n Leipsic and dying
in Venice, he lived in many cities during the years between. His youth
was spent at Leipsic and Dresden; then he was choir-master at Wurzburg;
next musical director at the Magdeburg theatre, conductor at Koenigsberg
and at Riga. Proceeding thence by way of London to Paris, in 1839, he
remained in the French capital until the spring of 1842, thence going
to Dresden, where he served as court conductor for seven years. Forced
to fly from Dresden because of his part in the uprising of 1849, he at
first went to Liszt at Weimar, and then to Zurich by way of Paris. At
Zurich he stayed, with some intermission, until 1861, when he received
permission to return to Germany. The misfortunes he met there decided
him, after three years, to return to Switzerland, and he was on his way
thither when Ludwig II. ascended the throne of Bavaria, and invited him
to go to Munich and work. The end of 1865 found Wagner at the lovely
Villa Triebschen, on Lake Lucerne, where he composed the
"Meistersinger," and worked on the "Nibelungen." In 1872, Wagner
settled in Bayreuth, where, soon after, the house which he called
"Wahnfried" was built for him.

At last the great composer's wanderings were coming to an end, but, as
we have said, he died in Venice, and not at his own home. He was,
however, buried there, in the garden of the villa.

It is at "Wahnfried" that the artist has drawn Wagner discussing some
musical question with Liszt, Frau Wagner seated near by.

[Illustration: Wagner at Home. From painting by W. Beckmann.]

Wagner's first wife was a beautiful and talented actress and singer, by
name Wilhelmina Planer, whom he married at Riga in 1834. She was a
faithful helpmate for years, sacrificing to him her own career, but did
not comprehend his genius, and as years went by they drifted apart.
The composer's professional intercourse with Hans von Buelow led to an
intimacy with the latter's wife, Cosima von Buelow, who was an
illegitimate daughter of Liszt by the Countess d'Agoult. In 1861
Richard and Wilhelmina Wagner separated, and in 1866 she died. Four
years later, Cosima, then divorced from Von Buelow, was married to
Wagner, whom she both worshipped and well understood. Their union was
a very happy one, blest with one son named Siegfried, and Madame Wagner
long survived her illustrious husband, and laboured indefatigably to
carry on his work and increase his fame.

Wagner owed much to Cosima, born Lisz