Not surprisingly given his monumental achievements in the opera world, Richard Wagner was a bit of a control freak. We have ample evidence in his correspondence and even in the operas themselves, of back-room negotiation, power plays, and even the occasional blackmail of one kind or another. The complex performance and publication history of Tannhäuser provided Wagner with particularly rich opportunities for such maneuverings.
The opera was first performed in 1845, and was published as it was performed at the time by the Dresden publishing firm of C.F. Meser. Meser then published a version in 1860, incorporating revisions made between 1847 and 1852, the so-called “Dresden version.” In 1872, Adolph Fürstner acquired Meser’s firm, thus acquiring publication rights to Tannhäuser. The opera was performed at the Paris Opera in 1861 in an additionally revised version never published as performed. Finally the opera was performed under Wagner’s supervision in Vienna in 1875, incorporating revisions made subsequent to 1861; a vocal score of this version was published by Fürstner/Meser in 1876 (full score 1888), the so-called “Paris version.”
John Milton Ward (recently deceased William Powell Mason Professor of Music emeritus at Harvard University) donated a letter written by Wagner to Fürstner at Bayreuth, 11 May 1873, which is rife with Wagner’s trademark manipulation: “… I learned in Leipzig that, for the purpose of a new edition of the same, you had given the piano score of Tannhäuser to an arranger to make a new revision. That this new edition appears intended to be done with no heed taken of the new scenes I have set to music, as well as of the other often significant alternation made by me, is very unpleasant for me … I cannot possibly try to persuade you to adopt a different view and would thus simply withhold my new composition for a more opportune time … to correct this new, aesthetically speaking: unauthorized edition, I can only resort to a special edition of the newly composed scenes (with new text) as well as the further revisions to the opera, and thus I hereby announce to you, while conceding your priority in this regard, that I plan to publish the pieces for the retail market and await your own offer …” Looks like it worked, as the vocal score published in 1876 incorporated Wagner’s recent revisions. This was just good business: clearly Wagner saw the importance of retaining control over his creations! If only I didn’t feel like he approached all his interactions this way…
This post is part of a weekly feature on the Houghton Library blog, “You’ve Got Mail,” based on letters in Houghton Library. Every Friday this year a Houghton staff member will select a letter from the diverse collections in the Library and put that letter into context. All posts associated with this series may be viewed by clicking on the You’veGotMail tag.
[Thanks to Andrea Cawelti, Ward Project Music Cataloger, for contributing this post.]