This is a revised version of a book first published in German in 1974. More than ever, I have tried to present Wagner's relationship to Beethoven with as little prejudice as possible. It is only away from the beaten track, removed from the aura of the Wagner myth, but also beyond scepticism cultivated for its own sake, that the labyrinthine structure of the œuvre becomes evident. Wagner's reception of Beethoven is part of that structure. It therefore needs examining in greater depth and breadth – but even so, this study can only be a partial one: ‘drops from the Wagnerian ocean’ (The Times Literary Supplement, 18 June 1970).

I would like to thank all those who have encouraged and supported this undertaking for their advice and suggestions, as well as their kindness: Reinhold Brinkmann, Harvard; Carl Dahlhaus, Berlin; John Deathridge, Cambridge (UK); Werner Fröhlich, Mainz; Martin Geek, Munich; Günther Massenkeil, Bonn; Wilhelm Perpeet, Bonn; Emil Platen, Bonn; Joseph Schmidt-Görg and Rudolf Stephen, Berlin.

For kindly providing working material and various references I thank Frau Gertrud Strobel, late of the Richard Wagner Archive, Bayreuth, and Dr Joachim Bergfeld of the Richard Wagner Memorial House in Bayreuth. I have also to thank the present director of the Richard Wagner Memorial House, Dr Franz Eger.

I am particularly indebted to the Thyssen Foundation of Cologne for its support, without which neither the work nor the first publication would have been possible.