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1.
Feature Story
History
of Richard Wagner and
Bayreuth
•
•
Wagner originally planned that Munich
would be the focal-point of his music. After being banished
from immediate contact with Ludwig II at the end of 1865,
however, he switched his attention from Munich to Nuremberg,
which he saw as especially appropriate for the performance
of The Mastersingers and his other operas.
•
•
Nuremberg, however, was abandoned
when Wagner heard from Hans Richter that there was an
excellent operahouse in Bayreuth. Margrave Frederick
(1735-63), who was married to the sister of Frederick the
Great, Friederike Wilhelmine Sophie, had kept court in
Bayreuth. The young Margravine was active in the arts, and
like her famous brother was an enthusiastic composer (for
example, the operas Amaltea and L'Elliogabalo), and the
Margrave had an opera-house built in Bayreuth, completed in
1747. In its time it was one of the largest theatres in the
world. The acoustics were exceptionally
good.
•
•
The question of performance rights
made Wagner favour Bayreuth. In 1864, when short of money,
Wagner had sold the performance rights of his forthcoming
operas to Ludwig II. As an enthusiastic Wagnerian, Ludwig
had wished to hear Wagner's music as often as possible in
Munich. On Ludwig's initiative, The Rhinegold was premiered
in Munich on 22nd September 1869, although Wagner was
against the idea.
•
•
His problems did not end there. The
Valkyrie was nearing completion and Ludwig wanted to have it
performed as soon as possible. At the same time, Wagner
became more and more interested in Bayreuth: Munich no
longer suited his plans.
•
•
On 5th March 1870, Richard and Cosima
were enthusiastic about a report in the Brockhaus
Conversation Lexicon about Bayreuth, which suggested the
idea of a possible performance of The Ring in the famous
Bayreuth opera-house. It was no wonder that after this
Wagner opposed the performances of his works in Munich. He
wrote a hurried letter to Ludwig's secretary, Lorenz von
Düfflipp, dated 6th April 1870, in which he stressed
that Ludwig had in fact given guarantees that Wagner could
perform The Ring Tetralogy according to his own wishes.
These words were of no avail: The Valkyrie was premiered at
the Munich Court Theatre on 26th June
1871.
•
•
Wagner visited Bayreuth on his way to
Berlin on 17th-20th April, and was satisfied that the town
was suitable for his purposes. Unfortunately, the famous
baroque opera-house proved to be technically out of date,
and it could not be used for Wagner's works, which required
complex equipment for the scenery. An entirely new
opera-house would have to be built in the town. The city
fathers were enthusiastic about the proposal, which could
raise the town to its former glory. Inspired by his visit,
Wagner wrote to Lorenz von Düfflipp on 20th April that
he intended to choose Bayreuth as the centre for his
forthcoming opera
festivals.
•
•
Bayreuth, the home town of the writer
Jean Paul, was well suited for Wagner's purposes. It was
situated close to the northern frontier of Bavaria, and was
thus almost a central focal-point of Germany: a location
more advantageous than Munich, which lay too far in the
south, roughly in the middle of Bavaria. Bayreuth was also
preferable to Nuremberg, because apart from Jean Paul and
its baroque architecture, there was nothing that could
compete with the fruits of Wagnerism. In 1868, in Deutsche
Kunst und deutsche Politik, Wagner had argued that theatre
should be the core and focus of national education. If the
Wagner theatre were established in Bayreuth, it would stand
at the geographical heart of Germany, and people from all
over Germany could make pilgrimages to the fountain of their
spiritual
rebirth.
•
•
Wagner's plans now proceeded quickly
forward. On 11th May, he wrote to Dr. Carl Landgraf that he
was planning to arrange a great music festival in Bayreuth
within two years, in 1873. In addition to this, he stated
that he inteded to return to German soil, to his new home
town, in order better to arrange the forthcoming cultural
event.
•
•
Wagner was constantly active in
trying to get artistic support and patronage from the state.
Nonetheless, he now began to plan a "reserve solution" based
on direct popular support. Following his fruitless meeting
with Bismarck on 3rd May 1871, he immediately embarked on
soliciting popular support in concrete terms. By 12th May,
he had already published a brochure, Ankündikung der
Festspiele, publicly announcing his Bayreuth plans. The
proposal was to build a large Festspielhaus in Bayreuth by
the summer of 1873, when the opera-house would be opened
with a performance of The Ring of the Nibelung. Wagner wrote
to Dr. Landgraf that he had explained these proposals to
Ludwig II; the music festival was now his personal affair,
and with the help of committed friends of his art, would now
be implemented.
•
•
Although Wagner launched his Bayreuth
proposal as a private project, he was still obsessed with
social acceptance. The most important task now was to get
the project started, in the hope that the German nation
would then eventually understand the gift it had received.
This was clearly stated by Wagner to his financial adviser,
the banker Friedrich Feustel: "With this building, we
deliver only the outline of the true idea; which we submit
to the Nation, to be fulfilled in a glorious construction."
The opera-house was to be a simple wooden building, in order
to ensure funding for special equipment and decorations to
create a total experience. The total costs of the project
were 300,000 taler, of which 1,000,000 taler were reserved
for the construction of the theatre, 50,000 for performance
equipment, and 150,000 for the performance costs of the
first festival.
02
By the spring
of 1871,
Wagner had already started to
raise money. Before his return to Triebschen in May 1871, he
visited Leipzig, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, and Heidelberg to
inspire his
supporters.
•
•
In the beginning, the work was
greeted with great enthusiasm by his Berlin friends. One of
the most active was the Polish-born pianist Karl Tausig.
Tausig's energy seemed to be inexhaustible. He made speeches
on behalf of Wagnerism in the capital, where the message of
Wagnerism had only partly reached people. Tausig's sudden
death of typhus at the age of 29 was a serious loss. After
Tausig's death, enthusiasm in Berlin weakened considerably,
partly due to the realization that Wagner intended to base
his festival in the distant town of
Bayreuth.
•
•
By the end of 1871, it was evident
that merely waiting for the money was not enough. Wagner's
account had not increased by much: something had to be done
quickly, if the first festival was to be arranged in 1873.
To speed up the collection of money, Wagner decided to issue
a thousand 'patronage certificates' (Patronatenschein),
priced at 300 taler. The high price of the certificates
proved problematic, however, and it became imperative to
create a parallel channel for low-income Wagnerians to
support the project. A useful proposal was put forward by a
Mannheim music publisher, Emil Heckel, who established a
Wagner society in his native town in June 1871. On Heckel's
suggestion, Wagner decided, without delay, to establish
Wagner societies throughout Germany, with the purpose of
arranging events and occasions for raising funds. The
societies could purchase patronage certificates on behalf of
those members who could not afford to invest 300 taler. The
proposal seemed promising, and the foundation of such
associations guaranteed that all enthusiasts would now have
the opportunity to support the
project.
•
•
The foundation of the societies soon
started. By the end of 1871, the Mannheim Society had sister
societies in Leipzig, Vienna, and Berlin. Wagner drew up a
written proposal, stating the main goals, and affirmed that
he had always striven to contribute to the "genuine Essence
of the German
spirit".
•
•
In Berlin, the Academic Wagner
Society published at its own expense two special supplements
in the Musikalisches Wochenblatt (April and July 1872), and
was hard at work raising financing for the project. The
Wochenblatt supplements offered introductions to Wagner's
world philosophy, expounding Wagner's art and the
significance of the music festival to the German public,
summarizing the subjects of Wagner's operas, and offering
further advice on how to study the master's thinking. The
strategies used in these appeals show interesting parallels
between Wagner's art and the unification of Germany. Wagner
was the Bismarck of art, who had sacrificed his life to the
German cause; it was therefore incumbent upon the nation to
arrange a suitable environment for Wagner's works in
Bayreuth. Germany could become a new Hellas, if only
politics and art could go hand in
hand:
•
•
A tragic collapse lay behind the
birth of the German Empire; in the thunder of battle, where
enthusiastic German youth was victorious, the noblest
ambitions of many centuries came to
fruition.
03
Academic
Wagner Leadership
Today, the leadership of this
completed undertaking lies in the hands of a powerful man;
the burning desire for national unity has been fulfilled.
With all the greater confidence, therefore, German students
are now able to participate in our national spiritual and
intellectual undertaking. To this spiritual arena the
undersigned summon their fellow
students.
•
•
In Hellas, the supreme flowering of
the State went hand in hand with that of Art; so too the
resurrection of the German Empire should be accompanied by a
massive artistic monument to the German intellect. In the
field of politics, the German mission in the history of the
world has recently enjoyed its second triumph - now its
spiritual victory is to be celebrated, through the German
Festival in Bayreuth.
•
•
Richard Wagner, the great poet and
composer, whose unerring innovations in the field of art are
the parallel to Bismarck's political achievements, - Richard
Wagner, the bard of German greatness, will dedicate his
lifework to the German Fatherland. It is up to the People to
ensure its worthy
reception.
•
•
This appeal by the Academic Wagner
Society shows how clearly Wagner's goals had been grafted on
to the tree of political unification. Because of his
enormous efforts, the German nation owed this to
Wagner.
•
•
During 1872, the societies rapidly
spread throughout Germany. Once enough money had been
collected, the essential work could begin. In summer 1871,
Wagner and his family moved to Bayreuth, to be nearer the
place of work and to be able to lead the project. With
solemn ceremonies, the cornerstone of the forthcoming
opera-house was laid on 22nd May 1872, on the hill close to
Bayreuth.
•
•
Although the cornerstone had now been
laid, Wagner realized that the music festival could not be
arranged for the following year. Much money still needed to
be raised. The design of the opera-house needed revising,
and the last part of the tetralogy The Twilight of the Gods
had not yet been orchestrated. It was probable that the
festival would have to be postponed at least until
1874.
•
•
Wagner's plans were too optimistic.
By the end of 1872, it had become clear to Wagner and his
financial supporter Feustel that the Wagner societies,
despite all their efforts, had failed to raise adequate
funds, and no improvement was in sight. By the August of
1873, only a third of the patronage certificates had been
subscribed. The situation seemed to be hopeless. Wagner
could do nothing but try once again to seek the support of
the state. On 24th June 1873, he wrote a humble letter to
Bismarck, and straightforwardly asked for financial support,
but Bismarck was unbending; no money was
forthcoming.
•
•
Ludwig II had from the very beginning
regarded the Bayreuth project as absurd and unrealistic.
Wagner was aware of this, and had therefore decided to push
ahead with the project without a patron; but he now needed
to relinquish this principle, and request Ludwig's
assistance. At the end of January 1874 Ludwig made a grant
of 100,000 taler.
•
•
Ludwig's support was decisive. In a
letter to Lorenz von Düfflipp, Wagner estimated that
the theatre would now be completed by the summer of 1875.
This plan, too, however, had to be extended, and it was not
until 1876 that the opera-house was ready to admit the first
festival
audience.
•
•
"Wagner's iron will made it possible
to realize the idea", wrote Marie zu Hohenlohe later, in her
memoirs. Without Wagner's iron will, indeed, the opera-house
would never have come into existence. During the opening
ceremonies on 13th August 1867, Wagner was able to state
that the utopia had at least in part been achieved: Germany
now had her national
theatre.
•
•
The Bayreuth Festival was a unique
cultural event in Germany, which Emperor Wilhelm I honoured
with his presence. A surprise guest to the festival was the
Emperor of Brazil Dom Perdo II, who was touring Europe at
that time. Only Bismarck refused to
attend.
•
•
All of Wagner's most enthusiastic
supporters came to the festival, including Friedrich
Nietzsche, Wilhelm Tappert, Ludwig Nohl, Richard Pohl,
Gottfried Semper, and Karl Klindworth. Professional
musicians came from all over the world, the most famous of
them being Edvard Grieg from Norway and Peter Tchaikovsky
from Russia. Grieg wrote a cycle of articles for the
Norwegian paper Bergenposten and attended not only the
performances, but also the
rehearsals.
•
•
The festival started with the
performance of The Rhinegold to an audience that filled the
entire auditorium. For many Wagner enthusiasts, the
experience was unforgettable. The Festspielhaus is still
today one of the largest opera stages in the world. Wagner
had designed the theatre to resemble a classical
amphitheatre; the auditorium was designed in the shape of a
sector, which allowed for equal visibility from every seat.
No boxes were built. The Orchestra was separated from the
audience by a large parapet: one could not therefore see
where the music came from. In addition to this, the
auditorium was solely constructed of wood, which had been
shown by Semper to be the best material in terms of
acoustics. The "maiden" audience thus experienced something
not possible in any other opera-house. This unique feature
was associated with Wagner's idea of making his festival a
ritual which resembled religion. Art could be followed in
Bayreuth with a devotion peculiar to that of Ancient Greece.
It was no wonder that Richard Pohl remarked: "It was a new
Olympia."
•
•
When the last performance of the
festival was over, The Twilight of the Gods, Wagner made a
short speech, the point of which will not have been unclear
to any in the audience. Wagner's last words were: "If you
wish, we will have our own Art." Responsibility for
continuity was now transferred to the audience, the German
people. The 1876 festival was the result of the work of many
years, and Wagner now realized that the arrangements for the
following festival would again be very demanding. In
Wagner's inner circle the continuity of the festival was the
subject of lengthy discussion. Wagner himself believed that
the next festival could be held the following year, if only
permanent support from the state, or at least from the
societies could be guaranteed. Wagner's friends, Liszt and
Bösendorfer, also believed that permanent support could
be ensured. A more pessimistic view was argued by the
impresario Angelo Neumann, who considered the schedule too
tight, and in the end Neumann proved to be right. Permanent
support for the festival was not found. Not until 1882 could
the Wagnerians again gather in the
Festspielhaus.
•
•
Before his unexpected death in 1883,
Wagner had succeeded in arranging only two festivals.
Nonetheless, he had achieved his goal of a German fusion of
arts (Gesamtkunstwerk) which he believed would guide the
German nation toward her own identity; as he saw it, he had
found the spring of a new rebirth which would pave the way
for an entirely revitalized society. In his utopia, art and
politics would be united; the marriage between Berlin and
Bavaria was necessary. This union was never achieved in
Wagner's lifetime; it did not come about until the 1930s,
and then not in the sense that Wagner had meant, for under
Nazism art was merely a means of
politics.
•
•
After Wagner's death, Richard Pohl
crystallized in 1884 the heritage that Wagner had left to
his supporters in the
words:
•
•
Richard Wagner himself built a
monument for himself: it stands in Bayreuth. To continue
further this festival theatre in his spirit, through
devoutly performing the Master's works, must be our next
goal
ByLines:
The continuation of the festival
was thus dependent on the forthcoming generations.
Wagnerians had been entrusted with an enormous challenge for
the future: the marriage of power and art.
END NOTES: Ein Leitfaden durch die
Kultur- und Bildungsangebote
Bayreuths
•
•
Bayreuth erfreut sich einer Vielzahl
traditioneller Kultureinrichtungen und einer ausgesprochenen
Breitenkultur.
•
•
Dank der Königstochter
Wilhelmine von Preußen verfügt die Stadt
über ein reiches kulturhistorisches Erbe. Und mit den
Festspielen Richard Wagners wurde sie in der Musikwelt
international ein Begriff. Das Festspielhaus und das
Richard-Wagner-Museum Haus Wahnfried locken Musik- und
Kunstfreunde aus aller Welt
hierher.
•
•
Daneben zeugen Namen wie Jean Paul
oder Franz Liszt von dem reichen kulturellen
Vermächtnis aus Bayreuths Vergangenheit - was sich
nicht zuletzt in einer aussergewöhnlich viegestaltigen
Museumslandschaft
niederschlägt.
•
•
Doch Bayreuth ist nicht nur Kultur-,
sondern auch eine ausgeprägte Bildungsstadt mit
hervorragendem Ruf. Rund 70 Einrichtungen der schulischen
Aus- und Fortbildung - von der Grundschule bis zur
Universität - beherbergt die Stadt. Bayreuths Uni
rangiert bei den beliebten Hochschul-Rankings
regelmäßig auf den vordersten
Plätzen.
•
•
Auf den folgenden Seiten wollen wir
Ihnen dieses breite Spektrum der Kultur und Bildung in
Bayreuth näher bringen.
///
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