95 
MUSICAL SOIREE. 
Director, F. MYERS. December 17th, 1884. 
The programme being somewhat lengthy, Mr. Myers omitted 
to read his paper on ‘‘ Wagner.” We are enabled, however, to 
append an abstract of the paper. Richard Wagner was born at 
Leipsic, May 22nd, 1813. His father, who was of the middle 
class of society and. aman of some culture, died in the same 
year. At the age of nine Wagner entered the Areuzschule at 
Dresden, but was not a successful student, lacking application, 
and being too divided and desultory in his choice of subjects. 
His favorite studies were Greek, Latin, Mythology, and Ancient 
History. He also took lessons on the Pianoforte and played 
Overtures and other pieces by ear, but he refused to practice and 
soon his master gave him up as hopeless. He also studied 
English for the purpose of reading Shakespeare in the original, 
and at the age of eleven wrote an extraordinary tragedy, ‘‘a 
kind of compound of Hamlet and King Lear.” Speaking of this 
in his autobiography written in 1842 he humorously remarks, 
“the design was grand in the extreme, 42 persons died in the 
course of the piece, and want of characters compelled me to let 
most of them re-appear as ghosts.” Later on, however, he 
turned his attention to musical composition, and at 18 was 
familiar with the works of Beethoven. At 26 he married an 
actress, and became conductor of a small operatic troupe at Riga, 
and shortly afterwards he wrote his first Grand Opera ‘‘ Rienzi,” 
the subject being taken from Lord Lytton’s novel. Having 
determined to produce this at the Grand Opera in Paris, he 
embarked on board a sailing vessel for London. The voyage 
was a stormy one, and occupied him nearly a month, it was not, 
however, without its good results, as it supplied him with the 
inspiration for his second Opera, “The Flying Dutchman.” 
His journey to Paris proved utterly fruitless, and we find him 
buffeted on land by the storms of adversity, more terrible even 
than those he had encountered at sea. Even these, however, 
_ helped to bring out the stronger qualities of his mind. It was a 
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great stride (in what we may now call the Wagnerian direction) 
_ from ‘ Rienzi’ to ‘‘ The Flying Dutchman,” the former being a 
historical opera, with fine spectacular effects, but written largely 
_ on the old lines, whilst the latter aimed at rendering emotional 
.. 
accents by purely artistic means. The transition from one to 
_ the other has been compared to the sense of freedom one feels in 
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passing from the scented atmosphere of a crowded opera-house 
into the bracing air of sea and forest. 
He abolished the formalities, which in the course of centuries 
had gathered round the dramatic poem. His operas are no longer 
