Schedule drawn up for the little ones; a letter from the headmistress regarding Boni and Lusch, and her judgment of the latter troubles me especially; admonitions to the children! …
A very pleasant letter from O. Bach, and a most beautiful one from friend Nietzsche concerning “Götterdämmerung”. R. said to me: “Surely it must gladden you that I have created such a thing under your aegis,” to which I replied that he had already created without me. “Yes,” he said, “but never would I have written that — it is you who drew such tones from me.” He is thinking a lot about “Parzival”, intends to direct his readings toward that aim. God bless him!
Took tea in the garden in the evening; a registered letter arrives from Brunswick. R. has at once a foreboding and indeed, Schroetter, the newly-won Siegfried, withdraws. I write to him to ask if this be his earnest intent! … With that peculiar calm which is his in the face of harsh experience, R. says: “I thought my only trouble was to be the matter of the inn!” …
We occupied ourselves with Beethoven’s sketches for the Ninth Symphony, published by Nottebohm[1] — most curious, how often the most significant themes are first set down in nearly meaningless, commonplace form. R. says he experiences much the same; what he first writes down, he can almost never use as it stands — it is like a sign that something is stirring in the mind, yet it turns into something quite different, which one then discovers. R. went out with the children; when the little dogs began to show interest in the bitch Brange, Fidi calmly remarked: “That is disgusting.” – –
[1] Gustav Nottebohm (1817–1882), German music scholar, known especially for his work on Beethoven.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.