Richard wagner autobiography

Autobiography of the German composer Richard Wagner

Mein Leben (German for "My Life") is the autobiography of the composerRichard Wagner, covering the years from his birth in to

Origins

On 17 July in Munich, Wagner began dictating Mein Leben to his then mistress Cosima von Bülow, whom he married in King Ludwig II of Bavaria asked him to write the memoir in a letter dated 28 May

You would cause me inexpressible happiness if you were to give me an account of your intellectual and spiritual development and of the external events of your life as well.^[1]

Wagner was indebted to the king, who had rescued him from a life of exile and financial embarrassment in the previous year.

At around the same time in , Wagner had heard the news of the death of his professional nemesis, the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The book therefore ends on a 'triumphant' note with the exaltation of Wagner at the death of his supposed 'enemy.' ^[2]

The