Evening star., 1934-05-20

Va dSo uJtCLltlOAl ~ NCdcCO W
belong to few or to be circurspect
in nature. The smallest or most ad-
verse detail assumes paramount i'm
portance by reason of its ramifying
influence beyond the borders of the
individual life. Much criticism has
been hurled against the devoted
Cosima Wagner. and bitter words have
been written within the last few years
aSsailing her attitude and the Wagner
story as she told it. In reviewing the
life of Wagner and in dispassionately
trying to understand the life of
Cosima and its elimination in her
band, blame of her attitude can be
minimized. A great spirit herself, en-
doWed with a remarkable heritage
which permitted a broader outlook
than was general at that period. she
must have suffered much from Wag-
ner's past, from her own moment.
that comprised the present. and from
the future that evolved after Wagner'S
death
Cosima Liszt-von Bulow-Wagner
was born and reared in an atmosphere
where art was supreme She had for
father man who could sweep aside
with a magnificent gesture all of the
accepted principles of conduct and
still retain the respect and admiration
of the world. The ordinary rules Of
living did not apply to the great Liszt.
yet some of the very fundamentals of
Christianity we're his in large meas
ure, generosity, humanitarianism, toll
erance, piety arm-heartedness, for
giveness. Her mother equaled her
father in her daring spirit and artis-
tic enthusiasm if not in the nobler
qualities. CoSimas first husband,
Hans Won Bulow, was a great and sin.
cere artist possessing the power Of
heroic effacement, as his conduct
proved.
These characteristics of the Liszt
family were not found in any of the
people intimately concerned with the
early period of Wagner's life. The
really great sacrifices made by Wag-
ner's first wife. Minna. were over
shadoWed by her smallness of vision,
her impatience and her irritability.
Wagner's sisters and brothers were
artists also. but the kind that pursued
art as a living and not because the
urge was dominating His many in
innate associations outside his family
circles, with the exception Of List,
were all tainted with selfishness and
ultimately hindered him more than
they helped.
Much that Cosima did during her
life with Wagner and afterward can
be understood when the elements OF
her own upbringing, her outlook on
lie, her realization of the genius of
Wagner and her natural feeling
against those who had not sufficiently
fostered this genius, are taken into
consideration. There have been many
tales OF her efforts to suppress letters
OF Wagner detrimental to her high
ideal Of him and to direct the world
way OF measuring him. There will be
little need of this now, for the world
is arriving at a clearer appraisal of
this passionate, stormy man who
fought every hour of his existence
that the fruits of his genius might
see the light and who found peace and
understanding with a woman who
had lived all her life in an atmosphere
where art was sanctifed.
While Wagner was working on an
article on "Das Weibliche in Men,
schen," death called him. The manu-
script, which is preserved at wahn-
fried, breaks off with the words Love-
Tragedy" the last ever penned by the
great man, an unconscious summary
of his own life.