This is a list of prose works by Richard Wagner, mainly essays, dramatic sketches, published letters, and poetry.
The list has been structured and named according to the conventions of William Ashton Ellis, who first translated and published the complete prose works in English in eight volumes between 1892 and 1907.[1]
| Volume | First Published | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: The Art-Work of the Future, etc. | 1842 | Autobiographical Sketch | |
| 1849 | Art and Revolution | ||
| 1849 | The Artwork of the Future | ||
| 1849 | Wieland the Smith | Dramatic sketch | |
| 1850 | Art and Climate | ||
| 1851 | A Communication to My Friends | ||
| 2: Opera and Drama | 1852 | Opera and Drama | |
| 3: The Theatre | 1851 | On the "Goethe-Stiftung" | |
| 1851 | A Theatre at Zurich | ||
| 1852 | On Musical Criticism | ||
| 1850 | Judaism in Music | Expanded and republished in 1869 | |
| 1851 | Mementoes of Spontini | ||
| 1859 | Homage to L. Sphor and W. Fischer | ||
| 1854 | Gluck's Overture to "Iphigenia in Aulis" | ||
| 1852 | On the Performing of "Tannhäuser" | ||
| 1853 | Remarks on Performing "The Flying Dutchman" | ||
| 1852 | Beethoven's "Heroic Symphony" | Explanatory programme | |
| 1852 | Beethoven's Overture to "Coriolanus" | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Overture to "Die fliegende Holländer" | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Overture to "Tannhäuser" | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | Prelude to "Lohengrin" | Explanatory programme | |
| 1853 | On Franz Liszt's Symphonic Poems | Explanatory programme | |
| 1872 | Epilogue to The "Nibelung's Ring" | ||
| 1863 | Preface to The "Ring" Poem | ||
| 1860 | A Letter to Hector Berlioz | ||
| 1861 | "Music of the Future" | "Zukunftsmusik" | |
| 1861 | "Tannhäuser" in Paris | ||
| 1863 | The Vienna Opera-House | ||
| 1864 | To the Kingly Friend | Poem | |
| 4: Art and Politics | 1864 | On State and Religion | |
| 1867 | German Art and German Policy | ||
| 1878 | What is German? | Written c. 1865 | |
| 1865 | A Music-School for Munich | ||
| 1868 | Ludwig Schnorr of Carolsfeld | ||
| 1867 | W. H. Riehl | Notices | |
| 1867 | Ferdinand Hiller | Notices | |
| 1868 | A Remembrance of Rossini | Notices | |
| 1869 | Eduard Devrient | Notices | |
| 1869 | About Conducting | ||
| 1868 | Rheingold | Poem | |
| 1869 | On the Completion of Seigfried | Poem | |
| 1870 | August 25th, 1870 | Poem | |
| 1871 | To the German Army before Paris | Poem | |
| 1873 | A Capitulation | Dramatic sketch | |
| 5: Actors and Singers | 1871 | Reminiscences of Auger | |
| 1870 | Beethoven | ||
| 1871 | The Destiny of Opera | ||
| 1872 | Actors and Singers | ||
| 1873 | The Rendering of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony | ||
| 1872 | Letter to an Actor | ||
| 1873 | A Glance at the German Operatic Stage of Today | ||
| 1871 | Letter to an Italian Friend on the Production of "Lohengrin" | ||
| 1872 | To the Burgomaster of Bologna | ||
| 1872 | To Friedrich Neitzsche | ||
| 1872 | On the Name "Musikdrama" | ||
| 1873 | Prologue to a Reading of "Die Götterdämmerung" | ||
| 1873 | Final Report on the Fates and Circumstances | "Bayreuth" | |
| 1873 | The Festival-Playhouse at Bayreuth | "Bayreuth" | |
| 6: Religion and Art | 1875 | Spohr's "Jessonda" at Leipzig | |
| 1877 | To the Presidents of Wagner-Vereins | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Proposed Bayreuth "School" | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Introduction to First Number of the Bayreuther Blätter | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Introduction to a Work of Hans Von Wolzogen's | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Postponement of "Parsifal" | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1879 | Introduction to the Year 1880 | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1880 | Announcement of "Parsifal" Performance | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1881 | Introduction to a Work of Count Gobineau's | Minor Bayreuth Papers | |
| 1878 | Modern | ||
| 1878 | Public and Popularity | ||
| 1878 | The Public in Time and Space | ||
| 1878 | Retrospect of the Stage-Festivals of 1876 | ||
| 1879 | Shall We Hope? | ||
| 1879 | On Poetry and Composition | ||
| 1879 | On Operatic Poetry and Composition | ||
| 1879 | On the Application of Music to the Drama | ||
| 1879 | Against Vivisection | ||
| 1880 | Religion and Art | ||
| 1880 | What Boots this Knowledge? | ||
| 1881 | Know Thyself | ||
| 1881 | Hero-dom and Christendom | ||
| 1882 | End of the Patronat-Verein | ||
| 1882 | The Stipendiary Fund | ||
| 1882 | "Parsifal" at Bayreuth | ||
| 1883 | A Youthful Symphony | ||
| 1883 | Letter to H. V. Stein | ||
| 1885 | The Human Womanly | Fragment | |
| 7: In Paris and Dresden | 1836 | "Das Liebesverbot" | |
| 1840 | A Pilgramage to Beethoven | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | An End in Paris | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | A Happy Evening | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | On German Music | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | The Virtuoso and the Artist | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1840 | Du Métier de Virtuose | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | The Artist and Publicity | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | Rossini's "Stabat Mater" | "A German Musician in Paris" | |
| 1841 | On the Overture | ||
| 1841 | To the Paris Public | "Der Freischütz in Paris" | |
| 1841 | Report to Germany | "Der Freischütz in Paris" | |
| 1842 | Halévy's "Reine de Chypre" | ||
| 1871 | Author's Introduction to Vol. II of the Gesammelte Schriften | ||
| 1844 | Weber's Re-interment | ||
| 1846 | Beethoven's Choral Symphony at Dresden: | ||
| 1848 | The Wibelungen | ||
| 1848 | The Nibelungen-Myth | Dramatic sketch | |
| 1848 | Tercentenary Toast | ||
| 1849 | Plan of Organisation of a German National Theatre | ||
| 8: Posthumous, etc. | 1848 | Seigfried's Death | Dramatic sketch |
| 1834 | On German Opera | Discarded | |
| 1834 | Pasticcio | Discarded | |
| 1837 | Bellini | Discarded | |
| 1841 | Parisian Amusements | Discarded | |
| 1841 | Parisian Fatalities for the German | Discarded | |
| 1841 | Letters from Paris, 1841 | Discarded | |
| 1842 | Halévy and "La Reine de Chypre" | Discarded | |
| 1846 | Jottings on the Ninth Symphony | Discarded | |
| 1846 | Artist and Critic | Discarded | |
| 1848 | Greeting from Saxony to the Viennese | Discarded | |
| 1849 | On E. Devrient's "History of German Acting" | Discarded | |
| 1849 | Theatre-Reform | Discarded | |
| 1849 | Man and Established Society | Discarded | |
| 1849 | The Revolution | Discarded | |
| 1865 | Invitation to the Production of "Tristan in Munich" | Discarded | |
| 1889 | The Saracen Woman | Dramatic sketch, written 1841-1843 | |
| 1899 | Sketch for "The Apostles' Love-Feast" | Prose sketch, written 1843 | |
| 1887 | Jesus of Nazareth | Prose sketch, written 1848-1849 | |
| 1885 | A Title-Page | Sketches and fragments | |
| 1885 | Personal | Sketches and fragments | |
| 1885 | A Sketch, a Reflection, and Four Programmes | Sketches and fragments | |
| 1885 | Metaphysics, Ethics and Art | Sketches and fragments | |
| 1885 | On the Womanly in the Human | Sketches and fragments | |
| Misc | 1880 | My Life | Wagner's autobiography |