therto had not been given expression, had not
even been thought worthy of art--the cynical revolts, for instance, of
which only the greatest sufferer is capable, also many a small and quite
microscopical feature of the soul, as it were the scales of its amphibious
nature--yes indeed, he is the master of everything very small. But this he
refuses to be! His tastes are much more in love with vast walls and with
daring frescoes!{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} He does not see that his spirit has another desire and
bent--a totally different outlook--that it prefers to squat peacefully in
the corners of broken-down houses: concealed in this way, and hidden even
from himself, he paints his really great masterpieces, all of which are
very short, often only one bar in length--there, only, does he become quite
good, great and perfect, perhaps there alone.--Wagner is one who has
suffered much--and this elevates him above other musicians.--I admire Wagner
wherever he sets _himself_ to music--

Wherein I Raise Objections.

With all this I do not wish to imply that I regard this music as healthy,
and least of all in those places where it speaks of Wagner himself. My
objections to Wagner's music are physiological objections. Why should I
therefore begin by clothing them in aesthetic formulae? AEsthetic is indeed
nothing more than applied physiology--The fact I bring forward, my "_petit
fait vrai_," is that I can no longer breathe with ease when this music
begins to have its effect upon me; that my foot immediately begins to feel
indignant at it and rebels: for what it needs is time, dance, march; even
the young German Kaiser could not march to Wagner's Imperial March,--what
my foot demands in the first place from music is that ecstasy which lies
in good walking, stepping and dancing. But do not my stomach, my heart, my
circulation also protest? Are not my intestines also troubled? And do I
not become hoarse unawares? {~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} in order to listen to Wagner I require
Geraudel's Pastilles.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} And then I ask myself, what is it that my whole
body must have from music in general? for there is no such thing as a
soul.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} I believe it must have relief: as if all animal functions were
accelerated by means of light, bold, unfettered, self-reliant rhythms, as
if brazen and leaden life could lose its weight by means of delicate and
smooth melodies. My melancholy would fain rest its head in the h