(Richard Wagner: born in Leipsic, May 22, 1813; died in Venice, February 13, 1883)
"A 'FAUST' OVERTURE" [181]
Wagner, during his sojourn in Paris in 1840, wrote an orchestral piece which, as he relates, he called an "overture to Goethe's 'Faust,' but which was in reality intended for the first section of a grand 'Faust' symphony." The curious and interesting history of this work may best be told in excerpts from Wagner's correspondence with his devoted friend and benefactor, Franz Liszt. Liszt, to whom Wagner had sent the manuscript of the overture in 1848, wrote in 1852 (October 7th), some months after he had produced the overture at Weimar:[182]
"The work is quite worthy of you; but, if you will allow me to make a remark, I must confess that I should like either a second middle part or else a quieter and more agreeably colored treatment of the present middle part. The brass is a little too massive there, and—forgive my opinion—the motive in F is not satisfactory: it wants grace in a certain sense, and is a kind of hybrid thing, neither fish nor flesh, which stands in no proper relation of contrast to what has gone before and what follows, and in consequence impedes the interest. If instead of this you introduced a soft, tender, melodious part, modulated À la Gretchen, I think I can assure you that your work would gain very much. Think this over, and do not be angry in case I have said something stupid."
To this Wagner responded (November 9, 1852): "You beautifully spotted the lie when I tried to make myself believe that I had written an overture to 'Faust.' You have felt quite justly what is wanting: the woman is wanting. Perhaps you would at once understand my tone-poem if I called it 'Faust in Solitude.' At that time I intended to write an entire 'Faust' symphony. The first movement, that which is ready, was this 'Solitary Faust,' longing, despairing, cursing. The 'feminine' floats around him as an object of his longing, but not in its divine reality; and it is just this insufficient image of his longing which he destroys in his despair. The second movement was to introduce Gretchen, the woman. I had a theme for her, but it was only a theme. The whole remains unfinished. I wrote my 'Flying Dutchman' instead. This is the whole explanation. If now, from a last remnant of weakness and vanity, I hesitate to abandon this 'Faust' work altogether, I shall certainly have to remodel it, but only as regards instrumental modulation. The theme which you desire I cannot introduce. This would naturally involve an entirely new composition, for which I have no inclination. If I publish it, I shall give it its proper title, 'Faust in Solitude,' or 'The Solitary Faust: a Tone-Poem for Orchestra.'"
He did not "abandon" it. Writing to Liszt from Zurich in January, 1855, he congratulated him on the completion of his "Faust" symphony, and added: "It is an absurd coincidence that just at this time I have been taken with a desire to remodel my old 'Faust' overture. I have made an entirely new score, have rewritten the instrumentation throughout, have made many changes, and have given more expansion and importance to the middle portion (second motive). I shall give it in a few days at a concert here, under the title of 'A "Faust" Overture.' The motto will be:
"'Der Gott, der mir im Busen wohnt,
Kann tief mein Innerstes erregen;
Der Über allen meinen KrÄften thront,
Er kann nach aussen nichts bewegen;
Und so ist mir das Dasein eine Last,
Der Tod erwÜnscht, das Leben mir verhasst!'
—but I shall not publish it in any case."
This motto, which Wagner retained, has been translated as follows:[183]
"The God who dwells within my soul
Can heave its depths at any hour;
Who holds o'er all my faculties control
Has o'er the outer world no power.
Existence lies a load upon my breast,
Life is a curse, and death a longed-for rest."
The overture, in its revised form, was produced in Zurich, January 23, 1855, at a concert of the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft. Two days later, Liszt wrote to the composer: "You were quite right in arranging a new score of your overture. If you have succeeded in making the middle part a little more pliable, this work, significant as it was before, must have gained considerably. Be kind enough to have a copy made, and send it me as soon as possible. There will probably be some orchestral concerts here, and I should like to give this overture at the end of February."
Wagner sent the score, with a letter in which he said: "Herewith, dearest Franz, you receive my remodelled 'Faust' overture, which will appear very insignificant to you by the side of your 'Faust' symphony. To me the composition is interesting only on account of the time from which it dates; this reconstruction has again endeared it to me; and, with regard to the latter, I am childish enough to ask you to compare it very carefully with the first version, because I should like you to take cognizance of the effect of my experience and of the more refined feeling I have gained. In my opinion, new versions of this kind show most distinctly the spirit in which one has learned to work and the coarsenesses which one has cast off. You will be better pleased with the middle part. I was, of course, unable to introduce a new motive, because that would have involved a remodelling of almost the whole work; all I was able to do was to develop the sentiment a little more broadly, in the form of a kind of enlarged cadence. Gretchen, of course, could not be introduced, only Faust himself."[184]
"A SIEGFRIED IDYL" [185]
In the summer of 1870 (August 25th) Wagner was married at Lucerne, Switzerland, to Cosima, daughter of Franz Liszt and the Comtesse d'Agoult, and the divorced wife of Hans von BÜlow.[186] Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard and Cosima, was born at Triebschen, near Lucerne, June 6, 1869. In a letter dated June 25, 1870, two months before his marriage to Cosima, Wagner wrote to a friend: "She [Cosima] has defied every disapprobation and taken upon herself every condemnation. She has borne to me a wonderfully beautiful and vigorous boy, whom I could boldly call 'Siegfried': he is now growing, together with my work, and gives me a new, long life [Wagner was then fifty-seven years old], which at last has attained a meaning. Thus we get along without the world, from which we have retired entirely.... But now listen; you will, I trust, approve of the sentiment which leads us to postpone our visit until I can introduce to you the mother of my son as my wedded wife." [187]
Cosima, according to Lina Ramann, was born (in Bellagio) "at Christmas," 1837. The "Siegfried Idyl" was written by Wagner as a birthday gift to his wife, and it was first performed December 24, 1871, as an aubade, on the steps of Wagner's villa at Triebschen; the orchestra was a small group of players gathered from the neighborhood. Hans Richter played the trumpet, and Wagner himself conducted.
The themes out of which the "Idyl" is evolved are, with a single exception, motives from the Nibelungen music-drama "Siegfried," [188] upon which Wagner was engaged when his son was born; the exception is a German cradle-song, Schlaf, Kindchen, balde, VÖglein flieg'n im Walde.
Wagner dedicated the work to his wife in verses which have been translated as follows:
"Thy sacrifices have shed blessings o'er me,
And to my work have given noble aim,
And in the hour of conflict have upbore me,
Until my labor reached a sturdy frame.
Oft in the land of legends we were dreaming—
Those legends which contain the Teuton's fame,
Until a son upon our lives was beaming,
Siegfried must be our youthful hero's name.
"For him and thee I now in tones am praising;
What thanks for deeds of love could better be?
Within our souls the grateful song upraising
Which in this music I have now set free.
And in this cadence I have held, united,
Siegfried, our dearly cherished son, and thee.
Thus all the harmonies I now am bringing
But speak the thought which in my heart is ringing."
