Liszt on ‘Lohengrin’ (or: Wagner in absentia), Part 1, translation from ‘The Monthly Musical Record’ introduced and edited by David Trippett

Shortly before 2 pm on 18 March 1848, a weak-voiced King Friedrich Wilhelm IV tried to address ten thousand cheering, well-dressed citizens from the balcony of the imperial palace. Though essentially acquiescent to this liberal audience’s demands, his speech was utterly lost in the chaotic noise of the crowd. A steel-throated deputy spoke up for his master’s as yet unprinted intentions toward freedom of the press, as well as a single German constitution (and flag), but the masses became unsettled at the continued military presence and would not disperse; sabres were drawn, two shots were fired in the confusion, the cavalry charged, the Berliners rioted, and the barricades went up.