It has
a bearing on every important event in his life. At the ceremonies
attending the laying of the foundation-stone of the Festival Play House
at Bayreuth, the Ninth Symphony was performed, and in a little speech he
says: "I wish to see the Ninth Symphony regarded as the foundation-stone
of my own artistic structure." In "Religion and Art" we find these
words: "to whom the unspeakable bliss has been vouchsafed of taking one
of the last four symphonies of Beethoven into his heart and soul."
Many enthusiasts have worked in Wagner's cause from Liszt down, but none
have equalled Wagner in this respect--in enthusiasm for _his_ master. He
pays tribute to Beethoven in all conceivable places. He first heard of
him when told of his death. His first acquaintance with Beethoven's
music was a year after the master's death, on his arrival at Leipzig at
the Gewandhaus concerts. Wagner was then in his sixteenth year. "Its
impression on me was overpowering," he says. "The music to his Egmont so
inspired me that I determined not to allow my own completed tragedy to
be launched until provided with such like music.
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