Hans von Bülow on Richard Wagner’s ‘Faust’ Overture, translated, introduced and annotated by Thomas Grey

Wagner journeyed, or rather fled, from Riga to Paris in fairly dramatic circumstances in the late summer of 1839, in part to realise a long-standing dream of imitating Giacomo Meyerbeer’s great success in the field of French grand opera, and in part to escape a swelling sea of troubles at home, mostly in the form of mounting debts. in the event, he failed to become a second Meyerbeer. but during his unhappy exile in Paris (as he came to regard it), he did succeed in rediscovering himself as a specifically, emphatically ‘German’ composer, renewing his earlier enthusiasm for the legacy of Mozart, Beethoven and Weber.