Siegfried Idyll

• Wagner wrote the Siegfried-Idyll (WWV 103) as a birthday gift for his wife, Cosima Wagner. (She was the daughter of Franz Liszt).¹
• The previous year (1869), the Wagners had a son whom they named Siegfried. Wagner also completed Act III of his opera Siegfried in 1869. In addition to being a birthday gift, the Siegfried-Idyll was also a celebration of both Siegfrieds.²

“Tribschener Idyll mit Fidi-Vogelsang und Orange-Sonnenaufgang, als Symphonischer Geburtstagsgruss. Seiner Cosima dargebracht von Ihrem Richard.” 

“Tribschen Idyll with Fidi’s birdsong and orange sunset, as a symphonic birthday greeting. Offered to his Cosima by her Richard.”

Wagner’s dedication of the Siegfried-Idyll.³

• Tribschen is a district in Lucerne, Switzerland, where the Wagners had their country home.
• “Fidi” was Richard and Cosima’s nickname for baby Siegfried. 
• The Siegfried-Idyll was first performed on Cosima’s birthday, December 25, 1870. The 15 or so musicians were situated on the steps of the Wagners’ Tribschen manor, outside Cosima’s bedroom. ⁴
• The Siegfried-Idyll includes an old German cradle song that Wagner originally jotted down for an unrealized opera project. The lullaby was probably included in honor of baby Siegfried Wagner.⁵

1. “Siegfried-Idyll (Wagner, Richard),” IMSLP, accessed May 26, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Siegfried-Idyll%2C_WWV_103_(Wagner%2C_Richard).
2. Barry Millington, John Deathridge, Carl Dahlhaus, and Robert Bailey, “Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed May 26, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278269.
3. “Siegfried-Idyll (Wagner, Richard),” IMSLp.
4. Millington et al, “Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard,” Grove Music Online.
5. Ibid.