My Life — Volume 1 is Richard Wagner's autobiography, covering his childhood, youth and early artistic career up to the Dresden years. Dictated to his wife and trusted friends, it offers a personal account of music, theatre and the people of his time. It is worth listening to for an intimate view of a composer's development and nineteenth-century artistic life.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
My Life by Richard Wagner IN TWO VOLUMES Volume 1 AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN
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. ‘Tannhäuser’ 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
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