My Life, vol 1

My Life, vol 1

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Title: My Life, Volume I
Author: Richard Wagner

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one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 2, 2002]
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My Life, Volume 1
By Richard Wagner

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE CONTENTS MY LIFE
PART I. 1813-1842 PART II. 1842-1850 (Dresden)

PREFACE

The contents of these volumes have been written down directly from
my dictation, over a period of several years, by my friend and wife,
who wished me to tell her the story of my life. It was the desire of both
of us that these details of my life should be accessible to our family and
to our sincere and trusted friends; and we decided therefore, in order to
provide against a possible destruction of the one manuscript, to have a
small number of copies printed at our own expense. As the value of this
autobiography consists in its unadorned veracity, which, under the
circumstances, is its only justification, therefore my statements had to
be accompanied by precise names and dates; hence there could be no
question of their publication until some time after my death, should

interest in them still survive in our descendants, and on that point I
intend leaving directions in my will.
If, on the other hand, we do not refuse certain intimate friends a sight of
these papers now, it is that, relying on their genuine interest in the
contents, we are confident that they will not pass on their knowledge to
any who do not share their feelings in the matter.
Richard Wagner

CONTENTS

Part I. 1813-1842
Childhood and Schooldays Musical Studies Travels in Germany (First
Marriage) Paris: 1839-42
Part II. 1842-1850 (Dresden)
'Rienzi' 'The Flying Dutchman' Liszt, Spontini, Marschner, etc.
'Tannhauser' Franck, Schumann, Semper, Gutzkow, Auerbach .
'Lohengrin' (Libretto) Ninth Symphony Spohr, Gluck, Hiller, Devrient
Official Position. Studies in Historical Literature 'Rienzi' at Berlin
Relations with the Management, Mother's Death, etc. Growing
Sympathy with Political Events, Bakunin The May Insurrection Flight:
Weimar, Zurich, Paris, Bordeaux, Geneva, Zurich
ILLUSTRATIONS [not shown in e-text]
FRONTISPIECE FOR VOLUME I
Richard Wagner in 1842, from the Portrait by E. Kietz.
FRONTISPIECE FOR VOLUME II
Richard Wagner about 1872 by Lenbach.
Original in the possession of Frau Cosima Wagner These frontispieces
are used by the courtesy of Mr. F. Bruckmann.

MY LIFE

PART I
1813-1842

I was born at Leipzig on the 22nd of May 1813, in a room on the
second floor of the 'Red and White Lion,' and two days later was
baptized at St. Thomas's Church, and christened Wilhelm Richard.
My father, Friedrich Wagner, was at the time of my birth a clerk in the
police service at Leipzig, and hoped to get the post of Chief Constable
in that town, but he died in the October of that same year. His death
was partly due to the great exertions imposed upon him by the stress of
police work during the war troubles and the battle of Leipzig, and
partly to the fact that he fell a victim to the nervous fever which was
raging at that time. As regards his father's position in life, I learnt later
that he had held a small civil appointment as toll collector at the
Ranstadt Gate, but had distinguished himself from those in the same
station by giving his two sons a superior education, my father,
Friedrich, studying law, and the younger son, Adolph, theology.
My uncle subsequently exercised no small influence on my
development; we shall meet him again at a critical turning-point in the
story of my