The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-10

sey. In connection with his sohool LIE Q
Dresden. the odd circumstanoeis noted that q
this period. Richard Wagner did not exist. OF
fcially ut least, for he was entered at thu
Kreuzschule as Richard Gever. and this nam,
seems not to have been changed till he lef
that school In 1927.
wagner's poetic talent manifested itself o.
: | the age OF IL. A poem which he wrote in con,
petition with his classmates was deemed by hi,
. teachers worthy OF being printed. and this sue.
cess inspired him with the bition to become
n poet. He attempted some dramas after the
Greek type. and also began to study English.
for the sole purpose OF being able to read
Shakespeare in the original He tells us in his
autobiographic sketch that about this time he
projected grand tragedy. o sort OF compound
OF Hamlet and King Lear; forty-two persons
died In the course OF the piece, and In devel-
oping the plot he found himself compelled to
make most Of them reappear as ghosts be-
cause otherwise there would have been no
personaRes left for the last acts. A lady has
recounted that one day. when she ask cd
Richard how far he had got with his
tragedy. he replied. well. I've got them
all dead but one" Some other anec-
dotes throw light upon the carly part OF Wag-
ner's life which has hitherto remained OBJ
scured. We are told that when Weber passed
by Richards window after rehearsal OF the
opera. the boy would call his sister Gaelic to
the window and excaim: Look here: that is
the greatest man in the world-hop great he
10 you cannot understand" Although Cacelie
| could not Mt first see anything great" In the
crooked.legHed little man. with his large
spectacles on his large nose. with tho gray
| coat and tho vacilatinR gait, she soon fol-
| lowed her brothers example OF looking on
| him with religious ava Another character
istic incident: Richard was worry fond OF 60
ing to the theatre. especially to hear the
Freisch1tz. and even when permission to
60 was withheld. he still found way to have
his will. He would stand in o corner and keep
count OF the passing minutes: " Now they are
giving this-now that-now that" and SO on. &C.
companying this recital with tears and soba. as
II his throat were bursting. Finally, his mother
would lose patience. and say. Away with you.
you sniveller" The boys love Of nature and
fresh air showed itself in his earliest years.
and q little hand sled was ono OF his favorite
companions. His first recorded joke is con-
nected with this sled. His mother had made
frock for one OF his sisters. evidently out of
ono OF her own old gowns The result was too
shiny to suit the girl. but Richard consoled
her with the remark: Never mind. We can 60
sleighinR on that without getting or" One
day Cecilia accompanied her brother and
mother to tho river whore they had to wait |
for the boat Cecilia was very fond OF |
going about with bare feet. but on this |
occasion she missed her shoes and stock |
ings. as the weather turned very cold. |
wait a moment" exclaimed Richard:
I'm give you one OF my boots and the
other feet We can keep warm by putting
one on the other" This anecdote was subse-
qusntly related by Wagner in Paris to tho
artist Kietz- who made u sketch OF tho scene.
Among other stories Of Wagners childhood.
Mr.. Finck tells US that the boy was o years old
when he slept away from his mothers house
for the first time. He had been sent on visit
to his Uncle Geyer at Eiseben. the birthplace
OF Luther Referring to this visit he said.
What attracted me most in the great reform
er's character was his dauntless energy and
fearlessness. Since then I have often rumi-
mated on the true instinct OF children. for l. had
not also to preach q new gospel Of art? Had
not also to bear every insult In its defence.
and was not also to say. Here stand God
hep me: can do no otherwise"
HI.
An important result follow ed the writing Of
the sanguinary and ghostly hakesperean
tragedy to which We have referred. While
Wagner was at work on It. he became. for the
first time. acquainted with the music OF Bee.
thoven at q concert in Leipsc. It made a deep
impression on him. especially the music to
Goethes "Egmont" which filed him with SO
much enthusiasm that he made up his mind
to embellish his own drama with music OF the
same style. 1t did not enter the head of the
ambitious youth that there would be any spe-
cial difficulty in carrying out such project.
To familiarize himself with the laws Of har-
mony and counterpart. he borrowed Logier's (
treatise for q week AID studied 1t diligently
Naturally. tho study did not bear fruit |
AS fast as he had hoped. Its diff
suites. however. only stimulated and At
racted him: he resolved to become a
musician. Thus. although he had had plano I
essons previously and had been deeply i'm ,
pressed by Weber's music in his childhood. it
vas not till his sixteenth year that Wagner !
discovered his true vocation. He was at first t
obliged to keep his new resolution to himself. 4
or his family had. by this time. discovered 4
hat he was negecting his school work: and to /
confess the existence OF q new hobby would y
lave aggravated their discomfort 1t was &C. t
ordingly. in the strictest secrecy that Richard fl
Composed n sonata. o quartet. and an aria C
When he at last had the courage TO d
ell his family about his new venture. q
hey only looked on it as fresh 8
aprice. all the more as it had not been pre- v
sded by careful study or justified by tho ac- Il
usition OF skill In performing on any must v
al instrument. However. the family humored (,
lis within so far as to engage a music teacher d
o see whether 1t had any substantial founda- L
ion The experiment proved unsuccessful. [,
ust as in his childhood he had preferred "
laying overtures to flve-nnger exercises. SO "
ow. In his youth. he disguised his teacher by n
eglecting his elementary studies in counter 4,
ONT. in order to compose overtures for grand NJ
pera. Nor WAS 1t enough to write overtures: h
theirs had done that. consequently Wagner's 10
lust be new departure. referring to ono OF al
is compositions which. at this time. he Il
to get played. Wagner has him u
ELF said that "Beethoven's Ninth SYM a,
hony appeared like simple Pleyel sonata by M
10 side OF this marvelously implicated over n
ire" To facilitate the reading OF the astound- Ia
IL score. no had conceived the idea OF writ In
g 1t In three kinds OF ink. red for tho strings nj
reen for the wood-wnd. and black for the b
rass instruments. This overture" writes "
'agner. was the climax Of my absurdlties." IA,
I'D he goes on to tell how at its performance, in
Ia nh llic Was at Il rat aatanishad at h. |