Tristan and Isolde

History Before writing Tristan and Isolde, Richard Wagner had composed several decent, conventional, though overlong, operas. His third Rienzi weighed in at its premiere at nearly 6 hours before Wagner was forced to trim it. These earlier operas fit into the forms that defined "classical" opera: a series of vignettes, or "set pieces" arranged in a traditional formula of recitatives and arias. These divisions were commonplace in both the bel canto operas of Rossini and the classical operas of Mozart performed in the first half of the nineteenth century. In this style, recitatives were simple affairs with a lot of words and a sparse accompaniment, while arias tended to be more formal, with orchestral introductions leading into a showy aria. The resulting music could have a choppy, almost pastiche sound to it as each unit stood by itself. At the same time, soloists took the liberty of swapping arias from one opera with those of another in order to demonstrate their strengths. While audiences clamored for these vocal gymnastics, the drama of the work suffered. To counter this and assert control over his work, Wagner abandoned traditional divisions in Tristan and Isolde replacing them with what he called "continuous melody": a melody that was always moving forward; always becoming one thing or another. In so doing, Wagner eliminated the artificial divisions between recitative and aria: everything was aria and everything was recitative. There were few indications that Wagner's music would take such a decisive and radical turn away from the traditional strucutres of opera. While there are hints of it in his previous compositions, in Tristan Wagner's ideas emerge in full-flower. Some biographers a catalyst for this awakening in Wagner's torrid affair with Mde. Wesendonck, the wife of one of his patrons. For Wagner, opera was the consumation of art and therefore a path to transcendence. He supervised all aspects of the production and felt that the unity of voice, instruments, libretto, set, costumes and even the great festspielhaus (opera house) at Bayreuth together constituted a unified whole far greater than the individual parts. In this way the unity could promulgate the overarching aim of the work, be it the creation of a German mythology as in Wagner's cycle of operas, The Ring of the Nibelungen or philosophical-religious issues as in Parsifal. This unity of all elements came to be known as gesamtkunstwerk, or "total artwork." As a person, Wagner had flaws. Though generally well-liked - he was an excellent conversationalist and carried himself with a great sense of bravado - he was difficult with patrons and espoused Anti-Semitic views. In bringing his monumental ideas for opera to fruition he incurred massive debt. To overcome this debt he composed, at great cost to the commissioner, works such as the terrible Centennial Overture written for the American Centennial in 1876 , or barring a commission would simply hightail it from town.

Richard Wagner (1810-1856)

The Original Tristan and Isolde

Wagner's Compositional Technique Wagner used an intricate system of musical references, known as leitmotives, to illustrate the psychological implications of a particular scene, character, or situation. In this system, instrumental motives symbolize particular characters, events or ideas. Wagner then uses these motives throughout the opera in an almost cinematic way - creating intricate subtexts with his musical accompaniments. Something similar can be seen in much of modern film music. For instance, in John Williams' scores for Star Wars, or Superman leitmotives are used to represent characters and ideas in order to keep the viewer tuned in to the activity of the plot. It may prove helpful to acquaint yourself with some of the leitmotives that Wagner uses in the opera before you listen to the selection. You can see some of the leitmotives here. A better explanation of leitmotives can be found at Columbia Sonic Glossary here. Things to Listen For Wagner's Tristan and Isolde is one of the most influential works of the 19th century if not classical music. From the very first ambiguous strains of the prelude to the opera's final consummation in Isolde's Liebestod, or "Love-death" Wagner manages to build and exploit tensions, holding off a final cadential resolution, equivalent to the accumulated tension, until the very end of the four-plus hours of opera. From the prelude to the heights of emotion in the Liebesnacht or "love-night" through to the deaths of Tristan and Isolde and the lament of Isolde's betrothed, King Marke, Wagner continuously withholds cadences and through this is able to portray the theme of the opera: the idea of sehnsucht or "longing," most clearly. Listen to the opening strains of the prelude. The very first melodic fragment in the cellos sets up the atmosphere: this is our leitmotive for grief or sorrow. It is followed by an unresolved and tonally ambiguous "Tristan" chord: this is our lietmotive for longing or desire. To illustrate this notion of desire further, Wagner heightens the tension by smoothing over the cadence. It is this constant elision of phrases, combined with a lack of cadences, that are the hallmarks of Wagner's style. The chromatic floodgates that Wagner opened in this work would lead to the massive symphonies of Late Romantic composers like Bruckner, early Schoenberg and Mahler. Once the possibilities of enormously extended and highly chromatic tonality are unleashed it was only a matter of time before tonality itself was completely and irrevocably dissolved.

Tristan and Isolde's Liebesnacht ("Love-Night") from Act 2, Scene 2

King Marke's Lament

Isolde's Liebestod ("Love-death")