This is a list of mostly prose works by the German composer Richard Wagner. In addition to writing operas, Wagner was a prolific essayist.
Wagner began compiling his prose and poetry in the 1860s, going on to publish them in ten volumes as the Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen (GS&D, Collected Writings and Poems). [1] The first edition was published in Leipzig by Fritzsch, Wagner's main publisher, between 1871 and 1883. The Collected Writings and Poems includes essays, theoretical treatises, poems, published letters, and opera libretti, reflecting Wagner's thoughts on music, art, politics, religion, and philosophy.
The list has been structured and named according to the conventions of William Ashton Ellis, who first translated and published the complete prose works in English in eight volumes between 1892 and 1907. The libretti (poems) of Wagner's completed stage works are not included.
| Ellis Volume | First Published | English Title | Original Title | GS&D Vol. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: The Art-Work of the Future, etc. [2] | 1842 | Autobiographical Sketch | Autobiographische Skizze | 1 | |
| 1849 | Art and Revolution | Die Kunst und die Revolution | 3 | ||
| 1849 | The Artwork of the Future | Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft | 3 | ||
| 1849 | Wieland the Smith | Wieland der Schmied: Als Drama entworfen | 3 | Dramatic sketch | |
| 1850 | Art and Climate | Kunst und Klima | 3 | ||
| 1851 | A Communication to My Friends | Eine Mitteilung an meine Freunde | 4 | ||
| 2: Opera and Drama [3] | 1852 | Opera and Drama | Oper und Drama | 3 & 4 | |
| 3: The Theatre [4] | 1851 | On the "Goethe-Stiftung" | Über die "Goethestiftung": Brief an Franz Liszt | 5 | |
| 1851 | A Theatre at Zurich | Ein Theater in Zürich | 5 | ||
| 1852 | On Musical Criticism | Über musikalische Kritik | 5 | ||
| 1850 | Judaism in Music | Das Judenthum in der Musik | 5 | Republished in 1869 with commentary | |
| 1851 | Mementoes of Spontini | Erinnerungen an Spontini | 5 | ||
| 1859 | Homage to L. Sphor and W. Fischer | Nachruf an L. Spohr und Chordirektor W. Fischer | 5 | ||
| 1854 | Gluck's Overture to "Iphigenia in Aulis" | Gluck's Ouvertüre zu Iphigenia in Aulis | 5 | ||
| 1852 | On the Performing of "Tannhäuser" | Über die Aufführung des Tannhäuser | 5 | ||
| 1853 | Remarks on Performing "The Flying Dutchman" | Bemerkungen zur Aufführung der Oper Der fliegende Holländer | 5 | ||
| 1852 | Beethoven's "Heroic Symphony" | Programmatische Erläuterungen: Beethovens heroische Symphonie | 5 | Explanatory programme | |
| 1852 | Beethoven's Overture to "Coriolanus" | Programmatische Erläuterungen: Ouvertüre zu Coriolan | 5 | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Overture to "Die fliegende Holländer" | Programmatische Erläuterungen: Der fliegende Holländer | 5 | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Overture to "Tannhäuser" | Programmatische Erläuterungen: Tannhäuser | 5 | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Prelude to "Lohengrin" | Programmatische Erläuterungen: Vorspiel zu Lohengrin | 5 | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | On Franz Liszt's Symphonic Poems | Über Franz Liszt's symphonische Dichtungen | 5 | ||
| 1872 | Epilogue to The "Nibelung's Ring" | Bericht an den Deutschen Wagner-Verein über die Umstände und Schicksale, welche die Ausführung des Bühnenfestspieles "Der Ring des Nibelungen" begleiten. | |||
| 1863 | Preface to The "Ring" Poem | ||||
| 1860 | A Letter to Hector Berlioz | Ein Brief an Hector Berlioz | 7 | ||
| 1861 | "Music of the Future" | "Zukunftsmusik" | 7 | ||
| 1861 | "Tannhäuser" in Paris | Bericht über die Aufführung des Tannhäuser in Paris | 7 | ||
| 1863 | The Vienna Opera-House | Das Wiener Hof-Operntheater | 7 | ||
| 1864 | To the Kingly Friend | Dem königlichen Freunde: Gedicht | 8 | Poem | |
| 4: Art and Politics [5] | 1864 | On State and Religion | Über Staat und Religion | 8 | |
| 1867 | German Art and German Policy | Deutsche Kunst und deutsche Politik | 8 | ||
| 1878 | What is German? | Was ist Deutsch? | 10 | Written c. 1865 | |
| 1865 | A Music-School for Munich | Bericht an König Ludwig II. von Bayern über eine in München zu errichtende deutsche Musikschule | 8 | ||
| 1868 | Ludwig Schnorr of Carolsfeld | Meine Erinnerungen an Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld | 8 | ||
| 1867 | W. H. Riehl | Censuren: W.H. Riehl | 8 | Notices | |
| 1867 | Ferdinand Hiller | Censuren: Ferdinand Hiller | 8 | Notices | |
| 1868 | A Remembrance of Rossini | Censuren: eine Erinnerung an Rossini | 8 | Notices | |
| 1869 | Eduard Devrient | Censuren: Eduard Devrient | 8 | Notices | |
| 1869 | About Conducting | Über das Dirigieren] | 8 | ||
| 1868 | Rheingold | Drei Gedichte: Rheingold | 8 | "Three Poems" | |
| 1869 | On the Completion of Siegfried | Drei Gedichte: Bei der Vollendung des Siegfried | 8 | "Three Poems" | |
| 1870 | August 25th, 1870 | Drei Gedichte: Zum 25. August 1879 | 8 | "Three Poems" | |
| 1871 | To the German Army before Paris | An das deutsche Heer von Paris | 9 | Poem | |
| 1873 | A Capitulation | Eine Kapitulation: Lustspiel in antiker Manier | 9 | Dramatic sketch | |
| 5: Actors and Singers [6] | 1871 | Reminiscences of Auger | Erinnerungen an Auber | 9 | |
| 1870 | Beethoven (Wagner) | Beethoven | 9 | ||
| 1871 | The Destiny of Opera | Über die Bestimmung der Oper | 9 | ||
| 1872 | Actors and Singers | Über Schauspieler und Sänger | 9 | ||
| 1873 | The Rendering of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony | Zum Vortrag der neunten Symphonie Beethoven's | 9 | ||
| 1872 | Letter to an Actor | Brief über das Schauspielerwesen an einen Schauspieler | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1873 | A Glance at the German Operatic Stage of Today | Ein Einblick in das heutige deutsche Opernwesen | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1871 | Letter to an Italian Friend on the Production of "Lohengrin" | Brief an einen italienischen Freund über die Aufführung des Lohengrin in Bologna | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1872 | To the Burgomaster of Bologna | Schreiben an den Bürgermeister von Bologna | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1872 | To Friedrich Nietzsche | An Friedrich Nietzsche, ord. Prof. der Klassischen Philologie in Basel | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1872 | On the Name "Musikdrama" | Über die Benennung 'Musikdrama' | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1873 | Prologue to a Reading of "Die Götterdämmerung" | Einleitung zu einer Vorlesung der Götterdämmerung vor einem ausgewählten Zuhörerkreis in Berlin | 9 | "Letters and Short Essays" | |
| 1873 | Final Report on the Fates and Circumstances | Epilogischer Bericht über die Umstände und Schicksale, welche die Ausführung des Bühnenfestspieles Der Ring des Nibelungen bis zur Veröffentlichung der Dichtung begleiteten | 6 | "Bayreuth" | |
| 1873 | The Festival-Playhouse at Bayreuth | Das Bühnenfestspielhaus zu Bayreuth | 9 | "Bayreuth" | |
| 6: Religion and Art [7] | 1875 | Spohr's "Jessonda" at Leipzig | Über eine Opernaufführung in Leipzig | 10 | |
| 1877 | To the Presidents of Wagner-Vereins | An die geehrten Vorstände der Richard Wagner-Vereine | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Proposed Bayreuth "School" | Entwurf, veröffentlicht mit den Statuten des Patronat- vereines | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Introduction to First Number of the Bayreuther Blätter | Zur Einführung. (Bayreuther Blätter, Erstes Stück.) | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Introduction to a Work of Hans Von Wolzogen's | Ein Wort zur Einführung der Arbeit Hans von Wolzogen's Über Verrottung und Errettung der deutschen Sprache | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Postponement of "Parsifal" | Erklärung an die Mitglicher des Patronatvereines | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Introduction to the Year 1880 | Zur Einführung in das Jahr 1880 | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1880 | Announcement of "Parsifal" Performance | Zur Mittheilung an die geehrten Patrone der Bühnenfest-spiele in Bayreuth. | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1881 | Introduction to a Work of Count Gobineau's | Zur Einführung der Arbeit des Grafen Gobineau | 10 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Modern | Modern | 10 | ||
| 1878 | Public and Popularity | Publikum und Popularität | 10 | ||
| 1878 | The Public in Time and Space | Das Publikum in Zeit und Raum | 10 | ||
| 1878 | Retrospect of the Stage-Festivals of 1876 | Ein Rückblick auf die Bühnenfestspiele des Jahres 1876 | 10 | ||
| 1879 | Shall We Hope? | Wollen wir hoffen? | 10 | ||
| 1879 | On Poetry and Composition | Über das Dichten und Komponieren | 10 | ||
| 1879 | On Operatic Poetry and Composition | Über das Opern-Dichten und Komponieren im Besonderen | 10 | ||
| 1879 | On the Application of Music to the Drama | Über die Anwendung der Musik auf das Drama | 10 | ||
| 1879 | Against Vivisection | Offenes Schreiben an Herrn Ernst von Weber | 10 | ||
| 1880 | Religion and Art | Religion und Kunst | 10 | ||
| 1880 | What Boots this Knowledge? | Was nüßt diese Erkenntniß? | 10 | Supplement to "Religion and Art" | |
| 1881 | Know Thyself | Erkenne dich selbst | 10 | Supplement to "Religion and Art" | |
| 1881 | Hero-dom and Christendom | Heldenthum und Christenthum | 10 | Supplement to "Religion and Art" | |
| 1882 | End of the Patronat-Verein | Brief an H. v. Wolzogen | 10 | ||
| 1882 | The Stipendiary Fund | Offenes Schreiben an Herrn Friedrich Schön in Worms | 10 | ||
| 1882 | "Parsifal" at Bayreuth | Das Bühnenweihfestspiel in Bayreuth 1882 | 10 | ||
| 1883 | A Youthful Symphony | Bericht über die Wiederaufführung eines Jugendwerkes | 10 | ||
| 1883 | Letter to H. V. Stein | Brief an H. v. Stein | 10 | ||
| 1885 | The Human Womanly | Über das Weibliche im Menschlichen | Fragment | ||
| 7: In Paris and Dresden [8] | 1836 | "Das Liebesverbot": Account of a first Operatic Performance | Das Liebesverbot: Bericht über eine erste Opernaufführung | 1 | |
| 1840 | A Pilgramage to Beethoven | Eine Pilgerfahrt zu Beethoven | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | An End in Paris | Ein Ende in Paris | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | A Happy Evening | Ein glücklicher Abend | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | On German Music | Über deutsches Musikwesen | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" | Pergolesis Stabat Mater | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | The Virtuoso and the Artist | Der Virtuos und der Künstler | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | Du Métier de Virtuose | Du Métier de Virtuose | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | The Artist and Publicity | Der Künstler und die Öffentlichkeit | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | Rossini's "Stabat Mater" | Rossinis Stabat Mater | 1 | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | On the Overture | Über die Ouvertüre | 1 | ||
| 1841 | To the Paris Public | An das Pariser Publikum | 1 | "Der Freischütz in Paris" | |
| 1841 | Report to Germany | Bericht nach Deutschland | 1 | "Der Freischütz in Paris" | |
| 1842 | Halévy's "Reine de Chypre" | Bericht über eine neue Pariser Oper (La Reine de Chypre von Halévy) | 1 | ||
| 1871 | Author's Introduction to Vol. II of the Gesammelte Schriften | 2 | |||
| 1844 | Weber's Re-interment | Bericht über die Heimbringung der sterblichen Überreste Carl Maria von Weber's aus London nach Dresden | 2 | ||
| 1846 | Beethoven's Choral Symphony at Dresden | Bericht über die Aufführung der neunten Symphonie von Beethoven im Jahre 1846 | 2 | ||
| 1848 | The Wibelungen | Die Wibelungen: Weltgeschichte aus der Sage | 2 | ||
| 1848 | The Nibelungen-Myth | Der Nibelungen-Mythus: Als Entwurf zu einem Drama | 2 | Dramatic sketch | |
| 1848 | Tercentenary Toast | Trinkspruch am Gedenktag des 300-jährigen Bestehens der königlichen musikalischen Kapelle in Dresden | 2 | ||
| 1849 | Plan of Organisation of a German National Theatre | Entwurf zur Organisation eines deutschen Nationaltheaters für das Königreich Sachsen | 2 | ||
| 8: Posthumous, etc. [9] | 1848 | Siegfried's Death | Siegfried's Tod | 2 | Dramatic sketch |
| 1834 | On German Opera | Discarded | |||
| 1834 | Pasticcio | Discarded | |||
| 1837 | Bellini | Discarded | |||
| 1841 | Parisian Amusements | Discarded | |||
| 1841 | Parisian Fatalities for the German | Discarded | |||
| 1841 | Letters from Paris, 1841 | Discarded | |||
| 1842 | Halévy and "La Reine de Chypre" | Discarded | |||
| 1846 | Jottings on the Ninth Symphony | Discarded | |||
| 1846 | Artist and Critic | Discarded | |||
| 1848 | Greeting from Saxony to the Viennese | Discarded | |||
| 1849 | On E. Devrient's "History of German Acting" | Discarded | |||
| 1849 | Theatre-Reform | Discarded | |||
| 1849 | Man and Established Society | Discarded | |||
| 1849 | The Revolution | Discarded | |||
| 1865 | Invitation to the Production of "Tristan in Munich" | Discarded | |||
| 1889 | The Saracen Woman | Dramatic sketch, written 1841-1843 | |||
| 1899 | Sketch for "The Apostles' Love-Feast" | Das Liebesmahl der Apostel | Prose sketch, written 1843 | ||
| 1887 | Jesus of Nazareth | Jesus von Nazareth | Prose sketch, written 1848-1849 | ||
| 1885 | A Title-Page | Sketches and fragments | |||
| 1885 | Personal | Sketches and fragments | |||
| 1885 | A Sketch, a Reflection, and Four Programmes | Sketches and fragments | |||
| 1885 | Metaphysics, Ethics and Art | Sketches and fragments | |||
| 1885 | On the Womanly in the Human | Sketches and fragments | |||
| Misc | 1880 | My Life [10] | Mein Leben Vol. 1, Vol. 2 | Wagner's autobiography | |
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. The drama was to be presented as a continuously sung narrative, without conventional operatic structures like arias and recitatives. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the 16-hour, four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Romantic music is a stylistic movement in Western Classical music associated with the period of the 19th century commonly referred to as the Romantic era. It is closely related to the broader concept of Romanticism—the intellectual, artistic, and literary movement that became prominent in Western culture from about 1798 until 1837.
Johann Ludwig Tieck was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Henry Austin Dobson, commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist.
Ivor Armstrong Richards CH, known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, poet, and rhetorician. His work contributed to the foundations of New Criticism, a formalist movement in literary theory which emphasized the close reading of a literary text, especially poetry, in an effort to discover how a work of literature functions as a self-contained and self-referential æsthetic object.
Routledge is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and social science. The company publishes approximately 1,800 journals and 5,000 new books each year and their backlist encompasses over 140,000 titles. Routledge is claimed to be the largest global academic publisher within humanities and social sciences.
Bernard Hollander was a London psychiatrist and one of the main proponents of the new interest in phrenology in the early 20th century.
The evolution of Richard Wagner's epic operatic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen was a long and tortuous process, and the precise sequence of events which led the composer to embark upon such a vast undertaking is still unclear. The composition of the text took place between 1848 and 1853, when all four libretti were privately printed. The closing scene of the final opera, Götterdämmerung, was revised a number of times between 1856 and 1872. The names of the last two Ring operas, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, were probably not definitively settled until 1856.
James Alfred Wanklyn was a nineteenth-century English analytical chemist who is remembered today chiefly for his "ammonia method" of determining water quality and for his fierce arguments with those, such as Edward Frankland, who opposed him over matters related to water analysis.
Opera and Drama is a book-length essay written by Richard Wagner in 1851 setting out his ideas on the ideal characteristics of opera as an art form. It belongs with other essays of the period in which Wagner attempted to explain and reconcile his political and artistic ideas, at a time when he was working on the libretti, and later the music, of his Ring cycle.
Wieland der Schmied is a draft by Richard Wagner for an opera libretto based on the Germanic legend of Wayland Smith. It is listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV82.
This is a list of writings published by Carl Jung. Many of Jung's most important works have been collected, translated, and published in a 20-volume set by Princeton University Press, entitled The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Works here are arranged by original publication date if known.
Musikdrama is a German word that means a unity of prose and music. Initially coined by Theodor Mundt in 1833, it was most notably used by Richard Wagner, along with Gesamtkunstwerk, to define his operas.
Marie ("Mimi") Baronessvon Schleinitz was an influential salonnière of the early German Reich in Berlin and one of the most important supporters of Richard Wagner.
(Percy) Paul Selver was an English writer and translator. A prolific translator of Czech literature into English, he was best known as the translator of Karel Čapek.
Charles Kegan Paul, usually known as Kegan Paul, was an English author, publisher and former Anglican cleric. He began his adult life as a priest of the Church of England and held various ministry positions for more than 20 years. His religious orientation moved from the orthodoxy of the Church of England to first Agnosticism, then Positivism and finally Roman Catholicism.
Nicholas Trübner, born Nikolaus Trübner, was a German-English publisher, bookseller and linguist.
Franz Muncker was a German literary historian.
William Ashton Ellis was an English doctor and theosophist. He is remembered for translating the complete prose works of Richard Wagner.
Thomas Carlyle is an unfinished portrait of the Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher of the same name painted by English Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais in 1877.
