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Richard and Cosima Wagner Letters
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas or "music dramas." He pioneered advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centers, which greatly influenced the development of European classical music. He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk or "total artwork," the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876). Wagner even built his own opera house to try to stage these works as he had imagined them.
Cosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner was the daughter of the pianist and composer Franz Liszt. She became famous as the second wife of Richard Wagner and, after his death, as director of the Bayreuth Festival for thirty-one years.
The collection consists of selected letters of the German composer and conductor Richard Wagner and of his second wife, Cosima Wagner, daughter of the pianist Franz Liszt, regarding her husband's work. There are three early Wagner letters, the first of which, written from Venice, dated December 5,1858, and addressed to Franz von Dingelstedt, discusses the arrangement for the proposed performance of "Rienzi Overture" in Weimar, Germany. The second, dated February 19, 1861, and sent to the French soprano Pauline Viardot, regards the production of Wagner's three-act opera "Tannhäuser" in Paris in 1861 and gives news of Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow. The third letter, also written in Vienna and dated June 6, 1863, is addressed to the conductor and composer Louis Schindelmeisser; in it, Wagner gives his reviews on the performance of his operas at the time. A letter to Emil Scaria, dated Bayreuth, December 7, 1874, concerns the completion of an act from an opera and of Wagner's plans on giving a concert in Vienna of selections from his "Götterdämmerung" because he is in need of money. The last Wagner letter, dated Bayreuth, August 5, 1876, and sent to George Unger, discusses the voice of Wagner's friend and the character of Froh in "Das Rheingold."
Cosima Wagner's letters include a "Thank you note" in French, dated 1872(?), to Franz Servais for sending her books. In a letter dated August 21, 1877, she expresses her regret to Dr. Fige that he has not received her reply concerning concerts at Joseph Kroll's theater in Berlin. In a letter dated December 20, 1888, Cosima sends Christmas wishes to a dear friend, and in a letter in French, dated March 16, 1894, to Monsieur Maurice Kufferath in Brussels, she defends the instrumentation of her husband's operas and discusses the cuts in "Tristan und Isolde." Cosima's last letter, which is dated December 18, 1901, concerns a controversy stirred up by author Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who later married Wagner's daughter Eva; he had written an article which was objectionable to her. Her letter thanks an editor of the journal which published the retraction of Chamberlain's article.
Organized by accession number.
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
Wagner's letter dated February 7, 1874, was a gift of C. A. D. Burk on June 29, 1937.
Wagner's letters dated December 5, 1858, and June 6, 1863, were purchased on June 30, 1982.
Wagner's letter to Pauline Viardot and Cosima Wagner's letters were purchased on November 11, 1982.
Wagner's letter dated August 5, 1876, was a gift of the Estate of Richard K. Korn, Princeton Class of 1967, on May 14, 1982.
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Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
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- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2008
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
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