Is There Anything Purely German About Richard Wagner?

Let the German friends of Richard Wagner advise together as to whether there is anything purely German in the Wagnerian art. It may not be underrated how indispensable Paris was to the development of his type, which the strength of his instincts made him long to visit at the most decisive time. The whole style of his proceedings could only perfect itself in sight of the French sociallistic original. On a more subtle comparison, it will perhaps be found, to the honour of Richard Wagner's German nature, that he has acted in everything with more strength, daring and elevation than a nineteenth-century Frenchman could have done. We Germans are as yet nearer to barbarism than the French.