certain piece which had just come out, and which was making a
great sensation, I mean the 'Huntsmen's Chorus' out of the
Freischutz, that had been recently performed at the Opera in
Berlin. My uncle and brother asked me eagerly about its composer,
Weber, whom I must have seen at my parents' house in Dresden,
when he was conductor of the orchestra there.

About the same time the Jungfernkranz was zealously played and
sung by some friends who lived near us. These two pieces cured me
of my weakness for the 'Ypsilanti' Waltz, which till that time I
had regarded as the most wonderful of compositions.

I have recollections of frequent tussles with the town boys, who
were constantly mocking at me for my 'square' cap; and I
remember, too, that I was very fond of rambles of adventure among
the rocky banks of the Unstrut.

My uncle's marriage late in life, and the starting of his new
home, brought about a marked alteration in his relations to my
family.

After a lapse of a year I was taken by him to Leipzig, and handed
over for some days to the Wagners, my own father's relatives,
consisting of my uncle Adolph and his sister Friederike Wagner.
This extraordinarily interesting man, whose influence afterwards
became ever more stimulating to me, now for the first time
brought himself and his singular environment into my life.

He and my aunt were very close friends of Jeannette Thome, a
queer old maid who shared with them a large house in the market-