Nietzsche’s most famous friend was Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883), As a student, Nietzsche had been enamoured of Tristan; he loved much of Wagner’s music;
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Wagner is the antitoxin against everything German par excellence - a toxin a poison that I don’t deny.
pg 30 - 31
This piece is inspired by his remark upon his military service in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War."...the atmosphere of my experiences had spread around me like a gloomy fog: for a time I heard a sound of wailing which seemed as if it would never end” (pg.26)
It tries to grasp the chaotic desolate war zone that Nietzsche might have gone through as a medical orderly. The tragedies he witnessed which remained ruminating in his head may have caused his physical and nervous breakdown.