For Wagner, the year 1869 was another rather restless and enormously fruitful year, as far as the complete edition of his correspondence is concerned. The first half focuses above all on “Siegfried” – the composer devotes much time to the score, which he had neglected for years. His son Siegfried is born in the midst of the work on “Siegfried.” In the fall, the world premiere of “Rheingold” dominates the correspondence, which also lays bare many quarrels, with Wagner demonstratively refusing to attend it. In 1869 Wagner also conducts a particularly intensive correspondence with Nietzsche, who pays several visits to Wagner. Finally, in late November, Wagner pointedly asks his patron King Ludwig II: “Do you want my work as I want it – or do you not want it so?”