Richard Wagner recounts his childhood, early theatrical failures, and the friendships and intellectual influences that shaped his development as a composer, up through his years in Dresden and exile.
Books mentioned in My Life (18)
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “when I wanted to begin reading Goethe's Faust”
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: “a translation of a monologue from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet”
The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach: “Das Wesen des Christenthums ('The Essence of Christianity')”
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: “I had drawn largely upon Shakespeare's Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth”
King Lear by William Shakespeare: “I had drawn largely upon Shakespeare's Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth”
Egmont by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “similar to that which Beethoven wrote to Goethe's Egmont”
Histoire des Girondins by Alphonse de Lamartine: “Lamartine's Histoire des Girondins, a most alluring and attractive work”
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare: “I had mastered the subject of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure”
Cato by Joseph Addison: “I had drawn extensively from the monologue in Addison's Cato”
Philosophy of History by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: “As an introduction to philosophy I now chose Hegel's Philosophy of History.”
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: “the vicar...used to tell us the story of Robinson Crusoe”
Tales by E. T. A. Hoffmann: “All I had ever read in Hoffmann's Tales of certain demoniacal intrigues”
Sappho by Franz Grillparzer: “a parody on the romantic play of Sappho, by Grillparzer”
Lenore by Gottfried August Burger: “a recitation of Burger's Lenore”