“A Wagner Matinee” was first published in the February 1904 edition of Everybody’s Magazine, a nonfiction and fiction magazine founded in 1899 by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker. Cather had a lifelong passion for Wagner's music, and many of her stories centered on the power of music. The story, however, was received poorly by both critics and Cather's family. Cather's mentor and editor of the Nebraska State Journal, Will Owen Jones, critiqued the story for its harsh criticisms of the Nebraska frontier and the pioneer way of life. Cather's family was offended because of the similarities between the fictional Aunt Georgiana and Cather's beloved own Aunt Franc, who had also studied music before marrying George Cather and moving to pioneer Nebraska. Cather was upset by the turmoil caused by her story and wrote several responses by letter to indicate that she had meant no harm to either the state of Nebraska nor her Aunt Franc.
The story was republished in 1905 in Cather’s first collection of short fiction, The Troll Garden. Cather also revised the story in the 1920 collection, Youth and the Bright Medusa, and in another reprinting in 1937, each time softening the portrayal of Aunt Georgiana to create a much more flattering picture of the character.
