Category: Cosima Wagner Diaries

R. is unwell and must have leeches applied. The clumsy surgeon burns him with creosote, and he has a terrible day. Since he has not gone out for several days, he feels dejected, but the children cheer him up with their singing, and he himself joins in, singing the hymn…

R. is plagued by his cold and is beginning to have a tooth abscess. Visits, letters, reading Gfrörer in the evenings.  Decision to remove Schopenhauer from the wall "because he does not fit in with Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven; the philosopher must be solitary, he must translate into calm reflection everything…

Lusch chosen by our servant as godmother. Very bad weather. Visits. In the evening the F minor sonata, which R. performs with Rubinstein. Much to discuss with him. A Mr Hofmann asks about a tour with “Die Walküre” on the piano! …  Letter from Councilor Düfflipp, saying that the king…

Schopenhauer is now to be hung; R. told me on an earlier occasion that his late friend Hermann Franck[1] had said to him: "Either Germany will become something, or it will not; but if it does, the philosophy of Schopenhauer will be taught in the universities." More and more trickery…

R. explained yesterday: now that he has me after his "beggar’s life," he is certain he will grow absurdly old, and we both will die by euthanasia on the sofa in his little room, which he has furnished for this purpose. "No," he exclaims this morning as I enter the…

R. is still not entirely well, he writes several business letters, reads Gfrörer, and looks through the accounts. In the evening, he dictates to me his circular to the singers. Draft of a circular to the singers a mixture of motivational and organizational letter in which Richard sets out the…