The German actress Minna Planer (1809-66) was Wagner's first wife. Though it lasted until her death, their marriage, never an easy one, was punctuated by long periods of separation, and during its early years Minna was the main breadwinner. William Ashton Ellis (1852-1919) abandoned his medical career to devote himself to his Wagner studies. Best known for his translations of Wagner's prose works, he published in 1909 this collection of letters from the composer, translated from the originals in Baron Hans von Wolzogen's Richard Wagner an Minna Wagner (1908). Concerned predominantly with...

The German actress Minna Planer (1809-66) was Wagner's first wife. Though it lasted until her death, their marriage, never an easy one, was punctuated by long periods of separation, and during its early years Minna was the main breadwinner. William Ashton Ellis (1852-1919) abandoned his medical career to devote himself to his Wagner studies. Best known for his translations of Wagner's prose works, he published in 1909 this collection of letters from the composer, translated from the originals in Baron Hans von Wolzogen's Richard Wagner an Minna Wagner (1908). Concerned predominantly with...

This collection of Christmas carols was published in 1864 by William Henry Husk (1814 87), a solicitor's clerk and amateur singer who was librarian of the Sacred Harmonic Society in London. He wrote many entries for the first edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and in 1875 published An Account of the Musical Celebrations on St Cecilia's Day (also reissued in this series). He organises some eighty carols (some of which are familiar, others less known in these versions, and others no longer in common use) in two groups, religious and 'festive'. Each has a headnote explaining...