Nietzsche's Correspondence and Noudelmann's 'Le Toucher des Philosophes'

The third volume of Friedrich Nietzsche's correspondence, covering January 1875 to December 1879, has been published by Gallimard, edited by Giorgio Colli and Mazzimo Montinari, with translation and notes by Jean Lacoste. The volume contains over 500 letters, primarily to his mother, sister, friends like Overbeck and Paul Rée, Malwida von Meysenbug, his publisher, and translator. Nietzsche details his deteriorating health—migraines, chronic gastric catarrh, vomiting, vision loss—and the painful treatments he endured, including silver nitrate and enemas. Despite suffering, he wrote to Köselitz on September 11, 1879, that his spirit remained unbroken. The letters also reveal his growing criticism of Luther and Wagner, whom he accused of nationalism and antisemitism. Concurrently, François Noudelmann's essay 'Le Toucher des Philosophes' explores Nietzsche's piano playing as a key to understanding his philosophy, arguing that his physical engagement with music—preferring Chopin, his diets, his hand technique—shaped his thought. Noudelmann suggests Nietzsche used music as a 'hammer' to shatter abstract symbols, including those of Wagner. The book also covers Sartre and Barthes at the piano.