Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90
2 recordings · 19 min
In the Hall
- Prelude to Act I — concert versionFulda Symphonic Orchestra; Simon Schindler · 9 March 200411:09
The Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90, is heard here in its concert version. It opens with a four-note phrase in the cellos that leads to the woodwind, and the motion by a single semitone in that opening recurs throughout the prelude.
Listening notes · joins
- Opening bars, Tristan chord
The cellos rise from A to F. Woodwind enter with F–B–D♯–G♯, the Tristan chord, which moves to E7, the dominant of A minor. The A minor chord does not follow, and a rest comes after the phrase.
- Opening woodwind line
The opening woodwind line rises by semitones, G♯–A–A♯–B. Wagner repeats the shape at new pitches, and each statement reaches a little higher.
- Violin melody, bars 17–22
The violin melody continues without the stops of the opening phrases, over violas and cellos, and each new idea begins before the previous one has ended. Wagner marks the rising first- and second-violin figures “auf dem G”, so they are played on the G string.
- Letter to Liszt, 1854
On 16 December 1854 Wagner wrote to Liszt about his planned Tristan: “I shall erect a memorial to this loveliest of all dreams”.
- The “glance” motif
The melody known as “the glance” is tied to a scene told in the opera. Isolde stood over the wounded Tristan with his sword. He looked into her eyes, and she could not kill him.
- Central ascent, strings and winds
The string figures grow quicker as the wind phrases lengthen. Violin and viola runs climb beneath notes held by oboes, clarinets and horns. Small swells pass through the orchestra, and each new rise begins while another instrument is already moving.
- Climax before rehearsal C
The woodwind’s rising semitones and the glance melody now sound together across the orchestra. Brass reinforce them while the strings rush upwards.
- Timpani roll on E
The brass stop. The timpani roll softly on E while the strings and wind play short phrases over a thinning orchestra. Wagner marks the passage “allmählich im Zeitmass etwas zurückhaltend”, and material from the opening returns.
- First performance, Munich, 1865
At the Munich première on 10 June 1865, conducted by Hans von Bülow, the lovers were sung by a married couple, Ludwig and Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Wagner had completed the score six years earlier, in 1859.
Joins
- The violins extend the rising phrase
The violins carry the rising melody into a longer phrase. Violas and cellos begin moving beneath it, and the bass changes note while the upper lines continue. The semitone steps of the opening remain, and rests no longer separate each phrase. On the following rise, Wagner marks the violins to play on the G string (“auf dem G”).
- Brass withdraw over a timpani E
After rehearsal C the violins fall from the climax in rapid runs. The brass stop, the bass thins out, and a quiet timpani roll holds E beneath shorter phrases in the wind and strings. Wagner marks a gradual slowing, “allmählich im Zeitmass etwas zurückhaltend”. The long rising line breaks up again into short phrases.
- Liebestod — “Mild und leise”Nanny Larsen-Todsen, soprano; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra; Karl Elmendorff · 19287:28
Nanny Larsen-Todsen sings the Liebestod, “Mild und leise”, from Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90, in which Isolde looks at Tristan’s body and sees him smiling. Muted strings and harp figures accompany her, and the music closes in B major.
Listening notes · joins
- Isolde’s first words, muted cellos
“Mild und leise, wie er lächelt” — “Softly and gently, how he smiles.” Isolde’s first words rise above muted, divided cellos. The bass clarinet has a phrase of its own, and a clarinet and then the horns join it, while the violins rest.
- Isolde’s address to the onlookers
“Seht ihr, Freunde?” — “Do you see, friends?” Isolde asks the people around Tristan’s body to see what she sees. She describes his eyes opening, his heart swelling and his breath. Tristan has already died.
- Harp arpeggios and string tremolos
The harp enters with rising arpeggios over divided string tremolos. High flute phrases are held across the bar, and the soprano sings a slower, sustained line above the quicker notes of the orchestra.
- Stage career, 1906–1928
Larsen-Todsen began her stage career in Stockholm in 1906 as Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz, and later took on Wagner’s major soprano roles. In 1928 she sang Isolde at Bayreuth and recorded the role with Karl Elmendorff and the festival orchestra.
- Rehearsal Hh, harp and winds
At rehearsal Hh Isolde hears sounds swelling around her and wonders whether they are waves of air. The harp plays arpeggios up and down, and the strings play continuous quick figures. Above them the wind instruments repeat a broad rising phrase, with swells.
- Piccolo above the voice
The piccolo and first violins play high above Isolde. The harp plays wide arpeggios, and the brass hold sustained chords underneath. Her melody moves in long notes.
- Final bars in B major
Isolde’s last words are “höchste Lust” — “supreme bliss”. The harp continues after the voice stops. The closing music settles in B major, and the last arpeggios are followed by a held chord marked pianissimo.
Joins
- Rising wind phrases over circling strings
The bass holds long notes beneath repeated rising phrases in the woodwind (rehearsal Hh). Trumpets and trombones sustain the harmony. The harp plays arpeggios up and down, and the strings continue their circling figures in quick notes. Each broad wind phrase swells and then falls back, and Isolde’s line continues through the successive phrases.
- Harp continues to the final cadence
The high violin figures turn downwards and the brass grow softer. Harp arpeggios continue beneath Isolde’s last phrase, then beneath the orchestra alone. A sustained bass and increasingly quiet wind chords move towards B major. The harp stops, and the last chord is held under a fermata.