Christoph Moor, A Brief Recording History of Wagner’s ‘Träume’ in the Acoustic Era

The history of the composition and reception of Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder has long been a subject of scholarly investigation. However, until now their early recording history – up to the end of the acoustic era in circa 1924 – has not been properly addressed. Nor have these recordings been investigated to determine the possible emergence of a specific performance tradition after the songs became a standard feature on concert programmes in the late 19th century. I shall here consider the extant recordings of the fifth song, ‘Träume’, both in its original version with piano accompaniment and in Wagner’s own orchestration, to examine whether such a performance tradition might have existed, and also whether these early recordings might have been influenced by the technological circumstances of the medium at the time.