Agnes Mathilde Wesendonck (née Luckemeyer; 23 December 182831 August 1902) was a German poet and author. The words of five of her verses were the basis of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's ''

Wesendonck Lieder , WWV 91, is the common name of a set of five songs for female voice and piano by Richard Wagner, (''Five Poems for a Female Voice''). He set five poems by Mathilde Wesendonck while he was working on his opera ''Tristan und Isolde''. The songs, ...

''; the composer was infatuated with her, and his wife

Minna Minna is a city in Middle Belt Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. It consists of two major ethnic groups: the Gbagyi and the Nupe. History Archaeological evidence suggests settlement in t ...

blamed Mathilde for the break-up of their marriage.

Biography

Agnes Mathilde Luckemeyer was born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a do ...

(now part of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "'' Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

) in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhineland ...

of Germany in 1828. In 1848 she married the silk merchant Otto Wesendonck. Otto was a great admirer of Wagner's music, and after he and Mathilde met the composer in Zurich in 1852, he placed a cottage on his estate at Wagner's disposal. By 1857, Wagner had become infatuated with Mathilde. It is not known whether she returned his affections to the same degree, or if the affair - if there was one - was ever consummated. Nevertheless, the episode inspired Wagner to put aside his work on ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

'' (which would not be resumed for the next twelve years) and begin work on ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was compos ...

''. In 1858, Wagner's wife

intercepted a romantic letter from Wagner to Mathilde. After the resulting confrontation, Wagner left Zürich alone, for

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. Minna went to Dresden to stay with her family. She wrote to Mathilde before departing for Dresden:

''"I must tell you with a bleeding heart that you have succeeded in separating my husband from me after nearly twenty-two years of marriage. May this noble deed contribute to your peace of mind, to your happiness."''

In her autobiographical reminiscences Mathilde later wrote about Wagner's stay in Zürich, but made no mention of troubles with Minna. In 1866 Mathilde met with

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

in Zürich and enabled him to study some of Wagner's manuscripts.Musgrave (2000), p. 56. Mathilde Wesendonck died in

Altmünster Altmünster (Central Bavarian: ''Oidmünsta''), also known as Altmünster am Traunsee, is a market town located about 3 kilometres south of Gmunden in the Austrian state of Upper Austria, on the west shore of the Traunsee. Its economic base consis ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) in 1902, and she is buried at the Alter Friedhof with the Wesendonck family in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, Germany.

Selected works

* ''Gedichte, Volkslieder, Legenden, Sagen'' (ca. 1864) * ''Märchen u. Märchen Spiele'' (1864) * ''Natur-Mythen: Mai 1865'' (1865) * ''Genovefa: Trauerspiel in 3 Aufzügen'' (1866) * ''Gudrun. Schauspiel in 5 Akten'' (1868)
online at Internet Archive
* ''Deutsches Kinderbuch in Wort und Bild'' (1869) * ''

Friedrich der Grosse ''Friedrich der Grosse'' (spelled Große in German) is the German name for Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until hi ...

: dramatische Bilder nach Franz Kugler'' (1871) * ''Edith, oder, Die Schlacht bei Hastings: ein Trauerspiel'' (1872) * ''Gedichte, Volksweisen, Legenden und Sagen'' (1874) * ''Der Baldur-Mythos'' (1875) * ''Odysseus: ein dramatisches Gedicht in zwei Theilen und einem Vorspiel'' (1878) * ''Alte und neue Kinder-Lieder und Reime'' (1890) * ''Alkestis: Schauspiel in vier Aufzügen.'' (1891)

In film

Mathilde Wesendonck was portrayed by

Valentina Cortese Valentina Cortese (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in François Truffaut's '' Day for Night'' (1973). Personal life Cortese was bor ...

in the 1955 film ''

Magic Fire ''Magic Fire'' is a 1955 American biographical film about the life of composer Richard Wagner, released by Republic Pictures. Directed by William Dieterle, the film made extensive use of Wagner's music, which was arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korng ...

'', and by

Marthe Keller Marthe Keller (born 28 January 1945) is a Swiss actress and opera director. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film '' Marathon Man'' (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Career Early years Keller studied ba ...

in the 1983 film ''

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

''.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Musgrave, Michael (2000). ''A Brahms Reader.'' New Haven and London: Yale University Press. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wesendonck, Mathilde 1828 births 1902 deaths Writers from Wuppertal People from the Rhine Province Richard Wagner German women poets 19th-century women writers