Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 On 9 November 1868, Nietzsche wrote to his friend Erwin Rohde about meeting Richard Wagner. He had been invited to attend a meeting of the Classical Society, where he would play the Meisterlied and talk about God in philosophy. #2 I met Richard Wagner in the Brockhauses' drawing room. I was introduced to him, and I spoke a few respectful words. He wanted to know details about how I became familiar with his music, and he made fun of the conductors who called their orchestras in a bland voice. #3 The first link in the chain was forged when Nietzsche heard the preludes to Wagner's two latest operas, Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He set himself to learning the piano arrangements. Next, Ottilie Brockhaus heard him play and relayed the news to her brother Wagner. #4 Nietzsche was a student at Leipzig University in Germany, studying classical philology, the science of classical languages and linguistics. He was not yet a philosopher, but he had already begun writing about music and art. His ambition had been to become a musician, but he abandoned the idea when he was about eighteen

Mode of access: World Wide Web