[January 1875]
By inviting you to participate in the orchestra of my stage festival to be held in Bayreuth, I assume, as was conveyed to you through previous communications, that you are familiar with the conditions solely under which I may accept your participation.
As you are aware, the formation of such an extraordinary orchestra, as I require, could only be undertaken if I relied on the finest musicians from those German court orchestras that enjoy an extended summer leave. In doing so, I was guided not only by the assumption that I would find the most vigorous artistic-moral support among these select musicians, inasmuch as the complete success of the work would become a matter of personal pride to them; but I was also compelled by the necessary consideration of the extraordinary financial difficulties of my enterprise in choosing artists who, even during their leave, continue to receive their salaries from one of the well-endowed court orchestras, for I could then assume that the only compensation would concern travel and accommodation expenses at foreign locations, and not a full salary. On this basis, therefore, not as payment for your artistic services—which I regard to be wholly dedicated to my work without remuneration—but merely as compensation for the increased costs of your living arrangements, I offer you, from the fund provided by the patrons of my stage festival, from which not the slightest profit will flow to any of those involved, a monthly allowance of 60 thalers, together with free accommodation in comfortable lodgings, as well as reimbursement for a second-class railway ticket for your return journey.
If these provisions apply to the full three months of June, July and August of the next year 1876, in which the main rehearsals and performances are to take place, then it is stipulated that for the first two weeks of the month of August this year 1875, in which the necessary preliminary rehearsals must already have been held, your stay and travel should be reimbursed with ………. thalers.
Hereafter, I expect your arrival in Bayreuth by no later than the morning of the 1st of August of this year, in order to arrange for your esteemed participation in the full orchestra rehearsals until the 15th of August. I kindly request that you return the attached Revers[1] to me signed by you by no later than the 1st of June of this year, at which point I shall assume that, should I not have received your signature by that date, you will have declined to participate, and I will then need to seek alternatives. At the same time, this acknowledgment serves to enable us to provide you in advance with the required information regarding your duly assigned accommodation.
In this formal invitation, I refrain from expressing in words the significance of your highly esteemed participation in the execution of my work, which I would rather reserve to address to you in loudly heartfelt words at the hour of our first meeting. Nevertheless, I welcome you in advance with the deepest gratitude in recognition of your willingness, which honours me so highly, to contribute to my enterprise as true fellow artists.
Truly sincerely yours!
R.W.
Revers.
I hereby declare to have taken on the obligation, from the 1st of June to the 29th of August of the following year 1876 in exchange for the assurance of a monthly allowance of 60 thalers for each of the 3 months, as well as free accommodation, and the reimbursement of the cost of a second-class railway ticket from …………. to Bayreuth and from there back to …………., to participate in the orchestra as …………. for all rehearsals and performances of the stage festival
“The Ring of the Nibelung”, for which to present myself punctually, and additionally undertake, in the same manner, for a total compensation of …………. thalers, which includes the allowance for accommodation and travel expenses, to join the preparatory rehearsals in Bayreuth from the 1st to the 15th of August of this year 1875.
Name: ………….
Exact Address: ………….
Herr Richard Wagner in Bayreuth.
Translation by Jo Cousins.