Cordial and very devoted friendship.
F. Liszt
Try to learn something about Bulow, and send me word. It was heart-breaking to me not to see him again at Meiningen.
314. To Freiherr Hans Von Wolzogen
My Dear Freiherr,
.—. Wagner is perfectly within the truth when he says that without the extraordinary munificence of H.M. the King of Bavaria the performances of "Parsifal" at Bayreuth would have been endangered, and only the sympathy of the public, outside the Wagner Societies, made the continuance of them possible. But does it follow from this that the Wagner Societies are useless, and that this is the opportunity for disbanding them? To my thinking, No, for they keep up a wholesome agitation, and support the "Bayreuther Blatter," which essentially promote the good cause. There does not seem to me to be any advantage in changing the name Society [Verein] into Fellowship [Genossenschaft]. Wagner's great name and most important personality are what are most needed here. Moreover the parliamentariness of the Societies will not be averse to the absolute authority of the creator of so many immortal works. In merely minor matters variety of opinions may be made apparent; in all essentials we are really and truly one. On this account I desire the continuance, consistency, and increasing welfare of the Societies.—
It goes without saying that Wagner must reign and govern as legitimate monarch, until the complete outward realization of his Bayreuth conception—namely, the model performance of his entire works, under his own aegis and directions at Bayreuth. It behoves all who sympathise in the historico-civilised culture of Art in the coming years of the closing 19th century to endeavor to promote this aim.
When we have attained the end in question let us sing with
Schiller and Beethoven,
"Freude, schoner Gotterfunken!" ["Joy, thou spark from heaven descending!">[
Accept, dear Freiherr, the assurance of my true and high esteem.