much as the maintenance for +a short period of his imperfect Opera-house cost him? "In the +beginning was the deed," he says with _Faust_, and adds sadly enough +in a postscript: "I no longer expect to live to see the representation +of my stage-festival-play, and can barely hope to find sufficient +leisure and desire to complete the musical composition." + +He next thought that the court Opera-house in process of erection in +Vienna might be utilized by limiting the number of performances and +securing a careful representation of the style of the works produced. +Had not Joseph II. recognized the theatre as "contributing to the +refinement of manners and of taste"? He even offered to prepare +specially for Vienna a more condensed work, the "Meistersingers." The +reply was, however, that the name of Wagner had for the present +received sufficient consideration, and that it was time to give a +hearing to some other composer. "This other name was Jacques +Offenbach," adds Wagner. It needs no comment. + +Again followed concerts, first in Prague, where "Tristan" was +requested, then in Carlsruhe, where he had long been forgotten, +although the prince's own love for art had not been extinguished. The +Carlsruhe and Mannheim orchestras acknowledged that they now first +fully realized that they were artists. A negotiation for permanent +settlement at the grand-ducal court failed, owing to the opposition of +the courtiers. Wagner had demanded a court-carriage! Frederick the +Great has said, it is true, that geniuses rank with sovereigns; but +then this was too much, too much! Then too, he had, O horror! spent +the beautiful ducats which the grand-duke had presented him, in +entertaining of an evening the musicians who had executed the work. +Where would such pretensions, such extravagance lead? The same +courtiers, however, did not consider it robbery for many years +shamefully to abridge the income of their noble prince until they +finally stood disgraced themselves and escaped punishment only through +the inexhaustible kindness of their monarch. + +In Loewenberg, in Breslau, and again in Vienna, everywhere Wagner met +with abundant success. But what of the real goal? "The public met him +with enthusiasm wherever he showed himself, but on the other hand the +leading critics remained cold or hostile and the directors of the +theatres closed their doors to him," his biographer, Glasenapp, says +truthfully enough. Of the Nibelungen-poem also no notice had been +taken except in a very narrow circle. Here and there a copy of the +little volume, bound in red and gold, could be found, but the owner +was sure to belong to the school of Liszt or Wagner. "How could the +poetic work of an opera-composer bear serious consideration in +contrast with the elaborate literary productions of professional +poets?" Wagner says with justice. He felt himself rejected everywhere, +and just where alone he desired admission. + + "For me there shone no star that did not pale, + No cheering hope of which I was not reft; + To the world's whim, changing with every gale, + And all its vain caprices, I was left; + To nobler art my aspirations soared, + Yet I must sink them to the common horde. + + "He that our heads had crowned with laurels green, + By priestly staff whose verdure had decayed, + Robbed me of Hope's sweet solaces, and e'en + The last delusive comfort caused to fade; + Yet thus was nourished in my soul serene + An inward trust, by which my faith was stayed; + And if to this trust I prove ever true + The withered staff shall blossom forth anew. + + "What deep in my own heart I did discern, + Dwelt also, silent, in another's breast; + And that which in his eager soul did burn, + Within my youthful heart peaceful did rest; + And as he half unconsciously did yearn + For all the Spring-time joys that were in quest, + The Spring's delightsomeness our souls shall nourish, + And newer verdure round our faiths shall flourish." + +On his seventeenth birthday, the 25th of August, 1861, the grandson of +that King Louis of Bavaria who was the first among the princes of +Germany to again take an active interest in the plastic arts, +witnessed a performance of "Lohengrin," the first play that he had +seen. Full of enthusiasm, he inquired for the other works of this +master. Wagner's writings convinced him, who now had on his desk only +the busts of Beethoven and Wagner, that the one seemed likely to meet +the same fate that the other had in fact encountered--to sink into the +grave before the attainment of his goal and of his fame. His silent +vow was to reach out his hand to this "one" as soon as he should be +king. Two years later, the "Ring of the Nibelungen" appeared in +print. In it was the question: "Will this prince be found?" In the +following spring the author of the work was in dire distress in +Vienna. The silver rubles had rapidly disappeared. How could such +common treasures be heeded by him who had at his disposal the Holy +Grail? But inexorably approached the danger of loss of personal +liberty. He had to fly. A friend had provided him a refuge on his +estate in Switzerland. On the way there he remained a few days in +Stuttgart. Of a sudden the friend's door-bell is rung, but Wagner's +presence is denied. The stranger urges pressing business, and on +inquiry informs the master of the house--who was none other than Carl +Eckert, subsequently Hofkapellmeister at Berlin--that he comes in +the name of the King of Bavaria! Louis II. by the sudden death of +Maximilian II. had been called to the throne in March, 1864, and +one of his first acts was the invitation extended to the artist, +so enthusiastically admired. + +"Now all has been won, my most daring hopes surpassed. He places all +his means at my disposal," with these words he sank upon his friend's +breast. In a short time he was in Munich. + +"He has poured out his wealth upon me as from a horn of plenty," was +the expression he used immediately after the first audience. "What +shall I now tell you? The most inconceivable and yet the only thing I +need has attained its full realization. In the year of the first +representation of my 'Tannhaeuser,' a queen gave birth to the good +genius of my life, who was destined to bring me out of deepest want +into the highest happiness. He has been sent to me from heaven. +Through him I am, and comprehend myself," he wrote, a few months +later, after he had settled down in Munich, to a lady friend. + +King Louis was a youth of true kingly form. In his beautiful eye there +was at the same time a quiet enthusiasm. His keen understanding was +accompanied by a lively imagination and a true soul, so that nature +had endowed him with the three principal mental powers in noble +proportions. His disposition is indicated by the words: "You are a +Protestant? That is right. Always liberal." And after the style of +youthful inexperience: "You likewise do not like women? They are so +tedious." His soul and mind were open to the joyous reception of all +ideal emotions. This was indeed a youthful king, as only such an +artist could have wished, and permanently attracted. "To the Kingly +Friend," is the title of the dedication of the "Walkuere," in the +summer of 1864. + + "O gracious king! protector of my life! + Thou fountain of all goodness, all delight; + Now, at the goal of my adventurous strife, + The words that shall express thy grace aright + I seek in vain, although the world is rife + With speech and printed book; and day and night + I still must seek for words to utter free + The gratitude my heart doth bear to thee." + +Thereupon follow the three verses quoted above, and it comes to a +close: + + "So poor am I, I keep but only this-- + The faith which thou hast given unto me; + It is the power by which to heights of bliss + My soul is lifted in proud ecstacy; + But partly is it mine, and I shall miss + Wholly its power, if thou ungracious be; + My gifts are all from thee, and I will praise + Thy royal faith that knows no change of days." + +Of the latter there was to be no lack, although it was put to a severe +test, and thus the artist reached at last the goal of his effort, +referred to above, where he stands to-day, the artistic savior of his +nation and his time. + +As the main thing, the completion of the Nibelungen-Ring was taken in +hand. In the meantime, however, a model exhibition of the new +art-style was to be given, with "Tristan." For this purpose Schnorr +was invited, at that time residing in Dresden. Wagner says, when he +first met him at Carlsruhe, in 1862: "While the sight of the +swan-knight, approaching in his little boat, gave me the somewhat odd +impression of the appearance of a young Hercules (Schnorr suffered +from obesity), yet his manner at once conveyed to me the distinct +charm of the mythical hero sent by the gods, whose identity we do not +study but whom we instinctively recognize. This instantaneous effect +which touches the inmost heart, can only be compared to magic. I +remember to have been similarly impressed in early youth by the great +actress, Schroeder-Devrient, which shaped the course of my life, and +since then not again so strongly as by Schnorr in Lohengrin." He had +found in him a genuine singer, musician, and actor, possessing above +all unbounded capacity for tragic roles. + +He was put to the test at first in "Tannhaeuser," and in this new +role he also produced an entirely new impression, of which the Munich +public, led by Franz Lachner, in the worn-out tracks of the latter-day +classics, had its first experience. Then followed the rehearsals for +"Tristan," which Schnorr had already fully mastered, with the +exception of a single passage, "Out of Laughter and Weeping, Joys and +Wounds," the terrible love-curse in the third act. By his wonderful +power of expression, the master had "made this clear to him." At the +rehearsal of this act, Wagner staggered to his feet, profoundly moved, +and embracing his wonderful friend, said softly that he could not +express his joy over his now realized ideal, and Schnorr's dark eye +flashed responsive pleasure. Buelow, who, as concert-master to the +king, now resided in Munich, likewise conducted with wonderful +precision the orchestra which Wagner himself had thoroughly rehearsed, +and so the invitation was issued to this "art-festival" wherever +Wagner's art had conquered hearts. It was to show how far the problem +of original and genuine musico-dramatic art had been solved, and +whether the people were ready for it and prepared to share in its +grandest and noblest triumphs. + +The public rehearsal was festive in its character. The whole musical +press of Germany and some of the foreign critics were present. +Wagner was called after every act. Unfortunately, the representation +proper was delayed for nearly four weeks through the sickness of +Frau Garrigues-Schnorr, who took the role of Isolde, so that the +Munich people were after all the principal attendants. The applause +was nevertheless enthusiastic, and the success of the memorable +"art-festival" of June 10, 1865, admission to which was not to be had +for money, but by invitation of Wagner and his royal friend, was an +accomplished fact, notwithstanding the work had been by no means fully +comprehended, for this required time. Unfortunately, the noble artist +died a short time after, in Dresden, from the effects of a cold, to +which the utter disregard of the theatre managers in Munich had +exposed him in the scene where he had to lie wounded on a couch. +Wagner was deeply affected. He conceived he had lost the solid stone +work of his edifice, and would now have to resort to mere bricks. It +is certain he never found a Siegfried as great as this Tristan. + +Another contingency temporarily interfered with the undertaking of the +two friends, and that was the opposition of the Munich public, which +resulted in Wagner's permanent withdrawal from the city. To this +public a person was indeed strange who made such unusual artistic +demands, while the personal character and habits of Wagner at that +time were probably nowhere more strange than in Bavaria, which had +obtained its education at the hands of the Jesuit priests. It is true, +the good qualities, such as simplicity of manners and habits of life, +had remained, but the intellectual horizon had become a comparatively +narrow one, and, what was worse, the clerical and aristocratic +Bavarian party feared it would lose its power if a man like Wagner +were to remain permanently about the king. George Herwegh has +described comically enough the Witches-Sabbath, which that party, in +1865, with the aid of other hostile factions, enacted, and which +forced Wagner once more into foreign lands. + +Munich, accustomed to simplicity, took exception to the rich style in +which Wagner furnished the villa presented by the king, and to the +expansion of the civil-list for the construction of the theatre, which +was to cost seven million marks, though it would have made Munich a +festival-place for all Germany, and cultivated society the world over. +The press from day to day printed some fresh calumny. It even assailed +the private character of the artist after a fashion that provoked him +to a very effective public defense. Even very sensible people became +possessed, in an unaccountable manner, with the prevalent idea that +Wagner was destroying Bavaria's prosperity. A not unknown author of +oriental poetry, said ignorantly enough, that it was well such a tramp +was finally to be driven off the street; and a college professor, who, +it is true, had a son, a self-composer in Beethoven's meaning of the +word, and who could therefore have performed all that Wagner did, +added to this the brutal, insolent assertion, "the fellow deserves +to be hanged." At last they prevailed upon the king, to whom this +had been foolsplay, to listen at least to what unprejudiced men +would tell him of public opinion in Bavaria. To the minister and +the police-superintendent were added an esteemed ultra montane +government counselor, an arch bishop and others who were reputed to be +unprejudiced. His reply, "I will show to my dear people that I value +their confidence and love above everything," proves that they finally +succeeded in misleading even the greatest impartiality. The king +himself requested the artist to leave Munich for some time and gave +him an annuity of 15,000 marks. When this had been done, a public +declaration of the principal party in Bavaria showed that the +so-called "displeasure of the people" about political machinations +and the like had been empty talk. Political, social, and artistic +intrigues and base envy alone had given birth to this ghost. + +This happened near the close of the year 1865. Wagner again turned to +Switzerland. The king's affection for him had only been increased by +these occurrences. He even visited his friend in his voluntary exile, +who in turn had no more ardent desire than to meet such love with +deeds, and calmly prepared himself again for new work. His longing for +Munich had forever vanished. It is true, some of the nobler citizens +sought to wipe out the disgrace with which the city had covered +itself, by sending a silver wreath to Wagner on his birthday in 1866. +The rejection of Semper's splendid design for the theatre by the +civil-list led his thoughts anew to the wide German fatherland, and he +at once returned to the Meistersingers, in the hope that by this more +intelligible work the public would finally turn to him, and that +then the great German people would assist in the erection of a +festival-building for a national art-work and thus realize his grand +ideal. We know to-day that he succeeded in uniting them in this great +work. + +The next important step in that direction was the representation of +the "Meistersinger" in Munich in 1868. In the course of time Wagner +dominated the stage in a manner which had not been witnessed since +"Lohengrin." + +It has been truthfully said that there was something more surprising +than the highly poetic "Tristan," namely, the artist himself, who so +shortly after could create a picture of such manifold coloring as the +"Meistersinger." But with equal truth the same observer of Wagner says +that whoever is astounded at this achievement has but little +understood the one essential point in the nature and life of all +really great Germans. "He does not know on what soil alone that +many-sided humor displayed by Luther, Beethoven, and Wagner can grow, +which other nations do not at all comprehend, and which even the +Germans of to-day seem to have lost; that mixture, pure as gold, of +simplicity, deep, loving insight, mental reflection and rollicking +humor which Wagner has poured out like a delightful draught for all +those who have keenly suffered in life, and who turn to him, as it +were, with the smile of the convalescent." Another German, Sebastian +Bach, might have been named whom Wagner resembles most in that +universal dominating quality of mind which is even visible in the +half-ironical, laughing eye of the simple Thuringian chorister, and +brings home to us the truth of Faust's words, "creating delights +for the gods to enjoy." He played at that time many of Bach's +compositions, such as the "Well Tempered Clavicord," with his young +assistant, Hans Richter, who had been recommended to him from Vienna +as a copyist. What cared he for all this wild whirl of silly fancies +and boorish conceit, so long as he, a genuine Prometheus, could create +something new after the grandest models! In speaking of "Tannhaeuser" +he tells us how supremely happy he was when occupied with the +delightful work of real creation. "Before I undertake to write a verse +or sketch a scene, I am already filled with the musical spirit of my +creation," he writes in the year 1864. "All the characteristic motives +are in my brain, so that when the text is done and the scenes +arranged, the opera itself is completed, and the detailed musical +treatment becomes rather a thoughtful and quiet after-work which the +moment of actual composition has already preceded." The humor which at +times prompted even the aged Beethoven to spring over tables and +benches, frequently seized upon our master in such strange fashion +that in the midst of company he would suddenly stand upon his head in +a corner of the room for some time. + +His friends observed with pleasure his rapturous happiness in the +certainty of reaching the goal, even though it should bring him to the +grave during this period of the "Meistersinger" composition. He lived +in the most quiet retirement upon a small and beautiful estate in +Triebscheu, near Lucerne, where Frau von Buelow, with her children, +provided for his domestic comfort. His own wife had unexpectedly died +a short time before. During her last years she had lived separately +from the "fiery wheel" whose mad flight she could no longer grasp +nor endure, but by no means in that poverty which the abominably +slanderous press of Munich and elsewhere had accused him of inflicting +upon her. On the contrary, she lived in circumstances fully +corresponding to her husband's means. + +In October, 1867, after the lapse of 22 years, the "Meistersinger" was +at last completed. He now strove to secure as far as possible a model +representation. It was of course to take place in Munich, where +"Tristan" had already given the orchestra at least a sure tradition of +style. The event was destined to win for him the very heart of the +nation. If the general culture of the last generation by its shallow +optimism and stale humanitarianism blunted the feeling for the tragic, +as Wagner for the first time had deeply expressed it, yet of one +quality we were never deprived, it ever remained undisturbed, and +that was our German good-nature, from the depths of which humor +springs. At a casual meeting in Kuxhasen, during a friendly contest in +the expression of emotions by gestures of the face, even the great +Kean could not rival the greater Devrient in one thing, and had to +yield to him the victory, and that was the tearful smile which springs +from real compassion with the sorrows of humanity. It was with this +"German good-nature" that Wagner this time conquered the nations. It +was Beethoven who had again quickened the flow from this deepest +source of blessing in life which Shakespeare had been the first to +fully open. By it, Wagner's soul has ever kept its warmth and spirit. +Who that was present does not think with joyous emotion of those +Munich May-days of 1868? + +His pamphlet, "German Art and German Politics," had directed the +attention of the narrower circle of Wagner's friends at least +to the great fact that the artificial French civilization which had +prevailed during the last generation could be banished by a real +intellectual culture, and that in this work the highest form of art, +the stage-festival-play, would take a prominent and important part. A +masterly performance of Lohengrin in the spring of 1868, in honor of +the Crown-Prince of Prussia, was a striking illustration of this, +especially to Munich circles. It may also have influenced the mood of +the performers in whose hands the ultimate realization of an object +after all rests. "Even in after years Wagner confessed he had never +felt greater satisfaction in his experiences with an opera company +than at the first representation of the 'Meistersinger.'" The +performers also speak of the persuasive grace and the fresh, animating +cheerfulness with which the master, an example for all in his restless +activity, moved among them and gave to each individual his constant +directions. This remark of his biographer tells everything. + +The rehearsals were this time even more artistically satisfactory to +all the participants than those of "Tristan." This art-work was easier +of comprehension owing to its more familiar subject and natural tone. +At the director's desk stood Buelow--"a fine head with clear cut +features, bold arched forehead and large eyes." Opposite to him on the +stage stood Wagner, likewise a very active form of medium height. "All +his features bear the impress of an unsubdued will which underlies his +whole nature," says a Frenchman. "It shows itself everywhere--in the +broad and prominent forehead, in the excessive curve of the strong +chin, in the thin and compressed lips, up to the strong eyebrows, +which disclose the long excitements of a life of suffering; it is the +man of battle, whom we know by his life, the man of thought, who, +never content with the past, looks constantly to the future." Closely +attending, he accompanied every tone with a fitting gesture for the +performer. Only when Mallinger sang the role of the goldsmith's little +daughter, Eva, he paused and listened approvingly with a smiling face. +It was clear that, like Prometheus among his lifeless forms, he +animated them with the breath of the soul and roused them into life. +Beckmesser, the Marker, by his drastic presentation alone expressed +the full measure of furious wrath over the shoemaker's mockery of +his beautiful singing. Such a display of art was new to all. The +Court-Kapellmeister Esser of Vienna, admitted that for the first time +he knew what dramatic, as compared with Kapellmeister-music, was; and +the excellent clarinet-player Baermann, who had personally known +Weber, felt himself in a new world, of which he said that one who did +not know how to appreciate it was not worthy of it and that those who +did not understand it were served rightly in being debarred from this +enjoyment. + +At the close of the rehearsals, Wagner expressed his great pleasure to +all the performers; only the artist could again elevate art, and in +contrast with the foreign style, hitherto cultivated, they would +create our own distinctive art. The performance itself was intended to +show to what height and dignity the drama could be elevated when +earnest zeal and true loyalty are enlisted in its service. It was a +touching proof of enthusiastic gratitude for the noble results to +which he had led them, when they all gathered around him to press his +hand or kiss his arms and shoulders. It was the first time that poet +and artist were reunited and in harmony. A hopeful moment for our +art! The enthusiasm lasted fully half of that fragrant summer night. + +Such were the hopes realized by the happy impression the performance +itself made upon everyone. The harmony of action, word, music, and +scenery had hitherto never been consciously felt to such a degree. The +rejoicing was general. The Sunday-afternoon service, so devout and +home-like, the busy apprentices, the worthy masters, the "young +Siegfried" Walther von Stolzing, the thoughtful, noble burgher form +of Hans Sachs, and finally, lovely little Eva, no wonder it all +produced supreme ecstasy. Wagner, sitting in the imperial box at the +side of the king, cared not for the tumultous applause of those who +had so grievously wronged him, but gave himself up to the enjoyment of +this moment of the highest happiness, which perhaps was best reflected +in the eyes of his noble friend. Finally, however, when the demand +became too imperious, the king himself probably urged Wagner to go +forward, and from the royal box he made his acknowledgment, too deeply +stirred and agitated to utter a word. For the welfare of the nation +and the time, we see here realized in its wide significance the +vision of Schiller: + + "Thus, King and Singer shall together be + Upon the mountains of humanity." + +The friend of the cause will find a correct account of all these ever +memorable occurrences in the "Musical Sketchbook--An Exposition of the +State of the Opera at the present Time," of 1869, concerning which the +master wrote to the author: "You will readily believe that much, +indeed the most, of what you have written, has greatly affected and +deeply touched me, and I shall therefore say nothing about your work +itself except to express for all this my great and intense pleasure!" + +The criticisms of different persons presented a many-colored picture +of which an amusing sketch will also be found in the book referred to. +How many Beckmessers came to light there! The most concise and +worthiest expression of the prevalent feeling of final victory for the +cause is found in the verses of Ernst Dohm, with which we close this +grand chapter, the morning greeting of noble deeds: + + No mistakes, no faults were found. + No,--but purely, lovely singing, + Captivating every heart, + Honor to the master bringing, + Glorifying German art-- + Did the Mastersong resound. + + Soon, as standard bearers strong, + From the strand of Isar, we + Will go forth with Mastersong + Through United Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +1869-1876. + +BAIREUTH. + + A Vienna Critic--"Judaism in Music"--The War of 1870--Wagner's + Second Wife--"The Thought of Baireuth"--Wagner-Clubs--The "Kaiser + March"--Baireuth--Increasing Progress--Concerts--The Corner-Stone + of the new Theatre--The Inaugural Celebration--Lukewarmness of the + Nation--The Preliminary Rehearsals--The Summer of 1876--Increasing + Devotion of the Artists--The General Rehearsal--The Guests--The + Memorable Event--Its Importance--A World-History in Art-Deeds. + + "_In the beginning was the deed._"--GOETHE. + + +"As artist and man, I am now approaching a new world," Wagner had +already written in 1851. + +The Vienna Thersites, with his coarse and confused wits, whom the real +irony of his time had termed "the most renowned musical critic of the +age," had the hardihood to write for the principal newspaper of +Austria as late as the spring of 1872: "Wagner is lucky in everything. +He begins by raging against all monarchs, and a generous King meets +him with enthusiastic love. Then he writes a pasquinade against the +Jews, and musical Jewry pays him homage all the more by purchasing the +Baireuth certificates. He proves that all our Hofkapellmeisters are +mere artisans, and behold, they organize Wagner-clubs and recruit +troops for Baireuth. Opera-singers and theatre directors, whose +performances Wagner most cruelly condemns, follow his footsteps +wherever he appears and are delighted if he salutes them. He brands +our conservatories as being spoiled and neglected institutes, and the +scholars of the Vienna conservatory form in line before Richard Wagner +and make a subscription to present the master with a token of esteem." + +Ah, yes; but this "luck" was the result of his close search for what +was true and real. + +This moral dignity, which asks for nothing but the truth, gradually +drew toward Wagner many estimable friends, among them, through the +"Meistersinger" performance in Munich, that simple citizen who +organized in Mannheim the first of those Wagner-clubs that called into +existence for us the high castle of art and the ideal--"Baireuth." + +With that work Wagner had made the last hopeful attempt to improve the +domestic stage. The experiences gained in this effort disclosed to +him with distinct clearness the radically inartistic and un-German +qualities of the theatre, which outwardly and inwardly, morally as +well as spiritually, exerted an equally pernicious influence. But +while completely alienating himself from it and planning only to "rear +with considerate haste his gigantic edifice of four divisions," and +thus obtain a stage free from all commercial interests, consecrated +only to the ideal of the nation and the human mind, he yet felt +impelled once more to withdraw with firm hand the veil from the actual +social and art conditions of the nation, and wrote "Judaism in Music." + +A simple pamphlet has rarely set all circles of society in such +commotion as did this. It was like the awakening conscience of +the nation, only that its mental stupor prevented the immediate +comprehension of the new and deeply conciliatory spirit which here +presented itself, at once to heal and to save. It was a national deed +clearly to disclose this unseemly shopkeeper's spirit which attempts +to drag to the mercantile level even the highest concerns of humanity. +At the same time there came to some a conception of how deep and +great, how overwhelming this German spirit must be, that it not only +forces such aliens into its yoke, but, as in the case of Heine and +Mendelssohn, often produces in them profoundly affecting tones of +longing for participation in its sublime nature. Wagner's feeling at +this, the most confused uproar which has been heard in the present +time, could only have been like that of Goethe, namely, that all these +stupid talkers have no idea how impregnable the fortress is in which +he lives who is ever earnest about himself and his cause. He was +unconcerned, knowing that he should have the privilege of performing +his "Ring of the Nibelungen" far from all these distorted forms and +figures of the prevailing art. Of this, his noble friend had given +positive assurance; and for himself it became an unavoidable +necessity, since in 1869 and 1870 Munich had performed, without his +consent and contrary to his wishes, "Rheingold" and "Walkuere," by +which it had only been shown anew how little the prevalent opera +routine was in consonance with his object. + +In the meantime came the war of 1870. That of 1866 had destroyed the +rotten German "Bund," but now the most daring hopes revived in German +breasts, for there stood the people in arms, like Lohengrin, +everywhere repelling injustice and violence. + + I dared to bury many a smart + Which long and deeply grieved my heart. + +With these words Wagner greeted his king on the latter's birth day in +1870, and with clear-sighted boldness he said to himself, "The morning +of mankind is dawning." The work, however, which was to glorify and +render effective this first full Siegfried-deed of the Germans since +the days of the Reformation, and revive the moral energy of the +nation, was completed in June of the same year, 1870, with the +"Goetterdaemmerung." + +He now strove to strengthen himself anew and permanently. For the +first time in his life he fully secured the purely human happiness +which preserves our powers. He married the divorced Frau Cosima von +Buelow, a daughter of Liszt. "This man, so completely controlled +by his demon, should always have had at his side a high-minded, +appreciative woman, a wife that would have understood the war that was +constantly waged within him," is the judgment passed on Wagner's first +wife by one of her friends. He had now found this woman, and in a way +that proved on every hand a blessing. Her incomparably unselfish, +self-sacrificing first husband himself declared afterwards that this +was the only proper solution. Siegfried was the name given to the +fruit of this union. The "Siegfried Idyl" of 1871 is dedicated to the +boy's happy childhood in the beautiful surroundings of Lucerne. + +In this year, the centennial anniversary of Beethoven's birth, he also +told his nation what it possessed in him, its most manly son. He +represents, as he says in that Jubilee pamphlet, the spirit so much +feared beyond the mountains as well as on the other side of the Rhine. +He regained for us the innocence of the soul. What is now wanting is, +that out of this pure spirit-nature, as it is illustrated in his +music, there shall arise a true culture in contrast with the foreign +civilization, which resembles the time of the Roman emperors? These +tones utter anew a world-saving prophesy, and shall we not then +appropriate them fully and forever? The "thought of Baireuth" now +obtained more definite form. A number of friends of the cause were to +make it real and wrest German art from the Venusberg of the common +theatre. + +The work of the Wagner-clubs now began, which, with the aid of the +Baireuth Board of Managers, under the direction of the indefatigable +banker Fustel, has led to the goal at last. Liszt's Scholar, Tausig, +and his friend, Frau von Schleinitz, in Berlin, organized the society +of "Patrons," each member of which was to contribute one hundred +thalers toward a fund of three hundred thousand. By the publication of +his writings, Wagner himself introduced the cause that was to show +that in his art also he sought that life by which the ideal nature of +the nation exists. His noble-minded king had, in November of 1870, +uttered the words of deliverance to the other German princes, which +finally gave us again a dignified and honorable existence as a nation, +by creating the German empire. Could German art then remain in the +background? Our artist was now all activity--a wonderfully joyous and +stirring activity. To the "German army before Paris," he who had +always thought and labored for his nation's glory, sang, in January, +1871, the song of triumphant joy of the German armies' deeds: + + The Emperor comes: let justice now in peace have sway. + +At that time, also, he composed, at the suggestion of Dr. Abrahams, +owner of the "Peters edition," in Leipzig, the Kaiser March, which +closes with the following people's song: + + God save the Emperor, William, the King! + Shield of all Germans, freedom's defense! + The highest crown + Graces thine head with renown! + Peace, won with glory, be thy recompense! + As foliage new upon the oak-tree grows, + Through thee the German Empire new-born rose; + Hail to its ancient banners which we + Did carry, which guided thee + When conquering bravely the Gallic foes! + Defying enemies, protecting friends, + The welfare of the nations Germany defends. + +Shortly afterward he expresses more clearly the meaning of the +festival-plays that are to be representations in a nobler and +original German style, and he, the lonely wanderer, who hitherto has +heard but the croakings in the bogs of theatrical criticism, +accompanied the pamphlet with an essay on the "Mission of the Opera," +with which he at the same time introduces himself as a member of the +Berlin Academy. + +In the spring of 1871, he went to Baireuth, the ancient residence of +the Margraves, which contained one of the largest theatres. The +building was arranged for the wants of the court and not fully adapted +to his purposes, but the simple and true-hearted inhabitants of the +place had attracted him. Besides this, the pleasant, quiet little city +was situated in the "Kingdom of Grace" and, what likewise seemed of +importance, in the geographical centre of Germany. A short stay +subsequently in the capital of the new empire revealed his goal at +once with stronger consciousness and purpose both for himself and his +friends. At a celebration held there in his honor he said that the +German mind bears the same relation to music as to religion. It +demands the truth and not beautiful form alone. As the Reformation +had laid the foundations of the religion of the Germans deeper and +stronger by freeing Christianity from Roman bonds, so music must +retain its German characteristics of profoundness and sublimity. +During the same time the building of the theatre after Semper's +designs was planned with the building inspector, Neumann. + +The sudden death of Tausig which occurred at this time seemed a heavy +loss to all. Wagner has erected for him an inspiring and touching +monument in verse. Other friends however came forward all the more +actively, particularly from Mannheim, with its music-dealer, Emil +Heckel, who had asked him what those without means could do for the +great cause and then at once commenced to organize the "Richard +Wagner-Verein." The example was immediately followed by Vienna and the +other German cities. The project was so far advanced that negotiations +with Baireuth could now be opened. The city was found willing enough +to provide a building site. Applications of other cities having in +view their material interests could therefore be ignored. Wagner then +in order to clearly state the definite purpose to be accomplished, +published the "Report to the German Wagner-Verein," which reveals to +us so deeply the soul-processes that were connected with the +completion of his stage-festival-play. "I have now to my intense +pleasure only to unite the propitious elements under the same banner +which floats so auspiciously over the resurrected German empire, and +at once I can build up my structure out of the constituent parts of a +real German culture; nay more, I need only to unveil the prepared +edifice, so long unrecognized, by withdrawing from it the false +drapery which will soon like a perforated veil disappear in the air." +Thus he closes with joyous hope. And now the necessary steps were +taken in Baireuth. The city donated the building site. The laying of +the corner-stone of the temporary building was to be celebrated May +22, 1872, with Beethoven's Ninth symphony. Wagner took up his +permanent residence in Baireuth. The King had sent his secretary to +meet him while en-route through Augsburg and to assure him that +whatever the outcome might be he would be responsible for any deficit. + +A paragraph in the prospectus of the Mannheim society had held out +the prospect of concerts under the master's own direction. This led +to a number of journeys that gave him an opportunity to make the +acquaintance of his "friends" and especially of the artistic "forces" +of Germany. The first journey, as was proper, was to Mannheim "where +men are at home." They had there, as he said, strengthened his faith +in the realization of his plans and demonstrated that the artist's +real ground was in the heart of the nation! Thus he interpreted the +meaning of the celebration there. Vienna also heard classical music, +as well as his own, under the direction of his magical baton. It +happened that at "Wotan's Departure," and "the Banishment of the +fire-god, Loge," in the "Walkuere," a tremendous thunder-storm broke +forth. "When the Greeks contemplated a great work, they called upon +Zeus to send them a flash of lightning as an omen. May all of us who +have united to found a home for German art interpret this lightning +also as favorable to our work, and as a sign of approval from above," +he said amidst indescribable sensation, and then touched upon the +Baireuth festival, and the Ninth symphony, in which the German soul +appears so deep and rich in meaning. What a world of thoughts, what +germs of future forms lie concealed in this symphony! He himself +stands upon this great work, and from this vantage strives to advance +further. During this period the ill-omened raven, Professor Hanslick, +uttered his silly words about Wagner's "luck." But the victory was +this time with the right. + +In Baireuth meanwhile all was being prepared for the celebration. The +Riedel and the Rebling singing-societies constituted the nucleus of +the chorus while the orchestra was formed of musicians from all parts +of Germany, Wilhelmi at their head. There the master for the first +time was really among "his artists." "We give no concert, we make +music for ourselves and desire simply to show the world how Beethoven +is performed--the devil take him who criticises us," he said to them +with humorous seriousness. The laying of the corner-stone on the +beautiful hill overlooking the city, where the edifice stands to-day, +took place May 22, 1872, to the strains of the "Huldigungs March," +composed for his King in 1864. "Blessing upon thee, my stone, stand +long and firm!" were the words with which Wagner himself gave the +first three blows with the hammer. The King had sent a telegram: "From +my inmost soul, I convey to you, my dearest friend, on this day so +important for all Germany, my warmest and sincerest congratulations. +May the great undertaking prosper and be blessed! I am to-day more +than ever united with you in spirit." Wagner himself had written the +verse: + + Here I enclose a mystery; + For centuries it here may rest. + So long as here preserved it be, + It shall to all be manifest. + +Both telegram and verse with the Mannheim and Bayreuth documents lie +beneath the stone. Wagner returned with his friends to the city in a +deeply earnest mood. On this his sixtieth birthday his eyes for the +first time beheld the goal of his life! + +At the celebration, which then took place in the Opera-house, he +addressed the following words to his friends and patrons: "It is the +nature of the German mind to build from within. The eternal God +actually dwells therein before the temple is erected to His glory. The +stone has already been placed which is to bear the proud edifice, +whenever the German people for their own honor shall desire to enter +into possession with you. Thus then may it be consecrated through your +love, your good wishes and the deep obligation which I bear to you, +all of you who have encouraged, helped and given to me! May it be +consecrated by the German spirit which away over the centuries sends +forth its youthful morning-greeting to you." + +The performance of the symphony of that artist, to whom Wagner himself +attributes religious consecration according to eye-witnesses, gave to +this festival, also "the character of a sacred celebration," as had +once been true of the great Beethoven academy in November, 1814. +At the evening celebration, however, Wagner recalled again the +large-heartedness of his King, and said that to this was due what they +had experienced to-day, but that its influence reached far beyond +civil and state affairs. It guaranteed the ultimate possession of a +high intellectual culture, and was the stepping-stone to the grandest +that a nation can achieve. Would the time soon come which shall fitly +name this King, as it already recognized him, a "Louis the German" in +a far nobler sense than his great ancestor? "Certainly no fear of the +always existing majority of the vulgar and the coarse is to prevent +us from confessing that the greatest, weightiest and most important +revelation which the world can show is not the world-conqueror but he +who has overcome the world:" thus teaches the philosopher, and we +shall soon perceive that this was also true of Wagner and his royal +friend. + +The fame of this celebration, which had so deeply stirred everyone +present, resounded through all countries, appealed to all true +German hearts. And yet, how many remained even now indifferent and +incredulous! The "nation," as such, did not respond to the call. It +did not, or would not, understand it, uttered by a man who had told +us so many unwelcome truths to our face. It still lay paralyzed in +foreign and unworthy bondage, and was, besides, for the time too much +engrossed with the affairs of the empire, whose novelty had not yet +worn off. + + "From morn till eve, in toil and anguish, + Not easily gained it was." + +These words of _Wotan_, about his castle Walhalla, were only to +be too fully realized by our master. His "friends" alone gave him +comfort, and their number he saw constantly increase from out of the +midst of the people whose leaders in art-matters they were more and +more destined to become. The public interest was kept alive and +stirred afresh with concerts and discourses. The Old did not rest. +The struggle constantly broke out anew, and for the time it remained +in the possession of the ring that symbolizes mastery. The dragon was +still unconquered. As the "people" in Germany are not particularly +wealthy, slow progress was made with the contributions from the +multiplying Wagner-clubs, and yet millions were needed even for this +temporary edifice with its complete stage apparatus. It required all +the love of his friends, especially of that rarest of all friends, to +dispel at times his deep anger when he was compelled to see how +mediocrity, even actual vulgarity, again and again held captive the +minds of his people to whom he had such high and noble things to +offer. "In the end I must accept the money of the Jews in order to +build a theatre for the Germans," he said, in the spring of 1873, to +Liszt, when during that period of wild stock-speculations, some Vienna +bankers had offered him three millions of marks for the erection of +his building. He could not well have been humiliated more deeply +before his own people, but he was raised still higher in the +consciousness of his mission. Truly, this love also came "out of +laughter and tears, joys and sorrows," for the mighty host of his +enemies now put forth every effort to make his work appear ridiculous +and in that way kill it. A pamphlet, by a physician, declared him +"mentally diseased by illusions of greatness." Even a Breughel could +not paint the raging of the distorted figures which at that time +convulsed the world of culture, not alone of Germany. It was really an +inhuman and superhuman struggle around this ring of the Nibelung! + +Nevertheless, in August of the same year (1873), the festival could be +undertaken in Baireuth. "Designed in reliance upon the German soul, +and completed to the glory of its august benefactor," is printed on +the score of the Nibelungen Ring, which now began to appear. The space +for the "stage-festival-play" was at least under roof. But with that, +the means obtained so far were exhausted, and only "vigorous +assistance" on the part of his King prevented complete cessation of +work. Wagner himself was soon compelled again to take up his +wanderer's staff. He sought this time (1874-1875), with the lately +completed "Goetterdaemmerung," to sound through the nation the +effective call to awaken, and in doing so met with many decided +encouragements. "From the bottom of my heart I thank the splendid +Vienna public which to-day has brought me an important step nearer the +realization of my life-mission." This was the theme which fortunately +he had then only to vary in Pesth and in Berlin. + +The preliminary rehearsals now began, and what Munich had witnessed +in 1868 repeated itself ten times over in Baireuth during this summer +of 1875. For weeks there was the same untiring industry, but also +the same, nay increasing, enthusiasm. "Of this marvelous work I +recently heard more than twenty rehearsals. It over-tops and dominates +our entire art-period as does Mont Blanc the other mountains," +wrote Liszt. The master frankly conceded that it was due to the +"unhesitating zeal of the associate artists as well as to the splendid +success of their performances" that he could now positively invite +the patrons and Wagner for the next summer. "Through your kind +participation may an artistic deed be brought to light, such as none +of the dignitaries of to-day but only the free union of those really +called could present to the world," he says. And: + + "From such marvelous deed the hero's fame arose," + +sings Hagen of Siegfried. + +The rehearsals during the summer of 1876 so increased the enthusiastic +devotion of the artists to the work, that many felt they had really +now only become such. Others, however, like Niemann as Siegmund, Hill +as Alberich, and Schlosser as Mime, showed already in fact what heroic +deeds in the art of representation were presented. The fetters of the +maidenly bride were indeed broken that she might live. "We have +overcome the first. We must yet consummate a true hero-deed in a short +time," Wagner said, when at the first close of the Cycle silent +emotion had given place to a perfect storm of enthusiasm, but, he +exultantly added: "If we shall carry it out as I now clearly see that +it will be done, we may well say that we have performed something +grand." The little anticipated humor in "Siegfried" developed itself +in such a way under the leadership of Hans Richter, who was more and +more inspired by the master, that one seemed indeed to hear "the +laughter of the universe in one stupendous outbreak." That was the +fruit of the "tempestuous sobbing" with which young Siegfried himself +had once listened to the Ninth symphony. It was indeed a new +soul-foundation for his nation and his time! Wagner himself calls an +enthusiasm of this kind a power that could conduct all human affairs +to certain prosperity and upon which states could be built. The +patriotic enthusiasm of 1870 sprang from the same source and it has +brought us the "empire" as that of 1876 gave us the "art." + +The general rehearsal on the seventh of August was attended by the +King. He had stopped at a sub-station, once the favorite resort of +Jean Paul, and at the station-master's house the two great and +constant friends silently embraced, giving vent to their feelings in +tears. From that date to the thirteenth of August, 1876, the ever +memorable day of the re-creation of German art, came the hosts of +friends and patrons, from great princes to the humble German +musicians. "Baireuth is Germany" is the acclamation of an Englishman +on witnessing the spectacle. The head of the realm, Emperor William, +was there himself welcomed by the festival-giver and hailed with +acclamation by the thousands from far and near. The Grand-duke +Constantine and the Emperor of Brazil were likewise present. + +Of the effect we shall at this time say nothing for lack of space to +tell all; but, to convey at least a conception of the event which +riveted minds and held hearts spell-bound until the last note had +passed away, while at the same time a whole new world dawned upon our +souls--we present a short account of the work as pithily drawn by +Wagner's gifted friend and patron, Prof. Nietzsche, in Basle. + +"In the Ring of the Nibelungen," he says, "the tragic hero is a god +(Wotan), who covets power and who, by following every path to obtain +it, binds himself with contracts, loses his liberty and is at last +engulfed in the curse which rests upon power. He becomes conscious of +his loss of liberty, because he no longer has the means to gain +possession of the golden ring, the essence or symbol of all earthly +power, and at the same time of greatest danger for himself as long as +it remains in the hands of his enemies. The fear of the end and the +'twilight' of all the gods comes over him and likewise despair, as he +realizes that he can not strive against this end, but must quietly see +it approach. He stands in need of the free, fearless man, who without +his advice and aid, even battling against divine order, from within +himself accomplishes the deed which is denied to the gods. He does not +discover him, and just as a new hope awakens he must yield to the +destiny that binds him. Through his hand the dearest must be +destroyed, the purest sympathy punished with his distress. + +"Then at last he loathes the power that enslaves and brings forth +evil. His will is broken, and he desires the end which threatens from +afar. And now what he had but just desired occurs. The free, fearless +man appears. He is created supernaturally, and they who gave birth to +him pay the penalty of a union contrary to nature. They are destroyed, +but Siegfried lives. + +"In the sight of his splendid growth and development the loathing +vanishes from the soul of Wotan. He follows the hero's fate with the +eye of the most fatherly love and anxiety. How Siegfried forges the +sword, kills the dragon, secures the ring, escapes the most crafty +intrigues, and awakens Brunhilde; how the curse that rests upon the +ring does not spare even him, the innocent one, but comes nearer and +nearer; how he, faithful in faithlessness, wounds out of love the most +beloved, and is surrounded by the shadows and mists of guilt, but at +last emerges as clear as the sun and sinks, illuminating the heavens +with his fiery splendor and purifying the world from the curse--all +this the god, whose governing spear has been broken in the struggle +with the freest and who has lost his power to him, holds full of joy +at his own defeat, fully participating in the joy and sorrow of his +conqueror. His eye rests with the brightness of a painful serenity +upon all that has passed. 'He has become free in Love, free from +himself.'" + +These are the profound contents of a work that reveals to us the +tragic nature of the world! + +At the close of the Cycle, there arose in the enthusiastic assemblage +a demand to see at such a great and grand moment the noble artist +whose eyes had rested for so many years upon the spirit of his great +nation "with the brightness of a painful serenity." He could not evade +the persistent, stormy demand, and had to appear. His features bore an +expression that seemed to show a whole life lived again, an entire +world embraced anew, as he came forward and uttered the significant +yet simple words: "To your own kindness and the ceaseless efforts of +my associates, our artists, you owe this accomplishment. What I have +yet to say to you can be put into a few words, into an axiom. You have +seen now what we can do. It remains for you to will! And if you will, +then we have a German art!" + +Yes, indeed we have such an art--a "Baireuth." + + O, done is the deathless deed; + On mountain-top the mighty castle! + Splendidly shines the structure new. + As in dreams I did dream it, + As my will did wish it, + Strong and serene it stands to the view-- + Mighty manor new! + +We have a German art! But have we also by this time a German spirit +that sways the nation's life? Have we come to detest mere might which +we have hitherto worshipped and that yet "bears within its lap evil +and thralldom?" Has the "free, fearless man," the Siegfried, been born +to us who out of himself creates the right and with the sword he +forges manfully slays the dragon that gnaws at the vitals of our being +and thus rescues the slumbering bride? This question has been hurled +into our life and history by the "Ring of the Nibelungen." It will be +heard as long as the question remains unsolved. If, according to +Wagner's conception, Beethoven wrote the history of the world in +music, then he himself has furnished a world-history in art-deeds! +Such is the meaning of this Baireuth with its Nibelungen Ring of 1876. + +Let us see now what the life and work of this artist, for nigh unto +seventy years, further and finally imports to us. He also was guided +by Goethe's fervent prayer: + + "O, lofty Spirit, suffer me + The end of my life's-work to see!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +1877-1882. + +PARSIFAL. + + A German Art--Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results--Concerts in + London--Recognition abroad and Lukewarmness at home--The + "Nibelungen" in Vienna--"Parsifal"--Increasing Popularity + of Wagner's Music--Judgments--Accounts of the "Parsifal" + Representations--The Theatre Building--"Parsifal," a National + Drama--Its Significance and Idea--Anti-Semiticism--The Jewish + Spirit--Wagner's Standpoint--Synopsis of "Parsifal"--The Legend of + the Holy Grail--Its Symbolic Importance--Art in the Service of + Religion--Beethoven and Wagner--"Redemption to the Redeemer." + + "_Dawn then now, thou day of Gods!_"--Wagner. + + +"If you but will it, we shall have a German art." It is true we had a +German music, a German literature, a German art of painting, each of +high excellence, but they were not that union of German art which +floated before Wagner's mind in his "combined art-work" and which +found its first adequate interpretation in the performances of the +Nibelungen Ring. His object was now to make it permanent and to this +end he sought the means. + +Accordingly on January 1, 1877, the invitation to form "a society of +patrons for the culture and maintenance of the stage-festival-plays +of Baireuth" was issued. At the same time the "Baireuther Blaetter," +which subsequently were made available to the general public, were +issued in order to more fully and constantly elucidate the aim and +object of the cause. Wagner had declined to acquiesce in a demand for +a subsidy from the Reichstag, although King Louis had agreed to +support such a measure before the Bundesrath. "There are no Germans; +at least they are no longer a nation. Whoever still thinks so and +relies upon their national pride makes a fool of himself," he said +bitterly enough to a friend. As far as the ideal is concerned he was +certainly right in regard to the Reichstag as well as the people. "He +who can clear such paths is a genius, a prophet, and in Germany, a +martyr as well!" are the words of one of those who at one time had +contemptuously spoken of this "Baireuth" as a "speculation." And yet +Wagner had to accept an invitation to give concerts in London to cover +the expenses of this same "Baireuth." By the distinguished reception +the artist met there, the consideration shown for his art, the spread +of his earlier works over the whole of Europe, he felt that foreign +lands had understood him, the German. It must have been very bitter +for him to feel that the Germans as a nation knew him not. Among the +multitude of the educated, faith was still wanting. They courted +foreign gods. If it had not been so would it have required seven, +fully seven years, to obtain the moderate sum needed even to think of +resuming the work, and in the end a contribution of three hundred +thousand marks from His Majesty the King to bring it to completion? +How slow was the progress of the society of patrons! People who, +during the era of speculation had accumulated wealth rapidly, thought +in these years of decreasing prosperity of something else than joining +such an undertaking, and declared that they had to economize. And yet +the annual dues were but 15 marks! Very singular was the answer of +some whose rank or learning gave them prominence. They said that it +was not even known whether the project had any real standing and they +might therefore disgrace themselves by lending their names. Yes, when +the bad Wagnerians dared to attack the tottering Mendelssohn-Schuman +instrumental mechanics, Germans as well as others were induced to +withdraw from the society which it had cost them so much struggle to +join. Councilors of State and educators did not even respond to the +invitations of the society's branches which were now gradually +organized in a large number of cities. + +It was generally known that a new work was soon to issue from Wagner's +brain and soon everywhere from the Rhine to the Danube, from rock to +sea, could be heard the Nibelungen! Wagner had, against his innermost +conviction, consented to permit the use of the work by the larger +theatres in the supposition that such personal experience of the +"prodigious deed" would open heart and hand for a still grander one, +the permanent establishment of a distinctive German art. Vienna came +first. However excellent the performance of a few, for instance, +Scaria as Wotan, Materna as Brunnhilde and the orchestra under Hans +Richter, there was lacking the ensemble! The sensation of something +extraordinary, of grandeur and solemnity, that in Baireuth had +elevated the soul to the eternal heights of humanity, was not there. +It was often as when daylight enters a theatre; the sublime illusion +of such a tragic representation was wanting, and Wagner knew that in +this art it is the very bread of life. "The art-work also, like +everything transitory, is only a parable, but a parable of the +ever-present eternal," he said, in taking leave of his friends and +patrons in Baireuth and his purpose now was deeply to impress the +minds of his contemporaries with this "ever-present eternal" and thus +make it permanently effective. The Holy Grail had first to give forth +its last wonder! + +Once more he diverts his attention from "outward politics," as he +called the intercourse with the theatres, and collects his thoughts +for a new deed. This was "Parsifal." With this work, performed for the +first time, July 26, 1882, and then repeated thirteen times, he +believed he might close his life-long labors, and assuredly he has +securely crowned them. It seems indeed as if this has finally and +forever broken the obstinate ban that so long separated him and his +art from his people. The success of the Nibelungen Ring had been +called in question, but that of "Parsifal" is beyond doubt, as +sufficiently demonstrated by the attendance of cultured people from +everywhere for so many weeks! "They came from all parts of the world; +as of old in Babel, you can hear speech in every tongue," said a +participant in the festival. With the final slaying of the dragon, +there fell also into the hero's hand the treasure, inasmuch as the +large attendance left a surplus of many thousand marks, thus assuring +the continuation of the festival-plays. + +To be sure, the Nibelungen Ring had largely contributed to this +success. At first performed in Leipzig, then by the same troupe in +Berlin, it had met with a really unprecedented reception. Since +the storm of 1813, since the years of 1848-49, the feeling of a +distinctive nationality has not been so effectually roused, and this +time it no longer stood solely upon the ground of patriotism and +politics, but there where we seek our highest--the "ever-present +eternal." England was likewise roused in 1882, with performances +of the "Nibelungen Ring," and still more with "Tristan," to a +consciousness of an eternal humanity in this art, such as had not +been experienced there since Beethoven's Ninth symphony, and this +enthusiasm of our manly and serious brethren sped like the fire's +glare, illuminating the common fatherland from whence they had +themselves once carried that feeling for the tragic which produced +their Shakespeare. Everywhere was the stir of spring-time, sudden +awakening, as from death-like slumber or a disturbing dream. "Dawn +then now, thou day of gods!" + +We will next give some accounts of the representations. + +"'Victory! Victory!' is the word which is making the rounds of the +world from Baireuth, in these days. Wagner's latest creation which +brings the circle of his works in a beautiful climax to a dignified +close, has achieved a success such as the most intimate adherents of +the master could not well desire fuller or grander. The name of a +'German Olympia,' which had been given facetiously to the capital +of Upper Franconia, it really now merited," was said by a London +correspondent. + +At the close of the general rehearsal, "the participating artists +unanimously declared that they had never received from the stage such +an impression of lofty sublimity." "Parsifal produces such an enormous +effect that I can not conceive any one will leave the theatre +unsatisfied or with hostile thoughts," E. Heckel wrote; and Liszt +affirmed that nothing could be said about this wonderful work: "Yes, +indeed, it silences all who have been profoundly touched by it. Its +sanctified pendulum swings from the lofty to the most sublime." Of the +first act it had already been said: "We here meet with a harmony of +the musico-dramatic and religious church style which alone enables us +to experience in succession the most terrible, heartrending sorrow and +again that most sanctified devotion which the feeling of a certainty +of salvation alone rouses in us." + +The German Crown-Prince attended the performance of August 29th, the +last one. "I find no words to voice the impression I have received," +he said to the committee of the patron society which escorted him. "It +transcends everything that I had expected, it is magnificent. I am +deeply touched, and I perceive that the work can not be given in the +modern theatre." And, finally, "I do not feel as though I am in a +theatre, it is so sublime." + +A Frenchman wrote: "The work that actually created a furious storm of +applause is of the calmest character that can be conceived; always +powerful, it leaves the all-controlling sensation of loftiness and +purity." "The union of decoration, poetry, music and dramatic +representation in a wonderfully beautiful picture, that with +impressive eloquence points to the new testament--a picture full of +peace and mild, conciliatory harmony, is something entirely new in +the dramatic world," is said of the opening of the third act. + +And in simple but candid truth the decisive importance of the cause +called forth the following: "Parsifal furnishes sufficient evidence +that the stage is not only not unworthy to portray the grandest and +holiest treasures of man and his divine worship, but that it is +precisely the medium which is capable in the highest degree of +awakening these feelings of devotion and presenting the impressive +ceremony of divine worship. If the hearer is not prompted to devotion +by it, then certainly no church ceremony can rouse such a feeling in +him. The stage, that to the multitude is at all times merely a place +of amusement, and upon which at best are usually represented only the +serious phases of human life, of guilt and atonement, but which is +deemed unworthy of portraying the innermost life of man and his +intercourse with his God, this stage has been consecrated to its +highest mission by 'Parsifal.'" + +The building also, which Semper's art-genius, with the highest end in +view had constructed, is worthy of this mission. It has no ornament in +the style of our modern theatres. Nowhere do we behold gold or +dazzling colors; nowhere brilliancy of light or splendor of any kind. +The seats rise amphitheatrically and are symmetrically enclosed by a +row of boxes. To the right and left rise mighty Corinthian columns, +which invest the house with the character of a temple. The orchestra, +like the choir of the Catholic cloisters, is invisible and everything +unpleasant and disturbing about ordinary theaters is removed. +Everything is arranged for a solemn, festive effect. "That is no +longer the theatre, it is divine worship," was the final verdict +accordingly. "Baireuth" is the temple of the Holy Grail. + +At length we come to the principal theme, and with it to the climax of +this historical sketch of such a mighty and all-important artistic +lifework, to "Parsifal" itself. The mere mention of its contents +attests its importance for the present and the future. Wagner's +"Parsifal," in an important sense, can be termed our national drama. +Such a work like Æschylus' "Persian" and Sophocles' Oedipus-trilogy, +should recall to the consciousness of a world-historical people the +period in which it stands in the world's history, and thereby make +clear the mission it has to fulfil. + +That we Germans have begun again to make world-history in a political +sense, since the last generation, is evidenced by the great action of +the time which seems for the present to have settled the politics of +Europe and extended its influence upon the world at large. Beyond the +domain of politics however the real movers of the world are the ideas +which animate humanity and of which politics are but a sign of life +possessing subordinate influence. In this movement of the mind we +Germans are, without question, much older than a mere generation, as +indeed Wagner's poetic material everywhere confirms. The one work in +which Kaulbach's genius triumphed, the "Battle of the Huns," gained +for him a world-wide fame, more by the plastic idea revealed in the +perpetual struggle of the spirits than by its artistic execution. We +stand to-day before, or rather in, a like mighty contest. Two moral +religious sentiments struggle against each other for life and death in +invisible as well as visible conflict. To which shall be the victory? + +In the year 1850 Wagner wrote a pamphlet of weighty import. It reveals +an expression of the utmost moment, though it has been heeded least by +those whom it concerns as much as life and death; or, rather, it has +not been understood at all, because these natures are more attracted +by the trivial. Its most impressive confirmation is to-day furnished +by art, above all else by actual representations on the boards that +typify the world. "Parsifal" also is such a symbol, and in so large a +world-historical and even metaphysical sense, that by it the stage +has become a place dedicated to the proclamation of highest truth and +morality. We have seen the grotesque anti-Semitic movement and the +lamentable persecution of the Jews. What could inflict more injury to +our higher nature, to our real culture? And yet in this lies concealed +a deep instinct of a purely moral nature. It does not, however, +concern merely that people whom the course of events has cast among +other nations, still much less the individual man, who, without choice +or intention, has been born among, and therefore forms a part of them. +It involves the secret of the world-historical problems that struggle +so long with each other until the right one triumphs. To these +problems, with his incomparable depth of soul, the whole life and work +of our artist is devoted as long as he breathes and lives, moved by +the holiest feeling for his nation, for the time--yes, for mankind, in +whose service he as real "poet and prophet" stands with every fibre of +his nature and works with every beat of his heart. + +That unnoticed, misunderstood expression at the close of the paper by +"K. Freigedank," in 1850, was this: "One more Jew we must name, who +appeared among us as a writer, namely, Boerne. He stepped out of his +individual position as Jew, seeking deliverance among us. He did not +find it, and must have become conscious that he would only find it in +our own transformation also into genuine men. To return in common with +us to a purer humanity, however, signifies, for the Jew, above all +else, that he shall cease to be a Jew. Boerne had fulfilled this. But +it was precisely Boerne who taught us how this deliverance cannot be +achieved in cool comfort and listless ease; but that it involves for +them, as for us, toil, distress, anxiety, and abundance of pain and +sorrow. Strive for this by self-abandonment and the regenerating work +of salvation, and then we are united and without difference! But, +remember that your deliverance depends upon the deliverance of +Ahasrer--his destruction!" + +No other people has received those cast out by all the world with such +sacredly pure, humane feeling as the Germans. Will they then at last +find their deliverance among us from the curse of homelessness, their +new existence by absorption into a larger, richer, deeper whole? It is +this question which animates and moves Wagner; but by no means in the +sense of a casual and shifting quarrel among different races or even +religious parties. On the contrary, he feels that this question is a +life-question of the time, approaching its final solution. It is +not the Jews, however, but the Jewish spirit, that represents +the antagonist--that spirit which at first, after the birth of +Christianity, and aided by the filth of Roman civilization, with its +inherent evil germs, this people devoted to a world-historic power of +evil; and which, even in its most brilliant revelation, in Spinoza, as +has been most clearly demonstrated from his own works by Schopenhauer, +seeks only its own advantage, to which it sacrifices the whole, but +does not recognize the whole to which it must lovingly sacrifice +itself. + +Such concrete, actual historical developments Wagner regards not as a +hindrance, but as the external support of his art-work. For a poetic +composition requires some connection with a time or space to make +perceptible to the senses its view of the advancing development of +the mind of humanity. So it is that Kleist's "Arminius-battle" does +not in the least refer to the ancient Romans, but to the degenerate +race, the mixture of tiger and ape, as Voltaire has called them, and +in this symbol of art he strengthened the determination of his people +until in the battles of nations it conquered. Wagner even transfers +the scene of this conflict into those distant centuries in which the +struggle between Christians and Infidels was very fierce, while that +between Jews and Occidentals had not yet even in existence. Like the +real artist, he also uses only individual phases of the present time, +which, it is quite true, bear but too close a relation to the +character of that Arabian world that once engaged in conflict +with Christianity for the world's control, and thus proves that +this question, least of all is a passing "Question of time and +controversy," but is one of the ever-present questions of humanity +which has again come to the front in a specially vivid and urgent +form. His inborn feeling for the purely human, which we have seen +displayed with such touching warmth in all his doings, and that has +created for us the genuine human forms of a "Flying Dutchman," +"Tannhaeuser," "Lohengrin," and "Siegfried" is true to itself this +time, indeed this time more than ever. He anticipates the struggling +aspiration. He sees the form already appear on the surface, and only +seeks a pure human sympathy to show the true and full solution which +denies to neither of the disputing parties the God-given right of +existence. + +Klingsor, the sorcerer, representative of everything hostile to the +Holy Grail and its knights, summons Kundry, the maid, subject to his +witchcraft--in other words to that evil moral law which the individual +alone is unable to resist--and reproachfully says: + + Shame! that with the brood of knights, + Thou should'st like a beast be maintained! + +The German class-pride which regarded the Jew as a body servant is +strongly enough characterized and our own ancient injustice still more +sharply expressed in his words: + + "Thus may the whole body of knights + In deadly conflict each other destroy." + +Thus Wagner reveals still more clearly than in the "Flying Dutchman" +with his "fabulous homesickness" an absolute trait and the inner view +of that sentiment which here longs for salvation, to be mortal with +the mortals. At the sight of the nobler qualities and real human +dignity which Kundry for the first time in her life sees in the person +of Parsifal, who has been born again through the recognition of the +truth, she breaks down completely and with the only word that she now +knows, "serve! serve!" she throws all evil selfishness away. For the +first time it is now fully disclosed how deeply after all, and with +what intensity those of alien race and religion serve the ideas, not +so much of our own similarly narrow contracted race-life, but those +ideas which have transformed us from a mere nation to an historical +part of humanity that guards the world's eternal treasure in this Holy +Grail, as its last and grandest possession. + +How fully is Goethe's saying "the power that ever seeks the evil and +yet produces good" realized. Kundry is the messenger of the same Holy +Grail against which her lord and master conducts the fatal war. To all +distant lands it is she that brings the higher element of culture, +the purer humanity which she gets from the Grail and its life. Though +the peculiar portraiture of Kundry is drawn from his own experience +of the present, the poet has gone still further and pictured that +omnipresent spirit of evil which can never by simple participation in +the sorrows of others gain knowledge of the perpetual sorrow of the +world. Klingsor summons from the chaotic, primeval foundation of the +world, where good and evil still lie commingled, the blind instinct of +nature, as that wonderful element in the world's history which must +everywhere be at once servant of the devil and messenger of grace, +with the all-comprehensive words: + + "Thy master calls thee, nameless one; + Primeval devil! rose of hell! + Herodias thou wast and what more? + Gundryggia there, Kundry here!" + +It is the feminine Ahasrer, present in all ages and spheres, in our +time revealing its tangible form in the ruling spirit of Judaism. As +her sinful nature at last is overcome by Parsifal's purity, and she +humbly approaches him to receive the baptism that is awarded to every +one who believes and acts in the spirit of pure humanity, he +proclaims, when he has withstood her temptation and thereby has +regained from Klingsor the holy lance of the Grail, the impending +catastrophe by tracing with the lance the sign of the cross and +saying: + + "With this sign thy spell I banish! + Even as it heals the wound + Which with it thou hast dealt-- + So may thy delusive splendor in grief and ruin fall." + +When in the last century, Roman Catholicism had become sensual and +worldly through Jesuitism, and Protestantism had put on either the +straight-jacket of orthodoxy or had been diluted with rationalism, +there came to the surface, outside of the religious sects, secret +societies, such as the Freemasons. In their well-meant but flat +humanitarian idealism, those strangers to our race and religion, the +hitherto despised Jews, also took active part and what "delusive +splendor" have they not since then provided for themselves in +literature and art and general ways of life? A single actual +resurrection of that sign in which we Germans alone have attained +world-culture and world-importance has "in grief and ruin destroyed" +all this, and we hope in truth that we are now approaching a new epoch +of our spiritual as well as moral existence. Just as, out of the first +awakening of a pure human feeling such as Christianity brought us, +there rose in contrast to priesthood a work like the "Magic Flute," +child-like, artless but devoutly pure and full of feeling, so now +there resounds like the mighty watchword of this full national +resurrection, Wagner's "Parsifal." + +Let us see how the poem itself has done this and what it signifies. + +According to the legend of the Holy Grail, already artistically +resurrected by the master in "Lohengrin," the chalice from which +Christ had drank with His disciples at the last supper, and in which +His blood had been received at the cross, had been brought into the +western world by a host of angels at a time of most serious danger to +the pure gospel of Christianity. King Titurel had erected for it the +temple and castle of Monsalvat in the north of Spain, where knights of +absolute purity of mind guard it and receive spiritual as well as +bodily nourishment from its miraculous powers. This sanctuary can only +be found by the pure. The king keeps the holy lance, which had opened +the Savior's wound, and with it holds in check the hostile heathen. +Klingsor, the sorcerer, on the southern decline of the mountain, rules +the latter. He had likewise once been seized with remorse for his +sins, his "pain of untamed longings and the most terrible pressure +of hellish desires," and had mutilated himself and then seeking +deliverance had wandered to the Holy Grail. Amfortas however, +Titurel's son, now king of the Grail, perceived his impurity and +sternly turned away the evil sorcerer, who only seeks release for +worldly gain. + +Angered thereat, the latter now contrives through the agency of +Kundry, who appears in the highest and most bewitching beauty, +encircling the king himself with the snares of passion, to obtain +power over him and to wrest from him the lance with which he wounds +him. This wound will burn until the holy lance shall be regained. This +then is the supreme deed to be accomplished. The Grail itself at one +time has proclaimed during the keenest pangs of the suffering king, +that it shall be regained by him who, deficient in worldly knowledge, +shall from pure sympathy with his terrible sufferings recognize the +sufferings of humanity and through such blissful faith bring to it new +redemption. The body of humanity, which Christianity had called into +new life, had been invaded by a consuming poison and only so far as by +the full unconsciousness of innocence, its genius itself was +re-awakened, was it possible to again expel the poison. + +In the forest of the castle old Gurnemanz and two shield-bearers lie +slumbering at early dawn. The solemn morning-call of the Grail is +heard and they all rise to pray and then await the sick king who is to +take a soothing bath in the near lake. All medicinal herbs have proved +useless. Kundry shortly after suddenly appears in savage, strange +attire and proffers balm from Arabia. The king is carried forward. We +listen to his lamentations. He thanks Kundry, who, however, roughly +declines all thanks. The shield-bearers show indignation at this but +are reprimanded by Gurnemanz who says: "She serves the Grail and her +zeal with which she now helps us and herself at the same time is +in atonement for former sins." When she is missing too long, a +misfortune surely is in store for the knights. She preserves for them +by the opposing forces of her nature the true and good in their +consciousness and purpose. With that he tells them Klingsor has +established on the other side of the mountain, toward the land of the +Arabian infidels, a magic garden with seductively beautiful women to +menace them by enticing the knights there and ruining them. In the +attempt to destroy this harbor of sin the king had carried away the +wound and lost the lance which, according to the revelation of the +Grail, only "the simple fool knowing by compassion" could recover. + +Suddenly cries of lamentation resound in the sacred forest. A wild +swan slowly descends and dies. Shield-bearers bring forward a handsome +youth whose harmless, innocent demeanor inspires involuntary interest. +He is recognized by the arrows he carries as the murderer of the bird +which had been flying over the lake and which had seemed to the king, +about to take his bath, as a happy omen. Gurnemanz upbraids him for +this deed of cruelty. The swan is doubly sacred to the Grail. It is a +swan also that conducts Lohengrin to the relief of innocence! "I did +not know," Parsifal replies. The universal lamentation however touches +his heart and he breaks his bow and arrows. He knows not whence he +came, knows neither father nor name. The only thing he knows is that +he had a mother named "Sad-heart." "In forest and wild meadows we were +at home." Gurnemanz perceives however by his manner and appearance +that he is of noble race, and Kundry, who has seen and heard +everything in her constant wanderings confirms the impression. + + "Thus he was the born king + Who had the aspect of a lordly youth," + +says Chiron to Faust of the young Herakles. As his father had been +slain in battle, the mother had brought him up in the wilderness a +stranger to arms--foolish deed--mad woman! Parsifal relates that he +had followed "glittering men" and after the manner of the vigorous +primitive peoples, had led the wild life of nature, following only +natural instincts. Gurnemanz reproaches him for running away from his +mother and when Kundry states that she is dead, Parsifal furiously +seizes her by the throat. It is the first feeling for a being other +than himself, his first sorrow. Again Gurnemanz upbraids him for his +renewed violence but remembering the prophecy and the finding of the +secret passage to the castle, he believes that there may be nobler +qualities in him. For this reason he speaks to him of the Grail, +which, now that the king has left the bath, is to provide them anew +with nourishment. Upon secret paths they reach the castle of the Grail +which only he of pure mind can find. The knights solemnly assemble in +a hall with a lofty dome. Beyond Amfortas' couch of pain, the voice of +Titurel is heard as from a vaulted niche, admonishing them to uncover +the Grail. Thus the dead genii of the world admonish the living to +expect life! Amfortas however cries out in grievous agony that he, the +most unholy of them all, should perform the holiest act, that in an +unsanctified time the sanctuary should be seen. The knights however +refer him to the promised deliverance and so begins the solemn +unveiling for the distribution of the last love-feast of the Savior, +whose cup is then drawn forth, resplendent in fiery purple. Parsifal +stands stupefied before this consecration of the human although he +also made a violent movement toward his heart when the king gave forth +his passionate cry of anguish. But the torments of guilt which produce +such sorrows he has not yet comprehended. Gurnemanz therefore angrily +ejects him through a narrow side-door of the temple to resume his ways +to his wild boyish deeds. He had first to experience the torments of +passion and deliverance from the same in his own person. + +The second act takes us to Klingsor's magic castle. Klingsor sees the +fool advance, joyous and childish, and summons Kundry, the guilty one, +who rests in the dead lethargy of destiny, and in sorrow and anger +only follows his command. She longs no more for life, but seeks +deliverance in the eternal sleep. She has laughed at the bleeding head +of John, laughed when she beheld the Savior bleeding at the cross, and +is now condemned to laugh forever and to ensnare all in her net of +passion: "Whoever can resist thee, will release thee," says Klingsor, +the father of evil. "Make thy trial upon the boy." The youth +approaches. The fallen knights seek to hinder his progress, but he +easily vanquishes them all, and stands victorious upon the battlement +of the castle, gazing in childish astonishment at all this unknown +silent splendor below. Soon, however, the scene becomes animated. The +ravishing enchantresses appear in garments of flowers, and each seeks +to win the handsome youth for herself. He remains, however, toward +them what he is--a fool. Suddenly he hears a voice. He stands +astonished, for he heard the name with which in times long past his +mother had called her hearts-blood; it is the one thing he knows. The +beauties disappear. The voice takes on form. It is Kundry, no longer +of repulsive, savage appearance, but as a "lightly draped woman of +superb beauty." She explains to him his name: + + "Thee, foolish innocent, I called Fal parsi-- + Thee, innocent fool, Parsifal!" + +She tells him of his mother's love, of his mother's death. What he, a +giddy fool, has thus far done in life, suddenly overwhelms him as +well as the thought that despair at his loss has even killed his +mother. He sinks deeply wounded at the feet of the seductive woman; it +is the first soul-despair in his life. She, however, with diabolic +persuasiveness, avails herself of this to overcome his manly heart by +her only way, the painful, longing sensation for his mother, and +offers him the consolation which love gives, "as a blessing, the +mother's last greeting, the first kiss of love." At this he rises +quickly in great alarm and presses his hands against his heart. +"Amfortas! the wound burns in my heart!" The miracle of knowledge has +happened to him, and in a moment has changed his whole nature. It is +regeneration by grace, recognized from the earliest time as the sense +of all religion. He now experiences the trembling of guilty desires +that burn within our breasts, and understands also the mystery of +salvation which he can now obtain for the unhappy King of the Grail. +Out of the depths of his soul he hears the supplications of the Grail: + + "Redeem me, save me + From hands defiled by sin!" + +The evil demon of voluptuousness displays all its charms. Astonishment +gives way more and more to passion for this pure one, but he +sinks into deep and deeper reverie until a second long, burning +kiss suddenly and completely awakens him. Then, having gained +"world-knowledge," he sees into the deep abyss of this being full of +guilt and penitence, and impetuously repulses the temptress. She +herself, however, is now overpowered by the passion which she has +sought by all the means of temptation to instil into the innocent +youth, and fancies she sees in him again the Savior whom she had once +laughed at. She tells him with heartrending truth her inextinguishable +suffering, her eternal sorrow, her lamentation full of the laughter of +derision, the whole wide emptiness of her misery, and implores him +to be merciful, and let her weep for a single hour upon his pure +bosom--for a single hour to be his. But the answer comes like the +voice of an avenging God, terribly stern and annihilating: + + "To all eternity thou wouldst be damned with me, + If for one hour I should forget my mission." + +At last she seeks, like the serpent in Paradise, to allure him with +the promise that in her arms he will attain to godhood. He remains, +however, true to himself. Roused now to furious rage, she curses him. +He shall never find Amfortas, but shall wander aimlessly. Klingsor +then appears, and puts his power to the utmost trial by brandishing +his sacred lance, but Parsifal's pure faith banishes the false charm. +The lance remains suspended above his head. Kundry sinks down crying +aloud. The magic garden is turned to a desert. Parsifal calls out: + + "Thou knowest where alone thou canst find me again." + +That true womanly love roused for the first time in her will also show +this desolate heart the path to eternal love. And Parsifal had finally +shown her, the pitiable one, the only thing he could--pity! + +The last act takes us once more into the domain of the sacred Grail +which Parsifal since then has been longingly seeking. Gurnemanz, now +grown to an old man, lives as a hermit near a forest spring. From out +the hedges he hears a groan. "So mournful a tone comes not from the +beast," he says, familiar as he is with the lamenting sounds of sinful +humanity. It is Kundry, whom he carries completely benumbed out of the +thicket. This fierce and fearful woman had not been seen nor thought +of for a long time. Her wildness now however lies only in the +accustomed serpent-like appearance, otherwise she gives forth but that +one cry "to serve! to serve!" Whoever has not comprehended the highest +and most actual elements of our life when they assert themselves, is +condemned to silence. Only by silent acts and conduct can she attest +the growing inner participation in the higher and nobler human deeds. +She enters the hut close by and busies herself. When she returns with +the water pitcher she perceives a knight, clad in sombre armor, who +approaches with hesitating steps and drooping head. Gurnemanz greets +him kindly but admonishes him to lay aside his weapons in the sacred +domain and above all on this the most sacred of days--Good Friday. +With that he recognizes him. It is Parsifal, now a mature and serious +man. "In paths of error and of suffering have I come," he says. He is +at once saluted by Gurnemanz who recognizes the sacred lance as +"master" for now he can hope to bring relief to the suffering king of +the Grail whose laments Parsifal had once listened to without being +moved to action. He learns through the faithful old man of the supreme +distress and gradual disappearance of the holy knights. Amfortas has +refused to uncover the life-preserving Grail and prefers to die rather +than linger in pain and anguish, and thus the strength of the knights +has died away. Titurel is already dead, a "man like others," and +Gurnemanz has hidden himself in solitude in this corner of the forest. +Parsifal is overcome with grief. He, he alone has caused all this. +He has for so long a time not perceived the path to final salvation. +Kundry now washes his feet "to take from him the dust of his long +wanderings," while Gurnemanz refreshes his brow and asks him to +accompany him to the Grail which Amfortas is to uncover to-day for the +consecration of the dead Titurel. Kundry then anoints his feet and +Gurnemanz his head that he may yet to-day be saluted as king and he +himself performs his first act as Savior by baptizing Kundry out of +the sacred forest spring. Now for the first time can she shed tears. +Thereby even the fields and meadows appear as if sprinkled with sacred +dew, for according to the ancient legend, nature also celebrates +on Good Friday the redemption which mankind gained by Christ's +love-sacrifice and which changes the sinner's tears of remorse to +tears of joy. + +In the castle of the Grail the knights are conducting Titurel's +funeral. Amfortas, who in his sufferings longs for death as the one +act of mercy, falls into a furious frenzy of despair when the knights +urge him to uncover the Grail which alone gives life, so that they all +retreat in terror. Then at the last moment Parsifal appears and +touches the wound with the lance that alone can close it. He praises +the sufferings of Amfortas that have given to him, the timorous fool, +"Compassion's supreme strength and purest wisdom's power" and assumes +the king's functions. The Grail glows resplendent. Titurel rises in +his coffin and bestows blessing from the dome. A white dove descends +upon Parsifal's head as he swings the Grail. Kundry with her eyes +turned toward him sinks dying to the ground while Amfortas and +Gurnemanz do him homage as king and a chorus from above sings: + + "Miracle of Supreme blessing, + Redemption to the Redeemer!" + +The holy Grail, the symbol of the Savior, has at last been rescued +from hands defiled by guilt--has been redeemed. + +Such is the short sketch of the grand as well as profoundly +significant dramatic action of the artist's last work! It is easy to +see that the figures and actions are but a parable. They symbolize the +ideas and periods of human development. Nay more, the phases and +powers of human nature are here disclosed to view. It is the inner +history of the world which ever repeats itself and by which mankind is +always rejuvenated. The pure and restored genius of the nation arises +anew to its real nature. Its lance heals the wound which we have +received at the hands of the other--the evil and foreign genius. It is +this pure genius which all, even the dead and the dying, hail as King, +and do homage to new deeds of blessing. Next to religion itself, +it was art which more than all else constantly brought to the +consciousness of humanity the ideals which originated with the former, +and here art even entered literally into the service of divine truth. +The lance, which signifies the mastery over the spirits, was wrested +from the dominating powers. Serious harm indeed and spiritual +starvation have followed as the consequence of our falling in every +sphere of life under the control of the elements that frivolously play +with our supreme ideals. Art, which springs from the purest genius of +mankind, seems destined now to be the first to regain the lance and +heal the wasting wound. For is not religion divided into warring +factions and science into special cliques, jealous of each other? The +church does not prevail in the struggle against the evil powers here +or elsewhere, and has long ceased to satisfy the mind. The increasing +tendency to pursue special studies creates indifference for such +supreme ethical questions. It is art alone that has gained new +strength from within itself. We have seen it in portraying this one +mighty artist, in the irresistible force, in the longing and hoping, +in the indestructible, faithful affection for his people, which must +dominate all who have retained the feeling for the purely human. +Should not art then be destined to awaken, among the cultured at +least, a vivid renewal of the consciousness of the sublime for which +we are fitted and in whose slumbering embrace we are held? Eternal +truth ever selects its own means and ways to reveal itself anew to +mankind. "The ways of the Lord are marvelous!" It aims only at the +accomplishment of its object. It has at heart only our ever wandering +and suffering race. Those who judged without prejudice tell us that +this "Parsifal" appeared to them as a mode of divine worship, and that +the festival-play-house was not only no longer a theatre, but that even +all evil demons had been banished from this edifice, and all good ones +summoned within its walls. Would that this were so, and that we could +hope in the future that the painful and severe trials of the artist's +long life, which gave to this genius also "compassion's supreme +strength and purest wisdom's power," would be blessed with abundant +fruit, with the full measure of consummation of his own hopes, and +the goal so ardently struggled for attained, for his as well as for +our own welfare. + +However this may be, and whatever the future may have in store for us, +this "Parsifal" is a call to the nation grander than any one has +uttered before. It was foreordained, and could only be accomplished by +an art which is the most unmixed product of that culture originating +with Christianity; more, it is a product of the religious emotions of +humanity itself. Just as our master said of Beethoven's grand art, +that it had rescued the human soul from deep degradation, so no artist +after him has presented this supreme and purest spirit of our nation +as sanctified and strengthened by Christianity, purer and clearer +than he who had already confessed in early years that he could not +understand the spirit of music otherwise than as love! With "Parsifal" +he has created for us a new period of development, which is to lead us +deeper into our own hearts and to a purer humanity, and thereby give +us possibly the strength to overcome everything false and foreign +which has found its way into our life, and elevate us to a sense of +the real object and goal of life. + +Richard Wagner, more than any other contemporary, as we conceive, has +re-awakened in the sphere of the intellectual life of his German +people its inborn feeling for the grand and profound, for the pure and +the sublime--in one word, for the ideal. May we who follow prove this +in life by gratefully welcoming this grand deed! Then Lohengrin, who +sought the wife that believed in him, need not again return to his +dreary solitude. He will be forever relieved of his longing for union +with the heart of his people. Then too it can be said of him, this +genius who throughout a long life "in paths of error and of suffering +came" as of all who live their life in love for the whole: "Redemption +to the Redeemer." + + * * * * * + +The biography of Dr. Nohl closes at this point. What remains to be +told is shrouded in sadness. It is but a record of suffering and +death. In the autumn of 1882, the great master went to Italy, where +his fame had already preceded him, and where in the very home of +Italian opera his works had been given with great success, to seek +rest and improvement of health. He made his home at the Palazzo +Vendramin in Venice, where he was joined by Liszt and other friends. +With the help of an orchestra and chorus, he was rehearsing some of +his earlier works and was also engaged in remodeling his symphony. His +restless energy was manifest even in these days of recreation. The +_Neue Freie Presse_ states that he was composing a new musical drama, +called "Die Buesser," based upon a Brahminical legend and having for +its motive the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Filippo +Filippi, the Italian critic, also says that he was engaged upon a new +opera, with a Grecian subject, in which "it would undoubtedly have +been shown that his genius, turning from the misty fables of the +Germans to the bright and serene poetry of ancient Greece, would have +drawn nearer to our musical life and feeling, which is clear and +characteristically melodious." Whatever may have been his tasks it was +destined they should not be achieved. "Parsifal" was his swan song. +It was during the representation of this opera that his asthmatic +trouble grew so intense as to necessitate his departure for Italy and +regular medical treatment. During the week preceding his death he was +in excellent spirits, and greatly enjoyed the carnival with his family +and friends. On the 12th of February he even visited his banker and +drew sufficient money to cover the expenses of a projected trip into +southern Italy, with his son, Siegfried. On the morning of the 13th he +devoted his time as usual to composition and playing. He did not +emerge from his room until 2 o'clock when he complained of feeling +very fatigued and unwell. At 3 o'clock he went to dinner with the +family, but just as they were assembled at table and the soup was +being served he suddenly sprang up, cried out "Mir ist sehr schlecht," +(I feel very badly) and fell back dead from an attack of heart +disease. + +The remains were conveyed along the Grand Canal, amid the most +impressive pageantry of grief, to the railroad station, and thence +transported by a special funeral train to Baireuth. The public +obsequies were very simple and impressive, consisting only of the +performance of the colossal funeral march from "Siegfried," speeches +by friends and a funeral song by the Liederkranz of Baireuth, after +which the cortege moved to the tolling of bells to the grave which at +his request was prepared behind his favorite villa "Wahnfried," which +had been the scene of his great labors. The Lutheran funeral service +was pronounced and the body of the great master was laid to its final +rest. + +The news of his death was received by Angelo Neumann, the director of +the Richard Wagner Theatre, on the 14th, at Aachen, just as a +performance of the "Rheingold" was about to commence. The director +addressed the audience as follows: + +"Not only the German people, the German nation, the whole world mourns +to-day by the coffin of one of its greatest sons. All in this assembly +share our grief and pain. But nevertheless we alone can fully measure +the fearful loss which the Richard Wagner Theatre has met with through +this event. The love and care of the master for this institution can +find no better expression than in a letter, written by his own hand, +received by me this evening, which closes with these words: + + 'May all the blessings of Heaven follow you! My best + greetings, which I beg you to distribute according to + desert. + 'Sincerely yours, + 'RICHARD WAGNER. + 'VENICE, PALAZZO VENDRAMIN, February 11, 1883.' + +"Now we are orphaned--in the Master everything is as if dead for us! I +can only add, we shall never cease to labor according to the wishes +and the spirit of this great composer; never shall we forget the +teachings which we were so happy as to receive from his lips and pen." + +A correspondent, writing from Leipzig at the time of his death, +contributes some interesting information as to his method of +composition and the literary treasures he had left behind him. He +says: + +"Richard Wagner composed, like all great musicians, in his brain, and +not, as is often imagined, at the piano. It is a delight to examine a +manuscript composition from his hand--to see how complete and +well-rounded, how ripe and finished everything sprung from his head. +Changes are very rarely found in such a manuscript; even in the +boldest harmonies and most difficult combinations, not a slip of the +pen occurs. In the entire score of 'Tannhaeuser,' which Wagner wrote +out himself from beginning to end in chemical ink, not one correction +is to be found. One note followed the other with easy rapidity. It was +his habit to write the musical sketch in pencil--in Baireuth, +music-paper was to be found in every corner of 'Wahnfried,' on which +while wandering about the house during sleepless nights, musing and +planning, he made brief jottings, often merely a new idea in +instrumentation. The rest was in his head; the vocal parts were added +to the score without hesitation, and never needed correction. For the +orchestra he employed three staves, one of which was reserved for +special notes, as, for instance, when a particular instrument was to +enter. From these sketches the vocal parts could be written out +immediately, although the instrumentation was by no means finished. +Such sketches were carefully collected by Frau Cosima, who tried for a +time to fix the notes permanently by drawing the pen through them. +This task was, however, soon abandoned. In its stead she grasped the +idea of making a collection of Wagner's manuscripts, to be deposited +in 'Wahnfried.' For many years she has conducted an extended +correspondence for the purpose of obtaining, for love or money, the +scattered treasures, and has, in a great measure--principally through +the use of the latter persuasive--succeeded. + +"Wagner had written his memoirs, which are not only finished, but +already printed. The entire edition consists of _only three copies_, +one of which was in the possession of the author, the second an +heirloom of Seigfried's, and the third in the hands of Franz Liszt. +This autobiography fills four volumes, and was printed at Basel, every +proof-sheet being jealously destroyed, so that there are actually but +three copies in existence. To the nine volumes of his works already +published (Leipzig, E. W. Fritzsch, 1871-'73) will be added a tenth, +containing brief essays and sketches of a philosophical character, and +(it is to be hoped) the four volumes of the autobiography." + +After a life of strife such as few men have to encounter; of hatred +more intense and love more devoted than usually falls to the fate of +humanity; of restless energy, indomitable courage, passionate devotion +to the loftiest standards of art and unquestioning allegiance to the +"God that dwelt within his breast," he rests quietly under the trees +of Villa "Wahnfried." He lived to see his work accomplished, his +mission fulfilled, his victory won and his fame blown about the world +despite the malice of enemies and cabals of critics. As the outcome +of his stormy life we have music clothed in a new body, animated +with a new spirit. He has lifted art out of its vulgarity and +grossness. The future will prize him as we to-day prize his great +predecessor--Beethoven. + + G. P. U. + + + + +_"Stirring events are graphically told in this series of +romances."--Home Journal, New York._ + + TIMES OF GUSTAF ADOLF. + + AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF THE EXCITING + TIMES OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. + + FROM THE ORIGINAL SWEDISH. + + BY Z. TOPELIUS. + +_12mo, extra cloth, black and gilt. Price $1.25._ + +"A vivid, romantic picturing of one of the most fascinating periods of +human history."--_The Times, Philadelphia._ + +"Every scene, every character, every detail, is instinct with life.... +From beginning to end we are aroused, amused, absorbed."--_The +Tribune, Chicago._ + +"The author has a genuine enthusiasm for his subject, and stirs up his +readers' hearts in an exciting manner. The old times live again for +us, and besides the interest of great events, there is the interest of +humble souls immersed in their confusions. 'Scott, the delight of +glorious boys,' will find a rival in these Surgeon Stories."--_The +Christian Register, Boston._ + +"It is difficult to give an idea of the vividness of the descriptions +in these stories without making extracts which would be entirely too +long. It is safe to say, however, that no one could possibly fail to +be carried along by the torrent of fiery narration which marks these +wonderful tales.... Never was the marvelous deviltry of the Jesuits so +portrayed. Never were the horrors of war painted in more lurid +colors."--_The Press, Philadelphia._ + +"The style is simple and agreeable.... There is a natural +truthfulness, which appears to be the characteristic of all these +Northern authors. Nothing appears forced; nothing indicates that the +writer ever thought of style, yet the style is such as could not well +be improved upon. He is evidently thoroughly imbued with the loftiest +ideas, and the men and women whom he draws with the novelist's +facility and art are as admirable as his manner of interweaving their +lives with their country's battles and achievements."--_The Graphic, +New York._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or mailed postpaid, on receipt of price, by +the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"A model Cook Book."--Express, Buffalo._ + + NONPAREIL COOK BOOK. + + CONTAINING A LARGE NUMBER OF NEW RECIPES, + MANY FROM ENGLISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN COOKS. + + BY MRS. A. G. M. + +_12mo, 432 pages, with blank interleaves. Price $1.50._ + +"It seems an ideal cook book."--_Free-Press, Detroit._ + +"The receipts are admirable, and are clearly written."--_The Day, +Baltimore._ + +"A comprehensive and common-sense kitchen and household +guide."--_Transcript, Boston._ + +"The best cook book we have seen for valuable French and German +recipes."--_Sunday Herald, Rochester._ + +"The volume is most admirable in its arrangement, and many excellent +novelties have been introduced."--_The Argus, Albany, N. Y._ + +"It is an excellent compilation of the best and most economical +recipes.... A common-sense cook book in all respects."--_Globe, +Boston._ + +"Everything about the book indicates that the author is intelligent in +cooking, in nursing, and in housekeeping generally."--_Bulletin, +Philadelphia._ + +"With this volume in the kitchen or on the table of the housewife, +there would be no excuse for tasteless or indigestible +dishes."--_Journal, Chicago._ + +"We have at last a cook book in which we fail to find one single +demand for baking powders, which stamps it at once as desirable. The +same sensible determination to prevent dyspepsia, while giving good, +wholesome and delicious cookery, is noticeable throughout the +volume."--_Telegraph, Pittsburgh._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the +price, by the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"Instructive, assuring, wise, helpful."--Christian Advocate, +New York._ + + THE THEORIES OF DARWIN + + AND THEIR RELATION TO PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, + AND MORALITY. + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF + + RUDOLF SCHMID, + +BY G. A. ZIMMERMANN, PH.D., WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE DUKE OF +ARGYLL. + +_12mo, 410 pages. Price $2.00._ + +"Learning, fairness, love of truth, and vital earnestness are +everywhere manifest in this work."--_Christian Union, New York._ + +"This book contains the fullest exposition we have seen of the rise +and history of the abstract Darwinian theories, combined with a +critical explanation of their practical application."--_Observer, New +York._ + +"The work is full of ingenious and subtle thought, and the author, who +is evidently a sincere Christian, finds in Mr. Darwin's theories +nothing inconsistent with the belief of the Scriptures."--_Bulletin, +Philadelphia._ + +"I have carefully read the 'Theories of Darwin,' by Rudolf Schmid. I +regard the scientific portion of the book, being about two-thirds of +the whole, as the best reasoned and the most philosophic work which we +have on organic development, and on Darwinism."--_President James +McCosh, Princeton College._ + +"Those who have not time or patience to read the literature of +evolution, yet desire to form a just conception of it, will find Mr. +Schmid's work of great value. It bears the imprint of an unprejudiced +judgment, which may err, but not blindly, and a scholarly mind. The +doctrines of Darwin are not more logically expounded and accurately +sifted than is every conspicuous modifying and magnifying phase +through which they have passed in the hands of German and English +scientists, stated with a fidelity and courtesy as generous as we must +reluctantly admit it to be rare."--_Chicago Tribune._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the +price, by the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"A book of unique and peculiar interest."--The Times._ + + FRONTIER ARMY SKETCHES. + + BY JAMES W. STEELE. + +_12mo, extra cloth, black and gilt. Price $1.50._ + +"It is an unusual entertaining book, and will well repay +perusal."--_Christian Advocate, New York._ + +"A fresh, breezy volume, well illustrated, and full of anecdotes and +stories of the frontier."--_Chronicle, Pittsburgh._ + +"If Capt. Steele had written only the preface to these sketches, we +might well thank him for that one gem of poetic prose; and to say that +the book is worthy of it is but a hearty tribute to its +merits."--_Tribune, Chicago._ + +"They are all picturesque in style, strong in characterization, and +are manifestly sketched from nature. The dry and unforced humor that +distinguishes them gives them a very attractive flavor."--_Gazette, +Boston._ + +"There is strong feeling in the narratives, and a freshness and +excitement in their themes that make the book novel and of uncommon +interest. Its flavor is strong and seductive. The literary work is +well done."--_Globe, Boston._ + +"They are the writings of a man of culture and refined taste. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Life of Wagner + Biographies of Musicians + +Author: Louis Nohl + +Translator: George P. Upton + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31526] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF WAGNER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/icover.jpg" width="322" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><i>BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS.</i></h3> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<h1><span class="smcap">Life of Wagner</span></h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>LOUIS NOHL</h2> + +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN</h4> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>GEORGE P. UPTON.</h3> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="center">“<i>Who better than the poet can guide?</i>”</p> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<h3>CHICAGO:<br /> +JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG & COMPANY.<br /> +1884.</h3> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Biographies of Musicians.</span></p> + +<p class="center">I.</p> + +<p>LIFE OF MOZART, From the German of Dr. <span class="smcap">Louis Nohl</span>. With Portrait. +Price $1.25.</p> + +<p class="center">II.</p> + +<p>LIFE OF BEETHOVEN, From the German of Dr. <span class="smcap">Louis Nohl</span>. With Portrait. +Price $1.25.</p> + +<p class="center">III.</p> + +<p>LIFE OF HAYDN, From the German of Dr. <span class="smcap">Louis Nohl</span>. With Portrait. Price +$1.25.</p> + +<p class="center">IV.</p> + +<p>LIFE OF WAGNER, From the German of Dr. <span class="smcap">Louis Nohl</span>. With Portrait. +Price $1.25.</p> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="center">JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG & CO., <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>.</p></div> + +<p class="center">COPYRIGHT<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG & CO.,<br /> +A. D. 1883.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" class="jpg" width="379" height="500" alt="Richard Wagner." title="" /> +<span class="caption smcap">Richard Wagner.</span> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The masters of music, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, advanced this +art beyond the limits of their predecessors by identifying themselves +more closely with the development of active life itself. By their +creative power they invested the life of the nation and mankind with +profounder thought, culminating at last in the most sublime of our +possessions—religion. No artist has followed in their course with +more determined energy than Richard Wagner, as well he might, for with +equal intellectual capacity, the foundation of his education was +broader and deeper than that of the classic masters; while on the +other hand the development of our national character during his long +active career, became more vigorous and diversified as the ideas of +the poets and thinkers were more and more realized and reflected in +our life. Wagner’s development was as harmonious as that of the three +classic masters, and all his struggles, however violent at times, only +cleared his way to that high goal where we stand with him to-day and +behold the free unfolding of all our powers. This goal is the entire +combination of all the phases of art into one great work: the +music-drama, in which is mirrored every form of human existence up to +the highest ideal life. As this music-drama rests historically upon +the opera it is but natural that the second triumvirate of German +music should be composed of the founder of German opera, C. M. von +Weber, the reformer of the old opera, Christoph Wilibald Gluck, and +Richard Wagner. To trace therefore the development of the youngest of +these masters, will lead us to consider theirs as well, and in doing +this the knowledge of what he is will disclose itself to us.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="PUBLISHERS_NOTE" id="PUBLISHERS_NOTE"></a>PUBLISHER’S NOTE.</h2> + +<p>Just as this volume is going to press the announcement comes from +Germany that the prize offered by the Prague Concordia for the best +essay on “Wagner’s Influence upon the National Art” has been adjudged +to Louis Nohl, an honor which will lend additional interest to this +little volume.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER I.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">WAGNER’S EARLY YOUTH.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p>His Birth—The Father’s Death—His Mother Remarries—Removal +to Dresden—Theatre and Music—At School—Translation of +Homer—Through Poetry to Music—Returning to Leipzig—Beethoven’s +Symphonies—Resolution to be a Musician—Conceals this +Resolution—Composes Music and Poetry—His Family distrusts his +Talent—“Romantic” Influences—Studies of Thoroughbass—Overture in +B major—Theodor Weinlig—Full Understanding of Mozart—Beethoven’s +Influence—The Genius of German Art—Preparatory Studies ended</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_9">9-22</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER II.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">STORM AND STRESS.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>In Vienna—His Symphony Performed—Modern Ideas—“The +Fairies”—“Das Liebesverbot”—Becomes Kapellmeister—Mina +Planer—Hard Times—Experiences and Studies—“Rienzi”—Paris—First +Disappointments—A Faust Overture—Revival of the German +Genius—Struggle for Existence—“The Flying Dutchman”—Historical +Studies—Returning to Germany</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_23">23-44</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER III.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>Success and Recognition—Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court—New +Clouds—“Tannhaeuser” Misunderstood—The Myths of “The Flying +Dutchman” and “Tannhaeuser”—Aversion to Meyerbeer—The Religious +Element—“Lohengrin”—The Idea of “Lohengrin”—Wagner’s +Revolutionary Sympathies—The Revolution of 1848—The Poetic Part +of “Siegfried’s Death”—The Revolt in Dresden—Flight from +Dresden—“Siegfried Words.”</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_45">45-72</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">EXILE.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>Visit to Liszt—Flight to Foreign Lands—Three +Pamphlets—“Lohengrin” Performed—Wagner’s Musical Ideas Expressed +in Words—Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem—The Idea of the +Poem—Its Religious Element—The First Music-Drama—In Zurich—New +Art Ideas—Increasing Fame—“Tristan and Isolde”—Analysis of this +Work—In Paris Again—The Amnesty—Tannhaeuser at the “Grand +Opera”—“Lohengrin” in Vienna—Resurrection of the “Mastersingers +of Nuremberg”—Final Return to Germany</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_73">73-105</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER V.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">MUNICH.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>Successful Concerts—Plans for a New Theatre—Offenbach’s Music +Preferred—Concerts Again—New Hindrances and Disappointments—King +Louis of Bavaria—Rescue and Hope—New Life—Schnorr—“Tannhaeuser” +Reproduced—Great Performance of “Tristan”—Enthusiastic +Applause—Death of Schnorr—Opposition of the Munich Public—Unfair +Attacks upon Wagner—He goes to Switzerland—The +“Meistersinger”—The Rehearsals—The Successful +Performance—Criticisms</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_106">106-131</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">BAIREUTH.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>A Vienna Critic—“Judaism in Music”—The War of 1870—Wagner’s +Second Wife—“The Thought of Baireuth”—Wagner-Clubs—The “Kaiser +March”—Baireuth—Increasing Progress—Concerts—The Corner-Stone +of the New Theatre—The Inaugural Celebration—Lukewarmness of the +Nation—The Preliminary Rehearsals—The Summer of 1876—Increasing +Devotion of the Artists—The General Rehearsal—The Guests—The +Memorable Event—Its Importance—A World-History in Art-Deeds</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_132">132-158</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">PARSIFAL.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><p>A German Art—Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results—Concerts in +London—Recognition Abroad and Lukewarmness at Home—The +“Nibelungen” in Vienna—“Parsifal”—Increasing Popularity of +Wagner’s Music—Judgments—Accounts of the “Parsifal” +Representations—The Theatre Building—“Parsifal,” a National +Drama—Its Significance and Idea—Anti-Semiticism—The Jewish +Spirit—Wagner’s Standpoint—Synopsis of “Parsifal”—The Legend of +the Holy Grail—Its Symbolic Importance—Art in the Service of +Religion—Beethoven and Wagner—“Redemption to the Redeemer.”</p></td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Page_159">159-198</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left">LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF WAGNER.</td> +<td align="right" class="bottom"><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#Death">198-204</a></span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_LIFE_OF_WAGNER" id="THE_LIFE_OF_WAGNER"></a>THE LIFE OF WAGNER.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>1813-1831.</h3> + +<h3>WAGNER’S EARLY YOUTH.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>His Birth—The Father’s Death—His Mother Remarries—Removal to +Dresden—Theatre and Music—At School—Translation of +Homer—Through Poetry to Music—Returning to Leipzig—Beethoven’s +Symphonies—Resolution to be a Musician—Conceals this +Resolution—Composes Music and Poetry—His Family Distrusts his +Talent—“Romantic” Influences—Studies of Thoroughbass—Overture in +B major—Theodor Weinlig—Full Understanding of Mozart—Beethoven’s +Influence—The Genius of German Art—Preparatory Studies ended.</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p class="center">“<i>I resolved to be a musician.</i>”—Wagner.</p></div> + +<p>Richard Wilhelm Wagner was born in Leipzig, May 22, 1813. His father +at that time was superintendent of police—a post which, owing to the +constant movement of troops during the French war, was one of special +importance. He soon fell a victim to an epidemic which broke out among +the troops passing through. The mother, a woman of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>very refined and +spiritual nature, then married the highly gifted actor, Ludwig Geyer, +who had been an intimate friend of the family, and removed with +him to Dresden, where he held a position at the court theatre and +was highly esteemed. There Wagner spent his childhood and early youth. +Besides the great patriotic uprising of the German people, artistic +impressions were the first to stir his soul. His father had taken an +active interest in the amateur theatricals of the Leipzig of his day, +and now the family virtually identified themselves with the practical +side of the art. His brother Albert and sister Rosalie subsequently +joined the theatre, and two other sisters diligently devoted +themselves to the piano. Richard himself satisfied his childish +tendency by playing comedy in his own room and his piano-playing was +confined to the repetition of melodies which he had heard. His +step-father, during the sickness which also overtook him, heard +Richard play two melodies, the “Ueb’ immer Treu und Redlichkeit” and +the “Jungfernkranz” from “Der Freischuetz,” which was just becoming +known at that time. The boy heard him say to his mother in an +undertone: <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>“Can it be that he has a talent for music?” He had +destined him to be an artist, being himself as good a portrait painter +as he was actor. He died, however, before the boy had reached his +seventh year, bequeathing to him only the information imparted to his +mother, that he “would have made something out of him.” Wagner in the +first sketch of his life, (1842) relates that for a long time he dwelt +upon this utterance of his step-father; and that it impelled him to +aspire to greatness.</p> + +<p>His inclinations however did not at first turn to music. He was rather +disposed to study and was sent to the celebrated Kreuzschule. Music +was only cultivated indifferently. A private teacher was engaged to +give him piano lessons, but, as in drawing, he was averse to the +technicalities of the art, and preferred to play by ear, and in this +way mastered the overture to “Der Freischuetz.” His teacher upon +hearing this expressed the opinion that nothing would become of him. +It is true, he could not in this way acquire fingering and scales, but +he gained a peculiar intonation arising from his own deep feeling, +that has been rarely possessed by any other artist. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>He was very +partial to the overture to “The Magic Flute,” but “Don Juan” made no +impression on him.</p> + +<p>All this, however, was only of secondary importance. The study of +Greek, Latin, mythology, and ancient history so completely captivated +the active mind of the boy, that his teacher advised him seriously to +devote himself to philological studies. As he had played music by +imitation so he now tried to imitate poetry. A poem, dedicated to a +dead schoolmate, even won a prize, although considerable fustian had +to be eliminated. His richness of imagination and feeling displayed +itself in early youth. In his eleventh year he would be a poet! A +Saxon poet, Apel, imitated the Greek tragedies, why should he not do +the same? He had already translated the first twelve books of Homer’s +“Odyssey,” and had made a metrical version of Romeo’s monologue, after +having, simply to understand Shakspeare, thoroughly acquired a +knowledge of English. Thus at an early age he mastered the language +which “thinks and meditates for us,” and Shakspeare became his +favorite model. A grand tragedy based on the themes of Hamlet <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>and +King Lear was immediately undertaken, and although in its progress he +killed off forty-two of the <i>dramatis personae</i> and was compelled +in the denouement, for want of characters to let their ghosts reappear, +we can not but regard it as a proof of the superabundance of his +inborn power.</p> + +<p>One advantage was secured by this absurd attempt at poetry: it led +him to music, and in its intense earnestness he first learned to +appreciate the seriousness of art, which until then had appeared to +him of such small importance in contrast with his other studies, that +he regarded “Don Juan” for instance as silly, because of its Italian +text and “painted acting,” as disgusting. At this time he had grown +familiar with “Der Freischuetz,” and whenever he saw Weber pass his +house, he looked up to him with reverential awe. The patriotic songs +sung in those early days of resurrected Germany appealed to his +sensitive nature. They fascinated him and filled his earnest soul with +enthusiasm. “Grander than emperor or king, is it to stand there and +rule!” he said to himself, as he saw Weber enchant and sway the souls +of his auditors with his “Freischuetz” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>melodies. He now returned with +the family to Leipzig. Did he, while at work on his grand tragedy, +occupying him fully two years, neglect his studies? In the Nicolai +school, where he now attended, he was put back one class, and this so +disheartened him, that he lost all interest in his studies. Besides, +now for the first time, the actual spirit of music illumined his +intellectual horizon. In the Gewandhaus concerts he heard Beethoven’s +symphonies. “Their impression on me was very powerful,” he says, +speaking of his deep agitation, though only in his fifteenth year, and +it was still further intensified when he was informed that the great +master had died the year previous, in pitiful seclusion from all the +world. “I knew not what I really was intended for,” he puts in the +mouth of a young musician in his story, “A Pilgrimage to Beethoven,” +written many years after. “I only remember, that I heard a symphony of +Beethoven one evening. After that I fell sick with a fever, and when I +recovered, I was a musician.” He grew lazy and negligent in school, +having only his tragedy at heart, but the music of Beethoven induced +him to devote himself passionately to the art. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>Indeed while listening +to the Egmont music, it so affected him that he would not for all the +world, “launch” his tragedy without such music. He had perfect +confidence that he could compose it, but nevertheless thought it +advisable to acquaint himself with some of the rules of the art. To +accomplish this at once, he borrowed for a week, an easy system of +thoroughbass. The study did not seem to bear fruit as quickly as he +had expected, but its difficulties allured his energetic and active +mind. “I resolved to be a musician,” he said. Two strong forces of +modern society, general education and music, thus in early youth made +an impression upon his nature. Music conquered, but in a form which +includes the other, in the presentation of the poetic idea as it first +found its full expression in Beethoven’s symphonies. Let us now see +how this somewhat arbitrary and selfwilled temperament urged the +stormy young soul on to the real path of his development.</p> + +<p>The family discovered his “grand tragedy.” They were much grieved, +for it disclosed the neglect of his school studies. Under the +circumstances he concealed his consciousness of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>his inner call to +music, secretly continuing, however, his efforts at composition. It is +noticeable that the impulse to adapt poetry never forsook him, but it +was made subordinate to the musical faculty. In fact the former was +brought into requisition only to gratify the latter, so completely did +musical composition control him. Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony +prompted him at one time to write a shepherd play, which owed its +dramatic construction on the other hand to Goethe’s vaudeville, “A +Lover’s Humor,” to which he wrote the music and the verses at the same +time, so that the action and movement of the play grew out of the +making of the verses and the music. He was likewise prompted to +compose in the prevailing forms of music, and produced a sonata, a +string quartet, and an aria.</p> + +<p>These works may not have had faults as far as form is concerned, but +very likely they were without any intrinsic value. His mind was +still engrossed with other things than the real poesy of music. +Notwithstanding this, under cover of such performances as these, he +believed he could announce himself to the family as a musician. They +regarded such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>efforts at composition however as a mere transitory +passion, which would disappear like others especially so as he was not +proficient on even one instrument, and could not therefore assume to +do the work of a practical musician with any degree of assurance. At +this time a strange and confused impression was made upon the young +mind, which had already absorbed so much of importance. The so called +“romantic writers” who then reigned supreme, particularly the mystic +Hoffmann, who was both poet and musician, and who wrote the most +beautiful poetic arrangements of the works of Gluck, Mozart, and +Beethoven, along with the absurdest notions of music, tended to +completely disturb his poetic ideas and mode of expression in music. +This youth of scarce sixteen was in danger of losing his wits. “I had +visions both waking and sleeping, in which the key note, third and +quint appeared bodily and demonstrated their importance to me, but +whatever I wrote on the subject was full of nonsense,” he says +himself.</p> + +<p>It was high time to overcome and settle these disturbing elements. His +imperfect understanding of the science of music, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>had given rise +to these fancies and apparitions, now gave place to its real nature, +its fixed rules and laws. The skilled musician, Mueller, who +subsequently became organist at Altenburg, taught him to evolve from +those strange forms of an overwrought imagination the simple musical +intervals and accords, thus giving his ideas a secure foundation even +in these musical inspirations and fantasies. Corresponding success +however, had not yet been attained in the practical groundwork of the +art. The impetuous young fellow and enthusiast continued inattentive +and careless in this study. His intellectual nature was too restless +and aggressive to be brought back easily to the study of dry technical +rules, and yet its progress was not far-reaching enough, for even in +art their acquisition is essential.</p> + +<p>One of the grand overtures for orchestra which he chose to write at +that time instead of giving himself to the study of music as an +independent language, he called himself the “culmination of his +absurdities.” And yet in this composition, in B major, there was +something, which, when it was performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, +commanded the attention <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>of so thorough a musician as Heinrich Dorn, +then a friend of Wagner, and who became later Oberhofkapellmeister at +Berlin. This was the poetic idea which Wagner by the aid of his mental +culture was enabled to produce in music, and which gives to a +composition its inner and organic completeness. Dorn could thus +sincerely console the young author with the hope of future success for +his composition, which, instead of a favorable reception, met only +with indignation and derision.</p> + +<p>The revolution which broke out in France in July, 1830, greatly +excited him as it did others and he even contemplated writing a +political overture. The fantastic ideas prevalent at that time among +the students at the university, which in the meantime he had entered +to complete his general education, and fit himself thoroughly for the +vocation of a musician, tended still further to divert his mind from +the serious task before him. At this juncture, both for his own +welfare and that of art, a kind Providence sent him a man, who, +sternly yet kindly, as the storm subsided, directed the awakening +impulse for order and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>system in his musical studies. This was +Theodore Weinlig, who had been cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, +since 1823 and was therefore, so to speak, bred in the spirit and +genius of the great Sebastian Bach. He possessed that attribute of a +good teacher which leads the scholar imperceptibly into the very heart +of his study. In less than a year the young scholar had mastered the +most difficult problems of counterpoint, and was dismissed by his +teacher as perfectly competent in his art. How highly Wagner esteemed +him is shown by the fact that his “Liebesmahl der Apostel,” his only +work in the nature of an oratorio, is dedicated to “Frau Charlotte +Weinlig, the widow of my never-to-be-forgotten teacher.” During this +time he also composed a sonata and a polonaise, both of which were +free from bombast and simple and natural in their musical form. More +important than all, Wagner now began to understand Mozart and learned +to admire him. He was at last on the path which subsequently was to +lead him, even nearer than Beethoven came, to that mighty cantor of +Leipzig, who by his art has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>disclosed for all time the depths of our +inner life and sanctified them.</p> + +<p>For the present it was Beethoven, whose art unfolded itself before +him, and now that his own knowledge was firmly grounded, aided him to +become a composer. “I doubt whether there has ever been a young +musician more familiar with Beethoven’s works than was Wagner, then +eighteen years of age,” says Dorn of this period. Wagner himself says +in his “Deutscher Musiker in Paris:” “I knew no greater pleasure than +that of throwing myself so completely into the depths of this genius +that I imagined I had become a part of him.” He copied the master’s +overtures and the Ninth symphony, the latter causing him to sob +violently, but at the same time rousing his highest enthusiasm. He +now also fully comprehended Mozart, especially his Jupiter symphony. +“In the genius of our fatherland, pure in feeling and chaste in +inspiration, he saw the sacred heritage wherewith the German, under +any skies and whatever language he might speak, would be certain to +preserve the innate grandeur of his race,” is his opinion of Mozart +expressed in Paris a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>years afterward. “I strove for clearness and +power,” he says of this period of his youth, and an overture and a +symphony soon demonstrated that he had really grasped the models. +After twenty years of personal activity in this high school of art, he +succeeded in thoroughly understanding the great Sebastian Bach, and +reared on this solid foundation-stone of music the majestic edifice of +German art, which embraces all the capabilities and ideals of the +soul, and created at last a national drama, complete in every sense.</p> + +<p>The school period was passed. He now entered active life with firm and +secure step, armed only with his knowledge and his power of will. In +his struggles and disappointments the former was to be put to the test +and the latter to be strengthened. We shall meet with him again, when +by the exercise of these two powers he has gained his first permanent +victories.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>1832-1841.</h3> + +<h3>STORM AND STRESS.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In Vienna—His Symphony Performed—Modern Ideas—“The +Fairies,”—“Das Liebesverbot”—Becomes Kapellmeister—Mina +Planer—Hard Times—Experiences and Studies—“Rienzi”—Paris—First +Disappointments—A Faust Overture—Revival of the German +Genius—Struggle for Existence—“The Flying Dutchman”—Historical +Studies—Returning to Germany.</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p><i>The God who in my breast resides,</i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>He cannot change external forces.</i>—Goethe.</span></p></div> + +<p>Beethoven’s life has acquainted us with the pre-eminence of Vienna as +a musical centre. In the summer of 1832 Wagner visited the city, but +found himself greatly disappointed as he heard on all sides nothing +but “Zampa,” and the potpourris of Strauss. He was not to see the +imperial city again until late in life and as the master, crowned with +fame. In music and the opera Paris had the precedence. The +Conservatory in Prague however performed his symphony, though right +here he was destined to feel that the reign of his beloved Beethoven +had but scarcely begun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><p>In the succeeding winter the same symphony was performed in Leipzig. +“There is a resistless and audacious energy in the thoughts, a stormy +bold progression, and yet withal a maidenly artlessness in the +expression of the main motives that lead me to hope for much from the +composer;” so wrote Laube, with whom Wagner had shortly before become +acquainted. Here again we recognize the stormy, restless activity of +the time, which thenceforth did not cease, and brought about the unity +of the nation and of art. The ideas which prevailed among the +students’ clubs, the theories of St. Simon and would-be reformers +generally had captivated the young artist’s mind. In the “Young +Europe,” Laube advocated the liberal thoughts of the new century, the +intoxication of love, and all the pleasures of material life. Wagner’s +head was full of them and Heine’s writings and the sensual +“Ardinghello” of Heinse helped to intensify them.</p> + +<p>For a time however his better nature retained the mastery. Beethoven +and Weber remained his good genii. In 1833 he composed an opera, “The +Fairies,” modelled after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>their works, the text of which displayed the +earnest tendency of his nature. A fairy falls in love with a mortal +but can acquire human life only on condition that her lover shall not +lose faith and desert her, however wicked and cruel she may appear. +She transforms herself into a stone from which condition the yearning +songs of her lover release her. It is a characteristic feature of +Wagner’s ideal conception of love that the lover then is admitted to +the perpetual joys of the fairy world, as a reward for his faith in +the object of his love. The work was never performed. Bellini, Adam, +and their associates controlled the stage in Germany, and he was +greatly disappointed. That grand artiste, Schroeder-Devrient, who +afterwards was to become so essential to Wagner, had achieved unusual +success in these light operas, especially in the role of <i>Romeo</i>. +He observed this and comparing the sparkling music of these French and +Italians with the German Kapellmeister-music which was then coming +into vogue, it seemed indeed tedious and tormenting. Why should not he +then, this youth of twenty-one, ready for any deed and every pleasure, +earnestly longing for success, enter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>upon the same course? Beethoven +appeared to him as the keystone of a great epoch to be followed by +something new and different. The fruit of this restless seething +struggle was “Das Liebesverbot oder die Novize von Palermo,” his first +opera which reached a performance.</p> + +<p>The material was taken from Shakspeare’s “Measure for Measure,” not +however without making its earnestness conform to the ideas of “Young +Europe,” and leaving the victory to sensualism. <i>Isabella</i>, the +novice, begs of the puritanical governor her brother’s life, who has +forfeited it through some love affair. The governor agrees to grant +the pardon, on condition that she shall yield to his desires. A +carnival occurs, and, as in “Masaniello,” a young man who loves the +maiden, incites a revolution, exposes the governor, and receives +<i>Isabella’s</i> hand. The spirit which pervades this tempestuous +carnival pleasure is sufficiently characterized by a verse in the only +chorus-number, which has appeared in print from this opera: “Who does +not rejoice in our pleasure plunge the knife into his breast!”</p> + +<p>There were, it will be observed, two radically <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>different +possibilities of development. The “sacred fervor of his sensitive +soul,” which he had nourished with the German instrumental music, had +encountered the tendency to sensualism, and, as we find so often in +Wagner’s works, these two elements of our nature were powerfully +portrayed, with the victory ever remaining to the judicious and +serious conception of life. Struggles and sorrows of various kinds +were to bring this “sacred earnestness” again into the foreground, to +remain there forever afterward.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1834, during which this text had been written, Wagner +accepted the position of Kapellmeister at the Magdeburg theatre and +thus entered the field of practical activity. The position suited him +and he soon proved himself an able director, especially for the stage. +His skill in music, composed for the passing moment, soon gained for +him the desired success and induced him to compose the music to the +“Liebesverbot.” “It often gave me a childish pleasure to rehearse +these light, fashionable operas, and to stand at the director’s desk +and let the thing loose to the right and left,” he tells us. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>did +not seek in the least to avoid the French style but on the contrary +felt confident, that an actress like Schroeder-Devrient could even in +such frivolous music invest his <i>Isabella</i> with dignity and value. +With such expectations in art and life before him, he took +unhesitatingly the serious step of engaging himself to Mina Planer, a +beautiful actress at the Magdeburg theatre, who unfortunately however +was never destined to appreciate his nobler aspirations.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1836, before the dissolution of the Magdeburg troupe, +an overhasty presentation of his opera was given, the only one that +ever took place. It was said of it by one: “There is much in it, and +it is very pleasing. There is that music and melody, which we so +rarely find in our distinctive German operas.” He had himself for some +time completely neglected “The Fairies.” The score of both operas is +in the possession of King Louis of Bavaria. They were to be followed +by one destined to survive—“Rienzi.”</p> + +<p>He had sought in vain to secure a performance of the “Liebesverbot,” +first in Leipzig, then in Berlin. In the latter city he saw <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>one of +Spontini’s operas performed and for the first time fully recognized +the meagre resources of the native stage, particularly in scenic +presentation. How Paris must have aroused his longing where Spontini +had introduced the opera upon a grander scale and with stronger +ensemble! The financial difficulties however, which followed +the dissolution of the Magdeburg theatre and the failure of his +compositions forced him to continue his connection still longer with +the German stage, wretched as it was. He next went to Koenigsberg. The +position there was not sufficiently remunerative to protect him from +want, now that he was married. One purpose he kept constantly in view, +namely, to perform some splendid work of art and with it free himself +from his embarrassing position. In every interesting romance he sought +the material for a grand opera. Among others, he selected Koenig’s +“Hohe Braut,” rapidly arranged the scenes and sent the manuscript to +Scribe in Paris, whose endorsement was considered essential, and whose +“Huguenots” had just helped to make Meyerbeer one of the stars of the +day. Nothing came of it however. Of what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>importance in this direction +was Germany at that time? The Koenigsberg troupe was also soon +dissolved. “Some men are at once decisive in their character and their +works, while others have first to fight their way through a chaos of +passions. It is true however that the latter class obtain greater +results,” it is said in one account of this short episode. He was soon +to accomplish such an achievement. In the city of Koenigsberg, the old +seat of the Prussian kings, he had won a friend for life who, as will +subsequently appear, proved of service to him. The general character +of life in Prussia also greatly contributed to strengthen in him that +independent bearing of which Spontini’s imperious splendor had given +him a hint, and which subsequently was to invest his own art with so +much importance in the world’s history.</p> + +<p>During a visit to Dresden in 1837 he came across Bulwer’s “Rienzi, the +Last of the Tribunes,” in which he became deeply interested, the more +so that the hero had been in his mind for some time. The necessities +of subsistence now drove him across the borders to Riga. His Leipzig +friend Dorn was there, and Karl <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>Holtei had just organized a new +theatre. He was made director of music and his wife appeared in the +leading feminine roles. Splendid material was at hand and Wagner went +zealously to work. He was obliged however to produce here also the +works of Adam, Auber, and Bellini, which gave him a still deeper +insight into the degradation of the modern stage, with its frivolous +comedy, of which he had a perfect horror. About this time he became +familiar with the legend of the “Flying Dutchman,” as Heine relates +it, with the new version that love can release the Ahasuerus of the +sea. The “fabulous home sickness,” of which Heine speaks, found an +echo in his own soul and excited it the more. He studied moreover +Mehul’s “Joseph in Egypt” and under the influence of the grave and +noble music of this imitator of the great Gluck, he felt himself +“elevated and purified.” Even Bellini’s “Norma,” under the influence +of such impressions, gained a nobler tone and more dignified form than +is really inherent in the music. “Norma” was at that time even given +for his benefit! He now took up the “Rienzi” material in earnest and +projected a plan for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>the work which required the largest stage for +its execution. The lyric element of the romance, the messengers of +peace, the battle hymns, and the passion of love had already charmed +his purely musical sense. It was however by a solid work for the +theatre, of which the main feature should not be simply “beautiful +verses and fine rhymes” but rather strength of action and stirring +scenes, aided by all available means for producing effect through +scenery and the ballet, that he hoped to win success at the Paris +grand opera. In the fall of 1838 he began the composition.</p> + +<p>The first two acts had scarcely been completed when Paris stood +clearly before the poet-composer’s eyes. Meanwhile the contract with +Holtei drew to a close, but there were difficulties in the way that +could not easily be removed. He had contracted many debts and without +proof of their liquidation no one could at that time leave Russia. +Flight was determined upon. His friend from Koenigsberg, an old and +rich lumber merchant, in whose house he had spent many a social +evening, took his wife in a carriage over the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>border, passing her as +his own, while Wagner escaped in some other way. At Pillau they went +on board a sailing vessel, their first destination being London. Now +began the real lifework of Wagner, which was not to cease until he, +who had struggled with poverty and sorrow, was to see emperors and +kings as guests in his art-temple at Baireuth.</p> + +<p>The long sea voyage of twenty-five days, full of mishaps, had a very +important bearing upon his art. The stormy sea along the Norwegian +coast and the stories of the sailors who never doubled the existence +of the “Flying Dutchman,” gave life and definite form to the legend. +He remained but a short time in London, seeing the city and its two +houses of Parliament, and then went to Boulogne-sur-Mer. He remained +there four weeks, for Meyerbeer was there taking sea baths, and his +Parisian introductions were of the highest importance. The composer of +the “Huguenots” immediately recognized the talent of the younger +artist, and particularly praised the text to “Rienzi,” which Scribe +was soon to imitate for him in his weak production of “The Prophet.” +At the same time he pointed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>out the obstacles to success in the great +city which it would be extremely difficult for one to overcome without +means or connections. Wagner however relied on his good star and +departed for that city which he conceived to be the only one that +could open the way to the stage of the world for a dramatic composer. +The result of the visit to Paris was an abundance of disappointments, +but it added largely to his experience, increased his strength, nay +more, even gave rise to his first great work.</p> + +<p>Meyerbeer recommended him to the director of the Renaissance Theatre +and besides acquainted him with artists of note. An introduction to +the Grand Opera however was out of the question for one who was an +utter stranger. Through Heinrich Laube, then in Paris, he made the +acquaintance of Heine, who was much surprised that a young musician +with his wife and a large Newfoundland dog should come to Paris, where +everything, however meritorious, must conquer its position. Wagner +himself has described these experiences in Lewald’s “Europa,” under +the title of “Parisian Fatalities of Germans.” His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>first object was +to win some immediate success and he accordingly offered to the above +named director the “Liebesverbot,” which apparently was well suited to +French taste. Unfortunately this theatre went into bankruptcy, so all +his efforts were fruitless. He now sought to make himself known +through lyrics set to music and wrote several, such as Heine’s +“Grenadiers,” but a favorite amateur balladist, Loisa Puget, reigned +supreme in the Paris salons, and neither he nor Berlioz could obtain +a hearing. His means were constantly diminishing and a terrible +bitterness filled his soul against the splendid Paris salons and +theatre world, whose interior appeared so hollow.</p> + +<p>It happened one day that he heard the Ninth symphony at a performance +of the Conservatory, whose concerts were always splendidly and +carefully executed, and, as before, it stirred his inmost soul. Once +more his genius came to his rescue. He felt intuitively—what we now +know with historical certainty—that this work was born of the same +spirit which bore Faust, and thus in him also this “ever restless +spirit seeking for something new” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>was called into being and activity. +The overture to Faust, in reality the prelude of a Faust symphony, +tells us in tones of mighty resolve that his power to do and to will +still lived, and would not yield till it had performed its part. This +was toward the close of the year 1840.</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox2"><p>“The God, who in my breast resides,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Can deeply stir the inner sources;</span><br /> +Though all my energies he guides,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He cannot change external forces.</span><br /> +Thus by the burden of my days oppressed,<br /> +Death is desired, and life a thing unblest.”</p></div> + +<p>With such a confession he regained strength to battle against Parisian +superficiality, which even in the sacred sphere of art seemed to seek +only for outward success and to admire whatever fashion dictated. His +criticisms on the condition of life and art in Paris are very severe. +Even the noble Berlioz does not escape censure from the artist’s +stand-point, while Liszt, who resided there at the time, he had not +yet learned to appreciate. But again the saving genius of his art, +German music, rose resplendent, and she it was who recalled him to his +own self and to art.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><p>He now entirely gave up the “Liebesverbot,” as he felt that he could +not respect himself unless he did so. He thought of his native land. +A heroic patriotism seized him, although tinged with a political +bearing, for he did not forget the Bundestag and its resistance to +every movement for liberty, and yet withal he beheld the coming +grandeur of his fatherland. Now he himself first fully comprehended +Rienzi’s words about his noble bride, whom he saw dishonored and +defiled, and a deep anger awakened in him those mighty exhorting +accents which his enthusiasm had already intoned in Rienzi’s first +speech to the nobility and the people, and which had not been heard in +Germany since Schiller’s days. As Rienzi resolved not to rest until +his proud Roma was crowned as queen of the world, so now there flashed +through him also the conviction, as he has so beautifully said in +speaking of Beethoven’s music, that the genius of Germany was destined +to rescue the mind of man from its deep degradation. In the merely +superficial culture, which the Semitic-Gallic spirit had impressed +upon the period, and with which it held all Europe as in a net of +iron, he saw only <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>utter frivolity. The great revolution had brought +about many political and social reforms but the liberation of the +soul, like that accomplished by the Reformation, it had not effected. +There was a material condition and mental tendency which he afterward, +not without reason, compared with the times of the Roman emperors. +Heine and his associates formed the literary centre, but even more +effective in its influence was Meyerbeer’s grand opera. The imperious +sway of fashion had usurped the place of real culture and the problem +was therefore again to elevate culture with his art to its proper +sphere. He became more and more conscious of a mission which went far +beyond the realm of mere art-work. Even in this foreign land, which +had treated him so coldly and with such hostile egoism, he was to find +the ways and means to carry out his mission and to create for us +actual human beings instead of phantoms. In his “Parisian Fatalities,” +Wagner said of the Germans in Paris that they learned anew to +appreciate their mother tongue and to strengthen their patriotic +feeling. “Rienzi” was an illustration of this patriotic sentiment. He +now resolved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>to produce this composition for Dresden and the thought +gave him fresh zeal for work. Elsewhere, he says of the Germans: “As +much as they generally dread the return to their native land, they yet +pine away from it with homesickness.” Longing for home! Had he not +once before beheld a being wasting away in the constant longing for +the eternal home and yet destined never to find rest? The “Flying +Dutchman” recurred to his imagination and to the outward form of the +ever-wandering seaman was added the human heart, constantly longing +for love and faithfulness. After having come to an understanding with +Heine, he rapidly arranged the material of this Wandering Jew of the +sea. A fortunate circumstance, the return of Meyerbeer to Paris, even +gave promise that the work might secure a hearing at the grand opera.</p> + +<p>That he might be at rest while engaged on this work he earned his +daily bread by arranging popular operas for cornet-a-piston. He +submitted to this deep humiliation for he was conscious of the prize +to be obtained by “serving.” A partial compensation in thus working +for hire he found in the permission <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>given him by the sympathetic +music publisher, Schlesinger, to write for his <i>Gazette Musicale</i> to +which he contributed many brilliant articles. In these he could at +least do in words what he was not allowed to do otherwise. He could +disclose the splendor of German music, and never before has anyone +written of Mozart, Weber, and Beethoven with keener appreciation or +profounder thought. Of the last named he proposed to write a +comprehensive biography and entered into correspondence with a +publisher in Germany.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> He confronted the formal culture of the Latin +races with the character of the German mind, as it were the head of +the Medusa, and the consciousness of his mission kept up his spirits +under the most trying circumstances. With Paris as an art centre he +had done. Like Mozart’s “Idomeneo” to the Opera Seria, “Rienzi” was +his last tribute to the Grand Opera. They have forever extinguished +the genre in style by exhausting its capabilities.</p> + +<p>In the meantime “Rienzi” had been accepted at Dresden, and he now +hoped through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>Meyerbeer’s influence to see it also accepted by the +Grand Opera. The director, however, had been so well pleased with the +“Flying Dutchman” that he wished to appropriate the poem for himself, +or rather for another composer. In order therefore not to lose +everything, Wagner sold the copyright for Paris for 500 francs and it +soon after appeared as “Vaisseau Phantome.” It naturally followed that +for the present his most urgent task was to complete the work for +himself and in his own way. The performance of the “Freischuetz” had +increased his ambition and his other experiences had completely +disgusted him with the modern Babylon. The romance—for such it +was—was soon finished. He had allowed a beautiful myth simply to tell +its own story and had avoided all the nonsense of the opera with its +finales, duets, and ballets, wishing simply to reveal to his +countrymen once more the divine attributes of the soul. But now that +the romance was to be set to music he feared that his art might have +deserted him, so long had it remained unused. However the work +progressed rapidly enough. He had in his mind as the main motive of +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>work, <i>Senta’s</i> ballad, and around it clustered at once the whole +musical arrangement of the material. The Sailor’s Chorus and the +Spinning Song were popular melodies, for the “Freischuetz” continually +kept them humming in his ears. In seven weeks the work was completed, +with the exception of the overture, which every day’s pressing wants +retarded for a few weeks longer.</p> + +<p>Leipzig and Munich promptly declined the work with which he had +proposed to salute his fatherland once more. The latter city declared +that the opera was not adapted to Germany! Through Meyerbeer’s +influence it was then accepted in Berlin. Thus hated Paris led to the +production of two works in which he touched strings that find their +fullest response only in a German’s heart. The prospect of returning +to his fatherland delighted him. What could be more natural than that +his mind strove to study more and more closely the spirit and +development of his fatherland, in order to raise other and better +monuments to it? He renewed his studies in German history, although +solely for the purpose of finding suitable material for operas. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>At +first, Manfred and the brilliant era of the Hohenstauffens attracted +him. But this historic world at once and utterly disappeared when he +beheld that figure in which the spirit of the Ghibellines attained in +human form its highest development and greatest beauty—<i>Tannhaeuser</i>! +His previous readings in German literature had made him familiar with +the story, but he now for the first time understood it. The simple +popular tale stirred him to such a degree that his whole soul was +filled with the image of its hero. It revealed the path to the +historic depths of our folk-lore to which Beethoven’s and Weber’s +music had long since given him the clues. The story had some +connection with the “Saengerkrieg auf Wartburg,” and in this contest, +he saw at once the possibility of fully revealing the qualities of his +hero, who raises the first German protest against the pretended +culture and sham morality of the Latin world. The old poem of this +“Saengerkrieg,” is further connected with the legend of Lohengrin. +Thus it was that in foreign Paris he was destined to gain at once and +permanently a realization of the native qualities of our common +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>nature, which, from primeval times, the German spirit has put into +these legends.</p> + +<p>After a stay of more than three years abroad, he left Paris, April 7, +1842. “For the first time I saw the Rhine; with tears in my eyes, I, a +poor artist, swore to be ever loyal to my German fatherland,” he says. +Have we not seen that this “poor artist” with the might of his magic +wand has created a world of new life, and what is far more, has +aroused the genius of his people, aye, the very soul of mankind, and +has led his epoch and his nation to the achievement of new and +permanent intellectual results?</p> + +<p>We now come to his first efforts towards the accomplishment of such +results. They were to cost hard labor, anxiety, struggles, and pain of +every kind indeed, but they were done and they stand to-day.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>1842-1849.</h3> + +<h3>REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Success and Recognition—Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court—New +Clouds—“Tannhaeuser” Misunderstood—The Myths of “The Flying +Dutchman” and “Tannhaeuser”—Aversion to Meyerbeer—The Religious +Element—“Lohengrin”—The Idea of “Lohengrin”—Wagner’s +Revolutionary Sympathies—The Revolution of 1848—The Poetic +Part of “Siegfried’s Death”—The Revolt in Dresden—Flight from +Dresden—“Siegfried Words.”</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p class="center">“<i>Give me a place to stand.</i>”—Archimedes.</p></div> + +<p>In an enthusiastic account of the first presentation of the “Flying +Dutchman” in Riga, May, 1843, it is said: “The ‘Flying Dutchman’ is a +signal of hope that we shall soon be rescued from this wild wandering +in the strange seas of foreign music and shall find once more our +blessed home.” In a similar strain, the <i>Illustrierte Zeitung</i> said: +“It is the duty of all who really cherish native art to announce to +the fatherland the appearance of a man of such promise as Wagner.” +Indeed Wagner himself says that the success of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>work was an +important indication that we need but write “as our native sense +suggests.” That he himself perceived a new era of the highest and +purest outpouring of a new spirit is shown in the composition of this +year (1843), the “Liebesmahl der Apostel,” wherein he quotes from the +Bible: “Be of good cheer for I am near you and My spirit is with you.” +A chorus of forty male voices exultingly proclaimed this promise from +the high church choir loft in Dresden, on the occasion of the +Maennergesangvereins-Fest.</p> + +<p>“Rienzi” was performed in October 1842, and the “Flying Dutchman” +January 2, 1843, both meeting with an enthusiastic reception. Wagner +himself had conducted the rehearsals and secured the support of newly +won friends and such eminent artists as Schroeder-Devrient and +Tichatschek. His success gained for him the distinction of +Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court. The position once held by Weber +was now his. The objects which he had sought to accomplish seemed +within reach and he heartily entered into the brilliant art life of +the city, the more so as hitherto he had not enjoyed it though +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>possessing the desire and knowledge to do so. Although “Rienzi” +retained a certain degree of popularity, the “Flying Dutchman” however +had not really been understood, and the more it was heard, the less +was it appreciated. How could it be otherwise amid such a public as +then existed in Germany? In the upper and middle classes French novels +were the favorite literature, while the stage was controlled by French +and Italian operas. With all their superficiality they combined +perfection in the art of singing, but failed to awaken any sense of +the intrinsic worth of our own nature. There were but few of +sufficiently delicate feeling to perceive in this composition the +continuation of the noble aims of Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. Wagner +himself while in Dresden was destined to continue the struggle against +all that was foreign as these three masters had done before him. +“Professional musicians admitted my poetic talent, poets conceded that +I possessed musical capacity,” is the way he characterizes the +prevailing misunderstanding of his endeavors and his works, which +required a generation to overcome.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>He constantly sought to direct public attention to the grander and +nobler compositions, such as Gluck’s “Armide” and “Iphigenia in +Aulis,” Weber’s “Euryanthe” and “Freischuetz,” Marschner’s “Hans +Heiling,” Spohr’s “Jessonda,” and other grand works for concerts, like +Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” and Bach’s “Singet dem Herrn ein neues +Lied,” all of which were performed in a masterly manner, while such +compositions as Spontini’s “Vestalin” he at least helped to display in +the best light. He was also very active in having Weber’s remains +brought from London. He not only composed a funeral march, for the +obsequies, upon motives from “Euryanthe,” which was very powerful in +effect, but he also has reminded posterity of what it possesses in +this the youngest German master of the musical stage. “No musician, +more thoroughly German than thou, has ever lived,” he said at the +grave. “See, now the Briton does thee justice, the Frenchman admires +thee, but the German alone can love thee. Thou art his, a beautiful +day in his life, a warm drop of his blood, a part of his heart.” Thus +at times he succeeded in arousing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>the public. But on the whole, his +ideas were not accepted, and it retained its accustomed views and +continued in the old pleasures. Wagner began again to feel more and +more his isolated position. The complete misunderstanding of +Tannhaeuser, which he began to write when he first arrived in Dresden, +and the refusals of the work by other cities, Berlin among them, +declaring it “too epic,” rendered this sense of isolation complete. +The recurrence of such experiences as these showed him how far his art +was still removed from its ideal and his contemporaries from the +comprehension of their own resources. He realized the fact that his +own improved circumstances had deceived him, and that in truth the +same superficiality of life and degradation of the stage prevailed +everywhere. The course of events during the next generation but proved +the truth of this. Whatever of merit was produced met with hostility, +as in the case of our artist. The growing perception of these facts +led him gradually to revolt against the art-circumstances of his time, +and as he became convinced that the condition of art was but the +result of the social and political, indeed of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>existing mental +condition of the people, he at last broke out into open revolution +against the entire system. This very agitation of soul, however, +became the source of his artistic creations, wherein he attempted to +disclose grander ideals and nobler art, and they form therefore, as in +the case of every real artist, his own genuine biography. In tracing +the origin of his works, we follow the inner current of his life.</p> + +<p>Thus far we have availed ourselves of the biographical notes which +Wagner, prior to the representation of the “Flying Dutchman,” gave to +his friend Heinrich Laube for publication in the “Zeitung fuer die +elegante Welt.” We are now guided further by one of the most stirring +spiritual revelations in existence, his “Communication to my Friends,” +in the year 1851, in that banishment to which his noblest endeavors +had brought him, written with his heart’s blood, as a preface to the +publication of the three opera poems, namely, “Flying Dutchman,” +“Tannhaeuser” and “Lohengrin.” It is the consummation of his artistic +as well as human development out of which grew his highest creations.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p><p>We must recur to the “Flying Dutchman,” whose real name was “Hel +Laender,” the guide of the deadship, or the fallen sun-bark, which, +according to the Teutonic legend, conveyed the heroes to Hel, the +region of perpetual night. We shall confine ourselves however to the +later version of the middle ages, the only one with which Wagner was +familiar. “The form of the ‘Flying Dutchman’ is the mythic poem of the +people; a primeval trait of humanity is expressed in it with +heartrending force,” Wagner says to those who in spite of Goethe’s +“Faust” had formed no conception of the vitality, and poetic treasures +that lay concealed in the myth. In its general significance the motive +is to be considered as the longing for rest from the storms of life. +The Greeks symbolized this in Odysseus, who, during his wanderings at +sea, longed for his native land, his wife, and home—“On this earth +are all my pleasures rooted.” Christianity, which recognizes only a +spiritual home, reversed this conception in the person of the +“Wandering Jew.” For this wanderer, condemned eternally to live over +again a life, without purpose and without pleasure, and of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>which he +has long since grown weary, there is no deliverance on earth. Nothing +remains to him but the longing for death. Toward the close of the +middle ages, after the human mind had been satiated with the +supernatural, and the revival of vital activity impelled men to +new enterprises, this longing disclosed itself most boldly and +successfully in the history of the efforts to discover new worlds. +An “impetuous desire to perform manly deeds” seized mankind as the +earth-encircling, boundless ocean came into view, no longer the +closely encircled inland sea of the Greeks. The longing of Odysseus, +which in the “Wandering Jew” has grown into longing for death, now +aims at a new life, not yet revealed, but distinctly perceived in the +prospective. It is the form of the “Flying Dutchman,” in which both +expressions of the human soul are joined in a new and strange union, +such as the spirit of the people alone can produce. He had sworn to +sail past a cape in spite of wind and waves, and for that is condemned +by a demon, the spirit of these elements, to sail on the ocean through +all eternity. He can gratify the longing which he feels, through a +woman, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>will sacrifice herself for his love, but to the Jew it was +denied. He seeks this woman therefore that he may pass away forever. +There is this difference however: She is no longer Penelope caring for +her home, but woman in general, the loving soul of mankind, which the +world has lost in its eager strife to conquer new worlds, and which +can only be regained when this strife shall cease and yield to a new +activity, truer to human nature.</p> + +<p>“From the swamps and floods of my life often emerged the ‘Flying +Dutchman,’ and ever with irresistible attraction. It was the first +popular poem which took deep hold of my heart,” says Wagner. At this +point his career began as a poet, and he ceased to write opera-texts. +It is true there was still much that was indecisive and confused in +the experiment, but the leading features are pictured verbally with +remarkable clearness, and the music invests them with a sense and +distinctness of convincing force as an inseparable whole, such as had +not been previously known in opera. It may be said that with the +“Flying Dutchman” a new operatic era began, or rather the attainment +of its dimly conceived destiny as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>a musical drama. It also expresses +the mental activity of the time and the longing for a new world, which +was to redeem mankind and secure for us an existence worthy of +ourselves. It still appears to us as the native land, encircling us +with its intimate associations, and yet there also appears in it the +longing for a return to our own individual identity, in which alone we +can find the traces of our higher humanity, which a narrowing and +degrading foreign influence had banished. Goethe’s “Faust,” Byron’s +“Manfred,” and Heine’s “Ratcliff,” all give utterance to the same +feeling, with more or less beauty and power; but the blissful repose +of deliverance really secured, they could not express with the +perfection displayed by Wagner. He was not only secure in this +advantage, but he was able to pursue it with increasing energy, so +as to push away to a great distance the obstacles which burdened the +time.</p> + +<p>We perceive the same characteristic in “Tannhaeuser,” which, it seems, +even at that time had impressed itself upon him with great force. This +legend also had its origin in the myths of nature. The Sun-god sinks +at eve <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>on Klingsor’s mountain castle in the arms of the beautiful +Orgeluse, queen of the night, from whose embraces the longing for +light drives him again at dawn. We must, however, also here confine +ourselves to the particular mediæval form of the legend, as Wagner +himself relates it.</p> + +<p>The old Teutonic goddess, Holda, whose annual circuit enriched the +fields, met the same fate after the introduction of Christianity, as +Wotan, that of having her kindly influence suspected and described as +malignant. She was relegated to the heart of the mountains, as her +appearance was supposed to indicate disaster. At a later period, +her name disappeared in that of the heathen Venus, to which all +conceptions of a being that entices to evil pleasures could be more +easily attached. One such mountain region was the Hoerselberg +(Orgelusa Mountain), in Thuringia, where Venus maintained a luxurious, +sensual court. Jubilant melodies were heard there, which led him, +whose blood ran riot, unwittingly into the mountain. A beautiful old +song, however, tells us that the noble knight, Tannhaeuser, mythically +the same as Heinrich von Ofterdingen, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>remained there a whole year, +and then was seized with the recollection of the life on earth, and +made a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain indulgence for his sins. It reads +thus:</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox2"><p>“The Pope had a stick white and dry,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cut from the branches so bare;</span><br /> +Thy sins shall all be forgiven,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When on it green leaves appear.”</span></p></div> + +<p>Tannhaeuser wanders again into the mountain. But the good sense of the +people knew what was just:</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox2"><p>“To bring consolation to man,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The priest is commissioned of Heaven;</span><br /> +The penitent, sorrowing heart<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hath all its sins forgiven.”</span></p></div> + +<p>The condemnation of the penitent is the curse of the old church, for +according to the true doctrine of the Gospels, as accepted and +faithfully treasured by the German people after long struggles, it is +not deeds but faith that secures salvation. So in the progress of the +legend leaves sprout from the dry stick, for “high above the universe +is God and his mercy is no mockery.”</p> + +<p>Wagner gives to the loving Elizabeth the knowledge of this eternal +mercy and from a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>simple child-like being she ascends to the heights +of martyrdom. Not until one human soul had gained the strength to die +for his redemption is the vehemence of his own nature broken, and he +finds relief in death, thus verifying the essence of religion and +rejecting forever false church-doctrine.</p> + +<p>“A consuming glowing excitement kept my blood and nerves in a state of +feverish agitation,” Wagner says, speaking of the first presentation +of this “Tannhaeuser.” His fortunate change of circumstances, contact +with a luxurious court, and the expectation of material success had +fostered a desire for pleasure that led him in a direction counter to +his real nature. There was no other way to satisfy this craving except +by following as an artist the reigning fashion and the general +striving after success. “If I were to condense all that is pernicious +and wearisome in the making of opera-music, I should call it +Meyerbeer,” he says, “inasmuch as it ignores the wants of the soul and +seeks to gratify the eye and ear alone.” After all, was it the mere +gratification of the senses that he really longed for? His aspirations +grew in the natural soil <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>of those life-feelings which dictate that +religion and morality shall not destroy natural impulses, but sanctify +them. Before his soul stood a pure, chaste, maidenly image of +unapproachable and intangible holiness and loveliness. In his own +words, his nature passionately and ardently embraced the outward forms +of this conception whose essence was the love of all that is noble and +pure. No other artist ever possessed a deeper sense of the need of our +time. With this protest against the violence done our purely human +nature, he places us again on a solid footing and symbolizes in art +the highest accomplishment of religion—regeneration by knowledge. It +is to this that we owe the regeneration of our national life. The +religious element of our nature has preserved us and made us a great +nation.</p> + +<p>He confesses he had been so intensely engrossed in composing +“Tannhaeuser,” that the nearer he approached the end, the more the +idea possessed him that sudden death would prevent its completion. As +he wrote the last note it seemed to him as though his life had been in +danger till then. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>“Flying Dutchman” was a protest against the +purposeless wanderings of the human mind in every external department +of knowledge, while “Tannhaeuser” was a bold historical protest +against all that would subject the hidden sense of truth in our nature +to violent interpretation and arbitrary dogmas. From this time forth +his sphere became the purely human, and in this too he shows us by his +powerful art that which is indispensable and eternal in human +existence joined with the complete realization of the only natural way +to develop all our qualities. We have come to “Lohengrin,” conceived +in 1847, and completed in its instrumental parts in March, 1848. It +was in truth “his child of pain.”</p> + +<p>After the completion of “Tannhaeuser,” his native sense of humor +prompted him to design a satirical play on the “Saengerkrieg auf +Wartburg,” namely the “Meistersinger von Nuernberg,” of which, more +further on. The painful experience of being misunderstood in all his +earnest efforts as a man and as an artist, his failure to make the +assistance he longed to give acceptable, drove him back with +passionate vehemence into a serious frame <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>of mind, in which condition +he could well understand the Lohengrin material. Hitherto, in the +mystic twilight of its mediæval presence, it had inspired him with +some degree of suspicion, but he now recognized in it a romance, +wherein was embodied the longing desires of pure human nature, and the +imperative necessity of love, as well as its artistic meaning.</p> + +<p>The fundamental trait of this legend, as in “Tannhaeuser” and in the +flight of Odysseus from the embraces of sensualism, had already +appeared in the Greek myth of Zeus and Semele. Like the God from the +cloudy Olympian realms, so Lohengrin from the boundless ether to which +Christian imagination had assigned Olympus, descends to the human +female in the natural longing of love. There was an old tradition in +the legends of the people who dwelt near the sea, to the effect that +on its blue surface an unknown man of indescribable grace and beauty +approaches, whose resistless charms win every heart. He disappears +again, retreating with the waves, whenever it is sought to discover +who he is. So also in the Scheldt region once <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>appeared a handsome +hero, drawn by a swan. He rescued a persecuted, innocent maiden, and +married her, but when she asked him who he was and whence he came, he +was compelled to forsake her. How does our poet interpret the legend?</p> + +<p>Lohengrin, the son of Parcival, the royal guardian of the Holy Grail, +who represents the ideal in humanity, although he was probably +originally identical with the German Sun-god, who longs to rest in the +arms of night—this Lohengrin seeks the wife that believes in him, who +will not ask who he is and whence he came, but will love him as he is, +and simply as he appears to her. He sought the wife, to whom he need +not declare himself, need not justify himself, but who will love him +without question. Like Zeus, he had to conceal his divine nature, for +only in this way could he know that he was really loved, and not +simply admired, which was all he longed for when he descended from his +ethereal heights to the warm earth below. He longs to be human, to +experience the warm feelings of humanity, and gain a loving heart; +with these longings he descended from his blissful, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>lonely heights, +when he heard the cry of this heart for help in the midst of mankind. +The halo of his higher nature, however, betrays him. He can not but +appear as miraculous. The staring of the vulgar and the rancor of the +envious cloud the heart of the loving Elsa. Doubts and jealousy show +that he has not been understood but simply adored, and this draws from +him the confession of his divinity, after which he returns, his +purpose unaccomplished, to his solitude.</p> + +<p>We must bear in mind how highly our poet even at that time prized this +artistic wealth. To Goethe, art was “like good deeds;” Schiller hoped +with its aid to unify the nation, and Wagner, especially after the +discovery of such grand art-material as those myths contained, +regarded it as the real fountain of health for the nation and the +time. We shall soon observe that at last his art embraced our highest +ideals in religion as well. Such an art, however, exists only in the +heart which believes in it, and we have seen how antagonistic was the +spirit of the time, particularly to this artist, who had emerged from +the blissful solitude of his own creative mind and sought the sympathy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>of the warm human heart. He justly felt that the theme was a tragic +symbol of the time, and he was therefore enabled to present Lohengrin +as an entirely new artistic conception, something no poet had +previously succeeded in accomplishing.</p> + +<p>More than this he discloses to us that which his Elsa imparted to +him—the nature of the feminine heart. “I could not help justifying +her in the outbreak at last of jealousy and at that moment for the +first time I fully comprehended the purely human nature of love,” he +says. “This woman, who by passion is brought from the heights of +rapturous adoration back to her real nature and reveals it in her +ruin, this magnificent woman, from whom Lohengrin disappeared because +his peculiar nature prevented him from understanding her, I had now +discovered.” The effect of this was to clarify his vision, as we shall +likewise learn. The lost arrow that he sent after this valuable +treasure had been his Lohengrin, which he had to sacrifice in order to +discover the track of the “true womanly” which Goethe was the first to +long for ardently, and which music had revealed as it were the sound +of a bell in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>dark forest. This alone can explain why the +masculine egoism, even in so noble a form as our idealism had hitherto +assumed, was forced to yield to its influence. But this Elsa was only +the unconscious spirit of the people and the perception of this must +of necessity have made him, as he says, “a thorough revolutionist.” He +felt that this spirit of the people was restrained by wrong +conceptions of morality and false ideals. He heard its lamentations, +and verily, if ever a genius served his people, then did the genius of +Wagner avail him as the worker of “good deeds.” He prophetically +indicated at that time what subsequently became an exquisite reality. +“Only a good deed can help here,” he writes after the completion of +“Lohengrin.” “A gifted and inspired man must with good fortune attain +to power and influence who can elevate his inmost convictions to the +dignity of law. For it is possible after all, if chance will have it +so that a king will permit a competent man to have his way as well as +an incompetent one. The public can only be educated through facts. So +long as an immense majority is carried away by the mezza-voce of a +virtuoso, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>its needs are readily discerned and satisfied.”</p> + +<p>It is now our duty to record how he arrived at this remarkably +independent action of the artist; we follow his notes, as they furnish +the clearest testimony. Their stirring recital is touching enough for +any one who can look upon the nation in the light of the history of +mankind, to which has been assigned its own peculiar ideal problems.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the revolution of 1848 had broken out. Although never +really much inclined toward politics, Wagner had foreseen its +necessity; but as soon as he came in contact with its various +elements, he recognized only too clearly that none of the warring +factions had the least conception of his own aims. Notwithstanding +this, he perfected a plan for the reorganization of the stage by which +alone under the circumstances the nation and the time could be +strongly impressed again with the ideal in thought and art. The +political rostrum showed soon enough how blunt were its arrows. And +what of the Catholic syllabus and Protestant “Culturkampf” as well? +Dead children born of dead mothers! Most of all it was important <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>to +create anew for that stage the ideals which would serve to elevate the +time. Even while at work on “Lohengrin,” which always made him feel as +if he were on an oasis in a desert waste and for which he gathered +strength from the performance of the Ninth symphony in Dresden, +Siegfried and Friedrich der Rothbart appeared to him. Each contained +the elements which lie nearest the heart. Each was a type and model of +our distinct characteristics. He recognized at once however that +Friedrich I. (Barbarossa) was only the historical regeneration of +Siegfried, and that the latter was in reality the youthful handsome +hero to form the object and centre of a work of art and to convey to +us in its fullness and beauty the purely human idea as Wagner +conceived it. How he found and interpreted this Siegfried, he has told +us in the pamphlet, “The Wibelungen, History from Legend” which +appeared in 1850.</p> + +<p>The delight produced by the discovery of this “actor of reality, this +man in the fullness of highest and boundless power and most +indisputable loveliness” revealed to him by his Elsa, only intensified +for the present at least <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>the feeling that in his best efforts and his +knowledge he stood sadly alone. His longing was intense, the more so +that in this actual life he could accomplish his purpose as Faust +says:</p> + +<div class="centerbox3 bbox2"><p>“The God, who in my breast resides,<br /> +He can not change external forces.”</p></div> + +<p>This longing grew until it seemed as if self-annihilation alone could +bring relief, and then appeared to him the image of Him whose death +brought salvation to mankind. He conceived the idea of picturing a +human “Jesus of Nazareth,” to represent the universal rejection, in +all its malignity and rancor, to which Jesus fell a victim. The +reflection, however, that he certainly could not secure a +representation of his work under existing circumstances, and the +additional fact that after the Revolution, which seemed bound to +destroy every favorable condition, such a declaration of internal +struggle would have counted for nothing, induced him to leave the plan +unexecuted. Besides, in this year (1848), he had already finished +“Siegfried’s Death,” in its poetic form, and had even sketched some of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>the musical thoughts connecting with that new world, to which he had +looked forward with such buoyant hope. At last came also the complete +rupture with the world that surrounded him, even while he was devoting +the best endeavors of his life to it. Wagner himself informs us of the +clear insight he had gained into the nature of the political movement. +Either the old state of things must remain intact or the new must +sweep it entirely away. He recognized the approach of the catastrophe +which was certain to engulf every one who was in earnest and unselfish +enough to desire a change of the deplorable conditions so generally +felt. The ancient spirit of a decayed past had outlived itself and +openly and insolently offered defiance to the existing and ruling +conditions. Knowing well the unavoidable decision which he would have +to form, he ceased all productive activity. Every stroke of the pen +appeared ridiculous, inasmuch as he could no longer deceive himself in +regard to his prospects. He spent these May-days of 1849 in the open +air, basking in the sunshine of the awakening spring and casting away +all egoistic desires.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>At this time the revolt in Dresden occurred, which, as a sort of +forlorn hope, he thought might be the beginning of a general uprising +in Germany. “After what has been said, who could be so blind as not to +see that I had now no choice but to turn my back upon a world, to +which no ties of sympathy bound me,” he says, thus clearly indicating +his active participation in the May-revolt. It was not long before the +Prussians appeared, who had only waited the signal from Dresden. With +many others Wagner had to take to flight. A long, sad banishment +followed, but out of its necessities and privations rose the full man +and artist who restored to his nation its ideals, or rather first +established the ideal in its perfection. How this conception came to +him is disclosed in the last words he uttered about the men and +circumstances which combined to wickedly conceal it. It is as bold as +it is inspiring, and it is only the deepest solicitude for our most +sacred treasures that could give utterance to such words. It reads:</p> + +<p>“There is nothing with which to compare the sensation of pleasure I +experienced after the first painful impressions had been overcome, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>when I felt myself free, free from a world of tormenting, ever +unsatisfied desires, free from conditions in which my aspirations had +been my sole absorbing nourishment. When I, persecuted and proscribed, +was no longer bound by any considerations to resort to a deception of +any kind; when I had given up every hope and desire, and with +unconstrained candor could say openly and plainly that I, the artist, +hated from the bottom of my heart this hypocritical world which +pretended to be interested in art and culture; when I could say to it +that not one drop of artist’s blood flowed in all its veins, that it +had not one spark of manly culture or manly beauty,—then for the +first time in my life I felt myself completely free, happy, and +joyous, although I sometimes did not know where to conceal myself the +next day that I might still breathe the free air of heaven.”</p> + +<p>These are words such as a Siegfried might have spoken. From this time +on he did not rest until the Siegfried-deed was done and the sword was +thrust into the dragon’s heart.</p> + +<p>The preparations for it were conducted with untiring energy and great +wisdom. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>works of art which he had already forged were the sword. +The true and noble art, which had begun with Goethe, was now +introduced in the various European centres of culture “with +considerate speed,” and finally inspired in Germany, the very centre +of this culture and art, an understanding of their real elements. In +the modest Zurich where the banishment began, in London—Paris had +rejected it—in Petersburg, in Vienna, in Munich, and at last also in +Berlin, which at that time did not appear to have “one drop of +artist’s blood in all its veins” the world’s attention was aroused +anew by actual representations, though often only in parts, to the +fact, that the latter-day art of the last generation had removed us a +great distance from our ideals. And finally he succeeded, at first in +Munich, subsequently in Baireuth, in securing for the art of the stage +a proper representation, and with it an awakening of the age to a +correct perception of art as expressive of the ideal which stimulates +the whole world. The thrust which pierced the heart of the dragon of +the modern theatres was his “Parsifal,” and the Siegfried, who dealt +the blow, gained with his art the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>slumbering bride, the re-awakening +heart of the nation and mankind.</p> + +<p>Who is there to-day who will doubt that Faust denial of the curse and +the prophetic presentment of a new world? Is it not true that the +governing powers of the present time have seized upon the ideas in +politics and society, which were the kernel of the movement of 1848 +and 1849? Whenever they shall understand the mental strivings of the +nation, as well as the political and military, then art and religion +will gain the dignity and the right to which they are entitled. The +revolt of Wagner was the revolt of the better soul of the nation which +had been estranged from itself. Thirty years of deeds have shown that +his word was the truth. We now come to their recital.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>1850-1861.</h3> + +<h3>EXILE.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Visit to Liszt—Flight to Foreign Lands—Three +Pamphlets—“Lohengrin” Performed—Wagner’s Musical Ideas Expressed +in Words—Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem—The Idea of the +Poem—Its Religious Element—The First Music-Drama—In Zurich—New +Art Ideas—Increasing Fame—“Tristan and Isolde”—Analysis of this +Work—In Paris Again—The Amnesty—Tannhaeuser at the “Grand +Opera”—“Lohengrin” in Vienna—Resurrection of the “Mastersingers +of Nuremberg”—Final Return to Germany.</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox5 bbox2"><p class="center"><i>Seeking with all the soul the Grecian land.</i>—Goethe.</p></div> + +<p>The first impression following his sudden change of fate appeared in +Wagner’s own world as a good omen. “What I felt as I conceived this +music, he felt when he conducted it; what I intended to say as I wrote +it, he said as he interpreted it,” he says of the Tannhaeuser +rehearsal under Liszt’s direction in Weimar, where he had gone for a +few days for the sake of this “rarest of friends,” who had already of +his own accord given “Rienzi” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>and “Tannhaeuser” in the small +Thuringian court-residence to which the Wartburg belongs.</p> + +<p>His stay was cut short however, and disguised as a waggoner he left +the city. Unfortunately the only place which he could reach in safety +was Paris, and from this city he also speedily fled as from a dismal +spectre whose disgusting features were again recognized. And yet he +was destined to return to it, to retrieve his fortunes, with a +possible success as an opera-composer, but also to be permanently +convinced that this “modern Babylon,” where others had conquered the +world with their art-substitutes, was in absolute contrast with that +which he sought and needed for his labors. But of Weimar he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>“How wonderful! By the love of this rarest of friends, in the time +when I was homeless, I secured the long desired and true home for my +art, which I had hitherto sought in vain elsewhere. When I was doomed +to wander in foreign lands, he who had wandered so much, retired +permanently to a small town and there provided me a home.”</p> + +<p>Liszt had given up entirely his career as a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>performer, and acted +mainly as Hofkapellmeister at the grand-ducal court in Weimar. Wagner +made his acquaintance “in the terrible Parisian past,” but did not +then understand him. Liszt, however, lovingly watched his progress +like an elder brother, and drew the misunderstood genius to his great +heart. “Everywhere and always he cared for me. Ever prompt and +decisive where aid was required, with a cordial response to all my +wishes, and devoted love for me, he was to me what I had never found +before, and with that intensity whose fullness we only comprehend when +it actually embraces us in all its vastness.”</p> + +<p>Among the inspiring mountains of Switzerland he wrote a protest +against the pretense of the momentary victors of the revolution, that +they were the protectors of art. His pamphlet, “Art and the +Revolution,” disclosed the real nature of this so called art in the +unsettled political and social condition of the time, and +energetically rejected as art anything which under any guise sought to +speculate upon the public. The “Art-Work of the Future” was a more +extended paper which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>described the deadly influence of modern fashion +upon art itself and the egoistic dismemberment of it into distinct +branches, and revealed the art of the future as embracing all human +art-capacities.</p> + +<p>This misunderstood assertion gave rise to the term, “music of the +future,” first used by a would-be professor, L. Bischoff in Cologne, +and immediately repeated everywhere by the thoughtless multitude. In +the first pamphlet he assailed the governments which only sought their +own particular advantage. In the second, likewise misunderstood, he +irritated all the artists. His fiercest indignation was expended upon +the born arch-enemies of our art and culture in the same year, 1850, +when he published “Judaism in Music,” under the name of “Freigedank.” +“What the heroes of the fine arts have wrested in the course of two +thousand unhappy years of strenuous and persistent efforts, from the +demon hostile to art, the Jew to-day converts into drafts on +art-merchandise. Who would imagine that this great work has been +cemented with the sweat and toil of genius for two thousand years,” he +exclaims in the exasperation of his soul at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>these flippant +time-servers who dominated in the concert-hall and on the stage. +Naturally the legion of their followers did not become his friends. +They controlled the press, and it is due to this, that his most +important writings are known even to-day only by his friends.</p> + +<p>About this time he wrote the poetry to “Wiland der Schmied.” It was in +Paris he showed the Germans how dire necessity contrives the wings +with which to escape from bondage and regain sweet liberty. Under the +peculiar constraint which work, foreign to his nature, imposed upon +him and which made him sick in body and soul, his eyes one day fell +upon the score of “Lohengrin.” Two words to Liszt and the reply +determined him upon its performance. It occurred, August 28, 1850. It +was in fact a fresh protest against a false art-world and in 1870, +when the German people stood arrayed in arms against our foreign enemy +everyone exclaimed in astonishment, “Lohengrin!” This selection for +the celebration of Goethe’s birthday was worthy of his memory, for +Wagner, as great a poet as he was musician, had invested the work with +every charm of tragic beauty, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>both in the text and poetical +construction as well as in the ingenious design of its dramatic +situations. The work marks a notable era in the history of German +music.</p> + +<p>Wagner now fully explained in his book, “Opera and Drama,” published +in 1861, the object of his art-revolution. The opera hitherto, as he +said, was not even the germ, how much less the fruit of the art-work +he purposed. On the contrary, the methods hitherto applied must be +completely changed. Music must be made the essential and highest +method of expression of poetry and the drama; but not the principal +theme to which words and situations are subordinated. In this he +unfolded all his artistic experience and claimed that whoever failed +to understand him now, did so because he was determined not to +understand. This can be found more fully treated in the “Allgemeine +Musikgeschichte.” To his real friends he presented in the autumn of +the same year that “Communication” which reveals to us his manhood and +is a biography of the soul without parallel.</p> + +<p>The high purpose, perceivable from afar, whither his endeavors tended, +appears in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>real work of our artist taken up again at last. The +noble and affectionate regard of the family of the rich merchant +Wesendonck, in Zurich, provided him with a pleasant place of rest and +needed support. The performance of “Lohengrin” was a summons to new +deeds. He resumed the Nibelungen poem, and we shall see its powerful +influence upon the national spirit and national art.</p> + +<p>“Man receives his first impressions from surrounding nature, and in it +no effect is so strong as that of light.” Thus he begins in the +“Wibelungen” of 1850. The day, the sun, appears as the very condition +of life. Praise and adoration are bestowed upon it in contrast with +the dark night which breeds terror. Thus light becomes the cause of +all existence, Father, God. The day-break appears as the victory of +light, and naturally there grow out of it at last moral impressions. +This influence of nature is the foundation of all conceptions of +divinity, the division into distinct religions depending upon the +character of different tribes. The tribal tradition of the Franks, as +the noblest type of the Germans, has the advantage of a steady +development <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>from its ancient origin into historic life. It likewise +shows us in the far distant past the individual God of light as he +slays the monster of the chaotic night—Siegfried’s struggle with the +dragon.</p> + +<p>But as the day surrenders to the night and summer is followed by +winter, so Siegfried finally is conquered and the god is changed into +mortal man. Now that he has fallen, he kindles in the human heart a +deeper sympathy. As the victim of a struggle that enriches us, he +arouses the moral sense of vengeance against the murderer. The +primeval struggle in nature is therefore continued by ourselves and +its success is seen in the vicissitudes of human life through the +ages, moving on from life to death, from joy to grief, and thus in +perpetual rejuvenescence clearly discloses the character of man as +well as of nature. The embodiment of this constant motion, the active +life itself, however, ultimately finds in Wotan (Zeus) as the father +of light, its distinct form. Although Zeus reigned supreme as the +father of all the gods, yet his origin is due to the advanced +knowledge of man while the God of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>light, Siegfried, is natural and so +to speak born with him.</p> + +<p>“The most important part of this tribal legend of the Franks is the +treasure which Siegfried obtains and which henceforth bears his +attributes as opposed to those of the primeval myth. The +Scandinavians, for instance, have preserved a Nifelheim as the abode +of the black demigods in contrast to the demigods of light. These +Niflungars, children of night and of death, search the interior of the +earth, discover its hidden treasures and invest them with new life by +forging them into weapons and ornaments. The Nibelungs, whom we also +find as the Myrmidons accompanying Achilles, the Siegfried of the +Greeks—are now with their treasure elevated by the Franks to a moral +importance. When Siegfried slew the Nibelungen dragon he gained its +treasure. The possession of it increases his power immeasurably +inasmuch as he now commands the Nibelungs, but it is at the same time +the cause of his death, for the heir of the dragon seeks to regain the +treasure and treacherously slays him as night does the day and draws +him into the dark realm of death. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>Siegfried is transformed into a +Nibelung! Although the acquisition of the treasure dooms it to death, +still each new generation inevitably strives to obtain it. The +treasure represents the embodiment of worldly power. It is the earth +with all its glory as we see it at dawn, our own sunny property after +the night has been driven away which had spread its dragon wings like +a horrid spectre over the rich treasures of the world.</p> + +<p>“The treasure itself, which the Nibelungs have gathered, is the metal +found in the bowels of the earth which enables us to improve the +earth, and to fashion weapons and golden crowns, the means of power +and its symbols. The divine hero Siegfried, who first obtained it and +thus became a Nibelung, left to his race the claim to the treasure. To +revenge the slain hero and regain the treasure is the aim of the whole +race of the Nibelung-Franks, and by it they are recognized in history +as well as in legend.”</p> + +<p>Accordingly we find the noblest hero of the “Wibelungen,” Friedrich +Barbarossa, of the Hohenstauffen race ruling in the mountain, +surrounded by Wotan’s ravens. It is possible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>that the Franks were the +ruling tribe even in the Indo-germanic home; at all events they laid +claim to the mastery of the world as soon as they appear in history. +Of this impulse or desire Charlemagne must have been conscious when he +gathered the old tribal songs which contained the religious ideas of +the race. Upon it Napoleon based his claim to the realm of +Charlemagne. Is it not even possible that the Hohenzollerns were +influenced by the recollection of this Germanic past when they +endeavored to regain their old tribal seat in the Hohenstauffen land?</p> + +<p>Here we close the intimate connection of the Nibelungen legend with +our history. Temporal power, however, is not the highest destiny of a +civilizing people. That our ancestors were conscious of this is shown +in the fact that the treasure, or gold, and its power, was transformed +into the Holy Grail. Worldly aims gave place to spiritual desires. +With this interpretation of the Nibelungen myth, Wagner acknowledged +the grand and eternal truth that this life is tragic throughout, and +that the will which would mould a world to accord with one’s desires +can finally lead to no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>greater satisfaction than to break itself in a +noble death. This latter truth, which even the ancient Orient saw +clearly when in its history the Lord himself breaks the self-will of +Jacob in a dream, moves as a deep consciousness through the Germanic +myths, and induced the Germans to accept not only the higher faith +developed from such a basis to which alone they owe the preservation +of their impetuous activity, but also tended to give this Christian +truth itself a wider and deeper significance. In their myths they had +already indicated that the possession of this world is not the only +thing to be desired. They have the world-devastation, Muspilli, the +“Twilight of the Gods.” It is this conquering of the world through the +victory of self which Wagner conveys as the highest interpretation of +our national myths. As Brunhilde approaches the funeral pyre to +sacrifice to the beloved dead, Siegfried, the life—the only tie which +still binds her to this earth—she says:</p> + +<div class="centerbox6 bbox2"><p>“If, like a breath, the gods disappear,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Without a pilot the world I leave.</span><br /> +To the world I will give now my holiest wisdom:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Not goods, nor gold, nor god-like pomp,</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>Not house, nor lands, nor lordly state,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Not wicked plottings of crafty men,</span><br /> +Not base deceits of cunning law,—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But, blest in joy and sorrow let only love exist.”</span></p></div> + +<p>Such was the “Ring of the Nibelungen” which Wagner created out of the +vast collection of German legends and not merely out of the +distinctively national Nibelungen epic. The completion of “Siegfried’s +death,” now the “Goetterdaemmerung,” led to Siegfried’s +“Schwertschmiedung,” (Sword-wielding); “Drachenkampf,” +(Dragon-struggle) and “Brautgewinnung,” (Bride-winning) and further +investigation of the subject led him in the “Walkuere” to picture +Brunhilde’s guilt and punishment, and finally in the “Rheingold” a +psychological foundation for the whole. The work took this mental +shape as early as 1851. Two years later, the poem, for which he had +chosen the alliterative style of the Edda as the only suitable form, +was given to his friends, and in 1863 to the world. From that time his +sole ambition was to bring this first all-comprehensive German +national drama into life by having it performed as a distinct +festival-play far from the everyday <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>theatre. Nearly twenty years +elapsed between this and the realization of the idea. But why take +note of time when great and grand things are to be accomplished?</p> + +<p>The following decade brought with it many changes to Wagner, without +however at any time diverting his mind from the purpose of his life, +which constantly became clearer. Every opportunity was improved to +direct attention and approach nearer to it. The death of Spontini gave +occasion to a memorial tribute, closing with the words: “Let us bow +reverently before the grave of the creator of the ‘Vestalin,’ +‘Cortez,’ and ‘Olympia.’” He sought with operas and concerts to +develop the limited musical resources of Zurich, where he had taken up +his permanent residence, because he had always met with a most cordial +personal reception there. In this he was aided by scholars who came to +him from Germany, most prominent among whom was Hans von Buelow, who +had been in Weimar with Liszt, and had become enthusiastic over +“Lohengrin.” Wagner overcame his own repugnance to the operas of +Meyerbeer and his associates, which he hoped his “Lohengrin” was +destined to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>obliterate, and directed their performance. To do the +same for his own works, the requisite strength was lacking. “Some of +us are old, others are young. Let the older one think not of himself, +but let him love the younger for the sake of the inheritance which he +places in his heart to cherish anew, for the day will come when the +same shall be proclaimed for the welfare of humanity the world over,” +are the closing words of his “Opera and Drama.” He found consolation +and compensation in performing the symphonies of Beethoven, for two of +which he prepared a special program; but as he desired to have the +real motives of his work understood by the hospitable little city, he +wrote a pamphlet, “A Theatre in Zurich,” wherein he advocated the +establishment and maintenance of a theatre by the citizens themselves, +as the Greeks had done. It was another evidence of his firm conviction +that the stage had a high mission in the culture of our time. He even +lectured on the subject of dramatic music, and recited the poem of +“Siegfried’s Death,” which made a profound impression.</p> + +<p>Very soon thereafter appeared the remarkable “Letter to Liszt in +Regard to the Goethe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>Memorial,” wherein he confidently asserted that +painter as well as sculptor would decline to compete with the poet +acting in harmony with the musician, and that they would with +reverential awe bow before an art-work in comparison with which their +own productions would seem but lifeless fragments. For such an +art-work there should therefore be prepared a suitable place rather +than continue contributions to the support of the individual arts, +which the former would invigorate and elevate anew. We see to-day that +the plastic arts also strike out in new paths. Liszt and Wagner have +inspired their epoch and the sculptor Zumbusch in Vienna has given us +their busts. In a similar strain he challenged musical criticism and +thereupon began with the gradual spread of “Tannhaeuser,” and soon +also of “Lohengrin,” those seemingly endless disputes which, however, +at the same time increased the strength of some younger men, among +whom were Uhlig, Pohl, Cornelius, Raff and Ambros. These practical +performances, as little as they presented an artistic ensemble, yet +tended to arouse and shape talents that Wagner could avail himself <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>of +later for his own higher purposes. Among them were Milde and his wife, +Ander, Schnorr, Formes, Niemann and Beck. Wagner’s niece Johanna, was +already familiar with his method from her Dresden experience. He +endeavored in a pamphlet discussing the way to perform “Tannhaeuser” +to rescue it from banishment and familiarize the artists with its +merits but they remained deaf or hostile. He became absorbed the more +in his Nibelungen-poem, leaving to his good genius his deliverance +from external isolation. And yet the latter became a source of +pleasure when, in the manner of von Eschenbach’s Parcival, who also +presented the sorrows and deeds of the mythical sun-hero, familiar to +him since 1845, he undertook to portray the forest-solitude in which +his young Siegfried grew up and gained all the miraculous power of +nature, above all, that inner confidence which banishes fear from the +human breast.</p> + +<p>A brighter future seemed to open when, notwithstanding the doubts of +his friends of the ultimate success of his “monstrous undertaking,” +the knowledge of which began to spread, the German artists generally +accepted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>his invitation to spend a Wagner week in Zurich, and parts +of his masterly works were performed with such effect that “the +amiable maestro stood buried in flowers.” For the overture to the +“Flying Dutchman,” as well as for the prelude to “Lohengrin,” he +composed an explanatory introduction.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of the same year he was in Italy, and, lying sleepless +in a hotel at La Speccia, he found for the first time those plastic +“nature-motives” which in the Nibelungen-trilogy with constantly +increasing individuality are made the exponents of the passions and +the characters which give expression to them. He immediately returned +to his dreary, involuntary home to proceed with the completion of his +colossal work, which was to engage his attention for many years. A +visit from Liszt, in October, led to a profounder understanding of +Beethoven’s last sonatas, so that their language was fully identified +with his own. “Rheingold” and the “Walkuere” were soon finished.</p> + +<p>His fame meanwhile grew steadily. He received an invitation for the +concerts of the Philharmonic society in London, for which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Beethoven +had written the Ninth Symphony and designed the Tenth, which, +according to his Sketches, was to show what all great poetic minds +longed for—the union of the tragic spirit of the Greeks with the +religious of the modern world. It was the same high goal that Wagner +touched in the “Nibelungenring” and attained in “Parcival.” The +English at that time were even less disposed to appreciate his efforts +than the Germans, and the Jewish spirit of their church inclined them +to look with suspicion upon the “Jew Persecutor.” He also found at +first some difficulties in the rushing style of execution, which was a +tradition from Mendelssohn, who was idolized in England. His untiring +energy, however, prevailed everywhere where art was at stake, and the +last of the eight concerts, in which Mozart’s C Major Symphony and +Beethoven’s Eighth were given, and the “Tannhaeuser Overture,” was +encored, brought him, in a storm of applause, compensation for the +unworthy calumniations of the press, notably, of the <i>Times</i>. +Notwithstanding all this, he could not be induced to re-visit London +till <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>twenty years later. The invitations from America he declined at +once.</p> + +<p>His art-susceptibility at that time was very keen and active. He +remarked to a German admirer, in the autumn of 1856, that two new +subjects occupied his mind during the Nibelungen-work, which he could +with difficulty repress. The one was “Tristan,” with which Gottfried’s +brilliant epic had already made him familiar in composing the +“Walkuere,” and the other, probably, was “Parcival,” whose Good Friday +enchantment had impressed him many years before. In October Liszt +visited him again, and heard the “Walkuere” on the piano. A musical +journal in Leipzig was emboldened to speak of a forthcoming event that +would agitate the whole musical world. With what joyous cheerfulness +he composed “Siegfried,” and his Anvil-song is shown in a letter about +Liszt’s symphonic poems, which appeared in the following spring. +Accident and irresistible impulse, however, led immediately to the +completion of “Tristan and Isolde.”</p> + +<p>The seeming hopelessness of success in his endeavors at times +discouraged him. “When <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>I thus laid down one score after the other, +never again to take them up, I seemed to myself like a sleep-walker +who is unconscious of his actions,” he states. And yet he had to seek +the “daylight” of the German opera, from which he had fled with his +Nibelungen, if he would remain familiar with the active life of his +art. He proposed therefore to arrange the much simpler Tristan +material within the compass of ordinary stage representation. +Curiously enough he received just then an offer to compose an opera +for the excellent Italian troupe in Rio Janeiro. He thought, however, +of Strasbourg, and it was only through Edward Devrient, who visited +him in the summer of 1857, that he destined the work for Carlsruhe +where Grand Duke Frederick and his wife, Princess Louisa of Prussia, +displayed a growing interest in art. It was also the home of an +excellent singer, Ludwig Schnorr from Carolsfeld, of whom Tichatschek +had already informed him and who was to be the first to assume the +role of Tristan.</p> + +<p>“Tristan” belongs, like “Siegfried” and “Parcival,” to the circle of +the sun-heroes of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>the primeval myth. He also is forced to use +deception and is compelled to deliver his own bride to his friend, +then to discern his danger and voluntarily disappear. Thus Wagner +remained within his poetic sphere. But while in “Siegfried” the +Nibelungen-myth in its historic relations had to be maintained and +only the sudden destruction of the hero through the vengeance of the +woman who sacrifices herself with him, could be used in “Tristan,” on +the other hand the main subject lies in the torture of love. The two +lovers become conscious of their mutual love through the drinking of +the love-potion that dooms them to death. It is a death preferred to +life without each other. What in “Siegfried” is but a moment of +decisive vehemence appears here in psychological action of endless +variety, wherein Wagner has woven the whole tragic nature of our +existence, which he had learned from the great philosopher +Schopenhauer, to esteem as a “blessing.” There was however in this +similarity, and at the same time difference, a peculiar charm which +invested the work. It is supplementary to the Nibelungen-material +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>which in reality embraces human life in all its relations.</p> + +<p>It is wonderful how readily he found the means to unfold before our +eyes the revelation which involved the death of the two lovers. +Commissioned by his uncle, King Marke, Tristan has conquered the +tributary Celts and slain their leader, Morold, in battle. Isolde, the +betrothed of the latter, to whose care the wounded Tristan is +consigned, is completely captivated when at last her eyes meet his, +but unconscious of this he wooes the beautiful woman for the “wearied +King” and conducts her to him. Inwardly aroused by this and the death +of her former lover, she plans to kill him and while yet on the vessel +offers him the cup of poison in retaliation for the slain Morold. Here +Brangaene appears and secretly changes the draught so that these two +who imagine they had drunk a coming death in which all love should +pass away, in this fancied final moment became conscious of life, and +confess to each other that love with which they cannot part. It is +therefore not the drink in itself but the certainty that death will +ensue, which relieves them from constraint. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>The act of drinking +betokens only the moment of consciousness and confession. Nevertheless +they cannot live, now that King Marke has discovered their love. +Tristan raises himself from the couch where he lies suffering from the +wound inflicted by the King’s “friend” and tearing open the wound with +his own hand, embraces the approaching Isolde, who is now in death +united with him forever.</p> + +<p>While composing the work, which the prospect of speedy representation +hastened forward rapidly, and which he hoped would secure for him a +temporary return to his fatherland, an agreeable sensation of complete +unrestraint seized him. With utter abandon he could reach the very +depths of those soul-emotions which are the very essence of music, and +fearlessly shape from them the external form as well. Now he could +apply the strictest rules. He even felt, in the midst of his work, +that he surpassed his own system. The impressive second act was +projected in Venice, where he spent the winter of 1858-59, owing to +ill-health. Thence he removed to Lucerne.</p> + +<p>From his native land new rays of hope <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>meanwhile penetrated his +retirement. Not only Carlsruhe but Vienna and Weimar now grew +interested. He ardently longed to strengthen himself, by hearing his +own music. “I dread to remain much longer, perhaps, the only German +who has not heard my ‘Lohengrin,’” he writes to Berlioz, in 1859. He +begged permission to return, and sought the intervention of the +grand-duke of Baden, as otherwise he would have to go to Paris. The +grand-duke took all possible steps to help him, but it was of no +avail. His efforts failed, he says, because of the obstinate +opposition of the King of Saxony, but it was probably due more to the +dislike the unhappy minister, von Beust, himself an amateur composer, +entertained for the author-composer. Wagner, therefore, in the autumn +of 1859, again went to hated Paris, where he could, at least +occasionally, hear good music.</p> + +<p>He found in Paris a few really devoted friends of his art as well as +of himself, who promised to make his stay home-like in this respect at +least. They were Villot, Champfleury, Baudelaire, the young physician +Gasperini, and Ollivier, Liszt’s son-in-law. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>press, however, +commenced at once its vicious and corrupt practices against the +“musical Marat.” Wagner replied with actions. He invited German +singers and in three concerts performed selections from his +compositions. The beau monde of Paris attended, and the applause was +universal, especially after the Lohengrin Bridal-Chorus. The critics +however remained indifferent and even malicious. At this juncture, at +the solicitation of some members of the German legation, particularly +the young princess Metternich, Napoleon gave the order for the +performance of “Tannhaeuser,” in the Grand Opera-house, much to +Wagner’s surprise. It must have caused a curious mixture of joy and +anxiety in the artist’s breast. Standing on the soil of France, he, +for the first time, was destined to conquer his fatherland, but on a +spot which belonged to the “Grand Opera,” and where all the inartistic +qualities were fostered that he endeavored to supplant. As his native +land was closed to him, he went to work with his usual earnestness, +and, as though it were a reward for his faithfulness, there came +during the preparations the long-desired amnesty, with the exclusion, +however, of Saxony.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>In the summer of 1860 he availed himself of his regained liberty to +make an excursion to the Rhine and then returned to the rehearsals. +Niemann, cast in an heroic mould, had been secured for the title-role. +For the instruction of the public he wrote the letter about the “Music +of the Future” adopting the current witty expression, which appeared +as preface to a translation of his four completed lyric works, +exclusive of the Nibelungen-Ring. With admirable clearness he +disclosed the purpose of his work. The press on the other hand made +use of every agency at its disposal to prejudice Paris from the start +against the work. To aggravate matters, Wagner would not consent to +introduce in the second act the customary ballet which always formed +the chief attraction for the Jockey-club, whose members belonged to +the highest society. He simply gave to the scene in the Venusberg +greater animation and color. It was for this reason that the press and +this club, the malicious Semitic and unintelligent Gallic elements, +the former unfortunately of German origin, united in the effort to +make the work a failure when presented in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>spring of 1861. The +history of art discloses nothing more discreditable. The gentlemen of +the Jockey-club with their dog-whistles in spite of the protests of +the audience succeeded in making the performances impossible and the +press declared the work merited such a fate! Wagner withdrew it after +the third performance and thereby incurred a heavy debt which it +required years of privation to liquidate. At the same time as far as +he personally was concerned the occurrence gave rise to a feeling of +joyous exaltation. The affair caused considerable excitement and +brought him, as he says, “into very important relations with the most +estimable and amiable elements of the French mind,” and he discovered +that his ideal, being purely human, found followers everywhere. The +performances themselves could not have pleased him. “May all their +insufficiencies remain covered with the dust of those three +battle-evenings,” he wrote shortly after to Germany.</p> + +<p>He realized afresh that for the present his native land alone was the +place for a worthy presentation of his music and the enthusiasm which +he witnessed at a performance of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>“Lohengrin” in Vienna, then the +German imperial city, convinced him that the insult which had just +been offered to the German spirit was keenly felt. Vienna as well as +Carlsruhe now requested “Tristan,” but the request was not conceded. +At a musicians’ union which met in Weimar in August, 1861, under +Liszt’s leadership, Wagner found that the better part of the German +artists had also measurably been converted to his views. These +experiences and the hope that with a humorous theme selected from +German life he might finally obtain possession of the domestic stage +and speak heart to heart to his dearly loved people and remind them +that even their every day life ought to be transfused with the spirit +of the ideal, prompted him to resurrect his “Mastersingers of +Nuremberg.” It was in foreign Paris that he wrote, in the winter of +1862, the prize song of German life and art which enchants every true +German heart. This was the last work he created in a foreign land and +in a certain sense he freed himself with it from the sad recollections +of a banishment endured for more than ten years to reappear now “sound +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>and serene” before his nation. That this would finally come to pass +had always been his last star of hope. “To the Pleiades and to Bootes” +Beethoven had likewise marked in his copy of the Odyssey.</p> + +<p>We close therefore this chapter of banishment and dire misfortunes +with the prospect of a brighter future by communicating the plan of +the text of that work as he had already framed it in 1845.</p> + +<p>“I conceived Hans Sachs to be the last appearance of the artistic +spirit of the people” he says, “and placed him in opposition to the +narrow-minded citizens from whom the Mastersingers were chosen. To +their ridiculous pedantry, I gave personal expression in the Marker +whose duty it was to pay attention to the mistakes of the singers, +especially of those who were candidates for admission to the guild.” +Whenever a certain number of errors had been committed the singer had +to step down and was declared unworthy of the distinction he sought. +The eldest member of the guild now offered the hand of his young +daughter to that master who should win the prize at the public +song-festival.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p><p>The Marker, who already is a suitor, finds a rival in the person of a +young nobleman who, inspired by heroic tales and the minnesingers’ +deeds, leaves his ruined ancestral castle to learn the art of the +mastersingers in Nuremberg. He announces himself for admission +prompted mainly by his sudden and growing love for the prize-maiden +who can only be gained by a “master.” At the examination he sings an +inspired song which however gives constant offense to the Marker, so +much so, that before he is half through he has exhausted the limit of +errors. Sachs, who is pleased with the young nobleman, for his own +welfare frustrates the desperate attempt to elope with the maiden. In +doing this he finds at the same time an opportunity to greatly vex the +Marker. The latter, who to humiliate Sachs had upbraided him because +of a pair of shoes which were not yet ready, posts himself at night +before the window of the maiden and sings his song as a test, for it +is important to gain her vote upon which rests the final decision when +the prize is bestowed. Sachs, whose workshop lies opposite the house +for which the serenade is intended, when the Marker <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>opens, begins to +sing loudly also because as he declares to the irate serenader, this +is necessary for him, if he would remain awake while at work so late, +and that the work is urgent none knows better than he who had so +harshly rebuked him for tardiness. At last he promises to desist, on +condition however that he be permitted to indicate the errors which, +after his own feeling, he may find in the song, by striking with the +hammer upon the last. The Marker sings, Sachs repeatedly and +vigorously strikes the last, and the Marker jumps up angrily but is +met with the question whether he is through with the song. “Far from +it,” he cries. Sachs now laughingly hands him his shoes and declares +that the strokes of disapproval sufficed to complete them. With the +rest of the song, which in desperation he sings without stopping, he +lamentably fails before the female form at the window who shakes her +head violently in disapproval, and, to add to his own misfortune, he +receives a thrashing at the hands of the apprentices and journeymen +whom the noise has roused from slumber. The following day, deeply +dejected, he asks Sachs for one of his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>own songs. Sachs gives him one +of the young nobleman’s poems, pretending not to know whence it came. +He cautions him to observe the melody to which it must be sung. The +vain Marker, however, believes himself perfectly secure in this, and +now sings the poem before the public master and peoples-court to a +melody which completely disfigures it, so that he fails again, and +this time decisively. Rendered furious, he accuses Sachs of deceit in +that he gave him an abominable poem. Sachs declares the poem to be +quite good, but that it must be sung according to the proper melody. +It is now determined that whoever knows this melody shall be the +victor. The young nobleman sings it and secures the bride. The +admission into the guild however he declines. Thereupon Hans Sachs +humorously defends the mastersingers and closes with the rhyme:</p> + +<div class="centerbox7 bbox2"><p>“The Holy Roman Empire may depart,<br /> +Yet will remain our Holy German art.”</p></div> + +<p>A few years later the German empire arose to new glory and blessing, +and yet a lustrum, and with the rise of Baireuth, came the German art.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>1862-1868.</h3> + +<h3>MUNICH.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Successful Concerts—Plans for a New Theatre—Offenbach’s Music +Preferred—Concerts Again—New Hindrances and Disappointments—King +Louis of Bavaria—Rescue and Hope—New Life—Schnorr—“Tannhaeuser” +Reproduced—Great Performance of “Tristan”—Enthusiastic +Applause—Death of Schnorr—Opposition of the Munich Public—Unfair +Attacks Upon Wagner—He Goes to Switzerland—The +“Meistersinger”—The Rehearsals—The Successful +Performance—Criticisms.</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox5 bbox2"><p class="center"><span style="margin-right: 3.25em;"><i>O, thus descendest thou at last to me,</i></span><br /> +<i>Fulfilment, fairest daughter of the Gods.</i>—Goethe.</p></div> + +<p>The pressure of circumstances, as well as the natural desire, to break +ground for himself and his new creations, induced him for a time to +give concerts with selections from them. He met with marked success +before the unprejudiced hearers of Vienna, Prague, St. Petersburg, and +Moscow. His visit to Russia especially yielded him a handsome sum, +with which he returned to Vienna to await the representation of +“Tristan,” but owing to the physical inability of Ander, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>work +finally had to be laid aside. Wagner felt also that intelligence as +well as good-will for the cause were lacking; even the Isolde-Dustman +did not at heart believe in it. “To speak frankly, I had enough of it +and thought no more about it,” he tells us.</p> + +<p>During this time he published the Nibelungen-poem, and in April, 1863, +wrote the celebrated preface which eventually led to the consummation +of his desires. He had with Semper conceived the design of a theatre +which after the Grecian style should confine the attention of the +entire audience to the stage, by its amphitheatric form, thus +rendering impossible the mutual staring of the public or at least +making it less likely to occur. Because of the oft repeated experience +of the deeper effect of music when heard unseen, the orchestra was to +be placed so low that no spectator could see the movements of the +performers, while at the same time it would result in the more +complete harmony of sound from the many and various instruments. In +such a place, consecrated to art alone and not to pleasure of the eye, +the “stage-festival-play” was to be produced. But would it be possible +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>for lovers of art to provide the means, or was there perhaps a prince +willing to spend for this purpose only as much as the maintenance for +a short period of his imperfect Opera-house cost him? “In the +beginning was the deed,” he says with <i>Faust</i>, and adds sadly enough +in a postscript: “I no longer expect to live to see the representation +of my stage-festival-play, and can barely hope to find sufficient +leisure and desire to complete the musical composition.”</p> + +<p>He next thought that the court Opera-house in process of erection in +Vienna might be utilized by limiting the number of performances and +securing a careful representation of the style of the works produced. +Had not Joseph II. recognized the theatre as “contributing to the +refinement of manners and of taste”? He even offered to prepare +specially for Vienna a more condensed work, the “Meistersingers.” The +reply was, however, that the name of Wagner had for the present +received sufficient consideration, and that it was time to give a +hearing to some other composer. “This other name was Jacques +Offenbach,” adds Wagner. It needs no comment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p><p>Again followed concerts, first in Prague, where “Tristan” was +requested, then in Carlsruhe, where he had long been forgotten, +although the prince’s own love for art had not been extinguished. The +Carlsruhe and Mannheim orchestras acknowledged that they now first +fully realized that they were artists. A negotiation for permanent +settlement at the grand-ducal court failed, owing to the opposition of +the courtiers. Wagner had demanded a court-carriage! Frederick the +Great has said, it is true, that geniuses rank with sovereigns; but +then this was too much, too much! Then too, he had, O horror! spent +the beautiful ducats which the grand-duke had presented him, in +entertaining of an evening the musicians who had executed the work. +Where would such pretensions, such extravagance lead? The same +courtiers, however, did not consider it robbery for many years +shamefully to abridge the income of their noble prince until they +finally stood disgraced themselves and escaped punishment only through +the inexhaustible kindness of their monarch.</p> + +<p>In Loewenberg, in Breslau, and again in Vienna, everywhere Wagner met +with abundant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>success. But what of the real goal? “The public met him +with enthusiasm wherever he showed himself, but on the other hand the +leading critics remained cold or hostile and the directors of the +theatres closed their doors to him,” his biographer, Glasenapp, says +truthfully enough. Of the Nibelungen-poem also no notice had been +taken except in a very narrow circle. Here and there a copy of the +little volume, bound in red and gold, could be found, but the owner +was sure to belong to the school of Liszt or Wagner. “How could the +poetic work of an opera-composer bear serious consideration in +contrast with the elaborate literary productions of professional +poets?” Wagner says with justice. He felt himself rejected everywhere, +and just where alone he desired admission.</p> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p>“For me there shone no star that did not pale,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No cheering hope of which I was not reft;</span><br /> +To the world’s whim, changing with every gale,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And all its vain caprices, I was left;</span><br /> +To nobler art my aspirations soared,<br /> +Yet I must sink them to the common horde.<br /> +<br /> +“He that our heads had crowned with laurels green,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By priestly staff whose verdure had decayed,</span><br /> +Robbed me of Hope’s sweet solaces, and e’en<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The last delusive comfort caused to fade;</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Yet thus was nourished in my soul serene<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">An inward trust, by which my faith was stayed;</span><br /> +And if to this trust I prove ever true<br /> +The withered staff shall blossom forth anew.<br /> +<br /> +“What deep in my own heart I did discern,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dwelt also, silent, in another’s breast;</span><br /> +And that which in his eager soul did burn,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Within my youthful heart peaceful did rest;</span><br /> +And as he half unconsciously did yearn<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For all the Spring-time joys that were in quest,</span><br /> +The Spring’s delightsomeness our souls shall nourish,<br /> +And newer verdure round our faiths shall flourish.”</p></div> + +<p>On his seventeenth birthday, the 25th of August, 1861, the grandson of +that King Louis of Bavaria who was the first among the princes of +Germany to again take an active interest in the plastic arts, +witnessed a performance of “Lohengrin,” the first play that he had +seen. Full of enthusiasm, he inquired for the other works of this +master. Wagner’s writings convinced him, who now had on his desk only +the busts of Beethoven and Wagner, that the one seemed likely to meet +the same fate that the other had in fact encountered—to sink into the +grave before the attainment of his goal and of his fame. His silent +vow was to reach out his hand to this “one” as soon as he should be +king. Two years later, the “Ring of the Nibelungen” appeared <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>in +print. In it was the question: “Will this prince be found?” In the +following spring the author of the work was in dire distress in +Vienna. The silver rubles had rapidly disappeared. How could such +common treasures be heeded by him who had at his disposal the Holy +Grail? But inexorably approached the danger of loss of personal +liberty. He had to fly. A friend had provided him a refuge on his +estate in Switzerland. On the way there he remained a few days in +Stuttgart. Of a sudden the friend’s door-bell is rung, but Wagner’s +presence is denied. The stranger urges pressing business, and on +inquiry informs the master of the house—who was none other than Carl +Eckert, subsequently Hofkapellmeister at Berlin—that he comes in the +name of the King of Bavaria! Louis II. by the sudden death of +Maximilian II. had been called to the throne in March, 1864, and one +of his first acts was the invitation extended to the artist, so +enthusiastically admired.</p> + +<p>“Now all has been won, my most daring hopes surpassed. He places all +his means at my disposal,” with these words he sank upon his friend’s +breast. In a short time he was in Munich.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p><p>“He has poured out his wealth upon me as from a horn of plenty,” was +the expression he used immediately after the first audience. “What +shall I now tell you? The most inconceivable and yet the only thing I +need has attained its full realization. In the year of the first +representation of my ‘Tannhaeuser,’ a queen gave birth to the good +genius of my life, who was destined to bring me out of deepest want +into the highest happiness. He has been sent to me from heaven. +Through him I am, and comprehend myself,” he wrote, a few months +later, after he had settled down in Munich, to a lady friend.</p> + +<p>King Louis was a youth of true kingly form. In his beautiful eye there +was at the same time a quiet enthusiasm. His keen understanding was +accompanied by a lively imagination and a true soul, so that nature +had endowed him with the three principal mental powers in noble +proportions. His disposition is indicated by the words: “You are a +Protestant? That is right. Always liberal.” And after the style of +youthful inexperience: “You likewise do not like women? They are so +tedious.” His soul and mind were open to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>the joyous reception of all +ideal emotions. This was indeed a youthful king, as only such an +artist could have wished, and permanently attracted. “To the Kingly +Friend,” is the title of the dedication of the “Walkuere,” in the +summer of 1864.</p> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p>“O gracious king! protector of my life!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thou fountain of all goodness, all delight;</span><br /> +Now, at the goal of my adventurous strife,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The words that shall express thy grace aright</span><br /> +I seek in vain, although the world is rife<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With speech and printed book; and day and night</span><br /> +I still must seek for words to utter free<br /> +The gratitude my heart doth bear to thee.”</p></div> + +<p>Thereupon follow the three verses quoted above, and it comes to a +close:</p> + +<div class="centerbox8 bbox2"><p>“So poor am I, I keep but only this—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The faith which thou hast given unto me;</span><br /> +It is the power by which to heights of bliss<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My soul is lifted in proud ecstacy;</span><br /> +But partly is it mine, and I shall miss<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wholly its power, if thou ungracious be;</span><br /> +My gifts are all from thee, and I will praise<br /> +Thy royal faith that knows no change of days.”</p></div> + +<p>Of the latter there was to be no lack, although it was put to a severe +test, and thus the artist reached at last the goal of his effort, +referred to above, where he stands to-day, the artistic savior of his +nation and his time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p><p>As the main thing, the completion of the Nibelungen-Ring was taken in +hand. In the meantime, however, a model exhibition of the new +art-style was to be given, with “Tristan.” For this purpose Schnorr +was invited, at that time residing in Dresden. Wagner says, when he +first met him at Carlsruhe, in 1862: “While the sight of the +swan-knight, approaching in his little boat, gave me the somewhat odd +impression of the appearance of a young Hercules (Schnorr suffered +from obesity), yet his manner at once conveyed to me the distinct +charm of the mythical hero sent by the gods, whose identity we do not +study but whom we instinctively recognize. This instantaneous effect +which touches the inmost heart, can only be compared to magic. I +remember to have been similarly impressed in early youth by the great +actress, Schroeder-Devrient, which shaped the course of my life, and +since then not again so strongly as by Schnorr in Lohengrin.” He had +found in him a genuine singer, musician, and actor, possessing above +all unbounded capacity for tragic roles.</p> + +<p>He was put to the test at first in “Tannhaeuser,” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>and in this new +role he also produced an entirely new impression, of which the Munich +public, led by Franz Lachner, in the worn-out tracks of the latter-day +classics, had its first experience. Then followed the rehearsals for +“Tristan,” which Schnorr had already fully mastered, with the +exception of a single passage, “Out of Laughter and Weeping, Joys and +Wounds,” the terrible love-curse in the third act. By his wonderful +power of expression, the master had “made this clear to him.” At the +rehearsal of this act, Wagner staggered to his feet, profoundly moved, +and embracing his wonderful friend, said softly that he could not +express his joy over his now realized ideal, and Schnorr’s dark eye +flashed responsive pleasure. Buelow, who, as concert-master to the +king, now resided in Munich, likewise conducted with wonderful +precision the orchestra which Wagner himself had thoroughly rehearsed, +and so the invitation was issued to this “art-festival” wherever +Wagner’s art had conquered hearts. It was to show how far the problem +of original and genuine musico-dramatic art had been solved, and +whether the people were ready for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>it and prepared to share in its +grandest and noblest triumphs.</p> + +<p>The public rehearsal was festive in its character. The whole musical +press of Germany and some of the foreign critics were present. Wagner +was called after every act. Unfortunately, the representation proper +was delayed for nearly four weeks through the sickness of Frau +Garrigues-Schnorr, who took the role of Isolde, so that the Munich +people were after all the principal attendants. The applause was +nevertheless enthusiastic, and the success of the memorable +“art-festival” of June 10, 1865, admission to which was not to be had +for money, but by invitation of Wagner and his royal friend, was an +accomplished fact, notwithstanding the work had been by no means fully +comprehended, for this required time. Unfortunately, the noble artist +died a short time after, in Dresden, from the effects of a cold, to +which the utter disregard of the theatre managers in Munich had +exposed him in the scene where he had to lie wounded on a couch. +Wagner was deeply affected. He conceived he had lost the solid stone +work of his edifice, and would now have to resort to mere bricks. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>It +is certain he never found a Siegfried as great as this Tristan.</p> + +<p>Another contingency temporarily interfered with the undertaking of the +two friends, and that was the opposition of the Munich public, which +resulted in Wagner’s permanent withdrawal from the city. To this +public a person was indeed strange who made such unusual artistic +demands, while the personal character and habits of Wagner at that +time were probably nowhere more strange than in Bavaria, which had +obtained its education at the hands of the Jesuit priests. It is true, +the good qualities, such as simplicity of manners and habits of life, +had remained, but the intellectual horizon had become a comparatively +narrow one, and, what was worse, the clerical and aristocratic +Bavarian party feared it would lose its power if a man like Wagner +were to remain permanently about the king. George Herwegh has +described comically enough the Witches-Sabbath, which that party, in +1865, with the aid of other hostile factions, enacted, and which +forced Wagner once more into foreign lands.</p> + +<p>Munich, accustomed to simplicity, took exception to the rich style in +which Wagner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>furnished the villa presented by the king, and to the +expansion of the civil-list for the construction of the theatre, which +was to cost seven million marks, though it would have made Munich a +festival-place for all Germany, and cultivated society the world over. +The press from day to day printed some fresh calumny. It even assailed +the private character of the artist after a fashion that provoked him +to a very effective public defense. Even very sensible people became +possessed, in an unaccountable manner, with the prevalent idea that +Wagner was destroying Bavaria’s prosperity. A not unknown author of +oriental poetry, said ignorantly enough, that it was well such a tramp +was finally to be driven off the street; and a college professor, who, +it is true, had a son, a self-composer in Beethoven’s meaning of the +word, and who could therefore have performed all that Wagner did, +added to this the brutal, insolent assertion, “the fellow deserves to +be hanged.” At last they prevailed upon the king, to whom this had +been foolsplay, to listen at least to what unprejudiced men would tell +him of public opinion in Bavaria. To the minister and the +police-superintendent were added <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>an esteemed ultra montane government +counselor, an arch bishop and others who were reputed to be +unprejudiced. His reply, “I will show to my dear people that I value +their confidence and love above everything,” proves that they finally +succeeded in misleading even the greatest impartiality. The king +himself requested the artist to leave Munich for some time and gave +him an annuity of 15,000 marks. When this had been done, a public +declaration of the principal party in Bavaria showed that the +so-called “displeasure of the people” about political machinations +and the like had been empty talk. Political, social, and artistic +intrigues and base envy alone had given birth to this ghost.</p> + +<p>This happened near the close of the year 1865. Wagner again turned to +Switzerland. The king’s affection for him had only been increased by +these occurrences. He even visited his friend in his voluntary exile, +who in turn had no more ardent desire than to meet such love with +deeds, and calmly prepared himself again for new work. His longing for +Munich had forever vanished. It is true, some of the nobler citizens +sought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>wipe out the disgrace with which the city had covered +itself, by sending a silver wreath to Wagner on his birthday in 1866. +The rejection of Semper’s splendid design for the theatre by the +civil-list led his thoughts anew to the wide German fatherland, and he +at once returned to the Meistersingers, in the hope that by this more +intelligible work the public would finally turn to him, and that +then the great German people would assist in the erection of a +festival-building for a national art-work and thus realize his grand +ideal. We know to-day that he succeeded in uniting them in this great +work.</p> + +<p>The next important step in that direction was the representation of +the “Meistersinger” in Munich in 1868. In the course of time Wagner +dominated the stage in a manner which had not been witnessed since +“Lohengrin.”</p> + +<p>It has been truthfully said that there was something more surprising +than the highly poetic “Tristan,” namely, the artist himself, who so +shortly after could create a picture of such manifold coloring as the +“Meistersinger.” But with equal truth the same observer of Wagner says +that whoever is astounded at this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>achievement has but little +understood the one essential point in the nature and life of all +really great Germans. “He does not know on what soil alone that +many-sided humor displayed by Luther, Beethoven, and Wagner can grow, +which other nations do not at all comprehend, and which even the +Germans of to-day seem to have lost; that mixture, pure as gold, of +simplicity, deep, loving insight, mental reflection and rollicking +humor which Wagner has poured out like a delightful draught for all +those who have keenly suffered in life, and who turn to him, as it +were, with the smile of the convalescent.” Another German, Sebastian +Bach, might have been named whom Wagner resembles most in that +universal dominating quality of mind which is even visible in the +half-ironical, laughing eye of the simple Thuringian chorister, and +brings home to us the truth of Faust’s words, “creating delights +for the gods to enjoy.” He played at that time many of Bach’s +compositions, such as the “Well Tempered Clavicord,” with his young +assistant, Hans Richter, who had been recommended to him from Vienna +as a copyist. What cared he for all this wild <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>whirl of silly fancies +and boorish conceit, so long as he, a genuine Prometheus, could create +something new after the grandest models! In speaking of “Tannhaeuser” +he tells us how supremely happy he was when occupied with the +delightful work of real creation. “Before I undertake to write a verse +or sketch a scene, I am already filled with the musical spirit of my +creation,” he writes in the year 1864. “All the characteristic motives +are in my brain, so that when the text is done and the scenes +arranged, the opera itself is completed, and the detailed musical +treatment becomes rather a thoughtful and quiet after-work which the +moment of actual composition has already preceded.” The humor which at +times prompted even the aged Beethoven to spring over tables and +benches, frequently seized upon our master in such strange fashion +that in the midst of company he would suddenly stand upon his head in +a corner of the room for some time.</p> + +<p>His friends observed with pleasure his rapturous happiness in the +certainty of reaching the goal, even though it should bring him to the +grave during this period of the “Meistersinger” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>composition. He lived +in the most quiet retirement upon a small and beautiful estate in +Triebscheu, near Lucerne, where Frau von Buelow, with her children, +provided for his domestic comfort. His own wife had unexpectedly died +a short time before. During her last years she had lived separately +from the “fiery wheel” whose mad flight she could no longer grasp +nor endure, but by no means in that poverty which the abominably +slanderous press of Munich and elsewhere had accused him of inflicting +upon her. On the contrary, she lived in circumstances fully +corresponding to her husband’s means.</p> + +<p>In October, 1867, after the lapse of 22 years, the “Meistersinger” was +at last completed. He now strove to secure as far as possible a model +representation. It was of course to take place in Munich, where +“Tristan” had already given the orchestra at least a sure tradition of +style. The event was destined to win for him the very heart of the +nation. If the general culture of the last generation by its shallow +optimism and stale humanitarianism blunted the feeling for the tragic, +as Wagner for the first time had deeply expressed it, yet of one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>quality we were never deprived, it ever remained undisturbed, and +that was our German good-nature, from the depths of which humor +springs. At a casual meeting in Kuxhasen, during a friendly contest in +the expression of emotions by gestures of the face, even the great +Kean could not rival the greater Devrient in one thing, and had to +yield to him the victory, and that was the tearful smile which springs +from real compassion with the sorrows of humanity. It was with this +“German good-nature” that Wagner this time conquered the nations. It +was Beethoven who had again quickened the flow from this deepest +source of blessing in life which Shakespeare had been the first to +fully open. By it, Wagner’s soul has ever kept its warmth and spirit. +Who that was present does not think with joyous emotion of those +Munich May-days of 1868?</p> + +<p>His pamphlet, “German Art and German Politics,” had directed the +attention of the narrower circle of Wagner’s friends at least +to the great fact that the artificial French civilization which had +prevailed during the last generation could be banished by a real +intellectual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>culture, and that in this work the highest form of art, +the stage-festival-play, would take a prominent and important part. A +masterly performance of Lohengrin in the spring of 1868, in honor of +the Crown-Prince of Prussia, was a striking illustration of this, +especially to Munich circles. It may also have influenced the mood of +the performers in whose hands the ultimate realization of an object +after all rests. “Even in after years Wagner confessed he had never +felt greater satisfaction in his experiences with an opera company +than at the first representation of the ‘Meistersinger.’” The +performers also speak of the persuasive grace and the fresh, animating +cheerfulness with which the master, an example for all in his restless +activity, moved among them and gave to each individual his constant +directions. This remark of his biographer tells everything.</p> + +<p>The rehearsals were this time even more artistically satisfactory to +all the participants than those of “Tristan.” This art-work was easier +of comprehension owing to its more familiar subject and natural tone. +At the director’s desk stood Buelow—“a fine head <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>with clear cut +features, bold arched forehead and large eyes.” Opposite to him on the +stage stood Wagner, likewise a very active form of medium height. “All +his features bear the impress of an unsubdued will which underlies his +whole nature,” says a Frenchman. “It shows itself everywhere—in the +broad and prominent forehead, in the excessive curve of the strong +chin, in the thin and compressed lips, up to the strong eyebrows, +which disclose the long excitements of a life of suffering; it is the +man of battle, whom we know by his life, the man of thought, who, +never content with the past, looks constantly to the future.” Closely +attending, he accompanied every tone with a fitting gesture for the +performer. Only when Mallinger sang the role of the goldsmith’s little +daughter, Eva, he paused and listened approvingly with a smiling face. +It was clear that, like Prometheus among his lifeless forms, he +animated them with the breath of the soul and roused them into life. +Beckmesser, the Marker, by his drastic presentation alone expressed +the full measure of furious wrath over the shoemaker’s mockery of +his beautiful singing. Such a display of art <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>was new to all. The +Court-Kapellmeister Esser of Vienna, admitted that for the first time +he knew what dramatic, as compared with Kapellmeister-music, was; and +the excellent clarinet-player Baermann, who had personally known +Weber, felt himself in a new world, of which he said that one who did +not know how to appreciate it was not worthy of it and that those who +did not understand it were served rightly in being debarred from this +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>At the close of the rehearsals, Wagner expressed his great pleasure to +all the performers; only the artist could again elevate art, and in +contrast with the foreign style, hitherto cultivated, they would +create our own distinctive art. The performance itself was intended to +show to what height and dignity the drama could be elevated when +earnest zeal and true loyalty are enlisted in its service. It was a +touching proof of enthusiastic gratitude for the noble results to +which he had led them, when they all gathered around him to press his +hand or kiss his arms and shoulders. It was the first time that poet +and artist were reunited and in harmony. A hopeful moment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>for our +art! The enthusiasm lasted fully half of that fragrant summer night.</p> + +<p>Such were the hopes realized by the happy impression the performance +itself made upon everyone. The harmony of action, word, music, and +scenery had hitherto never been consciously felt to such a degree. The +rejoicing was general. The Sunday-afternoon service, so devout and +home-like, the busy apprentices, the worthy masters, the “young +Siegfried” Walther von Stolzing, the thoughtful, noble burgher form +of Hans Sachs, and finally, lovely little Eva, no wonder it all +produced supreme ecstasy. Wagner, sitting in the imperial box at the +side of the king, cared not for the tumultous applause of those who +had so grievously wronged him, but gave himself up to the enjoyment of +this moment of the highest happiness, which perhaps was best reflected +in the eyes of his noble friend. Finally, however, when the demand +became too imperious, the king himself probably urged Wagner to go +forward, and from the royal box he made his acknowledgment, too deeply +stirred and agitated to utter a word. For the welfare of the nation +and the time, we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>see here realized in its wide significance the +vision of Schiller:</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox2"><p>“Thus, King and Singer shall together be<br /> +Upon the mountains of humanity.”</p></div> + +<p>The friend of the cause will find a correct account of all these ever +memorable occurrences in the “Musical Sketchbook—An Exposition of the +State of the Opera at the present Time,” of 1869, concerning which the +master wrote to the author: “You will readily believe that much, +indeed the most, of what you have written, has greatly affected and +deeply touched me, and I shall therefore say nothing about your work +itself except to express for all this my great and intense pleasure!”</p> + +<p>The criticisms of different persons presented a many-colored picture +of which an amusing sketch will also be found in the book referred to. +How many Beckmessers came to light there! The most concise and +worthiest expression of the prevalent feeling of final victory for the +cause is found in the verses of Ernst Dohm, with which we close this +grand chapter, the morning greeting of noble deeds:</p> + +<div class="centerbox3 bbox2"><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>No mistakes, no faults were found.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No,—but purely, lovely singing,</span><br /> +Captivating every heart,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Honor to the master bringing,</span><br /> +Glorifying German art—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Did the Mastersong resound.</span><br /> +<br /> +Soon, as standard bearers strong,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From the strand of Isar, we</span><br /> +Will go forth with Mastersong<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through United Germany.</span></p></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>1869-1876.</h3> + +<h3>BAIREUTH.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A Vienna Critic—“Judaism in Music”—The War of 1870—Wagner’s +Second Wife—“The Thought of Baireuth”—Wagner-Clubs—The “Kaiser +March”—Baireuth—Increasing Progress—Concerts—The Corner-Stone +of the new Theatre—The Inaugural Celebration—Lukewarmness of the +Nation—The Preliminary Rehearsals—The Summer of 1876—Increasing +Devotion of the Artists—The General Rehearsal—The Guests—The +Memorable Event—Its Importance—A World-History in Art-Deeds.</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p class="center">“<i>In the beginning was the deed.</i>”—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p></div> + +<p>“As artist and man, I am now approaching a new world,” Wagner had +already written in 1851.</p> + +<p>The Vienna Thersites, with his coarse and confused wits, whom the real +irony of his time had termed “the most renowned musical critic of the +age,” had the hardihood to write for the principal newspaper of +Austria as late as the spring of 1872: “Wagner is lucky in everything. +He begins by raging against all monarchs, and a generous King meets +him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>with enthusiastic love. Then he writes a pasquinade against the +Jews, and musical Jewry pays him homage all the more by purchasing the +Baireuth certificates. He proves that all our Hofkapellmeisters are +mere artisans, and behold, they organize Wagner-clubs and recruit +troops for Baireuth. Opera-singers and theatre directors, whose +performances Wagner most cruelly condemns, follow his footsteps +wherever he appears and are delighted if he salutes them. He brands +our conservatories as being spoiled and neglected institutes, and the +scholars of the Vienna conservatory form in line before Richard Wagner +and make a subscription to present the master with a token of esteem.”</p> + +<p>Ah, yes; but this “luck” was the result of his close search for what +was true and real.</p> + +<p>This moral dignity, which asks for nothing but the truth, gradually +drew toward Wagner many estimable friends, among them, through the +“Meistersinger” performance in Munich, that simple citizen who +organized in Mannheim the first of those Wagner-clubs that called into +existence for us the high castle of art and the ideal—“Baireuth.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>With that work Wagner had made the last hopeful attempt to improve the +domestic stage. The experiences gained in this effort disclosed to +him with distinct clearness the radically inartistic and un-German +qualities of the theatre, which outwardly and inwardly, morally as +well as spiritually, exerted an equally pernicious influence. But +while completely alienating himself from it and planning only to “rear +with considerate haste his gigantic edifice of four divisions,” and +thus obtain a stage free from all commercial interests, consecrated +only to the ideal of the nation and the human mind, he yet felt +impelled once more to withdraw with firm hand the veil from the actual +social and art conditions of the nation, and wrote “Judaism in Music.”</p> + +<p>A simple pamphlet has rarely set all circles of society in such +commotion as did this. It was like the awakening conscience of the +nation, only that its mental stupor prevented the immediate +comprehension of the new and deeply conciliatory spirit which here +presented itself, at once to heal and to save. It was a national deed +clearly to disclose this unseemly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>shopkeeper’s spirit which attempts +to drag to the mercantile level even the highest concerns of humanity. +At the same time there came to some a conception of how deep and +great, how overwhelming this German spirit must be, that it not only +forces such aliens into its yoke, but, as in the case of Heine and +Mendelssohn, often produces in them profoundly affecting tones of +longing for participation in its sublime nature. Wagner’s feeling at +this, the most confused uproar which has been heard in the present +time, could only have been like that of Goethe, namely, that all these +stupid talkers have no idea how impregnable the fortress is in which +he lives who is ever earnest about himself and his cause. He was +unconcerned, knowing that he should have the privilege of performing +his “Ring of the Nibelungen” far from all these distorted forms and +figures of the prevailing art. Of this, his noble friend had given +positive assurance; and for himself it became an unavoidable +necessity, since in 1869 and 1870 Munich had performed, without his +consent and contrary to his wishes, “Rheingold” and “Walkuere,” by +which it had only been shown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>anew how little the prevalent opera +routine was in consonance with his object.</p> + +<p>In the meantime came the war of 1870. That of 1866 had destroyed the +rotten German “Bund,” but now the most daring hopes revived in German +breasts, for there stood the people in arms, like Lohengrin, +everywhere repelling injustice and violence.</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox2"><p>I dared to bury many a smart<br /> +Which long and deeply grieved my heart.</p></div> + +<p>With these words Wagner greeted his king on the latter’s birth day in +1870, and with clear-sighted boldness he said to himself, “The morning +of mankind is dawning.” The work, however, which was to glorify and +render effective this first full Siegfried-deed of the Germans since +the days of the Reformation, and revive the moral energy of the +nation, was completed in June of the same year, 1870, with the +“Goetterdaemmerung.”</p> + +<p>He now strove to strengthen himself anew and permanently. For the +first time in his life he fully secured the purely human happiness +which preserves our powers. He married the divorced Frau Cosima von +Buelow, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>daughter of Liszt. “This man, so completely controlled +by his demon, should always have had at his side a high-minded, +appreciative woman, a wife that would have understood the war that was +constantly waged within him,” is the judgment passed on Wagner’s first +wife by one of her friends. He had now found this woman, and in a way +that proved on every hand a blessing. Her incomparably unselfish, +self-sacrificing first husband himself declared afterwards that this +was the only proper solution. Siegfried was the name given to the +fruit of this union. The “Siegfried Idyl” of 1871 is dedicated to the +boy’s happy childhood in the beautiful surroundings of Lucerne.</p> + +<p>In this year, the centennial anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, he also +told his nation what it possessed in him, its most manly son. He +represents, as he says in that Jubilee pamphlet, the spirit so much +feared beyond the mountains as well as on the other side of the Rhine. +He regained for us the innocence of the soul. What is now wanting is, +that out of this pure spirit-nature, as it is illustrated in his +music, there shall arise a true culture <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>in contrast with the foreign +civilization, which resembles the time of the Roman emperors? These +tones utter anew a world-saving prophesy, and shall we not then +appropriate them fully and forever? The “thought of Baireuth” now +obtained more definite form. A number of friends of the cause were to +make it real and wrest German art from the Venusberg of the common +theatre.</p> + +<p>The work of the Wagner-clubs now began, which, with the aid of the +Baireuth Board of Managers, under the direction of the indefatigable +banker Fustel, has led to the goal at last. Liszt’s Scholar, Tausig, +and his friend, Frau von Schleinitz, in Berlin, organized the society +of “Patrons,” each member of which was to contribute one hundred +thalers toward a fund of three hundred thousand. By the publication of +his writings, Wagner himself introduced the cause that was to show +that in his art also he sought that life by which the ideal nature of +the nation exists. His noble-minded king had, in November of 1870, +uttered the words of deliverance to the other German princes, which +finally gave us again a dignified and honorable existence as a nation, +by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>creating the German empire. Could German art then remain in the +background? Our artist was now all activity—a wonderfully joyous and +stirring activity. To the “German army before Paris,” he who had +always thought and labored for his nation’s glory, sang, in January, +1871, the song of triumphant joy of the German armies’ deeds:</p> + +<div class="centerbox9 bbox2"><p class="center">The Emperor comes: let justice now in peace have sway.</p></div> + +<p>At that time, also, he composed, at the suggestion of Dr. Abrahams, +owner of the “Peters edition,” in Leipzig, the Kaiser March, which +closes with the following people’s song:</p> + +<div class="centerbox6 bbox2"><p>God save the Emperor, William, the King!<br /> +Shield of all Germans, freedom’s defense!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The highest crown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Graces thine head with renown!</span><br /> +Peace, won with glory, be thy recompense!<br /> +As foliage new upon the oak-tree grows,<br /> +Through thee the German Empire new-born rose;<br /> +Hail to its ancient banners which we<br /> +Did carry, which guided thee<br /> +When conquering bravely the Gallic foes!<br /> +Defying enemies, protecting friends,<br /> +The welfare of the nations Germany defends.</p></div> + +<p>Shortly afterward he expresses more clearly the meaning of the +festival-plays that are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>to be representations in a nobler and +original German style, and he, the lonely wanderer, who hitherto has +heard but the croakings in the bogs of theatrical criticism, +accompanied the pamphlet with an essay on the “Mission of the Opera,” +with which he at the same time introduces himself as a member of the +Berlin Academy.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1871, he went to Baireuth, the ancient residence of +the Margraves, which contained one of the largest theatres. The +building was arranged for the wants of the court and not fully adapted +to his purposes, but the simple and true-hearted inhabitants of the +place had attracted him. Besides this, the pleasant, quiet little city +was situated in the “Kingdom of Grace” and, what likewise seemed of +importance, in the geographical centre of Germany. A short stay +subsequently in the capital of the new empire revealed his goal at +once with stronger consciousness and purpose both for himself and his +friends. At a celebration held there in his honor he said that the +German mind bears the same relation to music as to religion. It +demands the truth and not beautiful form alone. As the Reformation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>had laid the foundations of the religion of the Germans deeper and +stronger by freeing Christianity from Roman bonds, so music must +retain its German characteristics of profoundness and sublimity. +During the same time the building of the theatre after Semper’s +designs was planned with the building inspector, Neumann.</p> + +<p>The sudden death of Tausig which occurred at this time seemed a heavy +loss to all. Wagner has erected for him an inspiring and touching +monument in verse. Other friends however came forward all the more +actively, particularly from Mannheim, with its music-dealer, Emil +Heckel, who had asked him what those without means could do for the +great cause and then at once commenced to organize the “Richard +Wagner-Verein.” The example was immediately followed by Vienna and the +other German cities. The project was so far advanced that negotiations +with Baireuth could now be opened. The city was found willing enough +to provide a building site. Applications of other cities having in +view their material interests could therefore be ignored. Wagner then +in order to clearly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>state the definite purpose to be accomplished, +published the “Report to the German Wagner-Verein,” which reveals to +us so deeply the soul-processes that were connected with the +completion of his stage-festival-play. “I have now to my intense +pleasure only to unite the propitious elements under the same banner +which floats so auspiciously over the resurrected German empire, and +at once I can build up my structure out of the constituent parts of a +real German culture; nay more, I need only to unveil the prepared +edifice, so long unrecognized, by withdrawing from it the false +drapery which will soon like a perforated veil disappear in the air.” +Thus he closes with joyous hope. And now the necessary steps were +taken in Baireuth. The city donated the building site. The laying of +the corner-stone of the temporary building was to be celebrated May +22, 1872, with Beethoven’s Ninth symphony. Wagner took up his +permanent residence in Baireuth. The King had sent his secretary to +meet him while en-route through Augsburg and to assure him that +whatever the outcome might be he would be responsible for any deficit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>A paragraph in the prospectus of the Mannheim society had held out +the prospect of concerts under the master’s own direction. This led +to a number of journeys that gave him an opportunity to make the +acquaintance of his “friends” and especially of the artistic “forces” +of Germany. The first journey, as was proper, was to Mannheim “where +men are at home.” They had there, as he said, strengthened his faith +in the realization of his plans and demonstrated that the artist’s +real ground was in the heart of the nation! Thus he interpreted the +meaning of the celebration there. Vienna also heard classical music, +as well as his own, under the direction of his magical baton. It +happened that at “Wotan’s Departure,” and “the Banishment of the +fire-god, Loge,” in the “Walkuere,” a tremendous thunder-storm broke +forth. “When the Greeks contemplated a great work, they called upon +Zeus to send them a flash of lightning as an omen. May all of us who +have united to found a home for German art interpret this lightning +also as favorable to our work, and as a sign of approval from above,” +he said amidst indescribable sensation, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>and then touched upon the +Baireuth festival, and the Ninth symphony, in which the German soul +appears so deep and rich in meaning. What a world of thoughts, what +germs of future forms lie concealed in this symphony! He himself +stands upon this great work, and from this vantage strives to advance +further. During this period the ill-omened raven, Professor Hanslick, +uttered his silly words about Wagner’s “luck.” But the victory was +this time with the right.</p> + +<p>In Baireuth meanwhile all was being prepared for the celebration. The +Riedel and the Rebling singing-societies constituted the nucleus of +the chorus while the orchestra was formed of musicians from all parts +of Germany, Wilhelmi at their head. There the master for the first +time was really among “his artists.” “We give no concert, we make +music for ourselves and desire simply to show the world how Beethoven +is performed—the devil take him who criticises us,” he said to them +with humorous seriousness. The laying of the corner-stone on the +beautiful hill overlooking the city, where the edifice stands to-day, +took place May 22, 1872, to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>strains of the “Huldigungs March,” +composed for his King in 1864. “Blessing upon thee, my stone, stand +long and firm!” were the words with which Wagner himself gave the +first three blows with the hammer. The King had sent a telegram: “From +my inmost soul, I convey to you, my dearest friend, on this day so +important for all Germany, my warmest and sincerest congratulations. +May the great undertaking prosper and be blessed! I am to-day more +than ever united with you in spirit.” Wagner himself had written the +verse:</p> + +<div class="centerbox10 bbox2"><p>Here I enclose a mystery;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For centuries it here may rest.</span><br /> +So long as here preserved it be,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">It shall to all be manifest.</span></p></div> + +<p>Both telegram and verse with the Mannheim and Bayreuth documents lie +beneath the stone. Wagner returned with his friends to the city in a +deeply earnest mood. On this his sixtieth birthday his eyes for the +first time beheld the goal of his life!</p> + +<p>At the celebration, which then took place in the Opera-house, he +addressed the following words to his friends and patrons: “It is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>the +nature of the German mind to build from within. The eternal God +actually dwells therein before the temple is erected to His glory. The +stone has already been placed which is to bear the proud edifice, +whenever the German people for their own honor shall desire to enter +into possession with you. Thus then may it be consecrated through your +love, your good wishes and the deep obligation which I bear to you, +all of you who have encouraged, helped and given to me! May it be +consecrated by the German spirit which away over the centuries sends +forth its youthful morning-greeting to you.”</p> + +<p>The performance of the symphony of that artist, to whom Wagner himself +attributes religious consecration according to eye-witnesses, gave to +this festival, also “the character of a sacred celebration,” as had +once been true of the great Beethoven academy in November, 1814. +At the evening celebration, however, Wagner recalled again the +large-heartedness of his King, and said that to this was due what they +had experienced to-day, but that its influence reached far beyond +civil and state affairs. It guaranteed the ultimate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>possession of a +high intellectual culture, and was the stepping-stone to the grandest +that a nation can achieve. Would the time soon come which shall fitly +name this King, as it already recognized him, a “Louis the German” in +a far nobler sense than his great ancestor? “Certainly no fear of the +always existing majority of the vulgar and the coarse is to prevent +us from confessing that the greatest, weightiest and most important +revelation which the world can show is not the world-conqueror but he +who has overcome the world:” thus teaches the philosopher, and we +shall soon perceive that this was also true of Wagner and his royal +friend.</p> + +<p>The fame of this celebration, which had so deeply stirred everyone +present, resounded through all countries, appealed to all true +German hearts. And yet, how many remained even now indifferent and +incredulous! The “nation,” as such, did not respond to the call. It +did not, or would not, understand it, uttered by a man who had told +us so many unwelcome truths to our face. It still lay paralyzed in +foreign and unworthy bondage, and was, besides, for the time too much +engrossed with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>the affairs of the empire, whose novelty had not yet +worn off.</p> + +<div class="centerbox7 bbox2"><p>“From morn till eve, in toil and anguish,<br /> +Not easily gained it was.”</p></div> + +<p>These words of <i>Wotan</i>, about his castle Walhalla, were only to be +too fully realized by our master. His “friends” alone gave him comfort, +and their number he saw constantly increase from out of the midst of +the people whose leaders in art-matters they were more and more +destined to become. The public interest was kept alive and stirred +afresh with concerts and discourses. The Old did not rest. The +struggle constantly broke out anew, and for the time it remained in +the possession of the ring that symbolizes mastery. The dragon was +still unconquered. As the “people” in Germany are not particularly +wealthy, slow progress was made with the contributions from the +multiplying Wagner-clubs, and yet millions were needed even for this +temporary edifice with its complete stage apparatus. It required all +the love of his friends, especially of that rarest of all friends, to +dispel at times his deep anger when he was compelled to see <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>how +mediocrity, even actual vulgarity, again and again held captive the +minds of his people to whom he had such high and noble things to +offer. “In the end I must accept the money of the Jews in order to +build a theatre for the Germans,” he said, in the spring of 1873, to +Liszt, when during that period of wild stock-speculations, some Vienna +bankers had offered him three millions of marks for the erection of +his building. He could not well have been humiliated more deeply +before his own people, but he was raised still higher in the +consciousness of his mission. Truly, this love also came “out of +laughter and tears, joys and sorrows,” for the mighty host of his +enemies now put forth every effort to make his work appear ridiculous +and in that way kill it. A pamphlet, by a physician, declared him +“mentally diseased by illusions of greatness.” Even a Breughel could +not paint the raging of the distorted figures which at that time +convulsed the world of culture, not alone of Germany. It was really an +inhuman and superhuman struggle around this ring of the Nibelung!</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, in August of the same year (1873), the festival could be +undertaken in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>Baireuth. “Designed in reliance upon the German soul, +and completed to the glory of its august benefactor,” is printed on +the score of the Nibelungen Ring, which now began to appear. The space +for the “stage-festival-play” was at least under roof. But with that, +the means obtained so far were exhausted, and only “vigorous +assistance” on the part of his King prevented complete cessation of +work. Wagner himself was soon compelled again to take up his +wanderer’s staff. He sought this time (1874-1875), with the lately +completed “Goetterdaemmerung,” to sound through the nation the +effective call to awaken, and in doing so met with many decided +encouragements. “From the bottom of my heart I thank the splendid +Vienna public which to-day has brought me an important step nearer the +realization of my life-mission.” This was the theme which fortunately +he had then only to vary in Pesth and in Berlin.</p> + +<p>The preliminary rehearsals now began, and what Munich had witnessed +in 1868 repeated itself ten times over in Baireuth during this summer +of 1875. For weeks there was the same untiring industry, but also +the same, nay <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>increasing, enthusiasm. “Of this marvelous work I +recently heard more than twenty rehearsals. It over-tops and dominates +our entire art-period as does Mont Blanc the other mountains,” +wrote Liszt. The master frankly conceded that it was due to the +“unhesitating zeal of the associate artists as well as to the splendid +success of their performances” that he could now positively invite +the patrons and Wagner for the next summer. “Through your kind +participation may an artistic deed be brought to light, such as none +of the dignitaries of to-day but only the free union of those really +called could present to the world,” he says. And:</p> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p class="center">“From such marvelous deed the hero’s fame arose,”</p></div> + +<p>sings Hagen of Siegfried.</p> + +<p>The rehearsals during the summer of 1876 so increased the enthusiastic +devotion of the artists to the work, that many felt they had really +now only become such. Others, however, like Niemann as Siegmund, Hill +as Alberich, and Schlosser as Mime, showed already in fact what heroic +deeds in the art of representation were presented. The fetters of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>the +maidenly bride were indeed broken that she might live. “We have +overcome the first. We must yet consummate a true hero-deed in a short +time,” Wagner said, when at the first close of the Cycle silent +emotion had given place to a perfect storm of enthusiasm, but, he +exultantly added: “If we shall carry it out as I now clearly see that +it will be done, we may well say that we have performed something +grand.” The little anticipated humor in “Siegfried” developed itself +in such a way under the leadership of Hans Richter, who was more and +more inspired by the master, that one seemed indeed to hear “the +laughter of the universe in one stupendous outbreak.” That was the +fruit of the “tempestuous sobbing” with which young Siegfried himself +had once listened to the Ninth symphony. It was indeed a new +soul-foundation for his nation and his time! Wagner himself calls an +enthusiasm of this kind a power that could conduct all human affairs +to certain prosperity and upon which states could be built. The +patriotic enthusiasm of 1870 sprang from the same source and it has +brought us the “empire” as that of 1876 gave us the “art.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p><p>The general rehearsal on the seventh of August was attended by the +King. He had stopped at a sub-station, once the favorite resort of +Jean Paul, and at the station-master’s house the two great and +constant friends silently embraced, giving vent to their feelings in +tears. From that date to the thirteenth of August, 1876, the ever +memorable day of the re-creation of German art, came the hosts of +friends and patrons, from great princes to the humble German +musicians. “Baireuth is Germany” is the acclamation of an Englishman +on witnessing the spectacle. The head of the realm, Emperor William, +was there himself welcomed by the festival-giver and hailed with +acclamation by the thousands from far and near. The Grand-duke +Constantine and the Emperor of Brazil were likewise present.</p> + +<p>Of the effect we shall at this time say nothing for lack of space to +tell all; but, to convey at least a conception of the event which +riveted minds and held hearts spell-bound until the last note had +passed away, while at the same time a whole new world dawned upon our +souls—we present a short account of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>work as pithily drawn by +Wagner’s gifted friend and patron, Prof. Nietzsche, in Basle.</p> + +<p>“In the Ring of the Nibelungen,” he says, “the tragic hero is a god +(Wotan), who covets power and who, by following every path to obtain +it, binds himself with contracts, loses his liberty and is at last +engulfed in the curse which rests upon power. He becomes conscious of +his loss of liberty, because he no longer has the means to gain +possession of the golden ring, the essence or symbol of all earthly +power, and at the same time of greatest danger for himself as long as +it remains in the hands of his enemies. The fear of the end and the +‘twilight’ of all the gods comes over him and likewise despair, as he +realizes that he can not strive against this end, but must quietly see +it approach. He stands in need of the free, fearless man, who without +his advice and aid, even battling against divine order, from within +himself accomplishes the deed which is denied to the gods. He does not +discover him, and just as a new hope awakens he must yield to the +destiny that binds him. Through his hand the dearest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>must be +destroyed, the purest sympathy punished with his distress.</p> + +<p>“Then at last he loathes the power that enslaves and brings forth +evil. His will is broken, and he desires the end which threatens from +afar. And now what he had but just desired occurs. The free, fearless +man appears. He is created supernaturally, and they who gave birth to +him pay the penalty of a union contrary to nature. They are destroyed, +but Siegfried lives.</p> + +<p>“In the sight of his splendid growth and development the loathing +vanishes from the soul of Wotan. He follows the hero’s fate with the +eye of the most fatherly love and anxiety. How Siegfried forges the +sword, kills the dragon, secures the ring, escapes the most crafty +intrigues, and awakens Brunhilde; how the curse that rests upon the +ring does not spare even him, the innocent one, but comes nearer and +nearer; how he, faithful in faithlessness, wounds out of love the most +beloved, and is surrounded by the shadows and mists of guilt, but at +last emerges as clear as the sun and sinks, illuminating the heavens +with his fiery splendor and purifying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>the world from the curse—all +this the god, whose governing spear has been broken in the struggle +with the freest and who has lost his power to him, holds full of joy +at his own defeat, fully participating in the joy and sorrow of his +conqueror. His eye rests with the brightness of a painful serenity +upon all that has passed. ‘He has become free in Love, free from +himself.’”</p> + +<p>These are the profound contents of a work that reveals to us the +tragic nature of the world!</p> + +<p>At the close of the Cycle, there arose in the enthusiastic assemblage +a demand to see at such a great and grand moment the noble artist +whose eyes had rested for so many years upon the spirit of his great +nation “with the brightness of a painful serenity.” He could not evade +the persistent, stormy demand, and had to appear. His features bore an +expression that seemed to show a whole life lived again, an entire +world embraced anew, as he came forward and uttered the significant +yet simple words: “To your own kindness and the ceaseless efforts of +my associates, our artists, you owe this accomplishment. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>What I have +yet to say to you can be put into a few words, into an axiom. You have +seen now what we can do. It remains for you to will! And if you will, +then we have a German art!”</p> + +<p>Yes, indeed we have such an art—a “Baireuth.”</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox2"><p>O, done is the deathless deed;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On mountain-top the mighty castle!</span><br /> +Splendidly shines the structure new.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As in dreams I did dream it,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As my will did wish it,</span><br /> +Strong and serene it stands to the view—<br /> +Mighty manor new!</p></div> + +<p>We have a German art! But have we also by this time a German spirit +that sways the nation’s life? Have we come to detest mere might which +we have hitherto worshipped and that yet “bears within its lap evil +and thralldom?” Has the “free, fearless man,” the Siegfried, been born +to us who out of himself creates the right and with the sword he +forges manfully slays the dragon that gnaws at the vitals of our being +and thus rescues the slumbering bride? This question has been hurled +into our life and history by the “Ring of the Nibelungen.” It will be +heard as long as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>question remains unsolved. If, according to +Wagner’s conception, Beethoven wrote the history of the world in +music, then he himself has furnished a world-history in art-deeds! +Such is the meaning of this Baireuth with its Nibelungen Ring of 1876.</p> + +<p>Let us see now what the life and work of this artist, for nigh unto +seventy years, further and finally imports to us. He also was guided +by Goethe’s fervent prayer:</p> + +<div class="centerbox10 bbox2"><p>“O, lofty Spirit, suffer me<br /> +The end of my life’s-work to see!”</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>1877-1882.</h3> + +<h3>PARSIFAL.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A German Art—Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results—Concerts in +London—Recognition abroad and Lukewarmness at home—The +“Nibelungen” in Vienna—“Parsifal”—Increasing Popularity +of Wagner’s Music—Judgments—Accounts of the “Parsifal” +Representations—The Theatre Building—“Parsifal,” a National +Drama—Its Significance and Idea—Anti-Semiticism—The Jewish +Spirit—Wagner’s Standpoint—Synopsis of “Parsifal”—The Legend of +the Holy Grail—Its Symbolic Importance—Art in the Service of +Religion—Beethoven and Wagner—“Redemption to the Redeemer.”</p></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox2"><p class="center">“<i>Dawn then now, thou day of Gods!</i>”—Wagner.</p></div> + +<p>“If you but will it, we shall have a German art.” It is true we had a +German music, a German literature, a German art of painting, each of +high excellence, but they were not that union of German art which +floated before Wagner’s mind in his “combined art-work” and which +found its first adequate interpretation in the performances of the +Nibelungen Ring. His object was now to make it permanent and to this +end he sought the means.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p>Accordingly on January 1, 1877, the invitation to form “a society of +patrons for the culture and maintenance of the stage-festival-plays +of Baireuth” was issued. At the same time the “Baireuther Blaetter,” +which subsequently were made available to the general public, were +issued in order to more fully and constantly elucidate the aim and +object of the cause. Wagner had declined to acquiesce in a demand for +a subsidy from the Reichstag, although King Louis had agreed to +support such a measure before the Bundesrath. “There are no Germans; +at least they are no longer a nation. Whoever still thinks so and +relies upon their national pride makes a fool of himself,” he said +bitterly enough to a friend. As far as the ideal is concerned he was +certainly right in regard to the Reichstag as well as the people. “He +who can clear such paths is a genius, a prophet, and in Germany, a +martyr as well!” are the words of one of those who at one time had +contemptuously spoken of this “Baireuth” as a “speculation.” And yet +Wagner had to accept an invitation to give concerts in London to cover +the expenses of this same “Baireuth.” By <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>the distinguished reception +the artist met there, the consideration shown for his art, the spread +of his earlier works over the whole of Europe, he felt that foreign +lands had understood him, the German. It must have been very bitter +for him to feel that the Germans as a nation knew him not. Among the +multitude of the educated, faith was still wanting. They courted +foreign gods. If it had not been so would it have required seven, +fully seven years, to obtain the moderate sum needed even to think of +resuming the work, and in the end a contribution of three hundred +thousand marks from His Majesty the King to bring it to completion? +How slow was the progress of the society of patrons! People who, +during the era of speculation had accumulated wealth rapidly, thought +in these years of decreasing prosperity of something else than joining +such an undertaking, and declared that they had to economize. And yet +the annual dues were but 15 marks! Very singular was the answer of +some whose rank or learning gave them prominence. They said that it +was not even known whether the project had any real standing and they +might <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>therefore disgrace themselves by lending their names. Yes, when +the bad Wagnerians dared to attack the tottering Mendelssohn-Schuman +instrumental mechanics, Germans as well as others were induced to +withdraw from the society which it had cost them so much struggle to +join. Councilors of State and educators did not even respond to the +invitations of the society’s branches which were now gradually +organized in a large number of cities.</p> + +<p>It was generally known that a new work was soon to issue from Wagner’s +brain and soon everywhere from the Rhine to the Danube, from rock to +sea, could be heard the Nibelungen! Wagner had, against his innermost +conviction, consented to permit the use of the work by the larger +theatres in the supposition that such personal experience of the +“prodigious deed” would open heart and hand for a still grander one, +the permanent establishment of a distinctive German art. Vienna came +first. However excellent the performance of a few, for instance, +Scaria as Wotan, Materna as Brunnhilde and the orchestra under Hans +Richter, there was lacking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>the ensemble! The sensation of something +extraordinary, of grandeur and solemnity, that in Baireuth had +elevated the soul to the eternal heights of humanity, was not there. +It was often as when daylight enters a theatre; the sublime illusion +of such a tragic representation was wanting, and Wagner knew that in +this art it is the very bread of life. “The art-work also, like +everything transitory, is only a parable, but a parable of the +ever-present eternal,” he said, in taking leave of his friends and +patrons in Baireuth and his purpose now was deeply to impress the +minds of his contemporaries with this “ever-present eternal” and thus +make it permanently effective. The Holy Grail had first to give forth +its last wonder!</p> + +<p>Once more he diverts his attention from “outward politics,” as he +called the intercourse with the theatres, and collects his thoughts +for a new deed. This was “Parsifal.” With this work, performed for the +first time, July 26, 1882, and then repeated thirteen times, he +believed he might close his life-long labors, and assuredly he has +securely crowned them. It seems indeed as if this has finally and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>forever broken the obstinate ban that so long separated him and his +art from his people. The success of the Nibelungen Ring had been +called in question, but that of “Parsifal” is beyond doubt, as +sufficiently demonstrated by the attendance of cultured people from +everywhere for so many weeks! “They came from all parts of the world; +as of old in Babel, you can hear speech in every tongue,” said a +participant in the festival. With the final slaying of the dragon, +there fell also into the hero’s hand the treasure, inasmuch as the +large attendance left a surplus of many thousand marks, thus assuring +the continuation of the festival-plays.</p> + +<p>To be sure, the Nibelungen Ring had largely contributed to this +success. At first performed in Leipzig, then by the same troupe in +Berlin, it had met with a really unprecedented reception. Since +the storm of 1813, since the years of 1848-49, the feeling of a +distinctive nationality has not been so effectually roused, and this +time it no longer stood solely upon the ground of patriotism and +politics, but there where we seek our highest—the “ever-present +eternal.” England was likewise roused in 1882, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>with performances +of the “Nibelungen Ring,” and still more with “Tristan,” to a +consciousness of an eternal humanity in this art, such as had not +been experienced there since Beethoven’s Ninth symphony, and this +enthusiasm of our manly and serious brethren sped like the fire’s +glare, illuminating the common fatherland from whence they had +themselves once carried that feeling for the tragic which produced +their Shakespeare. Everywhere was the stir of spring-time, sudden +awakening, as from death-like slumber or a disturbing dream. “Dawn +then now, thou day of gods!”</p> + +<p>We will next give some accounts of the representations.</p> + +<p>“‘Victory! Victory!’ is the word which is making the rounds of the +world from Baireuth, in these days. Wagner’s latest creation which +brings the circle of his works in a beautiful climax to a dignified +close, has achieved a success such as the most intimate adherents of +the master could not well desire fuller or grander. The name of a +‘German Olympia,’ which had been given facetiously to the capital +of Upper Franconia, it really now merited,” was said by a London +correspondent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>At the close of the general rehearsal, “the participating artists +unanimously declared that they had never received from the stage such +an impression of lofty sublimity.” “Parsifal produces such an enormous +effect that I can not conceive any one will leave the theatre +unsatisfied or with hostile thoughts,” E. Heckel wrote; and Liszt +affirmed that nothing could be said about this wonderful work: “Yes, +indeed, it silences all who have been profoundly touched by it. Its +sanctified pendulum swings from the lofty to the most sublime.” Of the +first act it had already been said: “We here meet with a harmony of +the musico-dramatic and religious church style which alone enables us +to experience in succession the most terrible, heartrending sorrow and +again that most sanctified devotion which the feeling of a certainty +of salvation alone rouses in us.”</p> + +<p>The German Crown-Prince attended the performance of August 29th, the +last one. “I find no words to voice the impression I have received,” +he said to the committee of the patron society which escorted him. “It +transcends everything that I had expected, it is magnificent. I am +deeply touched, and I perceive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>that the work can not be given in the +modern theatre.” And, finally, “I do not feel as though I am in a +theatre, it is so sublime.”</p> + +<p>A Frenchman wrote: “The work that actually created a furious storm of +applause is of the calmest character that can be conceived; always +powerful, it leaves the all-controlling sensation of loftiness and +purity.” “The union of decoration, poetry, music and dramatic +representation in a wonderfully beautiful picture, that with +impressive eloquence points to the new testament—a picture full of +peace and mild, conciliatory harmony, is something entirely new in +the dramatic world,” is said of the opening of the third act.</p> + +<p>And in simple but candid truth the decisive importance of the cause +called forth the following: “Parsifal furnishes sufficient evidence +that the stage is not only not unworthy to portray the grandest and +holiest treasures of man and his divine worship, but that it is +precisely the medium which is capable in the highest degree of +awakening these feelings of devotion and presenting the impressive +ceremony of divine worship. If the hearer is not prompted to devotion +by it, then certainly no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>church ceremony can rouse such a feeling in +him. The stage, that to the multitude is at all times merely a place +of amusement, and upon which at best are usually represented only the +serious phases of human life, of guilt and atonement, but which is +deemed unworthy of portraying the innermost life of man and his +intercourse with his God, this stage has been consecrated to its +highest mission by ‘Parsifal.’”</p> + +<p>The building also, which Semper’s art-genius, with the highest end in +view had constructed, is worthy of this mission. It has no ornament in +the style of our modern theatres. Nowhere do we behold gold or +dazzling colors; nowhere brilliancy of light or splendor of any kind. +The seats rise amphitheatrically and are symmetrically enclosed by a +row of boxes. To the right and left rise mighty Corinthian columns, +which invest the house with the character of a temple. The orchestra, +like the choir of the Catholic cloisters, is invisible and everything +unpleasant and disturbing about ordinary theaters is removed. +Everything is arranged for a solemn, festive effect. “That is no +longer the theatre, it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>divine worship,” was the final verdict +accordingly. “Baireuth” is the temple of the Holy Grail.</p> + +<p>At length we come to the principal theme, and with it to the climax of +this historical sketch of such a mighty and all-important artistic +lifework, to “Parsifal” itself. The mere mention of its contents +attests its importance for the present and the future. Wagner’s +“Parsifal,” in an important sense, can be termed our national drama. +Such a work like Æschylus’ “Persian” and Sophocles’ Oedipus-trilogy, +should recall to the consciousness of a world-historical people the +period in which it stands in the world’s history, and thereby make +clear the mission it has to fulfil.</p> + +<p>That we Germans have begun again to make world-history in a political +sense, since the last generation, is evidenced by the great action of +the time which seems for the present to have settled the politics of +Europe and extended its influence upon the world at large. Beyond the +domain of politics however the real movers of the world are the ideas +which animate humanity and of which politics are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>but a sign of life +possessing subordinate influence. In this movement of the mind we +Germans are, without question, much older than a mere generation, as +indeed Wagner’s poetic material everywhere confirms. The one work in +which Kaulbach’s genius triumphed, the “Battle of the Huns,” gained +for him a world-wide fame, more by the plastic idea revealed in the +perpetual struggle of the spirits than by its artistic execution. We +stand to-day before, or rather in, a like mighty contest. Two moral +religious sentiments struggle against each other for life and death in +invisible as well as visible conflict. To which shall be the victory?</p> + +<p>In the year 1850 Wagner wrote a pamphlet of weighty import. It reveals +an expression of the utmost moment, though it has been heeded least by +those whom it concerns as much as life and death; or, rather, it has +not been understood at all, because these natures are more attracted +by the trivial. Its most impressive confirmation is to-day furnished +by art, above all else by actual representations on the boards that +typify the world. “Parsifal” also is such a symbol, and in so large a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>world-historical and even metaphysical sense, that by it the stage +has become a place dedicated to the proclamation of highest truth and +morality. We have seen the grotesque anti-Semitic movement and the +lamentable persecution of the Jews. What could inflict more injury to +our higher nature, to our real culture? And yet in this lies concealed +a deep instinct of a purely moral nature. It does not, however, +concern merely that people whom the course of events has cast among +other nations, still much less the individual man, who, without choice +or intention, has been born among, and therefore forms a part of them. +It involves the secret of the world-historical problems that struggle +so long with each other until the right one triumphs. To these +problems, with his incomparable depth of soul, the whole life and work +of our artist is devoted as long as he breathes and lives, moved by +the holiest feeling for his nation, for the time—yes, for mankind, in +whose service he as real “poet and prophet” stands with every fibre of +his nature and works with every beat of his heart.</p> + +<p>That unnoticed, misunderstood expression <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>at the close of the paper by +“K. Freigedank,” in 1850, was this: “One more Jew we must name, who +appeared among us as a writer, namely, Boerne. He stepped out of his +individual position as Jew, seeking deliverance among us. He did not +find it, and must have become conscious that he would only find it in +our own transformation also into genuine men. To return in common with +us to a purer humanity, however, signifies, for the Jew, above all +else, that he shall cease to be a Jew. Boerne had fulfilled this. But +it was precisely Boerne who taught us how this deliverance cannot be +achieved in cool comfort and listless ease; but that it involves for +them, as for us, toil, distress, anxiety, and abundance of pain and +sorrow. Strive for this by self-abandonment and the regenerating work +of salvation, and then we are united and without difference! But, +remember that your deliverance depends upon the deliverance of +Ahasrer—his destruction!”</p> + +<p>No other people has received those cast out by all the world with such +sacredly pure, humane feeling as the Germans. Will they then at last +find their deliverance among <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>us from the curse of homelessness, their +new existence by absorption into a larger, richer, deeper whole? It is +this question which animates and moves Wagner; but by no means in the +sense of a casual and shifting quarrel among different races or even +religious parties. On the contrary, he feels that this question is a +life-question of the time, approaching its final solution. It is +not the Jews, however, but the Jewish spirit, that represents +the antagonist—that spirit which at first, after the birth of +Christianity, and aided by the filth of Roman civilization, with its +inherent evil germs, this people devoted to a world-historic power of +evil; and which, even in its most brilliant revelation, in Spinoza, as +has been most clearly demonstrated from his own works by Schopenhauer, +seeks only its own advantage, to which it sacrifices the whole, but +does not recognize the whole to which it must lovingly sacrifice +itself.</p> + +<p>Such concrete, actual historical developments Wagner regards not as a +hindrance, but as the external support of his art-work. For a poetic +composition requires some connection with a time or space to make +perceptible to the senses <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>its view of the advancing development of +the mind of humanity. So it is that Kleist’s “Arminius-battle” does +not in the least refer to the ancient Romans, but to the degenerate +race, the mixture of tiger and ape, as Voltaire has called them, and +in this symbol of art he strengthened the determination of his people +until in the battles of nations it conquered. Wagner even transfers +the scene of this conflict into those distant centuries in which the +struggle between Christians and Infidels was very fierce, while that +between Jews and Occidentals had not yet even in existence. Like the +real artist, he also uses only individual phases of the present time, +which, it is quite true, bear but too close a relation to the +character of that Arabian world that once engaged in conflict +with Christianity for the world’s control, and thus proves that +this question, least of all is a passing “Question of time and +controversy,” but is one of the ever-present questions of humanity +which has again come to the front in a specially vivid and urgent +form. His inborn feeling for the purely human, which we have seen +displayed with such touching warmth in all his doings, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>that has +created for us the genuine human forms of a “Flying Dutchman,” +“Tannhaeuser,” “Lohengrin,” and “Siegfried” is true to itself this +time, indeed this time more than ever. He anticipates the struggling +aspiration. He sees the form already appear on the surface, and only +seeks a pure human sympathy to show the true and full solution which +denies to neither of the disputing parties the God-given right of +existence.</p> + +<p>Klingsor, the sorcerer, representative of everything hostile to the +Holy Grail and its knights, summons Kundry, the maid, subject to his +witchcraft—in other words to that evil moral law which the individual +alone is unable to resist—and reproachfully says:</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox2"><p>Shame! that with the brood of knights,<br /> +Thou should’st like a beast be maintained!</p></div> + +<p>The German class-pride which regarded the Jew as a body servant is +strongly enough characterized and our own ancient injustice still more +sharply expressed in his words:</p> + +<div class="centerbox7 bbox2"><p>“Thus may the whole body of knights<br /> +In deadly conflict each other destroy.”</p></div> + +<p>Thus Wagner reveals still more clearly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>than in the “Flying Dutchman” +with his “fabulous homesickness” an absolute trait and the inner view +of that sentiment which here longs for salvation, to be mortal with +the mortals. At the sight of the nobler qualities and real human +dignity which Kundry for the first time in her life sees in the person +of Parsifal, who has been born again through the recognition of the +truth, she breaks down completely and with the only word that she now +knows, “serve! serve!” she throws all evil selfishness away. For the +first time it is now fully disclosed how deeply after all, and with +what intensity those of alien race and religion serve the ideas, not +so much of our own similarly narrow contracted race-life, but those +ideas which have transformed us from a mere nation to an historical +part of humanity that guards the world’s eternal treasure in this Holy +Grail, as its last and grandest possession.</p> + +<p>How fully is Goethe’s saying “the power that ever seeks the evil and +yet produces good” realized. Kundry is the messenger of the same Holy +Grail against which her lord and master conducts the fatal war. To all +distant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>lands it is she that brings the higher element of culture, +the purer humanity which she gets from the Grail and its life. Though +the peculiar portraiture of Kundry is drawn from his own experience +of the present, the poet has gone still further and pictured that +omnipresent spirit of evil which can never by simple participation in +the sorrows of others gain knowledge of the perpetual sorrow of the +world. Klingsor summons from the chaotic, primeval foundation of the +world, where good and evil still lie commingled, the blind instinct of +nature, as that wonderful element in the world’s history which must +everywhere be at once servant of the devil and messenger of grace, +with the all-comprehensive words:</p> + +<div class="centerbox7 bbox2"><p>“Thy master calls thee, nameless one;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Primeval devil! rose of hell!</span><br /> +Herodias thou wast and what more?<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gundryggia there, Kundry here!”</span></p></div> + +<p>It is the feminine Ahasrer, present in all ages and spheres, in our +time revealing its tangible form in the ruling spirit of Judaism. As +her sinful nature at last is overcome by Parsifal’s purity, and she +humbly approaches him to receive the baptism that is awarded to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>every +one who believes and acts in the spirit of pure humanity, he +proclaims, when he has withstood her temptation and thereby has +regained from Klingsor the holy lance of the Grail, the impending +catastrophe by tracing with the lance the sign of the cross and +saying:</p> + +<div class="centerbox6 bbox2"><p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">“With this sign thy spell I banish!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Even as it heals the wound</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which with it thou hast dealt—</span><br /> +So may thy delusive splendor in grief and ruin fall.”</p></div> + +<p>When in the last century, Roman Catholicism had become sensual and +worldly through Jesuitism, and Protestantism had put on either the +straight-jacket of orthodoxy or had been diluted with rationalism, +there came to the surface, outside of the religious sects, secret +societies, such as the Freemasons. In their well-meant but flat +humanitarian idealism, those strangers to our race and religion, the +hitherto despised Jews, also took active part and what “delusive +splendor” have they not since then provided for themselves in +literature and art and general ways of life? A single actual +resurrection of that sign in which we Germans alone have attained +world-culture and world-importance has “in grief and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>ruin destroyed” +all this, and we hope in truth that we are now approaching a new epoch +of our spiritual as well as moral existence. Just as, out of the first +awakening of a pure human feeling such as Christianity brought us, +there rose in contrast to priesthood a work like the “Magic Flute,” +child-like, artless but devoutly pure and full of feeling, so now +there resounds like the mighty watchword of this full national +resurrection, Wagner’s “Parsifal.”</p> + +<p>Let us see how the poem itself has done this and what it signifies.</p> + +<p>According to the legend of the Holy Grail, already artistically +resurrected by the master in “Lohengrin,” the chalice from which +Christ had drank with His disciples at the last supper, and in which +His blood had been received at the cross, had been brought into the +western world by a host of angels at a time of most serious danger to +the pure gospel of Christianity. King Titurel had erected for it the +temple and castle of Monsalvat in the north of Spain, where knights of +absolute purity of mind guard it and receive spiritual as well as +bodily nourishment from its miraculous powers. This sanctuary can only +be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>found by the pure. The king keeps the holy lance, which had opened +the Savior’s wound, and with it holds in check the hostile heathen. +Klingsor, the sorcerer, on the southern decline of the mountain, rules +the latter. He had likewise once been seized with remorse for his +sins, his “pain of untamed longings and the most terrible pressure +of hellish desires,” and had mutilated himself and then seeking +deliverance had wandered to the Holy Grail. Amfortas however, +Titurel’s son, now king of the Grail, perceived his impurity and +sternly turned away the evil sorcerer, who only seeks release for +worldly gain.</p> + +<p>Angered thereat, the latter now contrives through the agency of +Kundry, who appears in the highest and most bewitching beauty, +encircling the king himself with the snares of passion, to obtain +power over him and to wrest from him the lance with which he wounds +him. This wound will burn until the holy lance shall be regained. This +then is the supreme deed to be accomplished. The Grail itself at one +time has proclaimed during the keenest pangs of the suffering king, +that it shall be regained by him who, deficient in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>worldly knowledge, +shall from pure sympathy with his terrible sufferings recognize the +sufferings of humanity and through such blissful faith bring to it new +redemption. The body of humanity, which Christianity had called into +new life, had been invaded by a consuming poison and only so far as by +the full unconsciousness of innocence, its genius itself was +re-awakened, was it possible to again expel the poison.</p> + +<p>In the forest of the castle old Gurnemanz and two shield-bearers lie +slumbering at early dawn. The solemn morning-call of the Grail is +heard and they all rise to pray and then await the sick king who is to +take a soothing bath in the near lake. All medicinal herbs have proved +useless. Kundry shortly after suddenly appears in savage, strange +attire and proffers balm from Arabia. The king is carried forward. We +listen to his lamentations. He thanks Kundry, who, however, roughly +declines all thanks. The shield-bearers show indignation at this but +are reprimanded by Gurnemanz who says: “She serves the Grail and her +zeal with which she now helps us and herself at the same time is +in atonement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>for former sins.” When she is missing too long, a +misfortune surely is in store for the knights. She preserves for them +by the opposing forces of her nature the true and good in their +consciousness and purpose. With that he tells them Klingsor has +established on the other side of the mountain, toward the land of the +Arabian infidels, a magic garden with seductively beautiful women to +menace them by enticing the knights there and ruining them. In the +attempt to destroy this harbor of sin the king had carried away the +wound and lost the lance which, according to the revelation of the +Grail, only “the simple fool knowing by compassion” could recover.</p> + +<p>Suddenly cries of lamentation resound in the sacred forest. A wild +swan slowly descends and dies. Shield-bearers bring forward a handsome +youth whose harmless, innocent demeanor inspires involuntary interest. +He is recognized by the arrows he carries as the murderer of the bird +which had been flying over the lake and which had seemed to the king, +about to take his bath, as a happy omen. Gurnemanz upbraids him for +this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>deed of cruelty. The swan is doubly sacred to the Grail. It is a +swan also that conducts Lohengrin to the relief of innocence! “I did +not know,” Parsifal replies. The universal lamentation however touches +his heart and he breaks his bow and arrows. He knows not whence he +came, knows neither father nor name. The only thing he knows is that +he had a mother named “Sad-heart.” “In forest and wild meadows we were +at home.” Gurnemanz perceives however by his manner and appearance +that he is of noble race, and Kundry, who has seen and heard +everything in her constant wanderings confirms the impression.</p> + +<div class="centerbox7 bbox2"><p>“Thus he was the born king<br /> +Who had the aspect of a lordly youth,”</p></div> + +<p>says Chiron to Faust of the young Herakles. As his father had been +slain in battle, the mother had brought him up in the wilderness a +stranger to arms—foolish deed—mad woman! Parsifal relates that he +had followed “glittering men” and after the manner of the vigorous +primitive peoples, had led the wild life of nature, following only +natural instincts. Gurnemanz reproaches him for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>running away from his +mother and when Kundry states that she is dead, Parsifal furiously +seizes her by the throat. It is the first feeling for a being other +than himself, his first sorrow. Again Gurnemanz upbraids him for his +renewed violence but remembering the prophecy and the finding of the +secret passage to the castle, he believes that there may be nobler +qualities in him. For this reason he speaks to him of the Grail, +which, now that the king has left the bath, is to provide them anew +with nourishment. Upon secret paths they reach the castle of the Grail +which only he of pure mind can find. The knights solemnly assemble in +a hall with a lofty dome. Beyond Amfortas’ couch of pain, the voice of +Titurel is heard as from a vaulted niche, admonishing them to uncover +the Grail. Thus the dead genii of the world admonish the living to +expect life! Amfortas however cries out in grievous agony that he, the +most unholy of them all, should perform the holiest act, that in an +unsanctified time the sanctuary should be seen. The knights however +refer him to the promised deliverance and so begins the solemn +unveiling for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>distribution of the last love-feast of the Savior, +whose cup is then drawn forth, resplendent in fiery purple. Parsifal +stands stupefied before this consecration of the human although he +also made a violent movement toward his heart when the king gave forth +his passionate cry of anguish. But the torments of guilt which produce +such sorrows he has not yet comprehended. Gurnemanz therefore angrily +ejects him through a narrow side-door of the temple to resume his ways +to his wild boyish deeds. He had first to experience the torments of +passion and deliverance from the same in his own person.</p> + +<p>The second act takes us to Klingsor’s magic castle. Klingsor sees the +fool advance, joyous and childish, and summons Kundry, the guilty one, +who rests in the dead lethargy of destiny, and in sorrow and anger +only follows his command. She longs no more for life, but seeks +deliverance in the eternal sleep. She has laughed at the bleeding head +of John, laughed when she beheld the Savior bleeding at the cross, and +is now condemned to laugh forever and to ensnare all in her net of +passion: “Whoever can resist thee, will release <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>thee,” says Klingsor, +the father of evil. “Make thy trial upon the boy.” The youth +approaches. The fallen knights seek to hinder his progress, but he +easily vanquishes them all, and stands victorious upon the battlement +of the castle, gazing in childish astonishment at all this unknown +silent splendor below. Soon, however, the scene becomes animated. The +ravishing enchantresses appear in garments of flowers, and each seeks +to win the handsome youth for herself. He remains, however, toward +them what he is—a fool. Suddenly he hears a voice. He stands +astonished, for he heard the name with which in times long past his +mother had called her hearts-blood; it is the one thing he knows. The +beauties disappear. The voice takes on form. It is Kundry, no longer +of repulsive, savage appearance, but as a “lightly draped woman of +superb beauty.” She explains to him his name:</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox2"><p>“Thee, foolish innocent, I called Fal parsi—<br /> +Thee, innocent fool, Parsifal!”</p></div> + +<p>She tells him of his mother’s love, of his mother’s death. What he, a +giddy fool, has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>thus far done in life, suddenly overwhelms him as +well as the thought that despair at his loss has even killed his +mother. He sinks deeply wounded at the feet of the seductive woman; it +is the first soul-despair in his life. She, however, with diabolic +persuasiveness, avails herself of this to overcome his manly heart by +her only way, the painful, longing sensation for his mother, and +offers him the consolation which love gives, “as a blessing, the +mother’s last greeting, the first kiss of love.” At this he rises +quickly in great alarm and presses his hands against his heart. +“Amfortas! the wound burns in my heart!” The miracle of knowledge has +happened to him, and in a moment has changed his whole nature. It is +regeneration by grace, recognized from the earliest time as the sense +of all religion. He now experiences the trembling of guilty desires +that burn within our breasts, and understands also the mystery of +salvation which he can now obtain for the unhappy King of the Grail. +Out of the depths of his soul he hears the supplications of the Grail:</p> + +<div class="centerbox10 bbox2"><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>“Redeem me, save me<br /> +From hands defiled by sin!”</p></div> + +<p>The evil demon of voluptuousness displays all its charms. Astonishment +gives way more and more to passion for this pure one, but he sinks +into deep and deeper reverie until a second long, burning kiss +suddenly and completely awakens him. Then, having gained +“world-knowledge,” he sees into the deep abyss of this being full of +guilt and penitence, and impetuously repulses the temptress. She +herself, however, is now overpowered by the passion which she has +sought by all the means of temptation to instil into the innocent +youth, and fancies she sees in him again the Savior whom she had once +laughed at. She tells him with heartrending truth her inextinguishable +suffering, her eternal sorrow, her lamentation full of the laughter of +derision, the whole wide emptiness of her misery, and implores him to +be merciful, and let her weep for a single hour upon his pure +bosom—for a single hour to be his. But the answer comes like the +voice of an avenging God, terribly stern and annihilating:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><div class="centerbox6 bbox2"><p>“To all eternity thou wouldst be damned with me,<br /> +If for one hour I should forget my mission.”</p></div> + +<p>At last she seeks, like the serpent in Paradise, to allure him with +the promise that in her arms he will attain to godhood. He remains, +however, true to himself. Roused now to furious rage, she curses him. +He shall never find Amfortas, but shall wander aimlessly. Klingsor +then appears, and puts his power to the utmost trial by brandishing +his sacred lance, but Parsifal’s pure faith banishes the false charm. +The lance remains suspended above his head. Kundry sinks down crying +aloud. The magic garden is turned to a desert. Parsifal calls out:</p> + +<div class="centerbox9 bbox2"><p class="center">“Thou knowest where alone thou canst find me again.”</p></div> + +<p>That true womanly love roused for the first time in her will also show +this desolate heart the path to eternal love. And Parsifal had finally +shown her, the pitiable one, the only thing he could—pity!</p> + +<p>The last act takes us once more into the domain of the sacred Grail +which Parsifal since then has been longingly seeking. Gurnemanz, now +grown to an old man, lives as a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>hermit near a forest spring. From out +the hedges he hears a groan. “So mournful a tone comes not from the +beast,” he says, familiar as he is with the lamenting sounds of sinful +humanity. It is Kundry, whom he carries completely benumbed out of the +thicket. This fierce and fearful woman had not been seen nor thought +of for a long time. Her wildness now however lies only in the +accustomed serpent-like appearance, otherwise she gives forth but that +one cry “to serve! to serve!” Whoever has not comprehended the highest +and most actual elements of our life when they assert themselves, is +condemned to silence. Only by silent acts and conduct can she attest +the growing inner participation in the higher and nobler human deeds. +She enters the hut close by and busies herself. When she returns with +the water pitcher she perceives a knight, clad in sombre armor, who +approaches with hesitating steps and drooping head. Gurnemanz greets +him kindly but admonishes him to lay aside his weapons in the sacred +domain and above all on this the most sacred of days—Good Friday. +With that he recognizes him. It is Parsifal, now a mature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>and serious +man. “In paths of error and of suffering have I come,” he says. He is +at once saluted by Gurnemanz who recognizes the sacred lance as +“master” for now he can hope to bring relief to the suffering king of +the Grail whose laments Parsifal had once listened to without being +moved to action. He learns through the faithful old man of the supreme +distress and gradual disappearance of the holy knights. Amfortas has +refused to uncover the life-preserving Grail and prefers to die rather +than linger in pain and anguish, and thus the strength of the knights +has died away. Titurel is already dead, a “man like others,” and +Gurnemanz has hidden himself in solitude in this corner of the forest. +Parsifal is overcome with grief. He, he alone has caused all this. He +has for so long a time not perceived the path to final salvation. +Kundry now washes his feet “to take from him the dust of his long +wanderings,” while Gurnemanz refreshes his brow and asks him to +accompany him to the Grail which Amfortas is to uncover to-day for the +consecration of the dead Titurel. Kundry then anoints his feet and +Gurnemanz his head that he may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>yet to-day be saluted as king and he +himself performs his first act as Savior by baptizing Kundry out of +the sacred forest spring. Now for the first time can she shed tears. +Thereby even the fields and meadows appear as if sprinkled with sacred +dew, for according to the ancient legend, nature also celebrates on +Good Friday the redemption which mankind gained by Christ’s +love-sacrifice and which changes the sinner’s tears of remorse to +tears of joy.</p> + +<p>In the castle of the Grail the knights are conducting Titurel’s +funeral. Amfortas, who in his sufferings longs for death as the one +act of mercy, falls into a furious frenzy of despair when the knights +urge him to uncover the Grail which alone gives life, so that they all +retreat in terror. Then at the last moment Parsifal appears and +touches the wound with the lance that alone can close it. He praises +the sufferings of Amfortas that have given to him, the timorous fool, +“Compassion’s supreme strength and purest wisdom’s power” and assumes +the king’s functions. The Grail glows resplendent. Titurel rises in +his coffin and bestows blessing from the dome. A white dove <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>descends +upon Parsifal’s head as he swings the Grail. Kundry with her eyes +turned toward him sinks dying to the ground while Amfortas and +Gurnemanz do him homage as king and a chorus from above sings:</p> + +<div class="centerbox10 bbox2"><p>“Miracle of Supreme blessing,<br /> +Redemption to the Redeemer!”</p></div> + +<p>The holy Grail, the symbol of the Savior, has at last been rescued +from hands defiled by guilt—has been redeemed.</p> + +<p>Such is the short sketch of the grand as well as profoundly +significant dramatic action of the artist’s last work! It is easy to +see that the figures and actions are but a parable. They symbolize the +ideas and periods of human development. Nay more, the phases and +powers of human nature are here disclosed to view. It is the inner +history of the world which ever repeats itself and by which mankind is +always rejuvenated. The pure and restored genius of the nation arises +anew to its real nature. Its lance heals the wound which we have +received at the hands of the other—the evil and foreign genius. It is +this pure genius which all, even the dead and the dying, hail as King, +and do homage to new deeds of blessing. Next to religion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>itself, +it was art which more than all else constantly brought to the +consciousness of humanity the ideals which originated with the former, +and here art even entered literally into the service of divine truth. +The lance, which signifies the mastery over the spirits, was wrested +from the dominating powers. Serious harm indeed and spiritual +starvation have followed as the consequence of our falling in every +sphere of life under the control of the elements that frivolously play +with our supreme ideals. Art, which springs from the purest genius of +mankind, seems destined now to be the first to regain the lance and +heal the wasting wound. For is not religion divided into warring +factions and science into special cliques, jealous of each other? The +church does not prevail in the struggle against the evil powers here +or elsewhere, and has long ceased to satisfy the mind. The increasing +tendency to pursue special studies creates indifference for such +supreme ethical questions. It is art alone that has gained new +strength from within itself. We have seen it in portraying this one +mighty artist, in the irresistible force, in the longing and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>hoping, +in the indestructible, faithful affection for his people, which must +dominate all who have retained the feeling for the purely human. +Should not art then be destined to awaken, among the cultured at +least, a vivid renewal of the consciousness of the sublime for which +we are fitted and in whose slumbering embrace we are held? Eternal +truth ever selects its own means and ways to reveal itself anew to +mankind. “The ways of the Lord are marvelous!” It aims only at the +accomplishment of its object. It has at heart only our ever wandering +and suffering race. Those who judged without prejudice tell us that +this “Parsifal” appeared to them as a mode of divine worship, and that +the festival-play-house was not only no longer a theatre, but that even +all evil demons had been banished from this edifice, and all good ones +summoned within its walls. Would that this were so, and that we could +hope in the future that the painful and severe trials of the artist’s +long life, which gave to this genius also “compassion’s supreme +strength and purest wisdom’s power,” would be blessed with abundant +fruit, with the full measure of consummation of his own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>hopes, and +the goal so ardently struggled for attained, for his as well as for +our own welfare.</p> + +<p>However this may be, and whatever the future may have in store for us, +this “Parsifal” is a call to the nation grander than any one has +uttered before. It was foreordained, and could only be accomplished by +an art which is the most unmixed product of that culture originating +with Christianity; more, it is a product of the religious emotions of +humanity itself. Just as our master said of Beethoven’s grand art, +that it had rescued the human soul from deep degradation, so no artist +after him has presented this supreme and purest spirit of our nation +as sanctified and strengthened by Christianity, purer and clearer +than he who had already confessed in early years that he could not +understand the spirit of music otherwise than as love! With “Parsifal” +he has created for us a new period of development, which is to lead us +deeper into our own hearts and to a purer humanity, and thereby give +us possibly the strength to overcome everything false and foreign +which has found its way into our life, and elevate us to a sense of +the real object and goal of life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p><p>Richard Wagner, more than any other contemporary, as we conceive, has +re-awakened in the sphere of the intellectual life of his German +people its inborn feeling for the grand and profound, for the pure and +the sublime—in one word, for the ideal. May we who follow prove this +in life by gratefully welcoming this grand deed! Then Lohengrin, who +sought the wife that believed in him, need not again return to his +dreary solitude. He will be forever relieved of his longing for union +with the heart of his people. Then too it can be said of him, this +genius who throughout a long life “in paths of error and of suffering +came” as of all who live their life in love for the whole: “Redemption +to the Redeemer.”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p><a name="Death" id="Death"></a>The biography of Dr. Nohl closes at this point. What remains to be +told is shrouded in sadness. It is but a record of suffering and +death. In the autumn of 1882, the great master went to Italy, where +his fame had already preceded him, and where in the very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>home of +Italian opera his works had been given with great success, to seek +rest and improvement of health. He made his home at the Palazzo +Vendramin in Venice, where he was joined by Liszt and other friends. +With the help of an orchestra and chorus, he was rehearsing some of +his earlier works and was also engaged in remodeling his symphony. His +restless energy was manifest even in these days of recreation. The +<i>Neue Freie Presse</i> states that he was composing a new musical drama, +called “Die Buesser,” based upon a Brahminical legend and having for +its motive the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Filippo +Filippi, the Italian critic, also says that he was engaged upon a new +opera, with a Grecian subject, in which “it would undoubtedly have +been shown that his genius, turning from the misty fables of the +Germans to the bright and serene poetry of ancient Greece, would have +drawn nearer to our musical life and feeling, which is clear and +characteristically melodious.” Whatever may have been his tasks it was +destined they should not be achieved. “Parsifal” was his swan song. +It was during the representation of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>this opera that his asthmatic +trouble grew so intense as to necessitate his departure for Italy and +regular medical treatment. During the week preceding his death he was +in excellent spirits, and greatly enjoyed the carnival with his family +and friends. On the 12th of February he even visited his banker and +drew sufficient money to cover the expenses of a projected trip into +southern Italy, with his son, Siegfried. On the morning of the 13th he +devoted his time as usual to composition and playing. He did not +emerge from his room until 2 o’clock when he complained of feeling +very fatigued and unwell. At 3 o’clock he went to dinner with the +family, but just as they were assembled at table and the soup was +being served he suddenly sprang up, cried out “Mir ist sehr schlecht,” +(I feel very badly) and fell back dead from an attack of heart +disease.</p> + +<p>The remains were conveyed along the Grand Canal, amid the most +impressive pageantry of grief, to the railroad station, and thence +transported by a special funeral train to Baireuth. The public +obsequies were very simple and impressive, consisting only of the +performance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>of the colossal funeral march from “Siegfried,” speeches +by friends and a funeral song by the Liederkranz of Baireuth, after +which the cortege moved to the tolling of bells to the grave which at +his request was prepared behind his favorite villa “Wahnfried,” which +had been the scene of his great labors. The Lutheran funeral service +was pronounced and the body of the great master was laid to its final +rest.</p> + +<p>The news of his death was received by Angelo Neumann, the director of +the Richard Wagner Theatre, on the 14th, at Aachen, just as a +performance of the “Rheingold” was about to commence. The director +addressed the audience as follows:</p> + +<p>“Not only the German people, the German nation, the whole world mourns +to-day by the coffin of one of its greatest sons. All in this assembly +share our grief and pain. But nevertheless we alone can fully measure +the fearful loss which the Richard Wagner Theatre has met with through +this event. The love and care of the master for this institution can +find no better expression than in a letter, written <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>by his own hand, +received by me this evening, which closes with these words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>‘May all the blessings of Heaven follow you! My best +greetings, which I beg you to distribute according to +desert.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 6em;">‘Sincerely yours,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 2em;">‘<span class="smcap">Richard Wagner.</span></span><br /> +‘<span class="smcap">Venice, Palazzo Vendramin</span>, February 11, 1883.’</p></div> + +<p>“Now we are orphaned—in the Master everything is as if dead for us! I +can only add, we shall never cease to labor according to the wishes +and the spirit of this great composer; never shall we forget the +teachings which we were so happy as to receive from his lips and pen.”</p> + +<p>A correspondent, writing from Leipzig at the time of his death, +contributes some interesting information as to his method of +composition and the literary treasures he had left behind him. He +says:</p> + +<p>“Richard Wagner composed, like all great musicians, in his brain, and +not, as is often imagined, at the piano. It is a delight to examine a +manuscript composition from his hand—to see how complete and +well-rounded, how ripe and finished everything sprung from his head. +Changes are very rarely found in such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>a manuscript; even in the +boldest harmonies and most difficult combinations, not a slip of the +pen occurs. In the entire score of ‘Tannhaeuser,’ which Wagner wrote +out himself from beginning to end in chemical ink, not one correction +is to be found. One note followed the other with easy rapidity. It was +his habit to write the musical sketch in pencil—in Baireuth, +music-paper was to be found in every corner of ‘Wahnfried,’ on which +while wandering about the house during sleepless nights, musing and +planning, he made brief jottings, often merely a new idea in +instrumentation. The rest was in his head; the vocal parts were added +to the score without hesitation, and never needed correction. For the +orchestra he employed three staves, one of which was reserved for +special notes, as, for instance, when a particular instrument was to +enter. From these sketches the vocal parts could be written out +immediately, although the instrumentation was by no means finished. +Such sketches were carefully collected by Frau Cosima, who tried for a +time to fix the notes permanently by drawing the pen through them. +This task was, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>soon abandoned. In its stead she grasped the +idea of making a collection of Wagner’s manuscripts, to be deposited +in ‘Wahnfried.’ For many years she has conducted an extended +correspondence for the purpose of obtaining, for love or money, the +scattered treasures, and has, in a great measure—principally through +the use of the latter persuasive—succeeded.</p> + +<p>“Wagner had written his memoirs, which are not only finished, but +already printed. The entire edition consists of <i>only three copies</i>, +one of which was in the possession of the author, the second an +heirloom of Seigfried’s, and the third in the hands of Franz Liszt. +This autobiography fills four volumes, and was printed at Basel, every +proof-sheet being jealously destroyed, so that there are actually but +three copies in existence. To the nine volumes of his works already +published (Leipzig, E. W. Fritzsch, 1871-’73) will be added a tenth, +containing brief essays and sketches of a philosophical character, and +(it is to be hoped) the four volumes of the autobiography.”</p> + +<p>After a life of strife such as few men have to encounter; of hatred +more intense and love <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>more devoted than usually falls to the fate of +humanity; of restless energy, indomitable courage, passionate devotion +to the loftiest standards of art and unquestioning allegiance to the +“God that dwelt within his breast,” he rests quietly under the trees +of Villa “Wahnfried.” He lived to see his work accomplished, his +mission fulfilled, his victory won and his fame blown about the world +despite the malice of enemies and cabals of critics. As the outcome +of his stormy life we have music clothed in a new body, animated +with a new spirit. He has lifted art out of its vulgarity and +grossness. The future will prize him as we to-day prize his great +predecessor—Beethoven.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">G. P. U.</span></p> + +<hr class="large" /><div class="bbox2 centerbox11"> +<p class="center"><i><span style="font-weight: bold;">“Stirring events are graphically told in this series of</span></i><br /> +<i><span style="font-weight: bold;">romances.”</span>—Home Journal, New York.</i></p> + +<h2>TIMES OF GUSTAF ADOLF.</h2> + +<h4><span class="smcap">An Historical Romance of the Exciting<br /> +Times of the Thirty Years’ War.</span></h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">From the Original Swedish.</span></h4> + +<h3>BY Z. TOPELIUS.</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>12mo, extra cloth, black and gilt. Price $1.25.</i></p> + +<p>“A vivid, romantic picturing of one of the most fascinating periods of +human history.”—<i>The Times, Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>“Every scene, every character, every detail, is instinct with life.... +From beginning to end we are aroused, amused, absorbed.”—<i>The +Tribune, Chicago.</i></p> + +<p>“The author has a genuine enthusiasm for his subject, and stirs up his +readers’ hearts in an exciting manner. The old times live again for +us, and besides the interest of great events, there is the interest of +humble souls immersed in their confusions. ‘Scott, the delight of +glorious boys,’ will find a rival in these Surgeon Stories.”—<i>The +Christian Register, Boston.</i></p> + +<p>“It is difficult to give an idea of the vividness of the descriptions +in these stories without making extracts which would be entirely too +long. It is safe to say, however, that no one could possibly fail to +be carried along by the torrent of fiery narration which marks these +wonderful tales.... Never was the marvelous deviltry of the Jesuits so +portrayed. Never were the horrors of war painted in more lurid +colors.”—<i>The Press, Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>“The style is simple and agreeable.... There is a natural +truthfulness, which appears to be the characteristic of all these +Northern authors. Nothing appears forced; nothing indicates that the +writer ever thought of style, yet the style is such as could not well +be improved upon. He is evidently thoroughly imbued with the loftiest +ideas, and the men and women whom he draws with the novelist’s +facility and art are as admirable as his manner of interweaving their +lives with their country’s battles and achievements.”—<i>The Graphic, +New York.</i></p> + +<p>Sold by all booksellers, or mailed postpaid, on receipt of price, by +the publishers.</p> + +<h3>JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG, & CO.,</h3> +<h4>117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill.</h4></div> + +<hr class="large" /><div class="bbox2 centerbox11"> +<p class="center"><i><span style="font-weight: bold;">“A model Cook Book.”</span>—Express, Buffalo.</i></p> + +<h2>NONPAREIL COOK BOOK.</h2> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Containing a Large Number of New Recipes,<br /> +many from English, French and German<br /> +Cooks.</span></h4> + +<h3>BY MRS. A. G. M.</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>12mo, 432 pages, with blank interleaves. Price $1.50.</i></p> + +<p>“It seems an ideal cook book.”—<i>Free-Press, Detroit.</i></p> + +<p>“The receipts are admirable, and are clearly written.”—<i>The Day, +Baltimore.</i></p> + +<p>“A comprehensive and common-sense kitchen and household +guide.”—<i>Transcript, Boston.</i></p> + +<p>“The best cook book we have seen for valuable French and German +recipes.”—<i>Sunday Herald, Rochester.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume is most admirable in its arrangement, and many excellent +novelties have been introduced.”—<i>The Argus, Albany, N. Y.</i></p> + +<p>“It is an excellent compilation of the best and most economical +recipes.... A common-sense cook book in all respects.”—<i>Globe, +Boston.</i></p> + +<p>“Everything about the book indicates that the author is intelligent in +cooking, in nursing, and in housekeeping generally.”—<i>Bulletin, +Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>“With this volume in the kitchen or on the table of the housewife, +there would be no excuse for tasteless or indigestible +dishes.”—<i>Journal, Chicago.</i></p> + +<p>“We have at last a cook book in which we fail to find one single +demand for baking powders, which stamps it at once as desirable. The +same sensible determination to prevent dyspepsia, while giving good, +wholesome and delicious cookery, is noticeable throughout the +volume.”—<i>Telegraph, Pittsburgh.</i></p> + +<p>Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the +price, by the publishers.</p> + +<h3>JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG, & CO.,</h3> +<h4>117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill.</h4></div> + +<hr class="large" /><div class="bbox2 centerbox11"> +<p class="center"><i><span style="font-weight: bold;">“Instructive, assuring, wise, helpful.”</span></i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>—Christian Advocate, New York.</i></span></p> + +<h2>THE THEORIES OF DARWIN</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">And Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion,<br /> +and Morality.</span></h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Translated from the German of</span></h4> + +<h3>RUDOLF SCHMID,</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">By G. A. Zimmermann, Ph.D., with an Introduction by<br /> +the Duke of Argyll.</span></h4> + +<p class="center"><i>12mo, 410 pages. Price $2.00.</i></p> + +<p>“Learning, fairness, love of truth, and vital earnestness are +everywhere manifest in this work.”—<i>Christian Union, New York.</i></p> + +<p>“This book contains the fullest exposition we have seen of the rise +and history of the abstract Darwinian theories, combined with a +critical explanation of their practical application.”—<i>Observer, New +York.</i></p> + +<p>“The work is full of ingenious and subtle thought, and the author, who +is evidently a sincere Christian, finds in Mr. Darwin’s theories +nothing inconsistent with the belief of the Scriptures.”—<i>Bulletin, +Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>“I have carefully read the ‘Theories of Darwin,’ by Rudolf Schmid. I +regard the scientific portion of the book, being about two-thirds of +the whole, as the best reasoned and the most philosophic work which we +have on organic development, and on Darwinism.”—<i>President James +McCosh, Princeton College.</i></p> + +<p>“Those who have not time or patience to read the literature of +evolution, yet desire to form a just conception of it, will find Mr. +Schmid’s work of great value. It bears the imprint of an unprejudiced +judgment, which may err, but not blindly, and a scholarly mind. 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The literary work is +well done.”—<i>Globe, Boston.</i></p> + +<p>“They are the writings of a man of culture and refined taste. There is +a polish in his work, even in the rough materials that army officers +find in our far Southwest, among Indians and white frontiersmen, that +reminds the reader of Irving’s sketches.”—<i>Bulletin, Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>“They are written with a care and a nice precision in the use of words +quite rare in books of this character.... The author brings to our +notice phases of character practically unknown to Eastern +civilization, and withal so graphically portrayed as to give the +impression of actual life.... The book is worthy of attentive +reading.”—<i>The American, Philadelphia.</i></p> + +<p>Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, postpaid, on receipt of price, by +the publishers.</p> + +<h3>JANSEN, M<small>C</small>CLURG, & CO.,</h3> +<h4>117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill.</h4></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Footnote:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The letter appears in the book entitled “Mosaics,” +published in Leipzig, 1881.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Note:</span></h3> + +<p>Minor changes have been made to regularize punctuation and to correct +typesetters’ errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain +true to the author’s words and intent.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Wagner, by Louis Nohl + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF WAGNER *** + +***** This file should be named 31526-h.htm or 31526-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/2/31526/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Life of Wagner + Biographies of Musicians + +Author: Louis Nohl + +Translator: George P. Upton + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31526] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF WAGNER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS._ + + LIFE OF WAGNER + + BY + + LOUIS NOHL + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN + + BY + + GEORGE P. UPTON. + + "_Who better than the poet can guide?_" + + CHICAGO: + JANSEN, McCLURG & COMPANY. + 1884. + + + + +BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSICIANS. + +I. + +LIFE OF MOZART, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +II. + +LIFE OF BEETHOVEN, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +III. + +LIFE OF HAYDN, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. Price +$1.25. + +IV. + +LIFE OF WAGNER, From the German of Dr. LOUIS NOHL. With Portrait. +Price $1.25. + +JANSEN, McCLURG & CO., PUBLISHERS. + + COPYRIGHT + BY JANSEN, McCLURG & CO., + A. D. 1883. + + + + +[Illustration: RICHARD WAGNER.] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The masters of music, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, advanced this +art beyond the limits of their predecessors by identifying themselves +more closely with the development of active life itself. By their +creative power they invested the life of the nation and mankind with +profounder thought, culminating at last in the most sublime of our +possessions--religion. No artist has followed in their course with +more determined energy than Richard Wagner, as well he might, for with +equal intellectual capacity, the foundation of his education was +broader and deeper than that of the classic masters; while on the +other hand the development of our national character during his long +active career, became more vigorous and diversified as the ideas of +the poets and thinkers were more and more realized and reflected in +our life. Wagner's development was as harmonious as that of the three +classic masters, and all his struggles, however violent at times, only +cleared his way to that high goal where we stand with him to-day and +behold the free unfolding of all our powers. This goal is the entire +combination of all the phases of art into one great work: the +music-drama, in which is mirrored every form of human existence up to +the highest ideal life. As this music-drama rests historically upon +the opera it is but natural that the second triumvirate of German +music should be composed of the founder of German opera, C. M. von +Weber, the reformer of the old opera, Christoph Wilibald Gluck, and +Richard Wagner. To trace therefore the development of the youngest of +these masters, will lead us to consider theirs as well, and in doing +this the knowledge of what he is will disclose itself to us. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE. + + +Just as this volume is going to press the announcement comes from +Germany that the prize offered by the Prague Concordia for the best +essay on "Wagner's Influence upon the National Art" has been adjudged +to Louis Nohl, an honor which will lend additional interest to this +little volume. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +WAGNER'S EARLY YOUTH. + + His Birth--The Father's Death--His Mother Remarries--Removal + to Dresden--Theatre and Music--At School--Translation of + Homer--Through Poetry to Music--Returning to Leipzig--Beethoven's + Symphonies--Resolution to be a Musician--Conceals this + Resolution--Composes Music and Poetry--His Family distrusts his + Talent--"Romantic" Influences--Studies of Thoroughbass--Overture in + B major--Theodor Weinlig--Full Understanding of Mozart--Beethoven's + Influence--The Genius of German Art--Preparatory Studies ended 9-22 + +CHAPTER II. + +STORM AND STRESS. + + In Vienna--His Symphony Performed--Modern Ideas--"The + Fairies"--"Das Liebesverbot"--Becomes Kapellmeister--Mina + Planer--Hard Times--Experiences and Studies--"Rienzi"--Paris--First + Disappointments--A Faust Overture--Revival of the German + Genius--Struggle for Existence--"The Flying Dutchman"--Historical + Studies--Returning to Germany 22-44 + +CHAPTER III. + +REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART. + + Success and Recognition--Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court--New + Clouds--"Tannhaeuser" Misunderstood--The Myths of "The Flying + Dutchman" and "Tannhaeuser"--Aversion to Meyerbeer--The Religious + Element--"Lohengrin"--The Idea of "Lohengrin"--Wagner's + Revolutionary Sympathies--The Revolution of 1848--The Poetic Part + of "Siegfried's Death"--The Revolt in Dresden--Flight from + Dresden--"Siegfried Words." 45-72 + +CHAPTER IV. + +EXILE. + + Visit to Liszt--Flight to Foreign Lands--Three + Pamphlets--"Lohengrin" Performed--Wagner's Musical Ideas Expressed + in Words--Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem--The Idea of the + Poem--Its Religious Element--The First Music-Drama--In Zurich--New + Art Ideas--Increasing Fame--"Tristan and Isolde"--Analysis of this + Work--In Paris Again--The Amnesty--Tannhaeuser at the "Grand + Opera"--"Lohengrin" in Vienna--Resurrection of the "Mastersingers + of Nuremberg"--Final Return to Germany 73-105 + +CHAPTER V. + +MUNICH. + + Successful Concerts--Plans for a New Theatre--Offenbach's Music + Preferred--Concerts Again--New Hindrances and Disappointments--King + Louis of Bavaria--Rescue and Hope--New Life--Schnorr--"Tannhaeuser" + Reproduced--Great Performance of "Tristan"--Enthusiastic + Applause--Death of Schnorr--Opposition of the Munich Public--Unfair + Attacks upon Wagner--He goes to Switzerland--The + "Meistersinger"--The Rehearsals--The Successful + Performance--Criticisms 106-131 + +CHAPTER VI. + +BAIREUTH. + + A Vienna Critic--"Judaism in Music"--The War of 1870--Wagner's + Second Wife--"The Thought of Baireuth"--Wagner-Clubs--The "Kaiser + March"--Baireuth--Increasing Progress--Concerts--The Corner-Stone + of the New Theatre--The Inaugural Celebration--Lukewarmness of the + Nation--The Preliminary Rehearsals--The Summer of 1876--Increasing + Devotion of the Artists--The General Rehearsal--The Guests--The + Memorable Event--Its Importance--A World-History in Art-Deeds 132-158 + +CHAPTER VII. + +PARSIFAL. + + A German Art--Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results--Concerts + in London--Recognition Abroad and Lukewarmness at Home--The + "Nibelungen" in Vienna--"Parsifal"--Increasing Popularity + of Wagner's Music--Judgments--Accounts of the "Parsifal" + Representations--The Theatre Building--"Parsifal," a National + Drama--Its Significance and Idea--Anti-Semiticism--The Jewish + Spirit--Wagner's Standpoint--Synopsis of "Parsifal"--The Legend + of the Holy Grail--Its Symbolic Importance--Art in the Service + of Religion--Beethoven and Wagner--"Redemption to the Redeemer." + 159-197 + +LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF WAGNER. 197-204 + + + + +THE LIFE OF WAGNER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +1813-1831. + +WAGNER'S EARLY YOUTH. + + His Birth--The Father's Death--His Mother Remarries--Removal to + Dresden--Theatre and Music--At School--Translation of + Homer--Through Poetry to Music--Returning to Leipzig--Beethoven's + Symphonies--Resolution to be a Musician--Conceals this + Resolution--Composes Music and Poetry--His Family Distrusts his + Talent--"Romantic" Influences--Studies of Thoroughbass--Overture in + B major--Theodor Weinlig--Full Understanding of Mozart--Beethoven's + Influence--The Genius of German Art--Preparatory Studies ended. + + "_I resolved to be a musician._"--Wagner. + + +Richard Wilhelm Wagner was born in Leipzig, May 22, 1813. His father +at that time was superintendent of police--a post which, owing to the +constant movement of troops during the French war, was one of special +importance. He soon fell a victim to an epidemic which broke out among +the troops passing through. The mother, a woman of a very refined and +spiritual nature, then married the highly gifted actor, Ludwig Geyer, +who had been an intimate friend of the family, and removed with +him to Dresden, where he held a position at the court theatre and +was highly esteemed. There Wagner spent his childhood and early youth. +Besides the great patriotic uprising of the German people, artistic +impressions were the first to stir his soul. His father had taken an +active interest in the amateur theatricals of the Leipzig of his day, +and now the family virtually identified themselves with the practical +side of the art. His brother Albert and sister Rosalie subsequently +joined the theatre, and two other sisters diligently devoted +themselves to the piano. Richard himself satisfied his childish +tendency by playing comedy in his own room and his piano-playing was +confined to the repetition of melodies which he had heard. His +step-father, during the sickness which also overtook him, heard +Richard play two melodies, the "Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit" and +the "Jungfernkranz" from "Der Freischuetz," which was just becoming +known at that time. The boy heard him say to his mother in an +undertone: "Can it be that he has a talent for music?" He had +destined him to be an artist, being himself as good a portrait painter +as he was actor. He died, however, before the boy had reached his +seventh year, bequeathing to him only the information imparted to his +mother, that he "would have made something out of him." Wagner in the +first sketch of his life, (1842) relates that for a long time he dwelt +upon this utterance of his step-father; and that it impelled him to +aspire to greatness. + +His inclinations however did not at first turn to music. He was rather +disposed to study and was sent to the celebrated Kreuzschule. Music +was only cultivated indifferently. A private teacher was engaged to +give him piano lessons, but, as in drawing, he was averse to the +technicalities of the art, and preferred to play by ear, and in this +way mastered the overture to "Der Freischuetz." His teacher upon +hearing this expressed the opinion that nothing would become of him. +It is true, he could not in this way acquire fingering and scales, but +he gained a peculiar intonation arising from his own deep feeling, +that has been rarely possessed by any other artist. He was very +partial to the overture to "The Magic Flute," but "Don Juan" made no +impression on him. + +All this, however, was only of secondary importance. The study of +Greek, Latin, mythology, and ancient history so completely captivated +the active mind of the boy, that his teacher advised him seriously to +devote himself to philological studies. As he had played music by +imitation so he now tried to imitate poetry. A poem, dedicated to a +dead schoolmate, even won a prize, although considerable fustian had +to be eliminated. His richness of imagination and feeling displayed +itself in early youth. In his eleventh year he would be a poet! A +Saxon poet, Apel, imitated the Greek tragedies, why should he not do +the same? He had already translated the first twelve books of Homer's +"Odyssey," and had made a metrical version of Romeo's monologue, +after having, simply to understand Shakspeare, thoroughly acquired a +knowledge of English. Thus at an early age he mastered the language +which "thinks and meditates for us," and Shakspeare became his +favorite model. A grand tragedy based on the themes of Hamlet and +King Lear was immediately undertaken, and although in its progress +he killed off forty-two of the _dramatis personae_ and was compelled +in the denouement, for want of characters to let their ghosts +reappear, we can not but regard it as a proof of the superabundance +of his inborn power. + +One advantage was secured by this absurd attempt at poetry: it led +him to music, and in its intense earnestness he first learned to +appreciate the seriousness of art, which until then had appeared to +him of such small importance in contrast with his other studies, that +he regarded "Don Juan" for instance as silly, because of its Italian +text and "painted acting," as disgusting. At this time he had grown +familiar with "Der Freischuetz," and whenever he saw Weber pass his +house, he looked up to him with reverential awe. The patriotic songs +sung in those early days of resurrected Germany appealed to his +sensitive nature. They fascinated him and filled his earnest soul with +enthusiasm. "Grander than emperor or king, is it to stand there and +rule!" he said to himself, as he saw Weber enchant and sway the souls +of his auditors with his "Freischuetz" melodies. He now returned with +the family to Leipzig. Did he, while at work on his grand tragedy, +occupying him fully two years, neglect his studies? In the Nicolai +school, where he now attended, he was put back one class, and this so +disheartened him, that he lost all interest in his studies. Besides, +now for the first time, the actual spirit of music illumined his +intellectual horizon. In the Gewandhaus concerts he heard Beethoven's +symphonies. "Their impression on me was very powerful," he says, +speaking of his deep agitation, though only in his fifteenth year, and +it was still further intensified when he was informed that the great +master had died the year previous, in pitiful seclusion from all the +world. "I knew not what I really was intended for," he puts in the +mouth of a young musician in his story, "A Pilgrimage to Beethoven," +written many years after. "I only remember, that I heard a symphony of +Beethoven one evening. After that I fell sick with a fever, and when I +recovered, I was a musician." He grew lazy and negligent in school, +having only his tragedy at heart, but the music of Beethoven induced +him to devote himself passionately to the art. Indeed while listening +to the Egmont music, it so affected him that he would not for all the +world, "launch" his tragedy without such music. He had perfect +confidence that he could compose it, but nevertheless thought it +advisable to acquaint himself with some of the rules of the art. To +accomplish this at once, he borrowed for a week, an easy system of +thoroughbass. The study did not seem to bear fruit as quickly as he +had expected, but its difficulties allured his energetic and active +mind. "I resolved to be a musician," he said. Two strong forces of +modern society, general education and music, thus in early youth made +an impression upon his nature. Music conquered, but in a form which +includes the other, in the presentation of the poetic idea as it first +found its full expression in Beethoven's symphonies. Let us now see +how this somewhat arbitrary and selfwilled temperament urged the +stormy young soul on to the real path of his development. + +The family discovered his "grand tragedy." They were much grieved, +for it disclosed the neglect of his school studies. Under the +circumstances he concealed his consciousness of his inner call to +music, secretly continuing, however, his efforts at composition. It is +noticeable that the impulse to adapt poetry never forsook him, but it +was made subordinate to the musical faculty. In fact the former was +brought into requisition only to gratify the latter, so completely did +musical composition control him. Beethoven's Pastoral symphony +prompted him at one time to write a shepherd play, which owed its +dramatic construction on the other hand to Goethe's vaudeville, "A +Lover's Humor," to which he wrote the music and the verses at the same +time, so that the action and movement of the play grew out of the +making of the verses and the music. He was likewise prompted to +compose in the prevailing forms of music, and produced a sonata, a +string quartet, and an aria. + +These works may not have had faults as far as form is concerned, but +very likely they were without any intrinsic value. His mind was +still engrossed with other things than the real poesy of music. +Notwithstanding this, under cover of such performances as these, he +believed he could announce himself to the family as a musician. They +regarded such efforts at composition however as a mere transitory +passion, which would disappear like others especially so as he was not +proficient on even one instrument, and could not therefore assume to +do the work of a practical musician with any degree of assurance. At +this time a strange and confused impression was made upon the young +mind, which had already absorbed so much of importance. The so called +"romantic writers" who then reigned supreme, particularly the mystic +Hoffmann, who was both poet and musician, and who wrote the most +beautiful poetic arrangements of the works of Gluck, Mozart, and +Beethoven, along with the absurdest notions of music, tended to +completely disturb his poetic ideas and mode of expression in music. +This youth of scarce sixteen was in danger of losing his wits. "I had +visions both waking and sleeping, in which the key note, third and +quint appeared bodily and demonstrated their importance to me, but +whatever I wrote on the subject was full of nonsense," he says +himself. + +It was high time to overcome and settle these disturbing elements. His +imperfect understanding of the science of music, which had given rise +to these fancies and apparitions, now gave place to its real nature, +its fixed rules and laws. The skilled musician, Mueller, who +subsequently became organist at Altenburg, taught him to evolve from +those strange forms of an overwrought imagination the simple musical +intervals and accords, thus giving his ideas a secure foundation even +in these musical inspirations and fantasies. Corresponding success +however, had not yet been attained in the practical groundwork of the +art. The impetuous young fellow and enthusiast continued inattentive +and careless in this study. His intellectual nature was too restless +and aggressive to be brought back easily to the study of dry technical +rules, and yet its progress was not far-reaching enough, for even in +art their acquisition is essential. + +One of the grand overtures for orchestra which he chose to write at +that time instead of giving himself to the study of music as an +independent language, he called himself the "culmination of his +absurdities." And yet in this composition, in B major, there was +something, which, when it was performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, +commanded the attention of so thorough a musician as Heinrich Dorn, +then a friend of Wagner, and who became later Oberhofkapellmeister at +Berlin. This was the poetic idea which Wagner by the aid of his mental +culture was enabled to produce in music, and which gives to a +composition its inner and organic completeness. Dorn could thus +sincerely console the young author with the hope of future success for +his composition, which, instead of a favorable reception, met only +with indignation and derision. + +The revolution which broke out in France in July, 1830, greatly +excited him as it did others and he even contemplated writing a +political overture. The fantastic ideas prevalent at that time among +the students at the university, which in the meantime he had entered +to complete his general education, and fit himself thoroughly for the +vocation of a musician, tended still further to divert his mind from +the serious task before him. At this juncture, both for his own +welfare and that of art, a kind Providence sent him a man, who, +sternly yet kindly, as the storm subsided, directed the awakening +impulse for order and system in his musical studies. This was +Theodore Weinlig, who had been cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, +since 1823 and was therefore, so to speak, bred in the spirit and +genius of the great Sebastian Bach. He possessed that attribute of a +good teacher which leads the scholar imperceptibly into the very heart +of his study. In less than a year the young scholar had mastered the +most difficult problems of counterpoint, and was dismissed by his +teacher as perfectly competent in his art. How highly Wagner esteemed +him is shown by the fact that his "Liebesmahl der Apostel," his only +work in the nature of an oratorio, is dedicated to "Frau Charlotte +Weinlig, the widow of my never-to-be-forgotten teacher." During this +time he also composed a sonata and a polonaise, both of which were +free from bombast and simple and natural in their musical form. More +important than all, Wagner now began to understand Mozart and learned +to admire him. He was at last on the path which subsequently was to +lead him, even nearer than Beethoven came, to that mighty cantor of +Leipzig, who by his art has disclosed for all time the depths of our +inner life and sanctified them. + +For the present it was Beethoven, whose art unfolded itself before +him, and now that his own knowledge was firmly grounded, aided him to +become a composer. "I doubt whether there has ever been a young +musician more familiar with Beethoven's works than was Wagner, then +eighteen years of age," says Dorn of this period. Wagner himself says +in his "Deutscher Musiker in Paris:" "I knew no greater pleasure than +that of throwing myself so completely into the depths of this genius +that I imagined I had become a part of him." He copied the master's +overtures and the Ninth symphony, the latter causing him to sob +violently, but at the same time rousing his highest enthusiasm. He +now also fully comprehended Mozart, especially his Jupiter symphony. +"In the genius of our fatherland, pure in feeling and chaste in +inspiration, he saw the sacred heritage wherewith the German, under +any skies and whatever language he might speak, would be certain to +preserve the innate grandeur of his race," is his opinion of Mozart +expressed in Paris a few years afterward. "I strove for clearness and +power," he says of this period of his youth, and an overture and a +symphony soon demonstrated that he had really grasped the models. +After twenty years of personal activity in this high school of art, he +succeeded in thoroughly understanding the great Sebastian Bach, and +reared on this solid foundation-stone of music the majestic edifice of +German art, which embraces all the capabilities and ideals of the +soul, and created at last a national drama, complete in every sense. + +The school period was passed. He now entered active life with firm and +secure step, armed only with his knowledge and his power of will. In +his struggles and disappointments the former was to be put to the test +and the latter to be strengthened. We shall meet with him again, when +by the exercise of these two powers he has gained his first permanent +victories. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +1832-1841. + +STORM AND STRESS. + + In Vienna--His Symphony Performed--Modern Ideas--"The + Fairies,"--"Das Liebesverbot"--Becomes Kapellmeister--Mina + Planer--Hard Times--Experiences and Studies--"Rienzi"--Paris--First + Disappointments--A Faust Overture--Revival of the German + Genius--Struggle for Existence--"The Flying Dutchman"--Historical + Studies--Returning to Germany. + + _The God who in my breast resides, + He cannot change external forces._--Goethe. + + +Beethoven's life has acquainted us with the pre-eminence of Vienna as +a musical centre. In the summer of 1832 Wagner visited the city, but +found himself greatly disappointed as he heard on all sides nothing +but "Zampa," and the potpourris of Strauss. He was not to see the +imperial city again until late in life and as the master, crowned +with fame. In music and the opera Paris had the precedence. The +Conservatory in Prague however performed his symphony, though right +here he was destined to feel that the reign of his beloved Beethoven +had but scarcely begun. + +In the succeeding winter the same symphony was performed in Leipzig. +"There is a resistless and audacious energy in the thoughts, a stormy +bold progression, and yet withal a maidenly artlessness in the +expression of the main motives that lead me to hope for much from the +composer;" so wrote Laube, with whom Wagner had shortly before become +acquainted. Here again we recognize the stormy, restless activity of +the time, which thenceforth did not cease, and brought about the unity +of the nation and of art. The ideas which prevailed among the +students' clubs, the theories of St. Simon and would-be reformers +generally had captivated the young artist's mind. In the "Young +Europe," Laube advocated the liberal thoughts of the new century, the +intoxication of love, and all the pleasures of material life. Wagner's +head was full of them and Heine's writings and the sensual +"Ardinghello" of Heinse helped to intensify them. + +For a time however his better nature retained the mastery. Beethoven +and Weber remained his good genii. In 1833 he composed an opera, "The +Fairies," modelled after their works, the text of which displayed the +earnest tendency of his nature. A fairy falls in love with a mortal +but can acquire human life only on condition that her lover shall not +lose faith and desert her, however wicked and cruel she may appear. +She transforms herself into a stone from which condition the yearning +songs of her lover release her. It is a characteristic feature of +Wagner's ideal conception of love that the lover then is admitted to +the perpetual joys of the fairy world, as a reward for his faith in +the object of his love. The work was never performed. Bellini, Adam, +and their associates controlled the stage in Germany, and he was +greatly disappointed. That grand artiste, Schroeder-Devrient, who +afterwards was to become so essential to Wagner, had achieved unusual +success in these light operas, especially in the role of _Romeo_. +He observed this and comparing the sparkling music of these French and +Italians with the German Kapellmeister-music which was then coming +into vogue, it seemed indeed tedious and tormenting. Why should not he +then, this youth of twenty-one, ready for any deed and every pleasure, +earnestly longing for success, enter upon the same course? Beethoven +appeared to him as the keystone of a great epoch to be followed by +something new and different. The fruit of this restless seething +struggle was "Das Liebesverbot oder die Novize von Palermo," his first +opera which reached a performance. + +The material was taken from Shakspeare's "Measure for Measure," not +however without making its earnestness conform to the ideas of "Young +Europe," and leaving the victory to sensualism. _Isabella_, the +novice, begs of the puritanical governor her brother's life, who has +forfeited it through some love affair. The governor agrees to grant +the pardon, on condition that she shall yield to his desires. A +carnival occurs, and, as in "Masaniello," a young man who loves the +maiden, incites a revolution, exposes the governor, and receives +_Isabella's_ hand. The spirit which pervades this tempestuous +carnival pleasure is sufficiently characterized by a verse in the only +chorus-number, which has appeared in print from this opera: "Who does +not rejoice in our pleasure plunge the knife into his breast!" + +There were, it will be observed, two radically different +possibilities of development. The "sacred fervor of his sensitive +soul," which he had nourished with the German instrumental music, had +encountered the tendency to sensualism, and, as we find so often in +Wagner's works, these two elements of our nature were powerfully +portrayed, with the victory ever remaining to the judicious and +serious conception of life. Struggles and sorrows of various kinds +were to bring this "sacred earnestness" again into the foreground, to +remain there forever afterward. + +In the autumn of 1834, during which this text had been written, Wagner +accepted the position of Kapellmeister at the Magdeburg theatre and +thus entered the field of practical activity. The position suited him +and he soon proved himself an able director, especially for the stage. +His skill in music, composed for the passing moment, soon gained for +him the desired success and induced him to compose the music to the +"Liebesverbot." "It often gave me a childish pleasure to rehearse +these light, fashionable operas, and to stand at the director's desk +and let the thing loose to the right and left," he tells us. He did +not seek in the least to avoid the French style but on the contrary +felt confident, that an actress like Schroeder-Devrient could even +in such frivolous music invest his _Isabella_ with dignity and +value. With such expectations in art and life before him, he took +unhesitatingly the serious step of engaging himself to Mina Planer, a +beautiful actress at the Magdeburg theatre, who unfortunately however +was never destined to appreciate his nobler aspirations. + +In the spring of 1836, before the dissolution of the Magdeburg troupe, +an overhasty presentation of his opera was given, the only one that +ever took place. It was said of it by one: "There is much in it, and +it is very pleasing. There is that music and melody, which we so +rarely find in our distinctive German operas." He had himself for some +time completely neglected "The Fairies." The score of both operas is +in the possession of King Louis of Bavaria. They were to be followed +by one destined to survive--"Rienzi." + +He had sought in vain to secure a performance of the "Liebesverbot," +first in Leipzig, then in Berlin. In the latter city he saw one of +Spontini's operas performed and for the first time fully recognized +the meagre resources of the native stage, particularly in scenic +presentation. How Paris must have aroused his longing where Spontini +had introduced the opera upon a grander scale and with stronger +ensemble! The financial difficulties however, which followed +the dissolution of the Magdeburg theatre and the failure of his +compositions forced him to continue his connection still longer with +the German stage, wretched as it was. He next went to Koenigsberg. The +position there was not sufficiently remunerative to protect him from +want, now that he was married. One purpose he kept constantly in view, +namely, to perform some splendid work of art and with it free himself +from his embarrassing position. In every interesting romance he sought +the material for a grand opera. Among others, he selected Koenig's +"Hohe Braut," rapidly arranged the scenes and sent the manuscript to +Scribe in Paris, whose endorsement was considered essential, and whose +"Huguenots" had just helped to make Meyerbeer one of the stars of the +day. Nothing came of it however. Of what importance in this direction +was Germany at that time? The Koenigsberg troupe was also soon +dissolved. "Some men are at once decisive in their character and their +works, while others have first to fight their way through a chaos of +passions. It is true however that the latter class obtain greater +results," it is said in one account of this short episode. He was soon +to accomplish such an achievement. In the city of Koenigsberg, the old +seat of the Prussian kings, he had won a friend for life who, as will +subsequently appear, proved of service to him. The general character +of life in Prussia also greatly contributed to strengthen in him that +independent bearing of which Spontini's imperious splendor had given +him a hint, and which subsequently was to invest his own art with so +much importance in the world's history. + +During a visit to Dresden in 1837 he came across Bulwer's "Rienzi, the +Last of the Tribunes," in which he became deeply interested, the more +so that the hero had been in his mind for some time. The necessities +of subsistence now drove him across the borders to Riga. His Leipzig +friend Dorn was there, and Karl Holtei had just organized a new +theatre. He was made director of music and his wife appeared in the +leading feminine roles. Splendid material was at hand and Wagner went +zealously to work. He was obliged however to produce here also the +works of Adam, Auber, and Bellini, which gave him a still deeper +insight into the degradation of the modern stage, with its frivolous +comedy, of which he had a perfect horror. About this time he became +familiar with the legend of the "Flying Dutchman," as Heine relates +it, with the new version that love can release the Ahasuerus of the +sea. The "fabulous home sickness," of which Heine speaks, found an +echo in his own soul and excited it the more. He studied moreover +Mehul's "Joseph in Egypt" and under the influence of the grave and +noble music of this imitator of the great Gluck, he felt himself +"elevated and purified." Even Bellini's "Norma," under the influence +of such impressions, gained a nobler tone and more dignified form than +is really inherent in the music. "Norma" was at that time even given +for his benefit! He now took up the "Rienzi" material in earnest and +projected a plan for the work which required the largest stage for +its execution. The lyric element of the romance, the messengers of +peace, the battle hymns, and the passion of love had already charmed +his purely musical sense. It was however by a solid work for the +theatre, of which the main feature should not be simply "beautiful +verses and fine rhymes" but rather strength of action and stirring +scenes, aided by all available means for producing effect through +scenery and the ballet, that he hoped to win success at the Paris +grand opera. In the fall of 1838 he began the composition. + +The first two acts had scarcely been completed when Paris stood +clearly before the poet-composer's eyes. Meanwhile the contract with +Holtei drew to a close, but there were difficulties in the way that +could not easily be removed. He had contracted many debts and without +proof of their liquidation no one could at that time leave Russia. +Flight was determined upon. His friend from Koenigsberg, an old and +rich lumber merchant, in whose house he had spent many a social +evening, took his wife in a carriage over the border, passing her as +his own, while Wagner escaped in some other way. At Pillau they went +on board a sailing vessel, their first destination being London. Now +began the real lifework of Wagner, which was not to cease until he, +who had struggled with poverty and sorrow, was to see emperors and +kings as guests in his art-temple at Baireuth. + +The long sea voyage of twenty-five days, full of mishaps, had a very +important bearing upon his art. The stormy sea along the Norwegian +coast and the stories of the sailors who never doubled the existence +of the "Flying Dutchman," gave life and definite form to the legend. +He remained but a short time in London, seeing the city and its two +houses of Parliament, and then went to Boulogne-sur-Mer. He remained +there four weeks, for Meyerbeer was there taking sea baths, and his +Parisian introductions were of the highest importance. The composer of +the "Huguenots" immediately recognized the talent of the younger +artist, and particularly praised the text to "Rienzi," which Scribe +was soon to imitate for him in his weak production of "The Prophet." +At the same time he pointed out the obstacles to success in the great +city which it would be extremely difficult for one to overcome without +means or connections. Wagner however relied on his good star and +departed for that city which he conceived to be the only one that +could open the way to the stage of the world for a dramatic composer. +The result of the visit to Paris was an abundance of disappointments, +but it added largely to his experience, increased his strength, nay +more, even gave rise to his first great work. + +Meyerbeer recommended him to the director of the Renaissance Theatre +and besides acquainted him with artists of note. An introduction to +the Grand Opera however was out of the question for one who was an +utter stranger. Through Heinrich Laube, then in Paris, he made the +acquaintance of Heine, who was much surprised that a young musician +with his wife and a large Newfoundland dog should come to Paris, where +everything, however meritorious, must conquer its position. Wagner +himself has described these experiences in Lewald's "Europa," under +the title of "Parisian Fatalities of Germans." His first object was +to win some immediate success and he accordingly offered to the above +named director the "Liebesverbot," which apparently was well suited to +French taste. Unfortunately this theatre went into bankruptcy, so all +his efforts were fruitless. He now sought to make himself known +through lyrics set to music and wrote several, such as Heine's +"Grenadiers," but a favorite amateur balladist, Loisa Puget, reigned +supreme in the Paris salons, and neither he nor Berlioz could obtain +a hearing. His means were constantly diminishing and a terrible +bitterness filled his soul against the splendid Paris salons and +theatre world, whose interior appeared so hollow. + +It happened one day that he heard the Ninth symphony at a performance +of the Conservatory, whose concerts were always splendidly and +carefully executed, and, as before, it stirred his inmost soul. Once +more his genius came to his rescue. He felt intuitively--what we now +know with historical certainty--that this work was born of the same +spirit which bore Faust, and thus in him also this "ever restless +spirit seeking for something new" was called into being and activity. +The overture to Faust, in reality the prelude of a Faust symphony, +tells us in tones of mighty resolve that his power to do and to will +still lived, and would not yield till it had performed its part. This +was toward the close of the year 1840. + + "The God, who in my breast resides, + Can deeply stir the inner sources; + Though all my energies he guides, + He cannot change external forces. + Thus by the burden of my days oppressed, + Death is desired, and life a thing unblest." + +With such a confession he regained strength to battle against Parisian +superficiality, which even in the sacred sphere of art seemed to seek +only for outward success and to admire whatever fashion dictated. His +criticisms on the condition of life and art in Paris are very severe. +Even the noble Berlioz does not escape censure from the artist's +stand-point, while Liszt, who resided there at the time, he had not +yet learned to appreciate. But again the saving genius of his art, +German music, rose resplendent, and she it was who recalled him to his +own self and to art. + +He now entirely gave up the "Liebesverbot," as he felt that he could +not respect himself unless he did so. He thought of his native land. +A heroic patriotism seized him, although tinged with a political +bearing, for he did not forget the Bundestag and its resistance to +every movement for liberty, and yet withal he beheld the coming +grandeur of his fatherland. Now he himself first fully comprehended +Rienzi's words about his noble bride, whom he saw dishonored and +defiled, and a deep anger awakened in him those mighty exhorting +accents which his enthusiasm had already intoned in Rienzi's first +speech to the nobility and the people, and which had not been heard in +Germany since Schiller's days. As Rienzi resolved not to rest until +his proud Roma was crowned as queen of the world, so now there flashed +through him also the conviction, as he has so beautifully said in +speaking of Beethoven's music, that the genius of Germany was destined +to rescue the mind of man from its deep degradation. In the merely +superficial culture, which the Semitic-Gallic spirit had impressed +upon the period, and with which it held all Europe as in a net of +iron, he saw only utter frivolity. The great revolution had brought +about many political and social reforms but the liberation of the +soul, like that accomplished by the Reformation, it had not effected. +There was a material condition and mental tendency which he afterward, +not without reason, compared with the times of the Roman emperors. +Heine and his associates formed the literary centre, but even more +effective in its influence was Meyerbeer's grand opera. The imperious +sway of fashion had usurped the place of real culture and the problem +was therefore again to elevate culture with his art to its proper +sphere. He became more and more conscious of a mission which went far +beyond the realm of mere art-work. Even in this foreign land, which +had treated him so coldly and with such hostile egoism, he was to find +the ways and means to carry out his mission and to create for us +actual human beings instead of phantoms. In his "Parisian Fatalities," +Wagner said of the Germans in Paris that they learned anew to +appreciate their mother tongue and to strengthen their patriotic +feeling. "Rienzi" was an illustration of this patriotic sentiment. He +now resolved to produce this composition for Dresden and the thought +gave him fresh zeal for work. Elsewhere, he says of the Germans: "As +much as they generally dread the return to their native land, they yet +pine away from it with homesickness." Longing for home! Had he not +once before beheld a being wasting away in the constant longing for +the eternal home and yet destined never to find rest? The "Flying +Dutchman" recurred to his imagination and to the outward form of the +ever-wandering seaman was added the human heart, constantly longing +for love and faithfulness. After having come to an understanding with +Heine, he rapidly arranged the material of this Wandering Jew of the +sea. A fortunate circumstance, the return of Meyerbeer to Paris, even +gave promise that the work might secure a hearing at the grand opera. + +That he might be at rest while engaged on this work he earned his +daily bread by arranging popular operas for cornet-a-piston. He +submitted to this deep humiliation for he was conscious of the prize +to be obtained by "serving." A partial compensation in thus working +for hire he found in the permission given him by the sympathetic +music publisher, Schlesinger, to write for his _Gazette Musicale_ to +which he contributed many brilliant articles. In these he could at +least do in words what he was not allowed to do otherwise. He could +disclose the splendor of German music, and never before has anyone +written of Mozart, Weber, and Beethoven with keener appreciation or +profounder thought. Of the last named he proposed to write a +comprehensive biography and entered into correspondence with a +publisher in Germany.[A] He confronted the formal culture of the Latin +races with the character of the German mind, as it were the head of +the Medusa, and the consciousness of his mission kept up his spirits +under the most trying circumstances. With Paris as an art centre he +had done. Like Mozart's "Idomeneo" to the Opera Seria, "Rienzi" was +his last tribute to the Grand Opera. They have forever extinguished +the genre in style by exhausting its capabilities. + +[Footnote A: The letter appears in the book entitled "Mosaics," +published in Leipzig, 1881.] + +In the meantime "Rienzi" had been accepted at Dresden, and he now +hoped through Meyerbeer's influence to see it also accepted by the +Grand Opera. The director, however, had been so well pleased with the +"Flying Dutchman" that he wished to appropriate the poem for himself, +or rather for another composer. In order therefore not to lose +everything, Wagner sold the copyright for Paris for 500 francs and it +soon after appeared as "Vaisseau Phantome." It naturally followed that +for the present his most urgent task was to complete the work for +himself and in his own way. The performance of the "Freischuetz" had +increased his ambition and his other experiences had completely +disgusted him with the modern Babylon. The romance--for such it +was--was soon finished. He had allowed a beautiful myth simply to tell +its own story and had avoided all the nonsense of the opera with its +finales, duets, and ballets, wishing simply to reveal to his +countrymen once more the divine attributes of the soul. But now that +the romance was to be set to music he feared that his art might have +deserted him, so long had it remained unused. However the work +progressed rapidly enough. He had in his mind as the main motive of +the work, _Senta's_ ballad, and around it clustered at once the whole +musical arrangement of the material. The Sailor's Chorus and the +Spinning Song were popular melodies, for the "Freischuetz" continually +kept them humming in his ears. In seven weeks the work was completed, +with the exception of the overture, which every day's pressing wants +retarded for a few weeks longer. + +Leipzig and Munich promptly declined the work with which he had +proposed to salute his fatherland once more. The latter city declared +that the opera was not adapted to Germany! Through Meyerbeer's +influence it was then accepted in Berlin. Thus hated Paris led to the +production of two works in which he touched strings that find their +fullest response only in a German's heart. The prospect of returning +to his fatherland delighted him. What could be more natural than that +his mind strove to study more and more closely the spirit and +development of his fatherland, in order to raise other and better +monuments to it? He renewed his studies in German history, although +solely for the purpose of finding suitable material for operas. At +first, Manfred and the brilliant era of the Hohenstauffens attracted +him. But this historic world at once and utterly disappeared when he +beheld that figure in which the spirit of the Ghibellines attained in +human form its highest development and greatest beauty--_Tannhaeuser_! +His previous readings in German literature had made him familiar with +the story, but he now for the first time understood it. The simple +popular tale stirred him to such a degree that his whole soul was +filled with the image of its hero. It revealed the path to the +historic depths of our folk-lore to which Beethoven's and Weber's +music had long since given him the clues. The story had some +connection with the "Saengerkrieg auf Wartburg," and in this contest, +he saw at once the possibility of fully revealing the qualities of his +hero, who raises the first German protest against the pretended +culture and sham morality of the Latin world. The old poem of this +"Saengerkrieg," is further connected with the legend of Lohengrin. +Thus it was that in foreign Paris he was destined to gain at once and +permanently a realization of the native qualities of our common +nature, which, from primeval times, the German spirit has put into +these legends. + +After a stay of more than three years abroad, he left Paris, April 7, +1842. "For the first time I saw the Rhine; with tears in my eyes, I, a +poor artist, swore to be ever loyal to my German fatherland," he says. +Have we not seen that this "poor artist" with the might of his magic +wand has created a world of new life, and what is far more, has +aroused the genius of his people, aye, the very soul of mankind, and +has led his epoch and his nation to the achievement of new and +permanent intellectual results? + +We now come to his first efforts towards the accomplishment of such +results. They were to cost hard labor, anxiety, struggles, and pain of +every kind indeed, but they were done and they stand to-day. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +1842-1849. + +REVOLUTION IN LIFE AND ART. + + Success and Recognition--Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court--New + Clouds--"Tannhaeuser" Misunderstood--The Myths of "The Flying + Dutchman" and "Tannhaeuser"--Aversion to Meyerbeer--The Religious + Element--"Lohengrin"--The Idea of "Lohengrin"--Wagner's + Revolutionary Sympathies--The Revolution of 1848--The Poetic + Part of "Siegfried's Death"--The Revolt in Dresden--Flight from + Dresden--"Siegfried Words." + + "_Give me a place to stand._"--Archimedes. + + +In an enthusiastic account of the first presentation of the "Flying +Dutchman" in Riga, May, 1843, it is said: "The 'Flying Dutchman' is a +signal of hope that we shall soon be rescued from this wild wandering +in the strange seas of foreign music and shall find once more our +blessed home." In a similar strain, the _Illustrierte Zeitung_ said: +"It is the duty of all who really cherish native art to announce to +the fatherland the appearance of a man of such promise as Wagner." +Indeed Wagner himself says that the success of the work was an +important indication that we need but write "as our native sense +suggests." That he himself perceived a new era of the highest and +purest outpouring of a new spirit is shown in the composition of this +year (1843), the "Liebesmahl der Apostel," wherein he quotes from the +Bible: "Be of good cheer for I am near you and My spirit is with you." +A chorus of forty male voices exultingly proclaimed this promise from +the high church choir loft in Dresden, on the occasion of the +Maennergesangvereins-Fest. + +"Rienzi" was performed in October 1842, and the "Flying Dutchman" +January 2, 1843, both meeting with an enthusiastic reception. Wagner +himself had conducted the rehearsals and secured the support of +newly won friends and such eminent artists as Schroeder-Devrient +and Tichatschek. His success gained for him the distinction of +Hofkapellmeister to the Saxon Court. The position once held by Weber +was now his. The objects which he had sought to accomplish seemed +within reach and he heartily entered into the brilliant art life of +the city, the more so as hitherto he had not enjoyed it though +possessing the desire and knowledge to do so. Although "Rienzi" +retained a certain degree of popularity, the "Flying Dutchman" however +had not really been understood, and the more it was heard, the less +was it appreciated. How could it be otherwise amid such a public as +then existed in Germany? In the upper and middle classes French novels +were the favorite literature, while the stage was controlled by French +and Italian operas. With all their superficiality they combined +perfection in the art of singing, but failed to awaken any sense +of the intrinsic worth of our own nature. There were but few of +sufficiently delicate feeling to perceive in this composition the +continuation of the noble aims of Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. Wagner +himself while in Dresden was destined to continue the struggle against +all that was foreign as these three masters had done before him. +"Professional musicians admitted my poetic talent, poets conceded that +I possessed musical capacity," is the way he characterizes the +prevailing misunderstanding of his endeavors and his works, which +required a generation to overcome. + +He constantly sought to direct public attention to the grander and +nobler compositions, such as Gluck's "Armide" and "Iphigenia in +Aulis," Weber's "Euryanthe" and "Freischuetz," Marschner's "Hans +Heiling," Spohr's "Jessonda," and other grand works for concerts, like +Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" and Bach's "Singet dem Herrn ein neues +Lied," all of which were performed in a masterly manner, while such +compositions as Spontini's "Vestalin" he at least helped to display in +the best light. He was also very active in having Weber's remains +brought from London. He not only composed a funeral march, for the +obsequies, upon motives from "Euryanthe," which was very powerful in +effect, but he also has reminded posterity of what it possesses in +this the youngest German master of the musical stage. "No musician, +more thoroughly German than thou, has ever lived," he said at the +grave. "See, now the Briton does thee justice, the Frenchman admires +thee, but the German alone can love thee. Thou art his, a beautiful +day in his life, a warm drop of his blood, a part of his heart." Thus +at times he succeeded in arousing the public. But on the whole, his +ideas were not accepted, and it retained its accustomed views and +continued in the old pleasures. Wagner began again to feel more +and more his isolated position. The complete misunderstanding of +Tannhaeuser, which he began to write when he first arrived in Dresden, +and the refusals of the work by other cities, Berlin among them, +declaring it "too epic," rendered this sense of isolation complete. +The recurrence of such experiences as these showed him how far his art +was still removed from its ideal and his contemporaries from the +comprehension of their own resources. He realized the fact that his +own improved circumstances had deceived him, and that in truth the +same superficiality of life and degradation of the stage prevailed +everywhere. The course of events during the next generation but proved +the truth of this. Whatever of merit was produced met with hostility, +as in the case of our artist. The growing perception of these facts +led him gradually to revolt against the art-circumstances of his time, +and as he became convinced that the condition of art was but the +result of the social and political, indeed of the existing mental +condition of the people, he at last broke out into open revolution +against the entire system. This very agitation of soul, however, +became the source of his artistic creations, wherein he attempted to +disclose grander ideals and nobler art, and they form therefore, as in +the case of every real artist, his own genuine biography. In tracing +the origin of his works, we follow the inner current of his life. + +Thus far we have availed ourselves of the biographical notes which +Wagner, prior to the representation of the "Flying Dutchman," gave to +his friend Heinrich Laube for publication in the "Zeitung fuer die +elegante Welt." We are now guided further by one of the most stirring +spiritual revelations in existence, his "Communication to my Friends," +in the year 1851, in that banishment to which his noblest endeavors +had brought him, written with his heart's blood, as a preface to the +publication of the three opera poems, namely, "Flying Dutchman," +"Tannhaeuser" and "Lohengrin." It is the consummation of his artistic +as well as human development out of which grew his highest creations. + +We must recur to the "Flying Dutchman," whose real name was "Hel +Laender," the guide of the deadship, or the fallen sun-bark, which, +according to the Teutonic legend, conveyed the heroes to Hel, the +region of perpetual night. We shall confine ourselves however to the +later version of the middle ages, the only one with which Wagner was +familiar. "The form of the 'Flying Dutchman' is the mythic poem of the +people; a primeval trait of humanity is expressed in it with +heartrending force," Wagner says to those who in spite of Goethe's +"Faust" had formed no conception of the vitality, and poetic treasures +that lay concealed in the myth. In its general significance the motive +is to be considered as the longing for rest from the storms of life. +The Greeks symbolized this in Odysseus, who, during his wanderings at +sea, longed for his native land, his wife, and home--"On this earth +are all my pleasures rooted." Christianity, which recognizes only a +spiritual home, reversed this conception in the person of the +"Wandering Jew." For this wanderer, condemned eternally to live over +again a life, without purpose and without pleasure, and of which he +has long since grown weary, there is no deliverance on earth. Nothing +remains to him but the longing for death. Toward the close of +the middle ages, after the human mind had been satiated with the +supernatural, and the revival of vital activity impelled men to +new enterprises, this longing disclosed itself most boldly and +successfully in the history of the efforts to discover new worlds. +An "impetuous desire to perform manly deeds" seized mankind as the +earth-encircling, boundless ocean came into view, no longer the +closely encircled inland sea of the Greeks. The longing of Odysseus, +which in the "Wandering Jew" has grown into longing for death, now +aims at a new life, not yet revealed, but distinctly perceived in the +prospective. It is the form of the "Flying Dutchman," in which both +expressions of the human soul are joined in a new and strange union, +such as the spirit of the people alone can produce. He had sworn to +sail past a cape in spite of wind and waves, and for that is condemned +by a demon, the spirit of these elements, to sail on the ocean through +all eternity. He can gratify the longing which he feels, through a +woman, who will sacrifice herself for his love, but to the Jew it was +denied. He seeks this woman therefore that he may pass away forever. +There is this difference however: She is no longer Penelope caring for +her home, but woman in general, the loving soul of mankind, which the +world has lost in its eager strife to conquer new worlds, and which +can only be regained when this strife shall cease and yield to a new +activity, truer to human nature. + +"From the swamps and floods of my life often emerged the 'Flying +Dutchman,' and ever with irresistible attraction. It was the first +popular poem which took deep hold of my heart," says Wagner. At this +point his career began as a poet, and he ceased to write opera-texts. +It is true there was still much that was indecisive and confused in +the experiment, but the leading features are pictured verbally with +remarkable clearness, and the music invests them with a sense and +distinctness of convincing force as an inseparable whole, such as had +not been previously known in opera. It may be said that with the +"Flying Dutchman" a new operatic era began, or rather the attainment +of its dimly conceived destiny as a musical drama. It also expresses +the mental activity of the time and the longing for a new world, which +was to redeem mankind and secure for us an existence worthy of +ourselves. It still appears to us as the native land, encircling us +with its intimate associations, and yet there also appears in it the +longing for a return to our own individual identity, in which alone we +can find the traces of our higher humanity, which a narrowing and +degrading foreign influence had banished. Goethe's "Faust," Byron's +"Manfred," and Heine's "Ratcliff," all give utterance to the same +feeling, with more or less beauty and power; but the blissful repose +of deliverance really secured, they could not express with the +perfection displayed by Wagner. He was not only secure in this +advantage, but he was able to pursue it with increasing energy, so +as to push away to a great distance the obstacles which burdened the +time. + +We perceive the same characteristic in "Tannhaeuser," which, it seems, +even at that time had impressed itself upon him with great force. This +legend also had its origin in the myths of nature. The Sun-god sinks +at eve on Klingsor's mountain castle in the arms of the beautiful +Orgeluse, queen of the night, from whose embraces the longing for +light drives him again at dawn. We must, however, also here confine +ourselves to the particular mediaeval form of the legend, as Wagner +himself relates it. + +The old Teutonic goddess, Holda, whose annual circuit enriched the +fields, met the same fate after the introduction of Christianity, as +Wotan, that of having her kindly influence suspected and described as +malignant. She was relegated to the heart of the mountains, as her +appearance was supposed to indicate disaster. At a later period, +her name disappeared in that of the heathen Venus, to which all +conceptions of a being that entices to evil pleasures could be more +easily attached. One such mountain region was the Hoerselberg +(Orgelusa Mountain), in Thuringia, where Venus maintained a luxurious, +sensual court. Jubilant melodies were heard there, which led him, +whose blood ran riot, unwittingly into the mountain. A beautiful old +song, however, tells us that the noble knight, Tannhaeuser, mythically +the same as Heinrich von Ofterdingen, remained there a whole year, +and then was seized with the recollection of the life on earth, and +made a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain indulgence for his sins. It reads +thus: + + "The Pope had a stick white and dry, + Cut from the branches so bare; + Thy sins shall all be forgiven, + When on it green leaves appear." + +Tannhaeuser wanders again into the mountain. But the good sense of the +people knew what was just: + + "To bring consolation to man, + The priest is commissioned of Heaven; + The penitent, sorrowing heart + Hath all its sins forgiven." + +The condemnation of the penitent is the curse of the old church, for +according to the true doctrine of the Gospels, as accepted and +faithfully treasured by the German people after long struggles, it is +not deeds but faith that secures salvation. So in the progress of the +legend leaves sprout from the dry stick, for "high above the universe +is God and his mercy is no mockery." + +Wagner gives to the loving Elizabeth the knowledge of this eternal +mercy and from a simple child-like being she ascends to the heights +of martyrdom. Not until one human soul had gained the strength to die +for his redemption is the vehemence of his own nature broken, and he +finds relief in death, thus verifying the essence of religion and +rejecting forever false church-doctrine. + +"A consuming glowing excitement kept my blood and nerves in a state of +feverish agitation," Wagner says, speaking of the first presentation +of this "Tannhaeuser." His fortunate change of circumstances, contact +with a luxurious court, and the expectation of material success had +fostered a desire for pleasure that led him in a direction counter to +his real nature. There was no other way to satisfy this craving except +by following as an artist the reigning fashion and the general +striving after success. "If I were to condense all that is pernicious +and wearisome in the making of opera-music, I should call it +Meyerbeer," he says, "inasmuch as it ignores the wants of the soul and +seeks to gratify the eye and ear alone." After all, was it the mere +gratification of the senses that he really longed for? His aspirations +grew in the natural soil of those life-feelings which dictate that +religion and morality shall not destroy natural impulses, but sanctify +them. Before his soul stood a pure, chaste, maidenly image of +unapproachable and intangible holiness and loveliness. In his own +words, his nature passionately and ardently embraced the outward forms +of this conception whose essence was the love of all that is noble and +pure. No other artist ever possessed a deeper sense of the need of our +time. With this protest against the violence done our purely human +nature, he places us again on a solid footing and symbolizes in art +the highest accomplishment of religion--regeneration by knowledge. It +is to this that we owe the regeneration of our national life. The +religious element of our nature has preserved us and made us a great +nation. + +He confesses he had been so intensely engrossed in composing +"Tannhaeuser," that the nearer he approached the end, the more the +idea possessed him that sudden death would prevent its completion. As +he wrote the last note it seemed to him as though his life had been +in danger till then. The "Flying Dutchman" was a protest against the +purposeless wanderings of the human mind in every external department +of knowledge, while "Tannhaeuser" was a bold historical protest +against all that would subject the hidden sense of truth in our nature +to violent interpretation and arbitrary dogmas. From this time forth +his sphere became the purely human, and in this too he shows us by +his powerful art that which is indispensable and eternal in human +existence joined with the complete realization of the only natural way +to develop all our qualities. We have come to "Lohengrin," conceived +in 1847, and completed in its instrumental parts in March, 1848. It +was in truth "his child of pain." + +After the completion of "Tannhaeuser," his native sense of humor +prompted him to design a satirical play on the "Saengerkrieg auf +Wartburg," namely the "Meistersinger von Nuernberg," of which, more +further on. The painful experience of being misunderstood in all his +earnest efforts as a man and as an artist, his failure to make +the assistance he longed to give acceptable, drove him back with +passionate vehemence into a serious frame of mind, in which condition +he could well understand the Lohengrin material. Hitherto, in the +mystic twilight of its mediaeval presence, it had inspired him with +some degree of suspicion, but he now recognized in it a romance, +wherein was embodied the longing desires of pure human nature, and the +imperative necessity of love, as well as its artistic meaning. + +The fundamental trait of this legend, as in "Tannhaeuser" and in the +flight of Odysseus from the embraces of sensualism, had already +appeared in the Greek myth of Zeus and Semele. Like the God from the +cloudy Olympian realms, so Lohengrin from the boundless ether to which +Christian imagination had assigned Olympus, descends to the human +female in the natural longing of love. There was an old tradition in +the legends of the people who dwelt near the sea, to the effect that +on its blue surface an unknown man of indescribable grace and beauty +approaches, whose resistless charms win every heart. He disappears +again, retreating with the waves, whenever it is sought to discover +who he is. So also in the Scheldt region once appeared a handsome +hero, drawn by a swan. He rescued a persecuted, innocent maiden, and +married her, but when she asked him who he was and whence he came, he +was compelled to forsake her. How does our poet interpret the legend? + +Lohengrin, the son of Parcival, the royal guardian of the Holy Grail, +who represents the ideal in humanity, although he was probably +originally identical with the German Sun-god, who longs to rest in the +arms of night--this Lohengrin seeks the wife that believes in him, who +will not ask who he is and whence he came, but will love him as he is, +and simply as he appears to her. He sought the wife, to whom he need +not declare himself, need not justify himself, but who will love him +without question. Like Zeus, he had to conceal his divine nature, for +only in this way could he know that he was really loved, and not +simply admired, which was all he longed for when he descended from his +ethereal heights to the warm earth below. He longs to be human, to +experience the warm feelings of humanity, and gain a loving heart; +with these longings he descended from his blissful, lonely heights, +when he heard the cry of this heart for help in the midst of mankind. +The halo of his higher nature, however, betrays him. He can not but +appear as miraculous. The staring of the vulgar and the rancor of the +envious cloud the heart of the loving Elsa. Doubts and jealousy show +that he has not been understood but simply adored, and this draws from +him the confession of his divinity, after which he returns, his +purpose unaccomplished, to his solitude. + +We must bear in mind how highly our poet even at that time prized this +artistic wealth. To Goethe, art was "like good deeds;" Schiller hoped +with its aid to unify the nation, and Wagner, especially after the +discovery of such grand art-material as those myths contained, +regarded it as the real fountain of health for the nation and the +time. We shall soon observe that at last his art embraced our highest +ideals in religion as well. Such an art, however, exists only in the +heart which believes in it, and we have seen how antagonistic was the +spirit of the time, particularly to this artist, who had emerged from +the blissful solitude of his own creative mind and sought the sympathy +of the warm human heart. He justly felt that the theme was a tragic +symbol of the time, and he was therefore enabled to present Lohengrin +as an entirely new artistic conception, something no poet had +previously succeeded in accomplishing. + +More than this he discloses to us that which his Elsa imparted to +him--the nature of the feminine heart. "I could not help justifying +her in the outbreak at last of jealousy and at that moment for the +first time I fully comprehended the purely human nature of love," he +says. "This woman, who by passion is brought from the heights of +rapturous adoration back to her real nature and reveals it in her +ruin, this magnificent woman, from whom Lohengrin disappeared because +his peculiar nature prevented him from understanding her, I had now +discovered." The effect of this was to clarify his vision, as we shall +likewise learn. The lost arrow that he sent after this valuable +treasure had been his Lohengrin, which he had to sacrifice in order to +discover the track of the "true womanly" which Goethe was the first to +long for ardently, and which music had revealed as it were the sound +of a bell in the dark forest. This alone can explain why the +masculine egoism, even in so noble a form as our idealism had hitherto +assumed, was forced to yield to its influence. But this Elsa was only +the unconscious spirit of the people and the perception of this must +of necessity have made him, as he says, "a thorough revolutionist." +He felt that this spirit of the people was restrained by wrong +conceptions of morality and false ideals. He heard its lamentations, +and verily, if ever a genius served his people, then did the genius of +Wagner avail him as the worker of "good deeds." He prophetically +indicated at that time what subsequently became an exquisite reality. +"Only a good deed can help here," he writes after the completion of +"Lohengrin." "A gifted and inspired man must with good fortune attain +to power and influence who can elevate his inmost convictions to the +dignity of law. For it is possible after all, if chance will have it +so that a king will permit a competent man to have his way as well as +an incompetent one. The public can only be educated through facts. So +long as an immense majority is carried away by the mezza-voce of a +virtuoso, its needs are readily discerned and satisfied." + +It is now our duty to record how he arrived at this remarkably +independent action of the artist; we follow his notes, as they furnish +the clearest testimony. Their stirring recital is touching enough for +any one who can look upon the nation in the light of the history of +mankind, to which has been assigned its own peculiar ideal problems. + +In the meantime the revolution of 1848 had broken out. Although never +really much inclined toward politics, Wagner had foreseen its +necessity; but as soon as he came in contact with its various +elements, he recognized only too clearly that none of the warring +factions had the least conception of his own aims. Notwithstanding +this, he perfected a plan for the reorganization of the stage by which +alone under the circumstances the nation and the time could be +strongly impressed again with the ideal in thought and art. The +political rostrum showed soon enough how blunt were its arrows. And +what of the Catholic syllabus and Protestant "Culturkampf" as well? +Dead children born of dead mothers! Most of all it was important to +create anew for that stage the ideals which would serve to elevate the +time. Even while at work on "Lohengrin," which always made him feel as +if he were on an oasis in a desert waste and for which he gathered +strength from the performance of the Ninth symphony in Dresden, +Siegfried and Friedrich der Rothbart appeared to him. Each contained +the elements which lie nearest the heart. Each was a type and model of +our distinct characteristics. He recognized at once however that +Friedrich I. (Barbarossa) was only the historical regeneration of +Siegfried, and that the latter was in reality the youthful handsome +hero to form the object and centre of a work of art and to convey to +us in its fullness and beauty the purely human idea as Wagner +conceived it. How he found and interpreted this Siegfried, he has told +us in the pamphlet, "The Wibelungen, History from Legend" which +appeared in 1850. + +The delight produced by the discovery of this "actor of reality, +this man in the fullness of highest and boundless power and most +indisputable loveliness" revealed to him by his Elsa, only intensified +for the present at least the feeling that in his best efforts and his +knowledge he stood sadly alone. His longing was intense, the more so +that in this actual life he could accomplish his purpose as Faust +says: + + "The God, who in my breast resides, + He can not change external forces." + +This longing grew until it seemed as if self-annihilation alone could +bring relief, and then appeared to him the image of Him whose death +brought salvation to mankind. He conceived the idea of picturing a +human "Jesus of Nazareth," to represent the universal rejection, +in all its malignity and rancor, to which Jesus fell a victim. +The reflection, however, that he certainly could not secure a +representation of his work under existing circumstances, and the +additional fact that after the Revolution, which seemed bound to +destroy every favorable condition, such a declaration of internal +struggle would have counted for nothing, induced him to leave the plan +unexecuted. Besides, in this year (1848), he had already finished +"Siegfried's Death," in its poetic form, and had even sketched some of +the musical thoughts connecting with that new world, to which he had +looked forward with such buoyant hope. At last came also the complete +rupture with the world that surrounded him, even while he was devoting +the best endeavors of his life to it. Wagner himself informs us of the +clear insight he had gained into the nature of the political movement. +Either the old state of things must remain intact or the new must +sweep it entirely away. He recognized the approach of the catastrophe +which was certain to engulf every one who was in earnest and unselfish +enough to desire a change of the deplorable conditions so generally +felt. The ancient spirit of a decayed past had outlived itself and +openly and insolently offered defiance to the existing and ruling +conditions. Knowing well the unavoidable decision which he would have +to form, he ceased all productive activity. Every stroke of the pen +appeared ridiculous, inasmuch as he could no longer deceive himself in +regard to his prospects. He spent these May-days of 1849 in the open +air, basking in the sunshine of the awakening spring and casting away +all egoistic desires. + +At this time the revolt in Dresden occurred, which, as a sort of +forlorn hope, he thought might be the beginning of a general uprising +in Germany. "After what has been said, who could be so blind as not to +see that I had now no choice but to turn my back upon a world, to +which no ties of sympathy bound me," he says, thus clearly indicating +his active participation in the May-revolt. It was not long before the +Prussians appeared, who had only waited the signal from Dresden. With +many others Wagner had to take to flight. A long, sad banishment +followed, but out of its necessities and privations rose the full man +and artist who restored to his nation its ideals, or rather first +established the ideal in its perfection. How this conception came +to him is disclosed in the last words he uttered about the men and +circumstances which combined to wickedly conceal it. It is as bold as +it is inspiring, and it is only the deepest solicitude for our most +sacred treasures that could give utterance to such words. It reads: + +"There is nothing with which to compare the sensation of pleasure I +experienced after the first painful impressions had been overcome, +when I felt myself free, free from a world of tormenting, ever +unsatisfied desires, free from conditions in which my aspirations had +been my sole absorbing nourishment. When I, persecuted and proscribed, +was no longer bound by any considerations to resort to a deception of +any kind; when I had given up every hope and desire, and with +unconstrained candor could say openly and plainly that I, the artist, +hated from the bottom of my heart this hypocritical world which +pretended to be interested in art and culture; when I could say to it +that not one drop of artist's blood flowed in all its veins, that it +had not one spark of manly culture or manly beauty,--then for the +first time in my life I felt myself completely free, happy, and +joyous, although I sometimes did not know where to conceal myself the +next day that I might still breathe the free air of heaven." + +These are words such as a Siegfried might have spoken. From this time +on he did not rest until the Siegfried-deed was done and the sword was +thrust into the dragon's heart. + +The preparations for it were conducted with untiring energy and +great wisdom. The works of art which he had already forged were the +sword. The true and noble art, which had begun with Goethe, was +now introduced in the various European centres of culture "with +considerate speed," and finally inspired in Germany, the very centre +of this culture and art, an understanding of their real elements. In +the modest Zurich where the banishment began, in London--Paris had +rejected it--in Petersburg, in Vienna, in Munich, and at last also +in Berlin, which at that time did not appear to have "one drop of +artist's blood in all its veins" the world's attention was aroused +anew by actual representations, though often only in parts, to the +fact, that the latter-day art of the last generation had removed us a +great distance from our ideals. And finally he succeeded, at first in +Munich, subsequently in Baireuth, in securing for the art of the stage +a proper representation, and with it an awakening of the age to a +correct perception of art as expressive of the ideal which stimulates +the whole world. The thrust which pierced the heart of the dragon of +the modern theatres was his "Parsifal," and the Siegfried, who dealt +the blow, gained with his art the slumbering bride, the re-awakening +heart of the nation and mankind. + +Who is there to-day who will doubt that Faust denial of the curse and +the prophetic presentment of a new world? Is it not true that the +governing powers of the present time have seized upon the ideas in +politics and society, which were the kernel of the movement of 1848 +and 1849? Whenever they shall understand the mental strivings of the +nation, as well as the political and military, then art and religion +will gain the dignity and the right to which they are entitled. The +revolt of Wagner was the revolt of the better soul of the nation which +had been estranged from itself. Thirty years of deeds have shown that +his word was the truth. We now come to their recital. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +1850-1861. + +EXILE. + + Visit to Liszt--Flight to Foreign Lands--Three + Pamphlets--"Lohengrin" Performed--Wagner's Musical Ideas Expressed + in Words--Resumption of the Nibelungen Poem--The Idea of the + Poem--Its Religious Element--The First Music-Drama--In Zurich--New + Art Ideas--Increasing Fame--"Tristan and Isolde"--Analysis of this + Work--In Paris Again--The Amnesty--Tannhaeuser at the "Grand + Opera"--"Lohengrin" in Vienna--Resurrection of the "Mastersingers + of Nuremberg"--Final Return to Germany. + + _Seeking with all the soul the Grecian land._--Goethe. + + +The first impression following his sudden change of fate appeared in +Wagner's own world as a good omen. "What I felt as I conceived this +music, he felt when he conducted it; what I intended to say as I wrote +it, he said as he interpreted it," he says of the Tannhaeuser +rehearsal under Liszt's direction in Weimar, where he had gone for a +few days for the sake of this "rarest of friends," who had already of +his own accord given "Rienzi" and "Tannhaeuser" in the small +Thuringian court-residence to which the Wartburg belongs. + +His stay was cut short however, and disguised as a waggoner he left +the city. Unfortunately the only place which he could reach in safety +was Paris, and from this city he also speedily fled as from a dismal +spectre whose disgusting features were again recognized. And yet he +was destined to return to it, to retrieve his fortunes, with a +possible success as an opera-composer, but also to be permanently +convinced that this "modern Babylon," where others had conquered the +world with their art-substitutes, was in absolute contrast with that +which he sought and needed for his labors. But of Weimar he exclaimed: + +"How wonderful! By the love of this rarest of friends, in the time +when I was homeless, I secured the long desired and true home for my +art, which I had hitherto sought in vain elsewhere. When I was doomed +to wander in foreign lands, he who had wandered so much, retired +permanently to a small town and there provided me a home." + +Liszt had given up entirely his career as a performer, and acted +mainly as Hofkapellmeister at the grand-ducal court in Weimar. Wagner +made his acquaintance "in the terrible Parisian past," but did not +then understand him. Liszt, however, lovingly watched his progress +like an elder brother, and drew the misunderstood genius to his great +heart. "Everywhere and always he cared for me. Ever prompt and +decisive where aid was required, with a cordial response to all my +wishes, and devoted love for me, he was to me what I had never found +before, and with that intensity whose fullness we only comprehend when +it actually embraces us in all its vastness." + +Among the inspiring mountains of Switzerland he wrote a protest +against the pretense of the momentary victors of the revolution, +that they were the protectors of art. His pamphlet, "Art and the +Revolution," disclosed the real nature of this so called art in +the unsettled political and social condition of the time, and +energetically rejected as art anything which under any guise sought +to speculate upon the public. The "Art-Work of the Future" was a more +extended paper which described the deadly influence of modern fashion +upon art itself and the egoistic dismemberment of it into distinct +branches, and revealed the art of the future as embracing all human +art-capacities. + +This misunderstood assertion gave rise to the term, "music of the +future," first used by a would-be professor, L. Bischoff in Cologne, +and immediately repeated everywhere by the thoughtless multitude. In +the first pamphlet he assailed the governments which only sought their +own particular advantage. In the second, likewise misunderstood, he +irritated all the artists. His fiercest indignation was expended upon +the born arch-enemies of our art and culture in the same year, 1850, +when he published "Judaism in Music," under the name of "Freigedank." +"What the heroes of the fine arts have wrested in the course of two +thousand unhappy years of strenuous and persistent efforts, from +the demon hostile to art, the Jew to-day converts into drafts on +art-merchandise. Who would imagine that this great work has been +cemented with the sweat and toil of genius for two thousand years," +he exclaims in the exasperation of his soul at these flippant +time-servers who dominated in the concert-hall and on the stage. +Naturally the legion of their followers did not become his friends. +They controlled the press, and it is due to this, that his most +important writings are known even to-day only by his friends. + +About this time he wrote the poetry to "Wiland der Schmied." It was in +Paris he showed the Germans how dire necessity contrives the wings +with which to escape from bondage and regain sweet liberty. Under the +peculiar constraint which work, foreign to his nature, imposed upon +him and which made him sick in body and soul, his eyes one day fell +upon the score of "Lohengrin." Two words to Liszt and the reply +determined him upon its performance. It occurred, August 28, 1850. It +was in fact a fresh protest against a false art-world and in 1870, +when the German people stood arrayed in arms against our foreign enemy +everyone exclaimed in astonishment, "Lohengrin!" This selection for +the celebration of Goethe's birthday was worthy of his memory, for +Wagner, as great a poet as he was musician, had invested the work +with every charm of tragic beauty, both in the text and poetical +construction as well as in the ingenious design of its dramatic +situations. The work marks a notable era in the history of German +music. + +Wagner now fully explained in his book, "Opera and Drama," published +in 1861, the object of his art-revolution. The opera hitherto, as he +said, was not even the germ, how much less the fruit of the art-work +he purposed. On the contrary, the methods hitherto applied must be +completely changed. Music must be made the essential and highest +method of expression of poetry and the drama; but not the principal +theme to which words and situations are subordinated. In this he +unfolded all his artistic experience and claimed that whoever failed +to understand him now, did so because he was determined not to +understand. This can be found more fully treated in the "Allgemeine +Musikgeschichte." To his real friends he presented in the autumn of +the same year that "Communication" which reveals to us his manhood and +is a biography of the soul without parallel. + +The high purpose, perceivable from afar, whither his endeavors tended, +appears in the real work of our artist taken up again at last. The +noble and affectionate regard of the family of the rich merchant +Wesendonck, in Zurich, provided him with a pleasant place of rest and +needed support. The performance of "Lohengrin" was a summons to new +deeds. He resumed the Nibelungen poem, and we shall see its powerful +influence upon the national spirit and national art. + +"Man receives his first impressions from surrounding nature, and in +it no effect is so strong as that of light." Thus he begins in the +"Wibelungen" of 1850. The day, the sun, appears as the very condition +of life. Praise and adoration are bestowed upon it in contrast with +the dark night which breeds terror. Thus light becomes the cause of +all existence, Father, God. The day-break appears as the victory of +light, and naturally there grow out of it at last moral impressions. +This influence of nature is the foundation of all conceptions of +divinity, the division into distinct religions depending upon the +character of different tribes. The tribal tradition of the Franks, +as the noblest type of the Germans, has the advantage of a steady +development from its ancient origin into historic life. It likewise +shows us in the far distant past the individual God of light as he +slays the monster of the chaotic night--Siegfried's struggle with the +dragon. + +But as the day surrenders to the night and summer is followed by +winter, so Siegfried finally is conquered and the god is changed into +mortal man. Now that he has fallen, he kindles in the human heart a +deeper sympathy. As the victim of a struggle that enriches us, he +arouses the moral sense of vengeance against the murderer. The +primeval struggle in nature is therefore continued by ourselves and +its success is seen in the vicissitudes of human life through the +ages, moving on from life to death, from joy to grief, and thus in +perpetual rejuvenescence clearly discloses the character of man as +well as of nature. The embodiment of this constant motion, the active +life itself, however, ultimately finds in Wotan (Zeus) as the father +of light, its distinct form. Although Zeus reigned supreme as the +father of all the gods, yet his origin is due to the advanced +knowledge of man while the God of light, Siegfried, is natural and so +to speak born with him. + +"The most important part of this tribal legend of the Franks is +the treasure which Siegfried obtains and which henceforth bears +his attributes as opposed to those of the primeval myth. The +Scandinavians, for instance, have preserved a Nifelheim as the abode +of the black demigods in contrast to the demigods of light. These +Niflungars, children of night and of death, search the interior of the +earth, discover its hidden treasures and invest them with new life by +forging them into weapons and ornaments. The Nibelungs, whom we also +find as the Myrmidons accompanying Achilles, the Siegfried of the +Greeks--are now with their treasure elevated by the Franks to a moral +importance. When Siegfried slew the Nibelungen dragon he gained its +treasure. The possession of it increases his power immeasurably +inasmuch as he now commands the Nibelungs, but it is at the same time +the cause of his death, for the heir of the dragon seeks to regain the +treasure and treacherously slays him as night does the day and draws +him into the dark realm of death. Siegfried is transformed into a +Nibelung! Although the acquisition of the treasure dooms it to death, +still each new generation inevitably strives to obtain it. The +treasure represents the embodiment of worldly power. It is the earth +with all its glory as we see it at dawn, our own sunny property after +the night has been driven away which had spread its dragon wings like +a horrid spectre over the rich treasures of the world. + +"The treasure itself, which the Nibelungs have gathered, is the metal +found in the bowels of the earth which enables us to improve the +earth, and to fashion weapons and golden crowns, the means of power +and its symbols. The divine hero Siegfried, who first obtained it and +thus became a Nibelung, left to his race the claim to the treasure. To +revenge the slain hero and regain the treasure is the aim of the whole +race of the Nibelung-Franks, and by it they are recognized in history +as well as in legend." + +Accordingly we find the noblest hero of the "Wibelungen," Friedrich +Barbarossa, of the Hohenstauffen race ruling in the mountain, +surrounded by Wotan's ravens. It is possible that the Franks were the +ruling tribe even in the Indo-germanic home; at all events they laid +claim to the mastery of the world as soon as they appear in history. +Of this impulse or desire Charlemagne must have been conscious when +he gathered the old tribal songs which contained the religious ideas +of the race. Upon it Napoleon based his claim to the realm of +Charlemagne. Is it not even possible that the Hohenzollerns were +influenced by the recollection of this Germanic past when they +endeavored to regain their old tribal seat in the Hohenstauffen land? + +Here we close the intimate connection of the Nibelungen legend with +our history. Temporal power, however, is not the highest destiny of a +civilizing people. That our ancestors were conscious of this is shown +in the fact that the treasure, or gold, and its power, was transformed +into the Holy Grail. Worldly aims gave place to spiritual desires. +With this interpretation of the Nibelungen myth, Wagner acknowledged +the grand and eternal truth that this life is tragic throughout, and +that the will which would mould a world to accord with one's desires +can finally lead to no greater satisfaction than to break itself in a +noble death. This latter truth, which even the ancient Orient saw +clearly when in its history the Lord himself breaks the self-will of +Jacob in a dream, moves as a deep consciousness through the Germanic +myths, and induced the Germans to accept not only the higher faith +developed from such a basis to which alone they owe the preservation +of their impetuous activity, but also tended to give this Christian +truth itself a wider and deeper significance. In their myths they had +already indicated that the possession of this world is not the only +thing to be desired. They have the world-devastation, Muspilli, the +"Twilight of the Gods." It is this conquering of the world through the +victory of self which Wagner conveys as the highest interpretation of +our national myths. As Brunhilde approaches the funeral pyre to +sacrifice to the beloved dead, Siegfried, the life--the only tie which +still binds her to this earth--she says: + + "If, like a breath, the gods disappear, + Without a pilot the world I leave. + To the world I will give now my holiest wisdom: + Not goods, nor gold, nor god-like pomp, + Not house, nor lands, nor lordly state, + Not wicked plottings of crafty men, + Not base deceits of cunning law,-- + But, blest in joy and sorrow let only love exist." + +Such was the "Ring of the Nibelungen" which Wagner created out +of the vast collection of German legends and not merely out of +the distinctively national Nibelungen epic. The completion of +"Siegfried's death," now the "Goetterdaemmerung," led to Siegfried's +"Schwertschmiedung," (Sword-wielding); "Drachenkampf," +(Dragon-struggle) and "Brautgewinnung," (Bride-winning) and further +investigation of the subject led him in the "Walkuere" to picture +Brunhilde's guilt and punishment, and finally in the "Rheingold" a +psychological foundation for the whole. The work took this mental +shape as early as 1851. Two years later, the poem, for which he had +chosen the alliterative style of the Edda as the only suitable form, +was given to his friends, and in 1863 to the world. From that time his +sole ambition was to bring this first all-comprehensive German +national drama into life by having it performed as a distinct +festival-play far from the everyday theatre. Nearly twenty years +elapsed between this and the realization of the idea. But why take +note of time when great and grand things are to be accomplished? + +The following decade brought with it many changes to Wagner, without +however at any time diverting his mind from the purpose of his life, +which constantly became clearer. Every opportunity was improved to +direct attention and approach nearer to it. The death of Spontini gave +occasion to a memorial tribute, closing with the words: "Let us bow +reverently before the grave of the creator of the 'Vestalin,' +'Cortez,' and 'Olympia.'" He sought with operas and concerts to +develop the limited musical resources of Zurich, where he had taken up +his permanent residence, because he had always met with a most cordial +personal reception there. In this he was aided by scholars who came to +him from Germany, most prominent among whom was Hans von Buelow, who +had been in Weimar with Liszt, and had become enthusiastic over +"Lohengrin." Wagner overcame his own repugnance to the operas of +Meyerbeer and his associates, which he hoped his "Lohengrin" was +destined to obliterate, and directed their performance. To do the +same for his own works, the requisite strength was lacking. "Some of +us are old, others are young. Let the older one think not of himself, +but let him love the younger for the sake of the inheritance which he +places in his heart to cherish anew, for the day will come when the +same shall be proclaimed for the welfare of humanity the world over," +are the closing words of his "Opera and Drama." He found consolation +and compensation in performing the symphonies of Beethoven, for two of +which he prepared a special program; but as he desired to have the +real motives of his work understood by the hospitable little city, he +wrote a pamphlet, "A Theatre in Zurich," wherein he advocated the +establishment and maintenance of a theatre by the citizens themselves, +as the Greeks had done. It was another evidence of his firm conviction +that the stage had a high mission in the culture of our time. He even +lectured on the subject of dramatic music, and recited the poem of +"Siegfried's Death," which made a profound impression. + +Very soon thereafter appeared the remarkable "Letter to Liszt in +Regard to the Goethe Memorial," wherein he confidently asserted that +painter as well as sculptor would decline to compete with the poet +acting in harmony with the musician, and that they would with +reverential awe bow before an art-work in comparison with which their +own productions would seem but lifeless fragments. For such an +art-work there should therefore be prepared a suitable place rather +than continue contributions to the support of the individual arts, +which the former would invigorate and elevate anew. We see to-day that +the plastic arts also strike out in new paths. Liszt and Wagner have +inspired their epoch and the sculptor Zumbusch in Vienna has given us +their busts. In a similar strain he challenged musical criticism and +thereupon began with the gradual spread of "Tannhaeuser," and soon +also of "Lohengrin," those seemingly endless disputes which, however, +at the same time increased the strength of some younger men, among +whom were Uhlig, Pohl, Cornelius, Raff and Ambros. These practical +performances, as little as they presented an artistic ensemble, yet +tended to arouse and shape talents that Wagner could avail himself of +later for his own higher purposes. Among them were Milde and his wife, +Ander, Schnorr, Formes, Niemann and Beck. Wagner's niece Johanna, was +already familiar with his method from her Dresden experience. He +endeavored in a pamphlet discussing the way to perform "Tannhaeuser" +to rescue it from banishment and familiarize the artists with its +merits but they remained deaf or hostile. He became absorbed the more +in his Nibelungen-poem, leaving to his good genius his deliverance +from external isolation. And yet the latter became a source of +pleasure when, in the manner of von Eschenbach's Parcival, who also +presented the sorrows and deeds of the mythical sun-hero, familiar to +him since 1845, he undertook to portray the forest-solitude in which +his young Siegfried grew up and gained all the miraculous power of +nature, above all, that inner confidence which banishes fear from the +human breast. + +A brighter future seemed to open when, notwithstanding the doubts of +his friends of the ultimate success of his "monstrous undertaking," +the knowledge of which began to spread, the German artists generally +accepted his invitation to spend a Wagner week in Zurich, and parts +of his masterly works were performed with such effect that "the +amiable maestro stood buried in flowers." For the overture to the +"Flying Dutchman," as well as for the prelude to "Lohengrin," he +composed an explanatory introduction. + +In the autumn of the same year he was in Italy, and, lying sleepless +in a hotel at La Speccia, he found for the first time those plastic +"nature-motives" which in the Nibelungen-trilogy with constantly +increasing individuality are made the exponents of the passions and +the characters which give expression to them. He immediately returned +to his dreary, involuntary home to proceed with the completion of his +colossal work, which was to engage his attention for many years. A +visit from Liszt, in October, led to a profounder understanding of +Beethoven's last sonatas, so that their language was fully identified +with his own. "Rheingold" and the "Walkuere" were soon finished. + +His fame meanwhile grew steadily. He received an invitation for the +concerts of the Philharmonic society in London, for which Beethoven +had written the Ninth Symphony and designed the Tenth, which, +according to his Sketches, was to show what all great poetic minds +longed for--the union of the tragic spirit of the Greeks with the +religious of the modern world. It was the same high goal that Wagner +touched in the "Nibelungenring" and attained in "Parcival." The +English at that time were even less disposed to appreciate his efforts +than the Germans, and the Jewish spirit of their church inclined them +to look with suspicion upon the "Jew Persecutor." He also found at +first some difficulties in the rushing style of execution, which was a +tradition from Mendelssohn, who was idolized in England. His untiring +energy, however, prevailed everywhere where art was at stake, and the +last of the eight concerts, in which Mozart's C Major Symphony and +Beethoven's Eighth were given, and the "Tannhaeuser Overture," was +encored, brought him, in a storm of applause, compensation for the +unworthy calumniations of the press, notably, of the _Times_. +Notwithstanding all this, he could not be induced to re-visit London +till twenty years later. The invitations from America he declined at +once. + +His art-susceptibility at that time was very keen and active. He +remarked to a German admirer, in the autumn of 1856, that two new +subjects occupied his mind during the Nibelungen-work, which he could +with difficulty repress. The one was "Tristan," with which Gottfried's +brilliant epic had already made him familiar in composing the +"Walkuere," and the other, probably, was "Parcival," whose Good Friday +enchantment had impressed him many years before. In October Liszt +visited him again, and heard the "Walkuere" on the piano. A musical +journal in Leipzig was emboldened to speak of a forthcoming event that +would agitate the whole musical world. With what joyous cheerfulness +he composed "Siegfried," and his Anvil-song is shown in a letter about +Liszt's symphonic poems, which appeared in the following spring. +Accident and irresistible impulse, however, led immediately to the +completion of "Tristan and Isolde." + +The seeming hopelessness of success in his endeavors at times +discouraged him. "When I thus laid down one score after the other, +never again to take them up, I seemed to myself like a sleep-walker +who is unconscious of his actions," he states. And yet he had to seek +the "daylight" of the German opera, from which he had fled with his +Nibelungen, if he would remain familiar with the active life of his +art. He proposed therefore to arrange the much simpler Tristan +material within the compass of ordinary stage representation. +Curiously enough he received just then an offer to compose an opera +for the excellent Italian troupe in Rio Janeiro. He thought, however, +of Strasbourg, and it was only through Edward Devrient, who visited +him in the summer of 1857, that he destined the work for Carlsruhe +where Grand Duke Frederick and his wife, Princess Louisa of Prussia, +displayed a growing interest in art. It was also the home of an +excellent singer, Ludwig Schnorr from Carolsfeld, of whom Tichatschek +had already informed him and who was to be the first to assume the +role of Tristan. + +"Tristan" belongs, like "Siegfried" and "Parcival," to the circle +of the sun-heroes of the primeval myth. He also is forced to use +deception and is compelled to deliver his own bride to his friend, +then to discern his danger and voluntarily disappear. Thus Wagner +remained within his poetic sphere. But while in "Siegfried" the +Nibelungen-myth in its historic relations had to be maintained and +only the sudden destruction of the hero through the vengeance of the +woman who sacrifices herself with him, could be used in "Tristan," on +the other hand the main subject lies in the torture of love. The two +lovers become conscious of their mutual love through the drinking of +the love-potion that dooms them to death. It is a death preferred to +life without each other. What in "Siegfried" is but a moment of +decisive vehemence appears here in psychological action of endless +variety, wherein Wagner has woven the whole tragic nature of +our existence, which he had learned from the great philosopher +Schopenhauer, to esteem as a "blessing." There was however in this +similarity, and at the same time difference, a peculiar charm which +invested the work. It is supplementary to the Nibelungen-material +which in reality embraces human life in all its relations. + +It is wonderful how readily he found the means to unfold before our +eyes the revelation which involved the death of the two lovers. +Commissioned by his uncle, King Marke, Tristan has conquered the +tributary Celts and slain their leader, Morold, in battle. Isolde, +the betrothed of the latter, to whose care the wounded Tristan is +consigned, is completely captivated when at last her eyes meet his, +but unconscious of this he wooes the beautiful woman for the "wearied +King" and conducts her to him. Inwardly aroused by this and the death +of her former lover, she plans to kill him and while yet on the vessel +offers him the cup of poison in retaliation for the slain Morold. Here +Brangaene appears and secretly changes the draught so that these two +who imagine they had drunk a coming death in which all love should +pass away, in this fancied final moment became conscious of life, and +confess to each other that love with which they cannot part. It is +therefore not the drink in itself but the certainty that death will +ensue, which relieves them from constraint. The act of drinking +betokens only the moment of consciousness and confession. Nevertheless +they cannot live, now that King Marke has discovered their love. +Tristan raises himself from the couch where he lies suffering from the +wound inflicted by the King's "friend" and tearing open the wound with +his own hand, embraces the approaching Isolde, who is now in death +united with him forever. + +While composing the work, which the prospect of speedy representation +hastened forward rapidly, and which he hoped would secure for him a +temporary return to his fatherland, an agreeable sensation of complete +unrestraint seized him. With utter abandon he could reach the very +depths of those soul-emotions which are the very essence of music, and +fearlessly shape from them the external form as well. Now he could +apply the strictest rules. He even felt, in the midst of his work, +that he surpassed his own system. The impressive second act was +projected in Venice, where he spent the winter of 1858-59, owing to +ill-health. Thence he removed to Lucerne. + +From his native land new rays of hope meanwhile penetrated his +retirement. Not only Carlsruhe but Vienna and Weimar now grew +interested. He ardently longed to strengthen himself, by hearing his +own music. "I dread to remain much longer, perhaps, the only German +who has not heard my 'Lohengrin,'" he writes to Berlioz, in 1859. He +begged permission to return, and sought the intervention of the +grand-duke of Baden, as otherwise he would have to go to Paris. +The grand-duke took all possible steps to help him, but it was of +no avail. His efforts failed, he says, because of the obstinate +opposition of the King of Saxony, but it was probably due more to the +dislike the unhappy minister, von Beust, himself an amateur composer, +entertained for the author-composer. Wagner, therefore, in the autumn +of 1859, again went to hated Paris, where he could, at least +occasionally, hear good music. + +He found in Paris a few really devoted friends of his art as well +as of himself, who promised to make his stay home-like in this respect +at least. They were Villot, Champfleury, Baudelaire, the young +physician Gasperini, and Ollivier, Liszt's son-in-law. The press, +however, commenced at once its vicious and corrupt practices against +the "musical Marat." Wagner replied with actions. He invited +German singers and in three concerts performed selections from his +compositions. The beau monde of Paris attended, and the applause was +universal, especially after the Lohengrin Bridal-Chorus. The critics +however remained indifferent and even malicious. At this juncture, at +the solicitation of some members of the German legation, particularly +the young princess Metternich, Napoleon gave the order for the +performance of "Tannhaeuser," in the Grand Opera-house, much to +Wagner's surprise. It must have caused a curious mixture of joy and +anxiety in the artist's breast. Standing on the soil of France, he, +for the first time, was destined to conquer his fatherland, but on a +spot which belonged to the "Grand Opera," and where all the inartistic +qualities were fostered that he endeavored to supplant. As his native +land was closed to him, he went to work with his usual earnestness, +and, as though it were a reward for his faithfulness, there came +during the preparations the long-desired amnesty, with the exclusion, +however, of Saxony. + +In the summer of 1860 he availed himself of his regained liberty to +make an excursion to the Rhine and then returned to the rehearsals. +Niemann, cast in an heroic mould, had been secured for the title-role. +For the instruction of the public he wrote the letter about the "Music +of the Future" adopting the current witty expression, which appeared +as preface to a translation of his four completed lyric works, +exclusive of the Nibelungen-Ring. With admirable clearness he +disclosed the purpose of his work. The press on the other hand made +use of every agency at its disposal to prejudice Paris from the start +against the work. To aggravate matters, Wagner would not consent to +introduce in the second act the customary ballet which always formed +the chief attraction for the Jockey-club, whose members belonged to +the highest society. He simply gave to the scene in the Venusberg +greater animation and color. It was for this reason that the press and +this club, the malicious Semitic and unintelligent Gallic elements, +the former unfortunately of German origin, united in the effort to +make the work a failure when presented in the spring of 1861. The +history of art discloses nothing more discreditable. The gentlemen of +the Jockey-club with their dog-whistles in spite of the protests of +the audience succeeded in making the performances impossible and the +press declared the work merited such a fate! Wagner withdrew it after +the third performance and thereby incurred a heavy debt which it +required years of privation to liquidate. At the same time as far as +he personally was concerned the occurrence gave rise to a feeling of +joyous exaltation. The affair caused considerable excitement and +brought him, as he says, "into very important relations with the most +estimable and amiable elements of the French mind," and he discovered +that his ideal, being purely human, found followers everywhere. The +performances themselves could not have pleased him. "May all their +insufficiencies remain covered with the dust of those three +battle-evenings," he wrote shortly after to Germany. + +He realized afresh that for the present his native land alone was the +place for a worthy presentation of his music and the enthusiasm which +he witnessed at a performance of "Lohengrin" in Vienna, then the +German imperial city, convinced him that the insult which had just +been offered to the German spirit was keenly felt. Vienna as well as +Carlsruhe now requested "Tristan," but the request was not conceded. +At a musicians' union which met in Weimar in August, 1861, under +Liszt's leadership, Wagner found that the better part of the German +artists had also measurably been converted to his views. These +experiences and the hope that with a humorous theme selected from +German life he might finally obtain possession of the domestic stage +and speak heart to heart to his dearly loved people and remind them +that even their every day life ought to be transfused with the spirit +of the ideal, prompted him to resurrect his "Mastersingers of +Nuremberg." It was in foreign Paris that he wrote, in the winter of +1862, the prize song of German life and art which enchants every true +German heart. This was the last work he created in a foreign land and +in a certain sense he freed himself with it from the sad recollections +of a banishment endured for more than ten years to reappear now "sound +and serene" before his nation. That this would finally come to pass +had always been his last star of hope. "To the Pleiades and to Bootes" +Beethoven had likewise marked in his copy of the Odyssey. + +We close therefore this chapter of banishment and dire misfortunes +with the prospect of a brighter future by communicating the plan of +the text of that work as he had already framed it in 1845. + +"I conceived Hans Sachs to be the last appearance of the artistic +spirit of the people" he says, "and placed him in opposition to the +narrow-minded citizens from whom the Mastersingers were chosen. To +their ridiculous pedantry, I gave personal expression in the Marker +whose duty it was to pay attention to the mistakes of the singers, +especially of those who were candidates for admission to the guild." +Whenever a certain number of errors had been committed the singer had +to step down and was declared unworthy of the distinction he sought. +The eldest member of the guild now offered the hand of his young +daughter to that master who should win the prize at the public +song-festival. + +The Marker, who already is a suitor, finds a rival in the person of a +young nobleman who, inspired by heroic tales and the minnesingers' +deeds, leaves his ruined ancestral castle to learn the art of the +mastersingers in Nuremberg. He announces himself for admission +prompted mainly by his sudden and growing love for the prize-maiden +who can only be gained by a "master." At the examination he sings an +inspired song which however gives constant offense to the Marker, so +much so, that before he is half through he has exhausted the limit of +errors. Sachs, who is pleased with the young nobleman, for his own +welfare frustrates the desperate attempt to elope with the maiden. In +doing this he finds at the same time an opportunity to greatly vex the +Marker. The latter, who to humiliate Sachs had upbraided him because +of a pair of shoes which were not yet ready, posts himself at night +before the window of the maiden and sings his song as a test, for it +is important to gain her vote upon which rests the final decision when +the prize is bestowed. Sachs, whose workshop lies opposite the house +for which the serenade is intended, when the Marker opens, begins to +sing loudly also because as he declares to the irate serenader, this +is necessary for him, if he would remain awake while at work so late, +and that the work is urgent none knows better than he who had so +harshly rebuked him for tardiness. At last he promises to desist, on +condition however that he be permitted to indicate the errors which, +after his own feeling, he may find in the song, by striking with the +hammer upon the last. The Marker sings, Sachs repeatedly and +vigorously strikes the last, and the Marker jumps up angrily but is +met with the question whether he is through with the song. "Far from +it," he cries. Sachs now laughingly hands him his shoes and declares +that the strokes of disapproval sufficed to complete them. With the +rest of the song, which in desperation he sings without stopping, he +lamentably fails before the female form at the window who shakes her +head violently in disapproval, and, to add to his own misfortune, he +receives a thrashing at the hands of the apprentices and journeymen +whom the noise has roused from slumber. The following day, deeply +dejected, he asks Sachs for one of his own songs. Sachs gives him one +of the young nobleman's poems, pretending not to know whence it came. +He cautions him to observe the melody to which it must be sung. The +vain Marker, however, believes himself perfectly secure in this, and +now sings the poem before the public master and peoples-court to a +melody which completely disfigures it, so that he fails again, and +this time decisively. Rendered furious, he accuses Sachs of deceit in +that he gave him an abominable poem. Sachs declares the poem to be +quite good, but that it must be sung according to the proper melody. +It is now determined that whoever knows this melody shall be the +victor. The young nobleman sings it and secures the bride. The +admission into the guild however he declines. Thereupon Hans Sachs +humorously defends the mastersingers and closes with the rhyme: + + "The Holy Roman Empire may depart, + Yet will remain our Holy German art." + +A few years later the German empire arose to new glory and blessing, +and yet a lustrum, and with the rise of Baireuth, came the German art. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +1862-1868. + +MUNICH. + + Successful Concerts--Plans for a New Theatre--Offenbach's Music + Preferred--Concerts Again--New Hindrances and Disappointments--King + Louis of Bavaria--Rescue and Hope--New Life--Schnorr--"Tannhaeuser" + Reproduced--Great Performance of "Tristan"--Enthusiastic + Applause--Death of Schnorr--Opposition of the Munich Public--Unfair + Attacks Upon Wagner--He Goes to Switzerland--The + "Meistersinger"--The Rehearsals--The Successful + Performance--Criticisms. + + _O, thus descendest thou at last to me, + Fulfilment, fairest daughter of the Gods._ + Goethe. + + +The pressure of circumstances, as well as the natural desire, to break +ground for himself and his new creations, induced him for a time to +give concerts with selections from them. He met with marked success +before the unprejudiced hearers of Vienna, Prague, St. Petersburg, and +Moscow. His visit to Russia especially yielded him a handsome sum, +with which he returned to Vienna to await the representation of +"Tristan," but owing to the physical inability of Ander, the work +finally had to be laid aside. Wagner felt also that intelligence as +well as good-will for the cause were lacking; even the Isolde-Dustman +did not at heart believe in it. "To speak frankly, I had enough of it +and thought no more about it," he tells us. + +During this time he published the Nibelungen-poem, and in April, 1863, +wrote the celebrated preface which eventually led to the consummation +of his desires. He had with Semper conceived the design of a theatre +which after the Grecian style should confine the attention of the +entire audience to the stage, by its amphitheatric form, thus +rendering impossible the mutual staring of the public or at least +making it less likely to occur. Because of the oft repeated experience +of the deeper effect of music when heard unseen, the orchestra was to +be placed so low that no spectator could see the movements of the +performers, while at the same time it would result in the more +complete harmony of sound from the many and various instruments. In +such a place, consecrated to art alone and not to pleasure of the eye, +the "stage-festival-play" was to be produced. But would it be possible +for lovers of art to provide the means, or was there perhaps a prince +willing to spend for this purpose only as much as the maintenance for +a short period of his imperfect Opera-house cost him? "In the +beginning was the deed," he says with _Faust_, and adds sadly enough +in a postscript: "I no longer expect to live to see the representation +of my stage-festival-play, and can barely hope to find sufficient +leisure and desire to complete the musical composition." + +He next thought that the court Opera-house in process of erection in +Vienna might be utilized by limiting the number of performances and +securing a careful representation of the style of the works produced. +Had not Joseph II. recognized the theatre as "contributing to the +refinement of manners and of taste"? He even offered to prepare +specially for Vienna a more condensed work, the "Meistersingers." The +reply was, however, that the name of Wagner had for the present +received sufficient consideration, and that it was time to give a +hearing to some other composer. "This other name was Jacques +Offenbach," adds Wagner. It needs no comment. + +Again followed concerts, first in Prague, where "Tristan" was +requested, then in Carlsruhe, where he had long been forgotten, +although the prince's own love for art had not been extinguished. The +Carlsruhe and Mannheim orchestras acknowledged that they now first +fully realized that they were artists. A negotiation for permanent +settlement at the grand-ducal court failed, owing to the opposition of +the courtiers. Wagner had demanded a court-carriage! Frederick the +Great has said, it is true, that geniuses rank with sovereigns; but +then this was too much, too much! Then too, he had, O horror! spent +the beautiful ducats which the grand-duke had presented him, in +entertaining of an evening the musicians who had executed the work. +Where would such pretensions, such extravagance lead? The same +courtiers, however, did not consider it robbery for many years +shamefully to abridge the income of their noble prince until they +finally stood disgraced themselves and escaped punishment only through +the inexhaustible kindness of their monarch. + +In Loewenberg, in Breslau, and again in Vienna, everywhere Wagner met +with abundant success. But what of the real goal? "The public met him +with enthusiasm wherever he showed himself, but on the other hand the +leading critics remained cold or hostile and the directors of the +theatres closed their doors to him," his biographer, Glasenapp, says +truthfully enough. Of the Nibelungen-poem also no notice had been +taken except in a very narrow circle. Here and there a copy of the +little volume, bound in red and gold, could be found, but the owner +was sure to belong to the school of Liszt or Wagner. "How could the +poetic work of an opera-composer bear serious consideration in +contrast with the elaborate literary productions of professional +poets?" Wagner says with justice. He felt himself rejected everywhere, +and just where alone he desired admission. + + "For me there shone no star that did not pale, + No cheering hope of which I was not reft; + To the world's whim, changing with every gale, + And all its vain caprices, I was left; + To nobler art my aspirations soared, + Yet I must sink them to the common horde. + + "He that our heads had crowned with laurels green, + By priestly staff whose verdure had decayed, + Robbed me of Hope's sweet solaces, and e'en + The last delusive comfort caused to fade; + Yet thus was nourished in my soul serene + An inward trust, by which my faith was stayed; + And if to this trust I prove ever true + The withered staff shall blossom forth anew. + + "What deep in my own heart I did discern, + Dwelt also, silent, in another's breast; + And that which in his eager soul did burn, + Within my youthful heart peaceful did rest; + And as he half unconsciously did yearn + For all the Spring-time joys that were in quest, + The Spring's delightsomeness our souls shall nourish, + And newer verdure round our faiths shall flourish." + +On his seventeenth birthday, the 25th of August, 1861, the grandson of +that King Louis of Bavaria who was the first among the princes of +Germany to again take an active interest in the plastic arts, +witnessed a performance of "Lohengrin," the first play that he had +seen. Full of enthusiasm, he inquired for the other works of this +master. Wagner's writings convinced him, who now had on his desk only +the busts of Beethoven and Wagner, that the one seemed likely to meet +the same fate that the other had in fact encountered--to sink into the +grave before the attainment of his goal and of his fame. His silent +vow was to reach out his hand to this "one" as soon as he should be +king. Two years later, the "Ring of the Nibelungen" appeared in +print. In it was the question: "Will this prince be found?" In the +following spring the author of the work was in dire distress in +Vienna. The silver rubles had rapidly disappeared. How could such +common treasures be heeded by him who had at his disposal the Holy +Grail? But inexorably approached the danger of loss of personal +liberty. He had to fly. A friend had provided him a refuge on his +estate in Switzerland. On the way there he remained a few days in +Stuttgart. Of a sudden the friend's door-bell is rung, but Wagner's +presence is denied. The stranger urges pressing business, and on +inquiry informs the master of the house--who was none other than Carl +Eckert, subsequently Hofkapellmeister at Berlin--that he comes in +the name of the King of Bavaria! Louis II. by the sudden death of +Maximilian II. had been called to the throne in March, 1864, and +one of his first acts was the invitation extended to the artist, +so enthusiastically admired. + +"Now all has been won, my most daring hopes surpassed. He places all +his means at my disposal," with these words he sank upon his friend's +breast. In a short time he was in Munich. + +"He has poured out his wealth upon me as from a horn of plenty," was +the expression he used immediately after the first audience. "What +shall I now tell you? The most inconceivable and yet the only thing I +need has attained its full realization. In the year of the first +representation of my 'Tannhaeuser,' a queen gave birth to the good +genius of my life, who was destined to bring me out of deepest want +into the highest happiness. He has been sent to me from heaven. +Through him I am, and comprehend myself," he wrote, a few months +later, after he had settled down in Munich, to a lady friend. + +King Louis was a youth of true kingly form. In his beautiful eye there +was at the same time a quiet enthusiasm. His keen understanding was +accompanied by a lively imagination and a true soul, so that nature +had endowed him with the three principal mental powers in noble +proportions. His disposition is indicated by the words: "You are a +Protestant? That is right. Always liberal." And after the style of +youthful inexperience: "You likewise do not like women? They are so +tedious." His soul and mind were open to the joyous reception of all +ideal emotions. This was indeed a youthful king, as only such an +artist could have wished, and permanently attracted. "To the Kingly +Friend," is the title of the dedication of the "Walkuere," in the +summer of 1864. + + "O gracious king! protector of my life! + Thou fountain of all goodness, all delight; + Now, at the goal of my adventurous strife, + The words that shall express thy grace aright + I seek in vain, although the world is rife + With speech and printed book; and day and night + I still must seek for words to utter free + The gratitude my heart doth bear to thee." + +Thereupon follow the three verses quoted above, and it comes to a +close: + + "So poor am I, I keep but only this-- + The faith which thou hast given unto me; + It is the power by which to heights of bliss + My soul is lifted in proud ecstacy; + But partly is it mine, and I shall miss + Wholly its power, if thou ungracious be; + My gifts are all from thee, and I will praise + Thy royal faith that knows no change of days." + +Of the latter there was to be no lack, although it was put to a severe +test, and thus the artist reached at last the goal of his effort, +referred to above, where he stands to-day, the artistic savior of his +nation and his time. + +As the main thing, the completion of the Nibelungen-Ring was taken in +hand. In the meantime, however, a model exhibition of the new +art-style was to be given, with "Tristan." For this purpose Schnorr +was invited, at that time residing in Dresden. Wagner says, when he +first met him at Carlsruhe, in 1862: "While the sight of the +swan-knight, approaching in his little boat, gave me the somewhat odd +impression of the appearance of a young Hercules (Schnorr suffered +from obesity), yet his manner at once conveyed to me the distinct +charm of the mythical hero sent by the gods, whose identity we do not +study but whom we instinctively recognize. This instantaneous effect +which touches the inmost heart, can only be compared to magic. I +remember to have been similarly impressed in early youth by the great +actress, Schroeder-Devrient, which shaped the course of my life, and +since then not again so strongly as by Schnorr in Lohengrin." He had +found in him a genuine singer, musician, and actor, possessing above +all unbounded capacity for tragic roles. + +He was put to the test at first in "Tannhaeuser," and in this new +role he also produced an entirely new impression, of which the Munich +public, led by Franz Lachner, in the worn-out tracks of the latter-day +classics, had its first experience. Then followed the rehearsals for +"Tristan," which Schnorr had already fully mastered, with the +exception of a single passage, "Out of Laughter and Weeping, Joys and +Wounds," the terrible love-curse in the third act. By his wonderful +power of expression, the master had "made this clear to him." At the +rehearsal of this act, Wagner staggered to his feet, profoundly moved, +and embracing his wonderful friend, said softly that he could not +express his joy over his now realized ideal, and Schnorr's dark eye +flashed responsive pleasure. Buelow, who, as concert-master to the +king, now resided in Munich, likewise conducted with wonderful +precision the orchestra which Wagner himself had thoroughly rehearsed, +and so the invitation was issued to this "art-festival" wherever +Wagner's art had conquered hearts. It was to show how far the problem +of original and genuine musico-dramatic art had been solved, and +whether the people were ready for it and prepared to share in its +grandest and noblest triumphs. + +The public rehearsal was festive in its character. The whole musical +press of Germany and some of the foreign critics were present. +Wagner was called after every act. Unfortunately, the representation +proper was delayed for nearly four weeks through the sickness of +Frau Garrigues-Schnorr, who took the role of Isolde, so that the +Munich people were after all the principal attendants. The applause +was nevertheless enthusiastic, and the success of the memorable +"art-festival" of June 10, 1865, admission to which was not to be had +for money, but by invitation of Wagner and his royal friend, was an +accomplished fact, notwithstanding the work had been by no means fully +comprehended, for this required time. Unfortunately, the noble artist +died a short time after, in Dresden, from the effects of a cold, to +which the utter disregard of the theatre managers in Munich had +exposed him in the scene where he had to lie wounded on a couch. +Wagner was deeply affected. He conceived he had lost the solid stone +work of his edifice, and would now have to resort to mere bricks. It +is certain he never found a Siegfried as great as this Tristan. + +Another contingency temporarily interfered with the undertaking of the +two friends, and that was the opposition of the Munich public, which +resulted in Wagner's permanent withdrawal from the city. To this +public a person was indeed strange who made such unusual artistic +demands, while the personal character and habits of Wagner at that +time were probably nowhere more strange than in Bavaria, which had +obtained its education at the hands of the Jesuit priests. It is true, +the good qualities, such as simplicity of manners and habits of life, +had remained, but the intellectual horizon had become a comparatively +narrow one, and, what was worse, the clerical and aristocratic +Bavarian party feared it would lose its power if a man like Wagner +were to remain permanently about the king. George Herwegh has +described comically enough the Witches-Sabbath, which that party, in +1865, with the aid of other hostile factions, enacted, and which +forced Wagner once more into foreign lands. + +Munich, accustomed to simplicity, took exception to the rich style in +which Wagner furnished the villa presented by the king, and to the +expansion of the civil-list for the construction of the theatre, which +was to cost seven million marks, though it would have made Munich a +festival-place for all Germany, and cultivated society the world over. +The press from day to day printed some fresh calumny. It even assailed +the private character of the artist after a fashion that provoked him +to a very effective public defense. Even very sensible people became +possessed, in an unaccountable manner, with the prevalent idea that +Wagner was destroying Bavaria's prosperity. A not unknown author of +oriental poetry, said ignorantly enough, that it was well such a tramp +was finally to be driven off the street; and a college professor, who, +it is true, had a son, a self-composer in Beethoven's meaning of the +word, and who could therefore have performed all that Wagner did, +added to this the brutal, insolent assertion, "the fellow deserves +to be hanged." At last they prevailed upon the king, to whom this +had been foolsplay, to listen at least to what unprejudiced men +would tell him of public opinion in Bavaria. To the minister and +the police-superintendent were added an esteemed ultra montane +government counselor, an arch bishop and others who were reputed to be +unprejudiced. His reply, "I will show to my dear people that I value +their confidence and love above everything," proves that they finally +succeeded in misleading even the greatest impartiality. The king +himself requested the artist to leave Munich for some time and gave +him an annuity of 15,000 marks. When this had been done, a public +declaration of the principal party in Bavaria showed that the +so-called "displeasure of the people" about political machinations +and the like had been empty talk. Political, social, and artistic +intrigues and base envy alone had given birth to this ghost. + +This happened near the close of the year 1865. Wagner again turned to +Switzerland. The king's affection for him had only been increased by +these occurrences. He even visited his friend in his voluntary exile, +who in turn had no more ardent desire than to meet such love with +deeds, and calmly prepared himself again for new work. His longing for +Munich had forever vanished. It is true, some of the nobler citizens +sought to wipe out the disgrace with which the city had covered +itself, by sending a silver wreath to Wagner on his birthday in 1866. +The rejection of Semper's splendid design for the theatre by the +civil-list led his thoughts anew to the wide German fatherland, and he +at once returned to the Meistersingers, in the hope that by this more +intelligible work the public would finally turn to him, and that +then the great German people would assist in the erection of a +festival-building for a national art-work and thus realize his grand +ideal. We know to-day that he succeeded in uniting them in this great +work. + +The next important step in that direction was the representation of +the "Meistersinger" in Munich in 1868. In the course of time Wagner +dominated the stage in a manner which had not been witnessed since +"Lohengrin." + +It has been truthfully said that there was something more surprising +than the highly poetic "Tristan," namely, the artist himself, who so +shortly after could create a picture of such manifold coloring as the +"Meistersinger." But with equal truth the same observer of Wagner says +that whoever is astounded at this achievement has but little +understood the one essential point in the nature and life of all +really great Germans. "He does not know on what soil alone that +many-sided humor displayed by Luther, Beethoven, and Wagner can grow, +which other nations do not at all comprehend, and which even the +Germans of to-day seem to have lost; that mixture, pure as gold, of +simplicity, deep, loving insight, mental reflection and rollicking +humor which Wagner has poured out like a delightful draught for all +those who have keenly suffered in life, and who turn to him, as it +were, with the smile of the convalescent." Another German, Sebastian +Bach, might have been named whom Wagner resembles most in that +universal dominating quality of mind which is even visible in the +half-ironical, laughing eye of the simple Thuringian chorister, and +brings home to us the truth of Faust's words, "creating delights +for the gods to enjoy." He played at that time many of Bach's +compositions, such as the "Well Tempered Clavicord," with his young +assistant, Hans Richter, who had been recommended to him from Vienna +as a copyist. What cared he for all this wild whirl of silly fancies +and boorish conceit, so long as he, a genuine Prometheus, could create +something new after the grandest models! In speaking of "Tannhaeuser" +he tells us how supremely happy he was when occupied with the +delightful work of real creation. "Before I undertake to write a verse +or sketch a scene, I am already filled with the musical spirit of my +creation," he writes in the year 1864. "All the characteristic motives +are in my brain, so that when the text is done and the scenes +arranged, the opera itself is completed, and the detailed musical +treatment becomes rather a thoughtful and quiet after-work which the +moment of actual composition has already preceded." The humor which at +times prompted even the aged Beethoven to spring over tables and +benches, frequently seized upon our master in such strange fashion +that in the midst of company he would suddenly stand upon his head in +a corner of the room for some time. + +His friends observed with pleasure his rapturous happiness in the +certainty of reaching the goal, even though it should bring him to the +grave during this period of the "Meistersinger" composition. He lived +in the most quiet retirement upon a small and beautiful estate in +Triebscheu, near Lucerne, where Frau von Buelow, with her children, +provided for his domestic comfort. His own wife had unexpectedly died +a short time before. During her last years she had lived separately +from the "fiery wheel" whose mad flight she could no longer grasp +nor endure, but by no means in that poverty which the abominably +slanderous press of Munich and elsewhere had accused him of inflicting +upon her. On the contrary, she lived in circumstances fully +corresponding to her husband's means. + +In October, 1867, after the lapse of 22 years, the "Meistersinger" was +at last completed. He now strove to secure as far as possible a model +representation. It was of course to take place in Munich, where +"Tristan" had already given the orchestra at least a sure tradition of +style. The event was destined to win for him the very heart of the +nation. If the general culture of the last generation by its shallow +optimism and stale humanitarianism blunted the feeling for the tragic, +as Wagner for the first time had deeply expressed it, yet of one +quality we were never deprived, it ever remained undisturbed, and +that was our German good-nature, from the depths of which humor +springs. At a casual meeting in Kuxhasen, during a friendly contest in +the expression of emotions by gestures of the face, even the great +Kean could not rival the greater Devrient in one thing, and had to +yield to him the victory, and that was the tearful smile which springs +from real compassion with the sorrows of humanity. It was with this +"German good-nature" that Wagner this time conquered the nations. It +was Beethoven who had again quickened the flow from this deepest +source of blessing in life which Shakespeare had been the first to +fully open. By it, Wagner's soul has ever kept its warmth and spirit. +Who that was present does not think with joyous emotion of those +Munich May-days of 1868? + +His pamphlet, "German Art and German Politics," had directed the +attention of the narrower circle of Wagner's friends at least +to the great fact that the artificial French civilization which had +prevailed during the last generation could be banished by a real +intellectual culture, and that in this work the highest form of art, +the stage-festival-play, would take a prominent and important part. A +masterly performance of Lohengrin in the spring of 1868, in honor of +the Crown-Prince of Prussia, was a striking illustration of this, +especially to Munich circles. It may also have influenced the mood of +the performers in whose hands the ultimate realization of an object +after all rests. "Even in after years Wagner confessed he had never +felt greater satisfaction in his experiences with an opera company +than at the first representation of the 'Meistersinger.'" The +performers also speak of the persuasive grace and the fresh, animating +cheerfulness with which the master, an example for all in his restless +activity, moved among them and gave to each individual his constant +directions. This remark of his biographer tells everything. + +The rehearsals were this time even more artistically satisfactory to +all the participants than those of "Tristan." This art-work was easier +of comprehension owing to its more familiar subject and natural tone. +At the director's desk stood Buelow--"a fine head with clear cut +features, bold arched forehead and large eyes." Opposite to him on the +stage stood Wagner, likewise a very active form of medium height. "All +his features bear the impress of an unsubdued will which underlies his +whole nature," says a Frenchman. "It shows itself everywhere--in the +broad and prominent forehead, in the excessive curve of the strong +chin, in the thin and compressed lips, up to the strong eyebrows, +which disclose the long excitements of a life of suffering; it is the +man of battle, whom we know by his life, the man of thought, who, +never content with the past, looks constantly to the future." Closely +attending, he accompanied every tone with a fitting gesture for the +performer. Only when Mallinger sang the role of the goldsmith's little +daughter, Eva, he paused and listened approvingly with a smiling face. +It was clear that, like Prometheus among his lifeless forms, he +animated them with the breath of the soul and roused them into life. +Beckmesser, the Marker, by his drastic presentation alone expressed +the full measure of furious wrath over the shoemaker's mockery of +his beautiful singing. Such a display of art was new to all. The +Court-Kapellmeister Esser of Vienna, admitted that for the first time +he knew what dramatic, as compared with Kapellmeister-music, was; and +the excellent clarinet-player Baermann, who had personally known +Weber, felt himself in a new world, of which he said that one who did +not know how to appreciate it was not worthy of it and that those who +did not understand it were served rightly in being debarred from this +enjoyment. + +At the close of the rehearsals, Wagner expressed his great pleasure to +all the performers; only the artist could again elevate art, and in +contrast with the foreign style, hitherto cultivated, they would +create our own distinctive art. The performance itself was intended to +show to what height and dignity the drama could be elevated when +earnest zeal and true loyalty are enlisted in its service. It was a +touching proof of enthusiastic gratitude for the noble results to +which he had led them, when they all gathered around him to press his +hand or kiss his arms and shoulders. It was the first time that poet +and artist were reunited and in harmony. A hopeful moment for our +art! The enthusiasm lasted fully half of that fragrant summer night. + +Such were the hopes realized by the happy impression the performance +itself made upon everyone. The harmony of action, word, music, and +scenery had hitherto never been consciously felt to such a degree. The +rejoicing was general. The Sunday-afternoon service, so devout and +home-like, the busy apprentices, the worthy masters, the "young +Siegfried" Walther von Stolzing, the thoughtful, noble burgher form +of Hans Sachs, and finally, lovely little Eva, no wonder it all +produced supreme ecstasy. Wagner, sitting in the imperial box at the +side of the king, cared not for the tumultous applause of those who +had so grievously wronged him, but gave himself up to the enjoyment of +this moment of the highest happiness, which perhaps was best reflected +in the eyes of his noble friend. Finally, however, when the demand +became too imperious, the king himself probably urged Wagner to go +forward, and from the royal box he made his acknowledgment, too deeply +stirred and agitated to utter a word. For the welfare of the nation +and the time, we see here realized in its wide significance the +vision of Schiller: + + "Thus, King and Singer shall together be + Upon the mountains of humanity." + +The friend of the cause will find a correct account of all these ever +memorable occurrences in the "Musical Sketchbook--An Exposition of the +State of the Opera at the present Time," of 1869, concerning which the +master wrote to the author: "You will readily believe that much, +indeed the most, of what you have written, has greatly affected and +deeply touched me, and I shall therefore say nothing about your work +itself except to express for all this my great and intense pleasure!" + +The criticisms of different persons presented a many-colored picture +of which an amusing sketch will also be found in the book referred to. +How many Beckmessers came to light there! The most concise and +worthiest expression of the prevalent feeling of final victory for the +cause is found in the verses of Ernst Dohm, with which we close this +grand chapter, the morning greeting of noble deeds: + + No mistakes, no faults were found. + No,--but purely, lovely singing, + Captivating every heart, + Honor to the master bringing, + Glorifying German art-- + Did the Mastersong resound. + + Soon, as standard bearers strong, + From the strand of Isar, we + Will go forth with Mastersong + Through United Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +1869-1876. + +BAIREUTH. + + A Vienna Critic--"Judaism in Music"--The War of 1870--Wagner's + Second Wife--"The Thought of Baireuth"--Wagner-Clubs--The "Kaiser + March"--Baireuth--Increasing Progress--Concerts--The Corner-Stone + of the new Theatre--The Inaugural Celebration--Lukewarmness of the + Nation--The Preliminary Rehearsals--The Summer of 1876--Increasing + Devotion of the Artists--The General Rehearsal--The Guests--The + Memorable Event--Its Importance--A World-History in Art-Deeds. + + "_In the beginning was the deed._"--GOETHE. + + +"As artist and man, I am now approaching a new world," Wagner had +already written in 1851. + +The Vienna Thersites, with his coarse and confused wits, whom the real +irony of his time had termed "the most renowned musical critic of the +age," had the hardihood to write for the principal newspaper of +Austria as late as the spring of 1872: "Wagner is lucky in everything. +He begins by raging against all monarchs, and a generous King meets +him with enthusiastic love. Then he writes a pasquinade against the +Jews, and musical Jewry pays him homage all the more by purchasing the +Baireuth certificates. He proves that all our Hofkapellmeisters are +mere artisans, and behold, they organize Wagner-clubs and recruit +troops for Baireuth. Opera-singers and theatre directors, whose +performances Wagner most cruelly condemns, follow his footsteps +wherever he appears and are delighted if he salutes them. He brands +our conservatories as being spoiled and neglected institutes, and the +scholars of the Vienna conservatory form in line before Richard Wagner +and make a subscription to present the master with a token of esteem." + +Ah, yes; but this "luck" was the result of his close search for what +was true and real. + +This moral dignity, which asks for nothing but the truth, gradually +drew toward Wagner many estimable friends, among them, through the +"Meistersinger" performance in Munich, that simple citizen who +organized in Mannheim the first of those Wagner-clubs that called into +existence for us the high castle of art and the ideal--"Baireuth." + +With that work Wagner had made the last hopeful attempt to improve the +domestic stage. The experiences gained in this effort disclosed to +him with distinct clearness the radically inartistic and un-German +qualities of the theatre, which outwardly and inwardly, morally as +well as spiritually, exerted an equally pernicious influence. But +while completely alienating himself from it and planning only to "rear +with considerate haste his gigantic edifice of four divisions," and +thus obtain a stage free from all commercial interests, consecrated +only to the ideal of the nation and the human mind, he yet felt +impelled once more to withdraw with firm hand the veil from the actual +social and art conditions of the nation, and wrote "Judaism in Music." + +A simple pamphlet has rarely set all circles of society in such +commotion as did this. It was like the awakening conscience of +the nation, only that its mental stupor prevented the immediate +comprehension of the new and deeply conciliatory spirit which here +presented itself, at once to heal and to save. It was a national deed +clearly to disclose this unseemly shopkeeper's spirit which attempts +to drag to the mercantile level even the highest concerns of humanity. +At the same time there came to some a conception of how deep and +great, how overwhelming this German spirit must be, that it not only +forces such aliens into its yoke, but, as in the case of Heine and +Mendelssohn, often produces in them profoundly affecting tones of +longing for participation in its sublime nature. Wagner's feeling at +this, the most confused uproar which has been heard in the present +time, could only have been like that of Goethe, namely, that all these +stupid talkers have no idea how impregnable the fortress is in which +he lives who is ever earnest about himself and his cause. He was +unconcerned, knowing that he should have the privilege of performing +his "Ring of the Nibelungen" far from all these distorted forms and +figures of the prevailing art. Of this, his noble friend had given +positive assurance; and for himself it became an unavoidable +necessity, since in 1869 and 1870 Munich had performed, without his +consent and contrary to his wishes, "Rheingold" and "Walkuere," by +which it had only been shown anew how little the prevalent opera +routine was in consonance with his object. + +In the meantime came the war of 1870. That of 1866 had destroyed the +rotten German "Bund," but now the most daring hopes revived in German +breasts, for there stood the people in arms, like Lohengrin, +everywhere repelling injustice and violence. + + I dared to bury many a smart + Which long and deeply grieved my heart. + +With these words Wagner greeted his king on the latter's birth day in +1870, and with clear-sighted boldness he said to himself, "The morning +of mankind is dawning." The work, however, which was to glorify and +render effective this first full Siegfried-deed of the Germans since +the days of the Reformation, and revive the moral energy of the +nation, was completed in June of the same year, 1870, with the +"Goetterdaemmerung." + +He now strove to strengthen himself anew and permanently. For the +first time in his life he fully secured the purely human happiness +which preserves our powers. He married the divorced Frau Cosima von +Buelow, a daughter of Liszt. "This man, so completely controlled +by his demon, should always have had at his side a high-minded, +appreciative woman, a wife that would have understood the war that was +constantly waged within him," is the judgment passed on Wagner's first +wife by one of her friends. He had now found this woman, and in a way +that proved on every hand a blessing. Her incomparably unselfish, +self-sacrificing first husband himself declared afterwards that this +was the only proper solution. Siegfried was the name given to the +fruit of this union. The "Siegfried Idyl" of 1871 is dedicated to the +boy's happy childhood in the beautiful surroundings of Lucerne. + +In this year, the centennial anniversary of Beethoven's birth, he also +told his nation what it possessed in him, its most manly son. He +represents, as he says in that Jubilee pamphlet, the spirit so much +feared beyond the mountains as well as on the other side of the Rhine. +He regained for us the innocence of the soul. What is now wanting is, +that out of this pure spirit-nature, as it is illustrated in his +music, there shall arise a true culture in contrast with the foreign +civilization, which resembles the time of the Roman emperors? These +tones utter anew a world-saving prophesy, and shall we not then +appropriate them fully and forever? The "thought of Baireuth" now +obtained more definite form. A number of friends of the cause were to +make it real and wrest German art from the Venusberg of the common +theatre. + +The work of the Wagner-clubs now began, which, with the aid of the +Baireuth Board of Managers, under the direction of the indefatigable +banker Fustel, has led to the goal at last. Liszt's Scholar, Tausig, +and his friend, Frau von Schleinitz, in Berlin, organized the society +of "Patrons," each member of which was to contribute one hundred +thalers toward a fund of three hundred thousand. By the publication of +his writings, Wagner himself introduced the cause that was to show +that in his art also he sought that life by which the ideal nature of +the nation exists. His noble-minded king had, in November of 1870, +uttered the words of deliverance to the other German princes, which +finally gave us again a dignified and honorable existence as a nation, +by creating the German empire. Could German art then remain in the +background? Our artist was now all activity--a wonderfully joyous and +stirring activity. To the "German army before Paris," he who had +always thought and labored for his nation's glory, sang, in January, +1871, the song of triumphant joy of the German armies' deeds: + + The Emperor comes: let justice now in peace have sway. + +At that time, also, he composed, at the suggestion of Dr. Abrahams, +owner of the "Peters edition," in Leipzig, the Kaiser March, which +closes with the following people's song: + + God save the Emperor, William, the King! + Shield of all Germans, freedom's defense! + The highest crown + Graces thine head with renown! + Peace, won with glory, be thy recompense! + As foliage new upon the oak-tree grows, + Through thee the German Empire new-born rose; + Hail to its ancient banners which we + Did carry, which guided thee + When conquering bravely the Gallic foes! + Defying enemies, protecting friends, + The welfare of the nations Germany defends. + +Shortly afterward he expresses more clearly the meaning of the +festival-plays that are to be representations in a nobler and +original German style, and he, the lonely wanderer, who hitherto has +heard but the croakings in the bogs of theatrical criticism, +accompanied the pamphlet with an essay on the "Mission of the Opera," +with which he at the same time introduces himself as a member of the +Berlin Academy. + +In the spring of 1871, he went to Baireuth, the ancient residence of +the Margraves, which contained one of the largest theatres. The +building was arranged for the wants of the court and not fully adapted +to his purposes, but the simple and true-hearted inhabitants of the +place had attracted him. Besides this, the pleasant, quiet little city +was situated in the "Kingdom of Grace" and, what likewise seemed of +importance, in the geographical centre of Germany. A short stay +subsequently in the capital of the new empire revealed his goal at +once with stronger consciousness and purpose both for himself and his +friends. At a celebration held there in his honor he said that the +German mind bears the same relation to music as to religion. It +demands the truth and not beautiful form alone. As the Reformation +had laid the foundations of the religion of the Germans deeper and +stronger by freeing Christianity from Roman bonds, so music must +retain its German characteristics of profoundness and sublimity. +During the same time the building of the theatre after Semper's +designs was planned with the building inspector, Neumann. + +The sudden death of Tausig which occurred at this time seemed a heavy +loss to all. Wagner has erected for him an inspiring and touching +monument in verse. Other friends however came forward all the more +actively, particularly from Mannheim, with its music-dealer, Emil +Heckel, who had asked him what those without means could do for the +great cause and then at once commenced to organize the "Richard +Wagner-Verein." The example was immediately followed by Vienna and the +other German cities. The project was so far advanced that negotiations +with Baireuth could now be opened. The city was found willing enough +to provide a building site. Applications of other cities having in +view their material interests could therefore be ignored. Wagner then +in order to clearly state the definite purpose to be accomplished, +published the "Report to the German Wagner-Verein," which reveals to +us so deeply the soul-processes that were connected with the +completion of his stage-festival-play. "I have now to my intense +pleasure only to unite the propitious elements under the same banner +which floats so auspiciously over the resurrected German empire, and +at once I can build up my structure out of the constituent parts of a +real German culture; nay more, I need only to unveil the prepared +edifice, so long unrecognized, by withdrawing from it the false +drapery which will soon like a perforated veil disappear in the air." +Thus he closes with joyous hope. And now the necessary steps were +taken in Baireuth. The city donated the building site. The laying of +the corner-stone of the temporary building was to be celebrated May +22, 1872, with Beethoven's Ninth symphony. Wagner took up his +permanent residence in Baireuth. The King had sent his secretary to +meet him while en-route through Augsburg and to assure him that +whatever the outcome might be he would be responsible for any deficit. + +A paragraph in the prospectus of the Mannheim society had held out +the prospect of concerts under the master's own direction. This led +to a number of journeys that gave him an opportunity to make the +acquaintance of his "friends" and especially of the artistic "forces" +of Germany. The first journey, as was proper, was to Mannheim "where +men are at home." They had there, as he said, strengthened his faith +in the realization of his plans and demonstrated that the artist's +real ground was in the heart of the nation! Thus he interpreted the +meaning of the celebration there. Vienna also heard classical music, +as well as his own, under the direction of his magical baton. It +happened that at "Wotan's Departure," and "the Banishment of the +fire-god, Loge," in the "Walkuere," a tremendous thunder-storm broke +forth. "When the Greeks contemplated a great work, they called upon +Zeus to send them a flash of lightning as an omen. May all of us who +have united to found a home for German art interpret this lightning +also as favorable to our work, and as a sign of approval from above," +he said amidst indescribable sensation, and then touched upon the +Baireuth festival, and the Ninth symphony, in which the German soul +appears so deep and rich in meaning. What a world of thoughts, what +germs of future forms lie concealed in this symphony! He himself +stands upon this great work, and from this vantage strives to advance +further. During this period the ill-omened raven, Professor Hanslick, +uttered his silly words about Wagner's "luck." But the victory was +this time with the right. + +In Baireuth meanwhile all was being prepared for the celebration. The +Riedel and the Rebling singing-societies constituted the nucleus of +the chorus while the orchestra was formed of musicians from all parts +of Germany, Wilhelmi at their head. There the master for the first +time was really among "his artists." "We give no concert, we make +music for ourselves and desire simply to show the world how Beethoven +is performed--the devil take him who criticises us," he said to them +with humorous seriousness. The laying of the corner-stone on the +beautiful hill overlooking the city, where the edifice stands to-day, +took place May 22, 1872, to the strains of the "Huldigungs March," +composed for his King in 1864. "Blessing upon thee, my stone, stand +long and firm!" were the words with which Wagner himself gave the +first three blows with the hammer. The King had sent a telegram: "From +my inmost soul, I convey to you, my dearest friend, on this day so +important for all Germany, my warmest and sincerest congratulations. +May the great undertaking prosper and be blessed! I am to-day more +than ever united with you in spirit." Wagner himself had written the +verse: + + Here I enclose a mystery; + For centuries it here may rest. + So long as here preserved it be, + It shall to all be manifest. + +Both telegram and verse with the Mannheim and Bayreuth documents lie +beneath the stone. Wagner returned with his friends to the city in a +deeply earnest mood. On this his sixtieth birthday his eyes for the +first time beheld the goal of his life! + +At the celebration, which then took place in the Opera-house, he +addressed the following words to his friends and patrons: "It is the +nature of the German mind to build from within. The eternal God +actually dwells therein before the temple is erected to His glory. The +stone has already been placed which is to bear the proud edifice, +whenever the German people for their own honor shall desire to enter +into possession with you. Thus then may it be consecrated through your +love, your good wishes and the deep obligation which I bear to you, +all of you who have encouraged, helped and given to me! May it be +consecrated by the German spirit which away over the centuries sends +forth its youthful morning-greeting to you." + +The performance of the symphony of that artist, to whom Wagner himself +attributes religious consecration according to eye-witnesses, gave to +this festival, also "the character of a sacred celebration," as had +once been true of the great Beethoven academy in November, 1814. +At the evening celebration, however, Wagner recalled again the +large-heartedness of his King, and said that to this was due what they +had experienced to-day, but that its influence reached far beyond +civil and state affairs. It guaranteed the ultimate possession of a +high intellectual culture, and was the stepping-stone to the grandest +that a nation can achieve. Would the time soon come which shall fitly +name this King, as it already recognized him, a "Louis the German" in +a far nobler sense than his great ancestor? "Certainly no fear of the +always existing majority of the vulgar and the coarse is to prevent +us from confessing that the greatest, weightiest and most important +revelation which the world can show is not the world-conqueror but he +who has overcome the world:" thus teaches the philosopher, and we +shall soon perceive that this was also true of Wagner and his royal +friend. + +The fame of this celebration, which had so deeply stirred everyone +present, resounded through all countries, appealed to all true +German hearts. And yet, how many remained even now indifferent and +incredulous! The "nation," as such, did not respond to the call. It +did not, or would not, understand it, uttered by a man who had told +us so many unwelcome truths to our face. It still lay paralyzed in +foreign and unworthy bondage, and was, besides, for the time too much +engrossed with the affairs of the empire, whose novelty had not yet +worn off. + + "From morn till eve, in toil and anguish, + Not easily gained it was." + +These words of _Wotan_, about his castle Walhalla, were only to +be too fully realized by our master. His "friends" alone gave him +comfort, and their number he saw constantly increase from out of the +midst of the people whose leaders in art-matters they were more and +more destined to become. The public interest was kept alive and +stirred afresh with concerts and discourses. The Old did not rest. +The struggle constantly broke out anew, and for the time it remained +in the possession of the ring that symbolizes mastery. The dragon was +still unconquered. As the "people" in Germany are not particularly +wealthy, slow progress was made with the contributions from the +multiplying Wagner-clubs, and yet millions were needed even for this +temporary edifice with its complete stage apparatus. It required all +the love of his friends, especially of that rarest of all friends, to +dispel at times his deep anger when he was compelled to see how +mediocrity, even actual vulgarity, again and again held captive the +minds of his people to whom he had such high and noble things to +offer. "In the end I must accept the money of the Jews in order to +build a theatre for the Germans," he said, in the spring of 1873, to +Liszt, when during that period of wild stock-speculations, some Vienna +bankers had offered him three millions of marks for the erection of +his building. He could not well have been humiliated more deeply +before his own people, but he was raised still higher in the +consciousness of his mission. Truly, this love also came "out of +laughter and tears, joys and sorrows," for the mighty host of his +enemies now put forth every effort to make his work appear ridiculous +and in that way kill it. A pamphlet, by a physician, declared him +"mentally diseased by illusions of greatness." Even a Breughel could +not paint the raging of the distorted figures which at that time +convulsed the world of culture, not alone of Germany. It was really an +inhuman and superhuman struggle around this ring of the Nibelung! + +Nevertheless, in August of the same year (1873), the festival could be +undertaken in Baireuth. "Designed in reliance upon the German soul, +and completed to the glory of its august benefactor," is printed on +the score of the Nibelungen Ring, which now began to appear. The space +for the "stage-festival-play" was at least under roof. But with that, +the means obtained so far were exhausted, and only "vigorous +assistance" on the part of his King prevented complete cessation of +work. Wagner himself was soon compelled again to take up his +wanderer's staff. He sought this time (1874-1875), with the lately +completed "Goetterdaemmerung," to sound through the nation the +effective call to awaken, and in doing so met with many decided +encouragements. "From the bottom of my heart I thank the splendid +Vienna public which to-day has brought me an important step nearer the +realization of my life-mission." This was the theme which fortunately +he had then only to vary in Pesth and in Berlin. + +The preliminary rehearsals now began, and what Munich had witnessed +in 1868 repeated itself ten times over in Baireuth during this summer +of 1875. For weeks there was the same untiring industry, but also +the same, nay increasing, enthusiasm. "Of this marvelous work I +recently heard more than twenty rehearsals. It over-tops and dominates +our entire art-period as does Mont Blanc the other mountains," +wrote Liszt. The master frankly conceded that it was due to the +"unhesitating zeal of the associate artists as well as to the splendid +success of their performances" that he could now positively invite +the patrons and Wagner for the next summer. "Through your kind +participation may an artistic deed be brought to light, such as none +of the dignitaries of to-day but only the free union of those really +called could present to the world," he says. And: + + "From such marvelous deed the hero's fame arose," + +sings Hagen of Siegfried. + +The rehearsals during the summer of 1876 so increased the enthusiastic +devotion of the artists to the work, that many felt they had really +now only become such. Others, however, like Niemann as Siegmund, Hill +as Alberich, and Schlosser as Mime, showed already in fact what heroic +deeds in the art of representation were presented. The fetters of the +maidenly bride were indeed broken that she might live. "We have +overcome the first. We must yet consummate a true hero-deed in a short +time," Wagner said, when at the first close of the Cycle silent +emotion had given place to a perfect storm of enthusiasm, but, he +exultantly added: "If we shall carry it out as I now clearly see that +it will be done, we may well say that we have performed something +grand." The little anticipated humor in "Siegfried" developed itself +in such a way under the leadership of Hans Richter, who was more and +more inspired by the master, that one seemed indeed to hear "the +laughter of the universe in one stupendous outbreak." That was the +fruit of the "tempestuous sobbing" with which young Siegfried himself +had once listened to the Ninth symphony. It was indeed a new +soul-foundation for his nation and his time! Wagner himself calls an +enthusiasm of this kind a power that could conduct all human affairs +to certain prosperity and upon which states could be built. The +patriotic enthusiasm of 1870 sprang from the same source and it has +brought us the "empire" as that of 1876 gave us the "art." + +The general rehearsal on the seventh of August was attended by the +King. He had stopped at a sub-station, once the favorite resort of +Jean Paul, and at the station-master's house the two great and +constant friends silently embraced, giving vent to their feelings in +tears. From that date to the thirteenth of August, 1876, the ever +memorable day of the re-creation of German art, came the hosts of +friends and patrons, from great princes to the humble German +musicians. "Baireuth is Germany" is the acclamation of an Englishman +on witnessing the spectacle. The head of the realm, Emperor William, +was there himself welcomed by the festival-giver and hailed with +acclamation by the thousands from far and near. The Grand-duke +Constantine and the Emperor of Brazil were likewise present. + +Of the effect we shall at this time say nothing for lack of space to +tell all; but, to convey at least a conception of the event which +riveted minds and held hearts spell-bound until the last note had +passed away, while at the same time a whole new world dawned upon our +souls--we present a short account of the work as pithily drawn by +Wagner's gifted friend and patron, Prof. Nietzsche, in Basle. + +"In the Ring of the Nibelungen," he says, "the tragic hero is a god +(Wotan), who covets power and who, by following every path to obtain +it, binds himself with contracts, loses his liberty and is at last +engulfed in the curse which rests upon power. He becomes conscious of +his loss of liberty, because he no longer has the means to gain +possession of the golden ring, the essence or symbol of all earthly +power, and at the same time of greatest danger for himself as long as +it remains in the hands of his enemies. The fear of the end and the +'twilight' of all the gods comes over him and likewise despair, as he +realizes that he can not strive against this end, but must quietly see +it approach. He stands in need of the free, fearless man, who without +his advice and aid, even battling against divine order, from within +himself accomplishes the deed which is denied to the gods. He does not +discover him, and just as a new hope awakens he must yield to the +destiny that binds him. Through his hand the dearest must be +destroyed, the purest sympathy punished with his distress. + +"Then at last he loathes the power that enslaves and brings forth +evil. His will is broken, and he desires the end which threatens from +afar. And now what he had but just desired occurs. The free, fearless +man appears. He is created supernaturally, and they who gave birth to +him pay the penalty of a union contrary to nature. They are destroyed, +but Siegfried lives. + +"In the sight of his splendid growth and development the loathing +vanishes from the soul of Wotan. He follows the hero's fate with the +eye of the most fatherly love and anxiety. How Siegfried forges the +sword, kills the dragon, secures the ring, escapes the most crafty +intrigues, and awakens Brunhilde; how the curse that rests upon the +ring does not spare even him, the innocent one, but comes nearer and +nearer; how he, faithful in faithlessness, wounds out of love the most +beloved, and is surrounded by the shadows and mists of guilt, but at +last emerges as clear as the sun and sinks, illuminating the heavens +with his fiery splendor and purifying the world from the curse--all +this the god, whose governing spear has been broken in the struggle +with the freest and who has lost his power to him, holds full of joy +at his own defeat, fully participating in the joy and sorrow of his +conqueror. His eye rests with the brightness of a painful serenity +upon all that has passed. 'He has become free in Love, free from +himself.'" + +These are the profound contents of a work that reveals to us the +tragic nature of the world! + +At the close of the Cycle, there arose in the enthusiastic assemblage +a demand to see at such a great and grand moment the noble artist +whose eyes had rested for so many years upon the spirit of his great +nation "with the brightness of a painful serenity." He could not evade +the persistent, stormy demand, and had to appear. His features bore an +expression that seemed to show a whole life lived again, an entire +world embraced anew, as he came forward and uttered the significant +yet simple words: "To your own kindness and the ceaseless efforts of +my associates, our artists, you owe this accomplishment. What I have +yet to say to you can be put into a few words, into an axiom. You have +seen now what we can do. It remains for you to will! And if you will, +then we have a German art!" + +Yes, indeed we have such an art--a "Baireuth." + + O, done is the deathless deed; + On mountain-top the mighty castle! + Splendidly shines the structure new. + As in dreams I did dream it, + As my will did wish it, + Strong and serene it stands to the view-- + Mighty manor new! + +We have a German art! But have we also by this time a German spirit +that sways the nation's life? Have we come to detest mere might which +we have hitherto worshipped and that yet "bears within its lap evil +and thralldom?" Has the "free, fearless man," the Siegfried, been born +to us who out of himself creates the right and with the sword he +forges manfully slays the dragon that gnaws at the vitals of our being +and thus rescues the slumbering bride? This question has been hurled +into our life and history by the "Ring of the Nibelungen." It will be +heard as long as the question remains unsolved. If, according to +Wagner's conception, Beethoven wrote the history of the world in +music, then he himself has furnished a world-history in art-deeds! +Such is the meaning of this Baireuth with its Nibelungen Ring of 1876. + +Let us see now what the life and work of this artist, for nigh unto +seventy years, further and finally imports to us. He also was guided +by Goethe's fervent prayer: + + "O, lofty Spirit, suffer me + The end of my life's-work to see!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +1877-1882. + +PARSIFAL. + + A German Art--Efforts to maintain the Acquired Results--Concerts in + London--Recognition abroad and Lukewarmness at home--The + "Nibelungen" in Vienna--"Parsifal"--Increasing Popularity + of Wagner's Music--Judgments--Accounts of the "Parsifal" + Representations--The Theatre Building--"Parsifal," a National + Drama--Its Significance and Idea--Anti-Semiticism--The Jewish + Spirit--Wagner's Standpoint--Synopsis of "Parsifal"--The Legend of + the Holy Grail--Its Symbolic Importance--Art in the Service of + Religion--Beethoven and Wagner--"Redemption to the Redeemer." + + "_Dawn then now, thou day of Gods!_"--Wagner. + + +"If you but will it, we shall have a German art." It is true we had a +German music, a German literature, a German art of painting, each of +high excellence, but they were not that union of German art which +floated before Wagner's mind in his "combined art-work" and which +found its first adequate interpretation in the performances of the +Nibelungen Ring. His object was now to make it permanent and to this +end he sought the means. + +Accordingly on January 1, 1877, the invitation to form "a society of +patrons for the culture and maintenance of the stage-festival-plays +of Baireuth" was issued. At the same time the "Baireuther Blaetter," +which subsequently were made available to the general public, were +issued in order to more fully and constantly elucidate the aim and +object of the cause. Wagner had declined to acquiesce in a demand for +a subsidy from the Reichstag, although King Louis had agreed to +support such a measure before the Bundesrath. "There are no Germans; +at least they are no longer a nation. Whoever still thinks so and +relies upon their national pride makes a fool of himself," he said +bitterly enough to a friend. As far as the ideal is concerned he was +certainly right in regard to the Reichstag as well as the people. "He +who can clear such paths is a genius, a prophet, and in Germany, a +martyr as well!" are the words of one of those who at one time had +contemptuously spoken of this "Baireuth" as a "speculation." And yet +Wagner had to accept an invitation to give concerts in London to cover +the expenses of this same "Baireuth." By the distinguished reception +the artist met there, the consideration shown for his art, the spread +of his earlier works over the whole of Europe, he felt that foreign +lands had understood him, the German. It must have been very bitter +for him to feel that the Germans as a nation knew him not. Among the +multitude of the educated, faith was still wanting. They courted +foreign gods. If it had not been so would it have required seven, +fully seven years, to obtain the moderate sum needed even to think of +resuming the work, and in the end a contribution of three hundred +thousand marks from His Majesty the King to bring it to completion? +How slow was the progress of the society of patrons! People who, +during the era of speculation had accumulated wealth rapidly, thought +in these years of decreasing prosperity of something else than joining +such an undertaking, and declared that they had to economize. And yet +the annual dues were but 15 marks! Very singular was the answer of +some whose rank or learning gave them prominence. They said that it +was not even known whether the project had any real standing and they +might therefore disgrace themselves by lending their names. Yes, when +the bad Wagnerians dared to attack the tottering Mendelssohn-Schuman +instrumental mechanics, Germans as well as others were induced to +withdraw from the society which it had cost them so much struggle to +join. Councilors of State and educators did not even respond to the +invitations of the society's branches which were now gradually +organized in a large number of cities. + +It was generally known that a new work was soon to issue from Wagner's +brain and soon everywhere from the Rhine to the Danube, from rock to +sea, could be heard the Nibelungen! Wagner had, against his innermost +conviction, consented to permit the use of the work by the larger +theatres in the supposition that such personal experience of the +"prodigious deed" would open heart and hand for a still grander one, +the permanent establishment of a distinctive German art. Vienna came +first. However excellent the performance of a few, for instance, +Scaria as Wotan, Materna as Brunnhilde and the orchestra under Hans +Richter, there was lacking the ensemble! The sensation of something +extraordinary, of grandeur and solemnity, that in Baireuth had +elevated the soul to the eternal heights of humanity, was not there. +It was often as when daylight enters a theatre; the sublime illusion +of such a tragic representation was wanting, and Wagner knew that in +this art it is the very bread of life. "The art-work also, like +everything transitory, is only a parable, but a parable of the +ever-present eternal," he said, in taking leave of his friends and +patrons in Baireuth and his purpose now was deeply to impress the +minds of his contemporaries with this "ever-present eternal" and thus +make it permanently effective. The Holy Grail had first to give forth +its last wonder! + +Once more he diverts his attention from "outward politics," as he +called the intercourse with the theatres, and collects his thoughts +for a new deed. This was "Parsifal." With this work, performed for the +first time, July 26, 1882, and then repeated thirteen times, he +believed he might close his life-long labors, and assuredly he has +securely crowned them. It seems indeed as if this has finally and +forever broken the obstinate ban that so long separated him and his +art from his people. The success of the Nibelungen Ring had been +called in question, but that of "Parsifal" is beyond doubt, as +sufficiently demonstrated by the attendance of cultured people from +everywhere for so many weeks! "They came from all parts of the world; +as of old in Babel, you can hear speech in every tongue," said a +participant in the festival. With the final slaying of the dragon, +there fell also into the hero's hand the treasure, inasmuch as the +large attendance left a surplus of many thousand marks, thus assuring +the continuation of the festival-plays. + +To be sure, the Nibelungen Ring had largely contributed to this +success. At first performed in Leipzig, then by the same troupe in +Berlin, it had met with a really unprecedented reception. Since +the storm of 1813, since the years of 1848-49, the feeling of a +distinctive nationality has not been so effectually roused, and this +time it no longer stood solely upon the ground of patriotism and +politics, but there where we seek our highest--the "ever-present +eternal." England was likewise roused in 1882, with performances +of the "Nibelungen Ring," and still more with "Tristan," to a +consciousness of an eternal humanity in this art, such as had not +been experienced there since Beethoven's Ninth symphony, and this +enthusiasm of our manly and serious brethren sped like the fire's +glare, illuminating the common fatherland from whence they had +themselves once carried that feeling for the tragic which produced +their Shakespeare. Everywhere was the stir of spring-time, sudden +awakening, as from death-like slumber or a disturbing dream. "Dawn +then now, thou day of gods!" + +We will next give some accounts of the representations. + +"'Victory! Victory!' is the word which is making the rounds of the +world from Baireuth, in these days. Wagner's latest creation which +brings the circle of his works in a beautiful climax to a dignified +close, has achieved a success such as the most intimate adherents of +the master could not well desire fuller or grander. The name of a +'German Olympia,' which had been given facetiously to the capital +of Upper Franconia, it really now merited," was said by a London +correspondent. + +At the close of the general rehearsal, "the participating artists +unanimously declared that they had never received from the stage such +an impression of lofty sublimity." "Parsifal produces such an enormous +effect that I can not conceive any one will leave the theatre +unsatisfied or with hostile thoughts," E. Heckel wrote; and Liszt +affirmed that nothing could be said about this wonderful work: "Yes, +indeed, it silences all who have been profoundly touched by it. Its +sanctified pendulum swings from the lofty to the most sublime." Of the +first act it had already been said: "We here meet with a harmony of +the musico-dramatic and religious church style which alone enables us +to experience in succession the most terrible, heartrending sorrow and +again that most sanctified devotion which the feeling of a certainty +of salvation alone rouses in us." + +The German Crown-Prince attended the performance of August 29th, the +last one. "I find no words to voice the impression I have received," +he said to the committee of the patron society which escorted him. "It +transcends everything that I had expected, it is magnificent. I am +deeply touched, and I perceive that the work can not be given in the +modern theatre." And, finally, "I do not feel as though I am in a +theatre, it is so sublime." + +A Frenchman wrote: "The work that actually created a furious storm of +applause is of the calmest character that can be conceived; always +powerful, it leaves the all-controlling sensation of loftiness and +purity." "The union of decoration, poetry, music and dramatic +representation in a wonderfully beautiful picture, that with +impressive eloquence points to the new testament--a picture full of +peace and mild, conciliatory harmony, is something entirely new in +the dramatic world," is said of the opening of the third act. + +And in simple but candid truth the decisive importance of the cause +called forth the following: "Parsifal furnishes sufficient evidence +that the stage is not only not unworthy to portray the grandest and +holiest treasures of man and his divine worship, but that it is +precisely the medium which is capable in the highest degree of +awakening these feelings of devotion and presenting the impressive +ceremony of divine worship. If the hearer is not prompted to devotion +by it, then certainly no church ceremony can rouse such a feeling in +him. The stage, that to the multitude is at all times merely a place +of amusement, and upon which at best are usually represented only the +serious phases of human life, of guilt and atonement, but which is +deemed unworthy of portraying the innermost life of man and his +intercourse with his God, this stage has been consecrated to its +highest mission by 'Parsifal.'" + +The building also, which Semper's art-genius, with the highest end in +view had constructed, is worthy of this mission. It has no ornament in +the style of our modern theatres. Nowhere do we behold gold or +dazzling colors; nowhere brilliancy of light or splendor of any kind. +The seats rise amphitheatrically and are symmetrically enclosed by a +row of boxes. To the right and left rise mighty Corinthian columns, +which invest the house with the character of a temple. The orchestra, +like the choir of the Catholic cloisters, is invisible and everything +unpleasant and disturbing about ordinary theaters is removed. +Everything is arranged for a solemn, festive effect. "That is no +longer the theatre, it is divine worship," was the final verdict +accordingly. "Baireuth" is the temple of the Holy Grail. + +At length we come to the principal theme, and with it to the climax of +this historical sketch of such a mighty and all-important artistic +lifework, to "Parsifal" itself. The mere mention of its contents +attests its importance for the present and the future. Wagner's +"Parsifal," in an important sense, can be termed our national drama. +Such a work like AEschylus' "Persian" and Sophocles' Oedipus-trilogy, +should recall to the consciousness of a world-historical people the +period in which it stands in the world's history, and thereby make +clear the mission it has to fulfil. + +That we Germans have begun again to make world-history in a political +sense, since the last generation, is evidenced by the great action of +the time which seems for the present to have settled the politics of +Europe and extended its influence upon the world at large. Beyond the +domain of politics however the real movers of the world are the ideas +which animate humanity and of which politics are but a sign of life +possessing subordinate influence. In this movement of the mind we +Germans are, without question, much older than a mere generation, as +indeed Wagner's poetic material everywhere confirms. The one work in +which Kaulbach's genius triumphed, the "Battle of the Huns," gained +for him a world-wide fame, more by the plastic idea revealed in the +perpetual struggle of the spirits than by its artistic execution. We +stand to-day before, or rather in, a like mighty contest. Two moral +religious sentiments struggle against each other for life and death in +invisible as well as visible conflict. To which shall be the victory? + +In the year 1850 Wagner wrote a pamphlet of weighty import. It reveals +an expression of the utmost moment, though it has been heeded least by +those whom it concerns as much as life and death; or, rather, it has +not been understood at all, because these natures are more attracted +by the trivial. Its most impressive confirmation is to-day furnished +by art, above all else by actual representations on the boards that +typify the world. "Parsifal" also is such a symbol, and in so large a +world-historical and even metaphysical sense, that by it the stage +has become a place dedicated to the proclamation of highest truth and +morality. We have seen the grotesque anti-Semitic movement and the +lamentable persecution of the Jews. What could inflict more injury to +our higher nature, to our real culture? And yet in this lies concealed +a deep instinct of a purely moral nature. It does not, however, +concern merely that people whom the course of events has cast among +other nations, still much less the individual man, who, without choice +or intention, has been born among, and therefore forms a part of them. +It involves the secret of the world-historical problems that struggle +so long with each other until the right one triumphs. To these +problems, with his incomparable depth of soul, the whole life and work +of our artist is devoted as long as he breathes and lives, moved by +the holiest feeling for his nation, for the time--yes, for mankind, in +whose service he as real "poet and prophet" stands with every fibre of +his nature and works with every beat of his heart. + +That unnoticed, misunderstood expression at the close of the paper by +"K. Freigedank," in 1850, was this: "One more Jew we must name, who +appeared among us as a writer, namely, Boerne. He stepped out of his +individual position as Jew, seeking deliverance among us. He did not +find it, and must have become conscious that he would only find it in +our own transformation also into genuine men. To return in common with +us to a purer humanity, however, signifies, for the Jew, above all +else, that he shall cease to be a Jew. Boerne had fulfilled this. But +it was precisely Boerne who taught us how this deliverance cannot be +achieved in cool comfort and listless ease; but that it involves for +them, as for us, toil, distress, anxiety, and abundance of pain and +sorrow. Strive for this by self-abandonment and the regenerating work +of salvation, and then we are united and without difference! But, +remember that your deliverance depends upon the deliverance of +Ahasrer--his destruction!" + +No other people has received those cast out by all the world with such +sacredly pure, humane feeling as the Germans. Will they then at last +find their deliverance among us from the curse of homelessness, their +new existence by absorption into a larger, richer, deeper whole? It is +this question which animates and moves Wagner; but by no means in the +sense of a casual and shifting quarrel among different races or even +religious parties. On the contrary, he feels that this question is a +life-question of the time, approaching its final solution. It is +not the Jews, however, but the Jewish spirit, that represents +the antagonist--that spirit which at first, after the birth of +Christianity, and aided by the filth of Roman civilization, with its +inherent evil germs, this people devoted to a world-historic power of +evil; and which, even in its most brilliant revelation, in Spinoza, as +has been most clearly demonstrated from his own works by Schopenhauer, +seeks only its own advantage, to which it sacrifices the whole, but +does not recognize the whole to which it must lovingly sacrifice +itself. + +Such concrete, actual historical developments Wagner regards not as a +hindrance, but as the external support of his art-work. For a poetic +composition requires some connection with a time or space to make +perceptible to the senses its view of the advancing development of +the mind of humanity. So it is that Kleist's "Arminius-battle" does +not in the least refer to the ancient Romans, but to the degenerate +race, the mixture of tiger and ape, as Voltaire has called them, and +in this symbol of art he strengthened the determination of his people +until in the battles of nations it conquered. Wagner even transfers +the scene of this conflict into those distant centuries in which the +struggle between Christians and Infidels was very fierce, while that +between Jews and Occidentals had not yet even in existence. Like the +real artist, he also uses only individual phases of the present time, +which, it is quite true, bear but too close a relation to the +character of that Arabian world that once engaged in conflict +with Christianity for the world's control, and thus proves that +this question, least of all is a passing "Question of time and +controversy," but is one of the ever-present questions of humanity +which has again come to the front in a specially vivid and urgent +form. His inborn feeling for the purely human, which we have seen +displayed with such touching warmth in all his doings, and that has +created for us the genuine human forms of a "Flying Dutchman," +"Tannhaeuser," "Lohengrin," and "Siegfried" is true to itself this +time, indeed this time more than ever. He anticipates the struggling +aspiration. He sees the form already appear on the surface, and only +seeks a pure human sympathy to show the true and full solution which +denies to neither of the disputing parties the God-given right of +existence. + +Klingsor, the sorcerer, representative of everything hostile to the +Holy Grail and its knights, summons Kundry, the maid, subject to his +witchcraft--in other words to that evil moral law which the individual +alone is unable to resist--and reproachfully says: + + Shame! that with the brood of knights, + Thou should'st like a beast be maintained! + +The German class-pride which regarded the Jew as a body servant is +strongly enough characterized and our own ancient injustice still more +sharply expressed in his words: + + "Thus may the whole body of knights + In deadly conflict each other destroy." + +Thus Wagner reveals still more clearly than in the "Flying Dutchman" +with his "fabulous homesickness" an absolute trait and the inner view +of that sentiment which here longs for salvation, to be mortal with +the mortals. At the sight of the nobler qualities and real human +dignity which Kundry for the first time in her life sees in the person +of Parsifal, who has been born again through the recognition of the +truth, she breaks down completely and with the only word that she now +knows, "serve! serve!" she throws all evil selfishness away. For the +first time it is now fully disclosed how deeply after all, and with +what intensity those of alien race and religion serve the ideas, not +so much of our own similarly narrow contracted race-life, but those +ideas which have transformed us from a mere nation to an historical +part of humanity that guards the world's eternal treasure in this Holy +Grail, as its last and grandest possession. + +How fully is Goethe's saying "the power that ever seeks the evil and +yet produces good" realized. Kundry is the messenger of the same Holy +Grail against which her lord and master conducts the fatal war. To all +distant lands it is she that brings the higher element of culture, +the purer humanity which she gets from the Grail and its life. Though +the peculiar portraiture of Kundry is drawn from his own experience +of the present, the poet has gone still further and pictured that +omnipresent spirit of evil which can never by simple participation in +the sorrows of others gain knowledge of the perpetual sorrow of the +world. Klingsor summons from the chaotic, primeval foundation of the +world, where good and evil still lie commingled, the blind instinct of +nature, as that wonderful element in the world's history which must +everywhere be at once servant of the devil and messenger of grace, +with the all-comprehensive words: + + "Thy master calls thee, nameless one; + Primeval devil! rose of hell! + Herodias thou wast and what more? + Gundryggia there, Kundry here!" + +It is the feminine Ahasrer, present in all ages and spheres, in our +time revealing its tangible form in the ruling spirit of Judaism. As +her sinful nature at last is overcome by Parsifal's purity, and she +humbly approaches him to receive the baptism that is awarded to every +one who believes and acts in the spirit of pure humanity, he +proclaims, when he has withstood her temptation and thereby has +regained from Klingsor the holy lance of the Grail, the impending +catastrophe by tracing with the lance the sign of the cross and +saying: + + "With this sign thy spell I banish! + Even as it heals the wound + Which with it thou hast dealt-- + So may thy delusive splendor in grief and ruin fall." + +When in the last century, Roman Catholicism had become sensual and +worldly through Jesuitism, and Protestantism had put on either the +straight-jacket of orthodoxy or had been diluted with rationalism, +there came to the surface, outside of the religious sects, secret +societies, such as the Freemasons. In their well-meant but flat +humanitarian idealism, those strangers to our race and religion, the +hitherto despised Jews, also took active part and what "delusive +splendor" have they not since then provided for themselves in +literature and art and general ways of life? A single actual +resurrection of that sign in which we Germans alone have attained +world-culture and world-importance has "in grief and ruin destroyed" +all this, and we hope in truth that we are now approaching a new epoch +of our spiritual as well as moral existence. Just as, out of the first +awakening of a pure human feeling such as Christianity brought us, +there rose in contrast to priesthood a work like the "Magic Flute," +child-like, artless but devoutly pure and full of feeling, so now +there resounds like the mighty watchword of this full national +resurrection, Wagner's "Parsifal." + +Let us see how the poem itself has done this and what it signifies. + +According to the legend of the Holy Grail, already artistically +resurrected by the master in "Lohengrin," the chalice from which +Christ had drank with His disciples at the last supper, and in which +His blood had been received at the cross, had been brought into the +western world by a host of angels at a time of most serious danger to +the pure gospel of Christianity. King Titurel had erected for it the +temple and castle of Monsalvat in the north of Spain, where knights of +absolute purity of mind guard it and receive spiritual as well as +bodily nourishment from its miraculous powers. This sanctuary can only +be found by the pure. The king keeps the holy lance, which had opened +the Savior's wound, and with it holds in check the hostile heathen. +Klingsor, the sorcerer, on the southern decline of the mountain, rules +the latter. He had likewise once been seized with remorse for his +sins, his "pain of untamed longings and the most terrible pressure +of hellish desires," and had mutilated himself and then seeking +deliverance had wandered to the Holy Grail. Amfortas however, +Titurel's son, now king of the Grail, perceived his impurity and +sternly turned away the evil sorcerer, who only seeks release for +worldly gain. + +Angered thereat, the latter now contrives through the agency of +Kundry, who appears in the highest and most bewitching beauty, +encircling the king himself with the snares of passion, to obtain +power over him and to wrest from him the lance with which he wounds +him. This wound will burn until the holy lance shall be regained. This +then is the supreme deed to be accomplished. The Grail itself at one +time has proclaimed during the keenest pangs of the suffering king, +that it shall be regained by him who, deficient in worldly knowledge, +shall from pure sympathy with his terrible sufferings recognize the +sufferings of humanity and through such blissful faith bring to it new +redemption. The body of humanity, which Christianity had called into +new life, had been invaded by a consuming poison and only so far as by +the full unconsciousness of innocence, its genius itself was +re-awakened, was it possible to again expel the poison. + +In the forest of the castle old Gurnemanz and two shield-bearers lie +slumbering at early dawn. The solemn morning-call of the Grail is +heard and they all rise to pray and then await the sick king who is to +take a soothing bath in the near lake. All medicinal herbs have proved +useless. Kundry shortly after suddenly appears in savage, strange +attire and proffers balm from Arabia. The king is carried forward. We +listen to his lamentations. He thanks Kundry, who, however, roughly +declines all thanks. The shield-bearers show indignation at this but +are reprimanded by Gurnemanz who says: "She serves the Grail and her +zeal with which she now helps us and herself at the same time is +in atonement for former sins." When she is missing too long, a +misfortune surely is in store for the knights. She preserves for them +by the opposing forces of her nature the true and good in their +consciousness and purpose. With that he tells them Klingsor has +established on the other side of the mountain, toward the land of the +Arabian infidels, a magic garden with seductively beautiful women to +menace them by enticing the knights there and ruining them. In the +attempt to destroy this harbor of sin the king had carried away the +wound and lost the lance which, according to the revelation of the +Grail, only "the simple fool knowing by compassion" could recover. + +Suddenly cries of lamentation resound in the sacred forest. A wild +swan slowly descends and dies. Shield-bearers bring forward a handsome +youth whose harmless, innocent demeanor inspires involuntary interest. +He is recognized by the arrows he carries as the murderer of the bird +which had been flying over the lake and which had seemed to the king, +about to take his bath, as a happy omen. Gurnemanz upbraids him for +this deed of cruelty. The swan is doubly sacred to the Grail. It is a +swan also that conducts Lohengrin to the relief of innocence! "I did +not know," Parsifal replies. The universal lamentation however touches +his heart and he breaks his bow and arrows. He knows not whence he +came, knows neither father nor name. The only thing he knows is that +he had a mother named "Sad-heart." "In forest and wild meadows we were +at home." Gurnemanz perceives however by his manner and appearance +that he is of noble race, and Kundry, who has seen and heard +everything in her constant wanderings confirms the impression. + + "Thus he was the born king + Who had the aspect of a lordly youth," + +says Chiron to Faust of the young Herakles. As his father had been +slain in battle, the mother had brought him up in the wilderness a +stranger to arms--foolish deed--mad woman! Parsifal relates that he +had followed "glittering men" and after the manner of the vigorous +primitive peoples, had led the wild life of nature, following only +natural instincts. Gurnemanz reproaches him for running away from his +mother and when Kundry states that she is dead, Parsifal furiously +seizes her by the throat. It is the first feeling for a being other +than himself, his first sorrow. Again Gurnemanz upbraids him for his +renewed violence but remembering the prophecy and the finding of the +secret passage to the castle, he believes that there may be nobler +qualities in him. For this reason he speaks to him of the Grail, +which, now that the king has left the bath, is to provide them anew +with nourishment. Upon secret paths they reach the castle of the Grail +which only he of pure mind can find. The knights solemnly assemble in +a hall with a lofty dome. Beyond Amfortas' couch of pain, the voice of +Titurel is heard as from a vaulted niche, admonishing them to uncover +the Grail. Thus the dead genii of the world admonish the living to +expect life! Amfortas however cries out in grievous agony that he, the +most unholy of them all, should perform the holiest act, that in an +unsanctified time the sanctuary should be seen. The knights however +refer him to the promised deliverance and so begins the solemn +unveiling for the distribution of the last love-feast of the Savior, +whose cup is then drawn forth, resplendent in fiery purple. Parsifal +stands stupefied before this consecration of the human although he +also made a violent movement toward his heart when the king gave forth +his passionate cry of anguish. But the torments of guilt which produce +such sorrows he has not yet comprehended. Gurnemanz therefore angrily +ejects him through a narrow side-door of the temple to resume his ways +to his wild boyish deeds. He had first to experience the torments of +passion and deliverance from the same in his own person. + +The second act takes us to Klingsor's magic castle. Klingsor sees the +fool advance, joyous and childish, and summons Kundry, the guilty one, +who rests in the dead lethargy of destiny, and in sorrow and anger +only follows his command. She longs no more for life, but seeks +deliverance in the eternal sleep. She has laughed at the bleeding head +of John, laughed when she beheld the Savior bleeding at the cross, and +is now condemned to laugh forever and to ensnare all in her net of +passion: "Whoever can resist thee, will release thee," says Klingsor, +the father of evil. "Make thy trial upon the boy." The youth +approaches. The fallen knights seek to hinder his progress, but he +easily vanquishes them all, and stands victorious upon the battlement +of the castle, gazing in childish astonishment at all this unknown +silent splendor below. Soon, however, the scene becomes animated. The +ravishing enchantresses appear in garments of flowers, and each seeks +to win the handsome youth for herself. He remains, however, toward +them what he is--a fool. Suddenly he hears a voice. He stands +astonished, for he heard the name with which in times long past his +mother had called her hearts-blood; it is the one thing he knows. The +beauties disappear. The voice takes on form. It is Kundry, no longer +of repulsive, savage appearance, but as a "lightly draped woman of +superb beauty." She explains to him his name: + + "Thee, foolish innocent, I called Fal parsi-- + Thee, innocent fool, Parsifal!" + +She tells him of his mother's love, of his mother's death. What he, a +giddy fool, has thus far done in life, suddenly overwhelms him as +well as the thought that despair at his loss has even killed his +mother. He sinks deeply wounded at the feet of the seductive woman; it +is the first soul-despair in his life. She, however, with diabolic +persuasiveness, avails herself of this to overcome his manly heart by +her only way, the painful, longing sensation for his mother, and +offers him the consolation which love gives, "as a blessing, the +mother's last greeting, the first kiss of love." At this he rises +quickly in great alarm and presses his hands against his heart. +"Amfortas! the wound burns in my heart!" The miracle of knowledge has +happened to him, and in a moment has changed his whole nature. It is +regeneration by grace, recognized from the earliest time as the sense +of all religion. He now experiences the trembling of guilty desires +that burn within our breasts, and understands also the mystery of +salvation which he can now obtain for the unhappy King of the Grail. +Out of the depths of his soul he hears the supplications of the Grail: + + "Redeem me, save me + From hands defiled by sin!" + +The evil demon of voluptuousness displays all its charms. Astonishment +gives way more and more to passion for this pure one, but he +sinks into deep and deeper reverie until a second long, burning +kiss suddenly and completely awakens him. Then, having gained +"world-knowledge," he sees into the deep abyss of this being full of +guilt and penitence, and impetuously repulses the temptress. She +herself, however, is now overpowered by the passion which she has +sought by all the means of temptation to instil into the innocent +youth, and fancies she sees in him again the Savior whom she had once +laughed at. She tells him with heartrending truth her inextinguishable +suffering, her eternal sorrow, her lamentation full of the laughter of +derision, the whole wide emptiness of her misery, and implores him +to be merciful, and let her weep for a single hour upon his pure +bosom--for a single hour to be his. But the answer comes like the +voice of an avenging God, terribly stern and annihilating: + + "To all eternity thou wouldst be damned with me, + If for one hour I should forget my mission." + +At last she seeks, like the serpent in Paradise, to allure him with +the promise that in her arms he will attain to godhood. He remains, +however, true to himself. Roused now to furious rage, she curses him. +He shall never find Amfortas, but shall wander aimlessly. Klingsor +then appears, and puts his power to the utmost trial by brandishing +his sacred lance, but Parsifal's pure faith banishes the false charm. +The lance remains suspended above his head. Kundry sinks down crying +aloud. The magic garden is turned to a desert. Parsifal calls out: + + "Thou knowest where alone thou canst find me again." + +That true womanly love roused for the first time in her will also show +this desolate heart the path to eternal love. And Parsifal had finally +shown her, the pitiable one, the only thing he could--pity! + +The last act takes us once more into the domain of the sacred Grail +which Parsifal since then has been longingly seeking. Gurnemanz, now +grown to an old man, lives as a hermit near a forest spring. From out +the hedges he hears a groan. "So mournful a tone comes not from the +beast," he says, familiar as he is with the lamenting sounds of sinful +humanity. It is Kundry, whom he carries completely benumbed out of the +thicket. This fierce and fearful woman had not been seen nor thought +of for a long time. Her wildness now however lies only in the +accustomed serpent-like appearance, otherwise she gives forth but that +one cry "to serve! to serve!" Whoever has not comprehended the highest +and most actual elements of our life when they assert themselves, is +condemned to silence. Only by silent acts and conduct can she attest +the growing inner participation in the higher and nobler human deeds. +She enters the hut close by and busies herself. When she returns with +the water pitcher she perceives a knight, clad in sombre armor, who +approaches with hesitating steps and drooping head. Gurnemanz greets +him kindly but admonishes him to lay aside his weapons in the sacred +domain and above all on this the most sacred of days--Good Friday. +With that he recognizes him. It is Parsifal, now a mature and serious +man. "In paths of error and of suffering have I come," he says. He is +at once saluted by Gurnemanz who recognizes the sacred lance as +"master" for now he can hope to bring relief to the suffering king of +the Grail whose laments Parsifal had once listened to without being +moved to action. He learns through the faithful old man of the supreme +distress and gradual disappearance of the holy knights. Amfortas has +refused to uncover the life-preserving Grail and prefers to die rather +than linger in pain and anguish, and thus the strength of the knights +has died away. Titurel is already dead, a "man like others," and +Gurnemanz has hidden himself in solitude in this corner of the forest. +Parsifal is overcome with grief. He, he alone has caused all this. +He has for so long a time not perceived the path to final salvation. +Kundry now washes his feet "to take from him the dust of his long +wanderings," while Gurnemanz refreshes his brow and asks him to +accompany him to the Grail which Amfortas is to uncover to-day for the +consecration of the dead Titurel. Kundry then anoints his feet and +Gurnemanz his head that he may yet to-day be saluted as king and he +himself performs his first act as Savior by baptizing Kundry out of +the sacred forest spring. Now for the first time can she shed tears. +Thereby even the fields and meadows appear as if sprinkled with sacred +dew, for according to the ancient legend, nature also celebrates +on Good Friday the redemption which mankind gained by Christ's +love-sacrifice and which changes the sinner's tears of remorse to +tears of joy. + +In the castle of the Grail the knights are conducting Titurel's +funeral. Amfortas, who in his sufferings longs for death as the one +act of mercy, falls into a furious frenzy of despair when the knights +urge him to uncover the Grail which alone gives life, so that they all +retreat in terror. Then at the last moment Parsifal appears and +touches the wound with the lance that alone can close it. He praises +the sufferings of Amfortas that have given to him, the timorous fool, +"Compassion's supreme strength and purest wisdom's power" and assumes +the king's functions. The Grail glows resplendent. Titurel rises in +his coffin and bestows blessing from the dome. A white dove descends +upon Parsifal's head as he swings the Grail. Kundry with her eyes +turned toward him sinks dying to the ground while Amfortas and +Gurnemanz do him homage as king and a chorus from above sings: + + "Miracle of Supreme blessing, + Redemption to the Redeemer!" + +The holy Grail, the symbol of the Savior, has at last been rescued +from hands defiled by guilt--has been redeemed. + +Such is the short sketch of the grand as well as profoundly +significant dramatic action of the artist's last work! It is easy to +see that the figures and actions are but a parable. They symbolize the +ideas and periods of human development. Nay more, the phases and +powers of human nature are here disclosed to view. It is the inner +history of the world which ever repeats itself and by which mankind is +always rejuvenated. The pure and restored genius of the nation arises +anew to its real nature. Its lance heals the wound which we have +received at the hands of the other--the evil and foreign genius. It is +this pure genius which all, even the dead and the dying, hail as King, +and do homage to new deeds of blessing. Next to religion itself, +it was art which more than all else constantly brought to the +consciousness of humanity the ideals which originated with the former, +and here art even entered literally into the service of divine truth. +The lance, which signifies the mastery over the spirits, was wrested +from the dominating powers. Serious harm indeed and spiritual +starvation have followed as the consequence of our falling in every +sphere of life under the control of the elements that frivolously play +with our supreme ideals. Art, which springs from the purest genius of +mankind, seems destined now to be the first to regain the lance and +heal the wasting wound. For is not religion divided into warring +factions and science into special cliques, jealous of each other? The +church does not prevail in the struggle against the evil powers here +or elsewhere, and has long ceased to satisfy the mind. The increasing +tendency to pursue special studies creates indifference for such +supreme ethical questions. It is art alone that has gained new +strength from within itself. We have seen it in portraying this one +mighty artist, in the irresistible force, in the longing and hoping, +in the indestructible, faithful affection for his people, which must +dominate all who have retained the feeling for the purely human. +Should not art then be destined to awaken, among the cultured at +least, a vivid renewal of the consciousness of the sublime for which +we are fitted and in whose slumbering embrace we are held? Eternal +truth ever selects its own means and ways to reveal itself anew to +mankind. "The ways of the Lord are marvelous!" It aims only at the +accomplishment of its object. It has at heart only our ever wandering +and suffering race. Those who judged without prejudice tell us that +this "Parsifal" appeared to them as a mode of divine worship, and that +the festival-play-house was not only no longer a theatre, but that even +all evil demons had been banished from this edifice, and all good ones +summoned within its walls. Would that this were so, and that we could +hope in the future that the painful and severe trials of the artist's +long life, which gave to this genius also "compassion's supreme +strength and purest wisdom's power," would be blessed with abundant +fruit, with the full measure of consummation of his own hopes, and +the goal so ardently struggled for attained, for his as well as for +our own welfare. + +However this may be, and whatever the future may have in store for us, +this "Parsifal" is a call to the nation grander than any one has +uttered before. It was foreordained, and could only be accomplished by +an art which is the most unmixed product of that culture originating +with Christianity; more, it is a product of the religious emotions of +humanity itself. Just as our master said of Beethoven's grand art, +that it had rescued the human soul from deep degradation, so no artist +after him has presented this supreme and purest spirit of our nation +as sanctified and strengthened by Christianity, purer and clearer +than he who had already confessed in early years that he could not +understand the spirit of music otherwise than as love! With "Parsifal" +he has created for us a new period of development, which is to lead us +deeper into our own hearts and to a purer humanity, and thereby give +us possibly the strength to overcome everything false and foreign +which has found its way into our life, and elevate us to a sense of +the real object and goal of life. + +Richard Wagner, more than any other contemporary, as we conceive, has +re-awakened in the sphere of the intellectual life of his German +people its inborn feeling for the grand and profound, for the pure and +the sublime--in one word, for the ideal. May we who follow prove this +in life by gratefully welcoming this grand deed! Then Lohengrin, who +sought the wife that believed in him, need not again return to his +dreary solitude. He will be forever relieved of his longing for union +with the heart of his people. Then too it can be said of him, this +genius who throughout a long life "in paths of error and of suffering +came" as of all who live their life in love for the whole: "Redemption +to the Redeemer." + + * * * * * + +The biography of Dr. Nohl closes at this point. What remains to be +told is shrouded in sadness. It is but a record of suffering and +death. In the autumn of 1882, the great master went to Italy, where +his fame had already preceded him, and where in the very home of +Italian opera his works had been given with great success, to seek +rest and improvement of health. He made his home at the Palazzo +Vendramin in Venice, where he was joined by Liszt and other friends. +With the help of an orchestra and chorus, he was rehearsing some of +his earlier works and was also engaged in remodeling his symphony. His +restless energy was manifest even in these days of recreation. The +_Neue Freie Presse_ states that he was composing a new musical drama, +called "Die Buesser," based upon a Brahminical legend and having for +its motive the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Filippo +Filippi, the Italian critic, also says that he was engaged upon a new +opera, with a Grecian subject, in which "it would undoubtedly have +been shown that his genius, turning from the misty fables of the +Germans to the bright and serene poetry of ancient Greece, would have +drawn nearer to our musical life and feeling, which is clear and +characteristically melodious." Whatever may have been his tasks it was +destined they should not be achieved. "Parsifal" was his swan song. +It was during the representation of this opera that his asthmatic +trouble grew so intense as to necessitate his departure for Italy and +regular medical treatment. During the week preceding his death he was +in excellent spirits, and greatly enjoyed the carnival with his family +and friends. On the 12th of February he even visited his banker and +drew sufficient money to cover the expenses of a projected trip into +southern Italy, with his son, Siegfried. On the morning of the 13th he +devoted his time as usual to composition and playing. He did not +emerge from his room until 2 o'clock when he complained of feeling +very fatigued and unwell. At 3 o'clock he went to dinner with the +family, but just as they were assembled at table and the soup was +being served he suddenly sprang up, cried out "Mir ist sehr schlecht," +(I feel very badly) and fell back dead from an attack of heart +disease. + +The remains were conveyed along the Grand Canal, amid the most +impressive pageantry of grief, to the railroad station, and thence +transported by a special funeral train to Baireuth. The public +obsequies were very simple and impressive, consisting only of the +performance of the colossal funeral march from "Siegfried," speeches +by friends and a funeral song by the Liederkranz of Baireuth, after +which the cortege moved to the tolling of bells to the grave which at +his request was prepared behind his favorite villa "Wahnfried," which +had been the scene of his great labors. The Lutheran funeral service +was pronounced and the body of the great master was laid to its final +rest. + +The news of his death was received by Angelo Neumann, the director of +the Richard Wagner Theatre, on the 14th, at Aachen, just as a +performance of the "Rheingold" was about to commence. The director +addressed the audience as follows: + +"Not only the German people, the German nation, the whole world mourns +to-day by the coffin of one of its greatest sons. All in this assembly +share our grief and pain. But nevertheless we alone can fully measure +the fearful loss which the Richard Wagner Theatre has met with through +this event. The love and care of the master for this institution can +find no better expression than in a letter, written by his own hand, +received by me this evening, which closes with these words: + + 'May all the blessings of Heaven follow you! My best + greetings, which I beg you to distribute according to + desert. + 'Sincerely yours, + 'RICHARD WAGNER. + 'VENICE, PALAZZO VENDRAMIN, February 11, 1883.' + +"Now we are orphaned--in the Master everything is as if dead for us! I +can only add, we shall never cease to labor according to the wishes +and the spirit of this great composer; never shall we forget the +teachings which we were so happy as to receive from his lips and pen." + +A correspondent, writing from Leipzig at the time of his death, +contributes some interesting information as to his method of +composition and the literary treasures he had left behind him. He +says: + +"Richard Wagner composed, like all great musicians, in his brain, and +not, as is often imagined, at the piano. It is a delight to examine a +manuscript composition from his hand--to see how complete and +well-rounded, how ripe and finished everything sprung from his head. +Changes are very rarely found in such a manuscript; even in the +boldest harmonies and most difficult combinations, not a slip of the +pen occurs. In the entire score of 'Tannhaeuser,' which Wagner wrote +out himself from beginning to end in chemical ink, not one correction +is to be found. One note followed the other with easy rapidity. It was +his habit to write the musical sketch in pencil--in Baireuth, +music-paper was to be found in every corner of 'Wahnfried,' on which +while wandering about the house during sleepless nights, musing and +planning, he made brief jottings, often merely a new idea in +instrumentation. The rest was in his head; the vocal parts were added +to the score without hesitation, and never needed correction. For the +orchestra he employed three staves, one of which was reserved for +special notes, as, for instance, when a particular instrument was to +enter. From these sketches the vocal parts could be written out +immediately, although the instrumentation was by no means finished. +Such sketches were carefully collected by Frau Cosima, who tried for a +time to fix the notes permanently by drawing the pen through them. +This task was, however, soon abandoned. In its stead she grasped the +idea of making a collection of Wagner's manuscripts, to be deposited +in 'Wahnfried.' For many years she has conducted an extended +correspondence for the purpose of obtaining, for love or money, the +scattered treasures, and has, in a great measure--principally through +the use of the latter persuasive--succeeded. + +"Wagner had written his memoirs, which are not only finished, but +already printed. The entire edition consists of _only three copies_, +one of which was in the possession of the author, the second an +heirloom of Seigfried's, and the third in the hands of Franz Liszt. +This autobiography fills four volumes, and was printed at Basel, every +proof-sheet being jealously destroyed, so that there are actually but +three copies in existence. To the nine volumes of his works already +published (Leipzig, E. W. Fritzsch, 1871-'73) will be added a tenth, +containing brief essays and sketches of a philosophical character, and +(it is to be hoped) the four volumes of the autobiography." + +After a life of strife such as few men have to encounter; of hatred +more intense and love more devoted than usually falls to the fate of +humanity; of restless energy, indomitable courage, passionate devotion +to the loftiest standards of art and unquestioning allegiance to the +"God that dwelt within his breast," he rests quietly under the trees +of Villa "Wahnfried." He lived to see his work accomplished, his +mission fulfilled, his victory won and his fame blown about the world +despite the malice of enemies and cabals of critics. As the outcome +of his stormy life we have music clothed in a new body, animated +with a new spirit. He has lifted art out of its vulgarity and +grossness. The future will prize him as we to-day prize his great +predecessor--Beethoven. + + G. P. U. + + + + +_"Stirring events are graphically told in this series of +romances."--Home Journal, New York._ + + TIMES OF GUSTAF ADOLF. + + AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF THE EXCITING + TIMES OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. + + FROM THE ORIGINAL SWEDISH. + + BY Z. TOPELIUS. + +_12mo, extra cloth, black and gilt. Price $1.25._ + +"A vivid, romantic picturing of one of the most fascinating periods of +human history."--_The Times, Philadelphia._ + +"Every scene, every character, every detail, is instinct with life.... +From beginning to end we are aroused, amused, absorbed."--_The +Tribune, Chicago._ + +"The author has a genuine enthusiasm for his subject, and stirs up his +readers' hearts in an exciting manner. The old times live again for +us, and besides the interest of great events, there is the interest of +humble souls immersed in their confusions. 'Scott, the delight of +glorious boys,' will find a rival in these Surgeon Stories."--_The +Christian Register, Boston._ + +"It is difficult to give an idea of the vividness of the descriptions +in these stories without making extracts which would be entirely too +long. It is safe to say, however, that no one could possibly fail to +be carried along by the torrent of fiery narration which marks these +wonderful tales.... Never was the marvelous deviltry of the Jesuits so +portrayed. Never were the horrors of war painted in more lurid +colors."--_The Press, Philadelphia._ + +"The style is simple and agreeable.... There is a natural +truthfulness, which appears to be the characteristic of all these +Northern authors. Nothing appears forced; nothing indicates that the +writer ever thought of style, yet the style is such as could not well +be improved upon. He is evidently thoroughly imbued with the loftiest +ideas, and the men and women whom he draws with the novelist's +facility and art are as admirable as his manner of interweaving their +lives with their country's battles and achievements."--_The Graphic, +New York._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or mailed postpaid, on receipt of price, by +the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"A model Cook Book."--Express, Buffalo._ + + NONPAREIL COOK BOOK. + + CONTAINING A LARGE NUMBER OF NEW RECIPES, + MANY FROM ENGLISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN COOKS. + + BY MRS. A. G. M. + +_12mo, 432 pages, with blank interleaves. Price $1.50._ + +"It seems an ideal cook book."--_Free-Press, Detroit._ + +"The receipts are admirable, and are clearly written."--_The Day, +Baltimore._ + +"A comprehensive and common-sense kitchen and household +guide."--_Transcript, Boston._ + +"The best cook book we have seen for valuable French and German +recipes."--_Sunday Herald, Rochester._ + +"The volume is most admirable in its arrangement, and many excellent +novelties have been introduced."--_The Argus, Albany, N. Y._ + +"It is an excellent compilation of the best and most economical +recipes.... A common-sense cook book in all respects."--_Globe, +Boston._ + +"Everything about the book indicates that the author is intelligent in +cooking, in nursing, and in housekeeping generally."--_Bulletin, +Philadelphia._ + +"With this volume in the kitchen or on the table of the housewife, +there would be no excuse for tasteless or indigestible +dishes."--_Journal, Chicago._ + +"We have at last a cook book in which we fail to find one single +demand for baking powders, which stamps it at once as desirable. The +same sensible determination to prevent dyspepsia, while giving good, +wholesome and delicious cookery, is noticeable throughout the +volume."--_Telegraph, Pittsburgh._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the +price, by the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"Instructive, assuring, wise, helpful."--Christian Advocate, +New York._ + + THE THEORIES OF DARWIN + + AND THEIR RELATION TO PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, + AND MORALITY. + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF + + RUDOLF SCHMID, + +BY G. A. ZIMMERMANN, PH.D., WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE DUKE OF +ARGYLL. + +_12mo, 410 pages. Price $2.00._ + +"Learning, fairness, love of truth, and vital earnestness are +everywhere manifest in this work."--_Christian Union, New York._ + +"This book contains the fullest exposition we have seen of the rise +and history of the abstract Darwinian theories, combined with a +critical explanation of their practical application."--_Observer, New +York._ + +"The work is full of ingenious and subtle thought, and the author, who +is evidently a sincere Christian, finds in Mr. Darwin's theories +nothing inconsistent with the belief of the Scriptures."--_Bulletin, +Philadelphia._ + +"I have carefully read the 'Theories of Darwin,' by Rudolf Schmid. I +regard the scientific portion of the book, being about two-thirds of +the whole, as the best reasoned and the most philosophic work which we +have on organic development, and on Darwinism."--_President James +McCosh, Princeton College._ + +"Those who have not time or patience to read the literature of +evolution, yet desire to form a just conception of it, will find Mr. +Schmid's work of great value. It bears the imprint of an unprejudiced +judgment, which may err, but not blindly, and a scholarly mind. The +doctrines of Darwin are not more logically expounded and accurately +sifted than is every conspicuous modifying and magnifying phase +through which they have passed in the hands of German and English +scientists, stated with a fidelity and courtesy as generous as we must +reluctantly admit it to be rare."--_Chicago Tribune._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the +price, by the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +_"A book of unique and peculiar interest."--The Times._ + + FRONTIER ARMY SKETCHES. + + BY JAMES W. STEELE. + +_12mo, extra cloth, black and gilt. Price $1.50._ + +"It is an unusual entertaining book, and will well repay +perusal."--_Christian Advocate, New York._ + +"A fresh, breezy volume, well illustrated, and full of anecdotes and +stories of the frontier."--_Chronicle, Pittsburgh._ + +"If Capt. Steele had written only the preface to these sketches, we +might well thank him for that one gem of poetic prose; and to say that +the book is worthy of it is but a hearty tribute to its +merits."--_Tribune, Chicago._ + +"They are all picturesque in style, strong in characterization, and +are manifestly sketched from nature. The dry and unforced humor that +distinguishes them gives them a very attractive flavor."--_Gazette, +Boston._ + +"There is strong feeling in the narratives, and a freshness and +excitement in their themes that make the book novel and of uncommon +interest. Its flavor is strong and seductive. The literary work is +well done."--_Globe, Boston._ + +"They are the writings of a man of culture and refined taste. There is +a polish in his work, even in the rough materials that army officers +find in our far Southwest, among Indians and white frontiersmen, that +reminds the reader of Irving's sketches."--_Bulletin, Philadelphia._ + +"They are written with a care and a nice precision in the use of +words quite rare in books of this character.... The author brings +to our notice phases of character practically unknown to Eastern +civilization, and withal so graphically portrayed as to give the +impression of actual life.... The book is worthy of attentive +reading."--_The American, Philadelphia._ + +Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, postpaid, on receipt of price, +by the publishers. + + JANSEN, McCLURG, & CO., + 117, 119 & 121 Wabash Av., Chicago, Ill. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to regularize punctuation and to correct +typesetters' errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain +true to the author's words and intent. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Wagner, by Louis Nohl + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF WAGNER *** + +***** This file should be named 31526.txt or 31526.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/2/31526/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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