ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Tristan und Isolde planted in the minds of modern artists a new vision of their goal, which was to present the secret regions of the ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Tristan und Isolde planted in the minds of modern artists a new vision of their goal, which was to present the secret regions of the psyche in ritualized and symbolic form. However, its far-reaching influence on French symbolism and English romanticism should not blind us to the fact that its most enduring artistic legacy is to be observed in the modernists. Without Tristan there would not be modern music or modern literature as we know them. Wagner devised a new task for art: to retrace the steps from romance back to ritual, to move backward from the open, self-explaining narrative to the rite in which the human truth can be shown but not told.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Tristan und Isolde planted in the minds of modern artists a new vision of their goal, which was to present the secret regions of the psyche in ritualized and symbolic form. However, its far-reaching influence on French symbolism and English romanticism should not blind us to the fact that its most enduring artistic legacy is to be observed in the modernists. Without Tristan there would not be modern music or modern literature as we know them. Wagner devised a new task for art: to retrace the steps from romance back to ritual, to move backward from the open, self-explaining narrative to the rite in which the human truth can be shown but not told.
Steven Huebner
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195189544
- eISBN:
- 9780199868476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189544.003.0024
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter analyzes Chausson's opera, Le Roi Arthus. It argues that Le Roi Arthus was not Chausson's first artistic contact with an Arthurian subject. It then considers the Arthurian sources ...
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This chapter analyzes Chausson's opera, Le Roi Arthus. It argues that Le Roi Arthus was not Chausson's first artistic contact with an Arthurian subject. It then considers the Arthurian sources Chausson used for his opera.Less
This chapter analyzes Chausson's opera, Le Roi Arthus. It argues that Le Roi Arthus was not Chausson's first artistic contact with an Arthurian subject. It then considers the Arthurian sources Chausson used for his opera.
Philip Kitcher
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195321029
- eISBN:
- 9780199851317
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195321029.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
Although much of the detail is dark, with the central chapters containing an extraordinary density of material even for the Wake, Part II has an obvious structure. There are four scenes, the first ...
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Although much of the detail is dark, with the central chapters containing an extraordinary density of material even for the Wake, Part II has an obvious structure. There are four scenes, the first two of which center on the activities of the children, initially at play and then at their studies. The third, the densest chapter in the entire book, descends from the upstairs room in which the boys, Shem and Shaun, have been having their “day at triv and quad” to join HCE in the bar of his inn and to witness his collapse. The last scene occurs at sea, as four voices, those of the “evangelists”, initially embodied as seabirds, track the progress of the ship bearing Tristan and Isolde to Cornwall.Less
Although much of the detail is dark, with the central chapters containing an extraordinary density of material even for the Wake, Part II has an obvious structure. There are four scenes, the first two of which center on the activities of the children, initially at play and then at their studies. The third, the densest chapter in the entire book, descends from the upstairs room in which the boys, Shem and Shaun, have been having their “day at triv and quad” to join HCE in the bar of his inn and to witness his collapse. The last scene occurs at sea, as four voices, those of the “evangelists”, initially embodied as seabirds, track the progress of the ship bearing Tristan and Isolde to Cornwall.
Philip Kitcher
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195321029
- eISBN:
- 9780199851317
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195321029.003.0015
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
The funeral ship metamorphoses. Tristan and Isolde can be found on a vessel going to Cornwall. Though the next phase of the dreamer's explorations start with more jeers at HCE/Mark, the dismal future ...
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The funeral ship metamorphoses. Tristan and Isolde can be found on a vessel going to Cornwall. Though the next phase of the dreamer's explorations start with more jeers at HCE/Mark, the dismal future that awaits the aging man is presented obliquely. Other figures are attending to the ship on which Tristan is kissing Isolde. “They” are four old men, the “evangelists” Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, whose voices have sounded before in the Wake and who are heard at length. The official verdict of the old men, Shaun, Tristan to HCE's King Mark, is the bright promise of the future. Yet their presentation of the past, both in the style and content of their ramblings, makes it clear that the promise will be unreal unless the future is not a repetition.Less
The funeral ship metamorphoses. Tristan and Isolde can be found on a vessel going to Cornwall. Though the next phase of the dreamer's explorations start with more jeers at HCE/Mark, the dismal future that awaits the aging man is presented obliquely. Other figures are attending to the ship on which Tristan is kissing Isolde. “They” are four old men, the “evangelists” Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, whose voices have sounded before in the Wake and who are heard at length. The official verdict of the old men, Shaun, Tristan to HCE's King Mark, is the bright promise of the future. Yet their presentation of the past, both in the style and content of their ramblings, makes it clear that the promise will be unreal unless the future is not a repetition.
Karol Berger
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520292758
- eISBN:
- 9780520966130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520292758.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
The book centers on the four music dramas (Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal) Wagner created in the second half of his career. Two aims are ...
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The book centers on the four music dramas (Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal) Wagner created in the second half of his career. Two aims are pursued here: first, to penetrate the “secret” of large-scale form in Wagner’s music dramas, the secret the very existence of which was called into question by the composer’s critics, including the most perceptive of those, Nietzsche; second, to see the ideological import of Wagner’s dramas against the background of the worldviews that were current in his lifetime and, in particular, to confront his works with Nietzsche’s critique. What connects the two aims is my conviction that a grasp of Wagner’s large forms affords insights into the dramatic and philosophical implications of his works. The music dramas of Wagner’s later years registered and reacted to every major component in the complex ideological landscape that emerged during his century. Like a number of artists of his time, in his later years Wagner understood himself to be something more than just an artist; rather, he saw himself as a cultural prophet announcing and preparing better, more desirable forms of life for humanity. The specific content of his message never ceased to evolve, but his self-understanding as someone with a message to deliver remained constant. The confrontation with Nietzsche, a rival cultural prophet, takes a particular urgency in this context, since what was at stake in the philosopher’s objections to the artist was precisely the ideological import of Wagner’s works.Less
The book centers on the four music dramas (Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal) Wagner created in the second half of his career. Two aims are pursued here: first, to penetrate the “secret” of large-scale form in Wagner’s music dramas, the secret the very existence of which was called into question by the composer’s critics, including the most perceptive of those, Nietzsche; second, to see the ideological import of Wagner’s dramas against the background of the worldviews that were current in his lifetime and, in particular, to confront his works with Nietzsche’s critique. What connects the two aims is my conviction that a grasp of Wagner’s large forms affords insights into the dramatic and philosophical implications of his works. The music dramas of Wagner’s later years registered and reacted to every major component in the complex ideological landscape that emerged during his century. Like a number of artists of his time, in his later years Wagner understood himself to be something more than just an artist; rather, he saw himself as a cultural prophet announcing and preparing better, more desirable forms of life for humanity. The specific content of his message never ceased to evolve, but his self-understanding as someone with a message to deliver remained constant. The confrontation with Nietzsche, a rival cultural prophet, takes a particular urgency in this context, since what was at stake in the philosopher’s objections to the artist was precisely the ideological import of Wagner’s works.
Sudhir Kakar and John Munder Ross
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198072560
- eISBN:
- 9780199082124
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198072560.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
The story of Tristan and Isolde has been retold many times, with various narrators exploiting the plight of lovers according to the place granted to Eros in their era and culture, thereby allowing ...
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The story of Tristan and Isolde has been retold many times, with various narrators exploiting the plight of lovers according to the place granted to Eros in their era and culture, thereby allowing for aesthetic and philosophical reinterpretations. With the tale of Tristan and Isolde at its centre, this chapter examines the ambivalence between fathers and sons, the qualities of regret, and the harsh pangs of conscience suffered because of increasingly unknown crimes of the heart. The chapter also looks at Hamlet, a tale of incest that is more about mysterious guilt than real remorse.Less
The story of Tristan and Isolde has been retold many times, with various narrators exploiting the plight of lovers according to the place granted to Eros in their era and culture, thereby allowing for aesthetic and philosophical reinterpretations. With the tale of Tristan and Isolde at its centre, this chapter examines the ambivalence between fathers and sons, the qualities of regret, and the harsh pangs of conscience suffered because of increasingly unknown crimes of the heart. The chapter also looks at Hamlet, a tale of incest that is more about mysterious guilt than real remorse.
ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter analyzes Wagner's opera. Wagner's three acts focus on three climactic moments: that of the first avowal of love, at the very moment when Isolde is to be given in marriage to King Marke; ...
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This chapter analyzes Wagner's opera. Wagner's three acts focus on three climactic moments: that of the first avowal of love, at the very moment when Isolde is to be given in marriage to King Marke; that of the betrayal by Melot and the discovery of Tristan and Isolde by the royal hunting party; and that of the death and transfiguration of the lovers. In each of these moments Tristan and Isolde vow to die and attempt to do so; only in the last do they succeed. Everything superfluous to this central narrative is removed.Less
This chapter analyzes Wagner's opera. Wagner's three acts focus on three climactic moments: that of the first avowal of love, at the very moment when Isolde is to be given in marriage to King Marke; that of the betrayal by Melot and the discovery of Tristan and Isolde by the royal hunting party; and that of the death and transfiguration of the lovers. In each of these moments Tristan and Isolde vow to die and attempt to do so; only in the last do they succeed. Everything superfluous to this central narrative is removed.
ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter focuses on philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's influence on the music of Tristan and Isolde. Wagner discovered the philosophy of Schopenhauer while conceiving the drama of Tristan and ...
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This chapter focuses on philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's influence on the music of Tristan and Isolde. Wagner discovered the philosophy of Schopenhauer while conceiving the drama of Tristan and Isolde. Both composer and philosopher had been deeply influenced by Kantian metaphysics; both were drawn to Hindu and Buddhist mysticism; and both were pessimists who saw renunciation as the highest human goal. Schopenhauer was the only disciple of Kant to develop a halfway believable philosophy of music, and his theories had a profound impact on Wagner, whose reading of Schopenhauer fostered his conception of a drama that would unfold entirely through the inner feelings of the characters. These feelings, hinted at in words, would acquire their full reality and elaboration in music.Less
This chapter focuses on philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's influence on the music of Tristan and Isolde. Wagner discovered the philosophy of Schopenhauer while conceiving the drama of Tristan and Isolde. Both composer and philosopher had been deeply influenced by Kantian metaphysics; both were drawn to Hindu and Buddhist mysticism; and both were pessimists who saw renunciation as the highest human goal. Schopenhauer was the only disciple of Kant to develop a halfway believable philosophy of music, and his theories had a profound impact on Wagner, whose reading of Schopenhauer fostered his conception of a drama that would unfold entirely through the inner feelings of the characters. These feelings, hinted at in words, would acquire their full reality and elaboration in music.
ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde Wagner wished to reawaken in us the knowledge that the erotic is fundamental to the human condition, an aspect of our freedom, and an avenue to ...
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This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde Wagner wished to reawaken in us the knowledge that the erotic is fundamental to the human condition, an aspect of our freedom, and an avenue to redemption. The structure of his drama is dictated by this goal: the lovers are cut off from marriage; and already, at the outset of the drama, it is too late for renunciation. All they can do is confront the sacred moment, to acknowledge that their love must find its goal and its vindication here and now or not at all. In confronting the moment, they prepare themselves for death.Less
This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde Wagner wished to reawaken in us the knowledge that the erotic is fundamental to the human condition, an aspect of our freedom, and an avenue to redemption. The structure of his drama is dictated by this goal: the lovers are cut off from marriage; and already, at the outset of the drama, it is too late for renunciation. All they can do is confront the sacred moment, to acknowledge that their love must find its goal and its vindication here and now or not at all. In confronting the moment, they prepare themselves for death.
ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter argues that Wagner was one of the early inspirers of the new understanding of Greek tragedy and that the extent to which his own dramas were influenced by it, both in form and content, ...
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This chapter argues that Wagner was one of the early inspirers of the new understanding of Greek tragedy and that the extent to which his own dramas were influenced by it, both in form and content, should be recognized. It is through reflecting on tragedy that we can best approach the mystery of Tristan und Isolde, a drama which proceeds toward death through every kind of mental, physical, and spiritual suffering, and which is yet one of the most consoling works of art to have been produced in modern times.Less
This chapter argues that Wagner was one of the early inspirers of the new understanding of Greek tragedy and that the extent to which his own dramas were influenced by it, both in form and content, should be recognized. It is through reflecting on tragedy that we can best approach the mystery of Tristan und Isolde, a drama which proceeds toward death through every kind of mental, physical, and spiritual suffering, and which is yet one of the most consoling works of art to have been produced in modern times.
ROGER SCRUTON
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195166910
- eISBN:
- 9780199863938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195166910.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde the victims themselves are redeemed, and this redemption is to be thought of as a purely human achievement involving no miracles, no supernatural ...
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This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde the victims themselves are redeemed, and this redemption is to be thought of as a purely human achievement involving no miracles, no supernatural powers, no transubstantiation, but merely the aura of seclusion and inviolability that attaches naturally to the object of erotic love. It discusses the underlying religious message of Tristan und Isolde. When writing of the “redemption” achieved by his lovers, Wagner is using this term in its true religious sense, to mean a regaining of the sacred in a world where sacrilege is the prevailing danger.Less
This chapter argues that in Tristan und Isolde the victims themselves are redeemed, and this redemption is to be thought of as a purely human achievement involving no miracles, no supernatural powers, no transubstantiation, but merely the aura of seclusion and inviolability that attaches naturally to the object of erotic love. It discusses the underlying religious message of Tristan und Isolde. When writing of the “redemption” achieved by his lovers, Wagner is using this term in its true religious sense, to mean a regaining of the sacred in a world where sacrilege is the prevailing danger.
Bryan Magee
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237228
- eISBN:
- 9780191706233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237227.003.0017
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Outstanding among the many creative artists on whom Schopenhauer exercised influence was the opera composer Richard Wagner (1813–83), who, rarely for a composer, was an intellectual and studied ...
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Outstanding among the many creative artists on whom Schopenhauer exercised influence was the opera composer Richard Wagner (1813–83), who, rarely for a composer, was an intellectual and studied Schopenhauer's philosophy seriously. He was already composing operas in accordance with a published theory of his own, which involved treating all its constituent elements as of equal importance. Schopenhauer persuaded him to accept not only hitherto rejected metaphysical ideas but also the supremacy of music over the other arts. In response, Wagner composed works such as Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal whose libretti are pervaded with Schopenhauer's ideas and whose music dominates the opera. Although the first of these Schopenhauerian works, Tristan and Isolde, was published in 1859, and therefore before Schopenhauer's death in 1860, it is virtually certain that he never knew of its existence.Less
Outstanding among the many creative artists on whom Schopenhauer exercised influence was the opera composer Richard Wagner (1813–83), who, rarely for a composer, was an intellectual and studied Schopenhauer's philosophy seriously. He was already composing operas in accordance with a published theory of his own, which involved treating all its constituent elements as of equal importance. Schopenhauer persuaded him to accept not only hitherto rejected metaphysical ideas but also the supremacy of music over the other arts. In response, Wagner composed works such as Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal whose libretti are pervaded with Schopenhauer's ideas and whose music dominates the opera. Although the first of these Schopenhauerian works, Tristan and Isolde, was published in 1859, and therefore before Schopenhauer's death in 1860, it is virtually certain that he never knew of its existence.
Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
During the years preceding the composition of Tristan and Isolde, Wagner’s aesthetics underwent a momentous turnaround, principally as a result of his discovery of Schopenhauer. Many of ...
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During the years preceding the composition of Tristan and Isolde, Wagner’s aesthetics underwent a momentous turnaround, principally as a result of his discovery of Schopenhauer. Many of Schopenhauer’s ideas, especially those regarding music’s metaphysical significance, resonated with patterns of thought that had long been central to Wagner’s aesthetics, and Wagner described the entry of Schopenhauer into his life as “a gift from heaven.” This book argues that Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is a musical and dramatic exposition of metaphysical ideas inspired by Schopenhauer. The first part of the book covers the philosophical and literary underpinnings of the story, exploring Schopenhauer’s metaphysics and Gottfried van Strassburg’s Tristan poem. The book then turns to the events in the opera, providing tonal and harmonic analyses that reinforce his interpretation of the drama. The book acts as an expert guide, interpreting and illustrating the most important moments.Less
During the years preceding the composition of Tristan and Isolde, Wagner’s aesthetics underwent a momentous turnaround, principally as a result of his discovery of Schopenhauer. Many of Schopenhauer’s ideas, especially those regarding music’s metaphysical significance, resonated with patterns of thought that had long been central to Wagner’s aesthetics, and Wagner described the entry of Schopenhauer into his life as “a gift from heaven.” This book argues that Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is a musical and dramatic exposition of metaphysical ideas inspired by Schopenhauer. The first part of the book covers the philosophical and literary underpinnings of the story, exploring Schopenhauer’s metaphysics and Gottfried van Strassburg’s Tristan poem. The book then turns to the events in the opera, providing tonal and harmonic analyses that reinforce his interpretation of the drama. The book acts as an expert guide, interpreting and illustrating the most important moments.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
The first act of Tristan differs from the others in one very important respect: it contains, on the surface at least, nothing of the metaphysical themes of the second and third acts. The drinking of ...
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The first act of Tristan differs from the others in one very important respect: it contains, on the surface at least, nothing of the metaphysical themes of the second and third acts. The drinking of the love-death potion at the end of the act is the catalyst to the emergence of those themes in act 2, especially the night/day opposition and the idea of transcendence through the merging of love and night-death (Liebestod). Nevertheless, there is a strong sense that the events of act 1 mask an underlying deeper reality, that qualities of surface and depth are built into Wagner’s interpretation of the setting and constitute its true meaning. In this light the ocean voyage from Ireland to Cornwall is the beginning of a metaphoric journey, the confined space of the ship symbolizing the fragility and restrictedness of consciously held conventional ideas or conceptions (Haupt). These are set in opposition to the underlying source and ultimate goal of the journey: the ocean as symbol of the unconscious, to which Isolde returns at the end of the opera.Less
The first act of Tristan differs from the others in one very important respect: it contains, on the surface at least, nothing of the metaphysical themes of the second and third acts. The drinking of the love-death potion at the end of the act is the catalyst to the emergence of those themes in act 2, especially the night/day opposition and the idea of transcendence through the merging of love and night-death (Liebestod). Nevertheless, there is a strong sense that the events of act 1 mask an underlying deeper reality, that qualities of surface and depth are built into Wagner’s interpretation of the setting and constitute its true meaning. In this light the ocean voyage from Ireland to Cornwall is the beginning of a metaphoric journey, the confined space of the ship symbolizing the fragility and restrictedness of consciously held conventional ideas or conceptions (Haupt). These are set in opposition to the underlying source and ultimate goal of the journey: the ocean as symbol of the unconscious, to which Isolde returns at the end of the opera.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0011
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
Wagner developed the succession of three scenes that constitute the second act of Tristan from the three love episodes that appear in Gottfried’s Tristan between the drinking of the love potion and ...
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Wagner developed the succession of three scenes that constitute the second act of Tristan from the three love episodes that appear in Gottfried’s Tristan between the drinking of the love potion and the lovers’ separation, binding them into an overarching day-night-day sequence. Of Gottfried’s three scenes Minne is prominent only in the lovers’ cave scene, where she is the focus of Gottfried’s quasi-religious allegories. Wagner moves her forward to the torch scene; toward the end, she leads Isolde to its goal: the extinguishing of the torch.Less
Wagner developed the succession of three scenes that constitute the second act of Tristan from the three love episodes that appear in Gottfried’s Tristan between the drinking of the love potion and the lovers’ separation, binding them into an overarching day-night-day sequence. Of Gottfried’s three scenes Minne is prominent only in the lovers’ cave scene, where she is the focus of Gottfried’s quasi-religious allegories. Wagner moves her forward to the torch scene; toward the end, she leads Isolde to its goal: the extinguishing of the torch.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0012
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
The increasing depth of night is a metaphor for the lovers’ coming ever closer to oneness. The background in Gottfried von Strassburg’s lovers’ cave scene for the ideal of an enclosed “world apart,” ...
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The increasing depth of night is a metaphor for the lovers’ coming ever closer to oneness. The background in Gottfried von Strassburg’s lovers’ cave scene for the ideal of an enclosed “world apart,” a place of forgetfulness, of the dream of love, or Wunschleben, is evident primarily in the part of the scene from “O sink hernieder” to the end, encompassing the three duets that Alfred Lorenz called the “Nachtgesang” (song of night), the “Sterbelied” (song of death), and the “Liebesekstase” (ecstasy of love). With the transition to a slower tempo, the association of A-flat with night and a higher degree of periodic design (but one that is controlled by a still larger principle of transition), Wagner brings about the lovers’ consecration to night and the metaphysical. Preceding it is the most extensive instance of transition-dominated music in Wagner’s entire oeuvre, the Tagesgespräch. Paradoxically, it presents many signposts of a closed periodic design.Less
The increasing depth of night is a metaphor for the lovers’ coming ever closer to oneness. The background in Gottfried von Strassburg’s lovers’ cave scene for the ideal of an enclosed “world apart,” a place of forgetfulness, of the dream of love, or Wunschleben, is evident primarily in the part of the scene from “O sink hernieder” to the end, encompassing the three duets that Alfred Lorenz called the “Nachtgesang” (song of night), the “Sterbelied” (song of death), and the “Liebesekstase” (ecstasy of love). With the transition to a slower tempo, the association of A-flat with night and a higher degree of periodic design (but one that is controlled by a still larger principle of transition), Wagner brings about the lovers’ consecration to night and the metaphysical. Preceding it is the most extensive instance of transition-dominated music in Wagner’s entire oeuvre, the Tagesgespräch. Paradoxically, it presents many signposts of a closed periodic design.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0013
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
Tristan referred to King Mark and his party as nothing more than dreams and phantoms: “Tag’sgespenster! Morgenträume! täuschend und wüst!” (Daylight phantoms! Morning dreams! Deceptive and barren!). ...
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Tristan referred to King Mark and his party as nothing more than dreams and phantoms: “Tag’sgespenster! Morgenträume! täuschend und wüst!” (Daylight phantoms! Morning dreams! Deceptive and barren!). It is this that most cuts into King Mark. The slow stability of his extended solo and the inversion of the honor motive within its principal theme put the lovers’ ecstasy in another perspective altogether. With Tristan’s words Wagner evokes Schopenhauer’s dream theories, which distinguish two types of dreaming: the dream of deepest sleep, of which nothing can be remembered, and the “morning dream,” which represents a translation of the deep dream into the terms of the waking world—Wagner’s day—and, hence, a falsification.Less
Tristan referred to King Mark and his party as nothing more than dreams and phantoms: “Tag’sgespenster! Morgenträume! täuschend und wüst!” (Daylight phantoms! Morning dreams! Deceptive and barren!). It is this that most cuts into King Mark. The slow stability of his extended solo and the inversion of the honor motive within its principal theme put the lovers’ ecstasy in another perspective altogether. With Tristan’s words Wagner evokes Schopenhauer’s dream theories, which distinguish two types of dreaming: the dream of deepest sleep, of which nothing can be remembered, and the “morning dream,” which represents a translation of the deep dream into the terms of the waking world—Wagner’s day—and, hence, a falsification.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0014
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
Act 3 of Tristan is considered the richest—the “greatest in every way,” “practically perfect,” according to Joseph Kerman—a perception extending back at least as far as Nietzsche’s panegyric in The ...
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Act 3 of Tristan is considered the richest—the “greatest in every way,” “practically perfect,” according to Joseph Kerman—a perception extending back at least as far as Nietzsche’s panegyric in The Birth of Tragedy. It is not just because Wagner merges the exigencies of musical and dramatic structure to an unprecedented degree in this act, but also because act 3 completes a palpable large-scale design for the work in toto. Wagner himself said that act 3 was the “point of departure for the mood as a whole,” a statement confirmed by his 1854 letter to Liszt, which already looks ahead to the oppositions that attain their point of greatest intensity in act 3. Act 3 pivots around those oppositions: Tristan’s curse of the love potion and his own existence, his relapse into unconsciousness, and his reawakening and clairvoyant vision of Isolde. These events, as mentioned earlier, are centralized within the act.Less
Act 3 of Tristan is considered the richest—the “greatest in every way,” “practically perfect,” according to Joseph Kerman—a perception extending back at least as far as Nietzsche’s panegyric in The Birth of Tragedy. It is not just because Wagner merges the exigencies of musical and dramatic structure to an unprecedented degree in this act, but also because act 3 completes a palpable large-scale design for the work in toto. Wagner himself said that act 3 was the “point of departure for the mood as a whole,” a statement confirmed by his 1854 letter to Liszt, which already looks ahead to the oppositions that attain their point of greatest intensity in act 3. Act 3 pivots around those oppositions: Tristan’s curse of the love potion and his own existence, his relapse into unconsciousness, and his reawakening and clairvoyant vision of Isolde. These events, as mentioned earlier, are centralized within the act.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0015
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
In Tristan, form rooted in musical and dramatic correspondences mirrors the representational aspect of the drama, but as such it often seems imposed or external, demanding that it be understood in ...
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In Tristan, form rooted in musical and dramatic correspondences mirrors the representational aspect of the drama, but as such it often seems imposed or external, demanding that it be understood in relation to “deeper,” purely musical processes of the kind that Wagner described as transitional and developmental. In act 3, Tristan’s cycles—his quest for self-understanding—are the embodiment of the latter. In keeping with Wagner’s Schopenhauerian agenda, they are occupied with the role of desire in his life. From the point of his awakening until his first extended solo Tristan speaks in nothing more than the most fragmented utterances, often sounding to little more than a Tristan chord or related harmony. Tristan’s solo is occupied with his attempt to recapture the past, in particular the night that is now lost to him.Less
In Tristan, form rooted in musical and dramatic correspondences mirrors the representational aspect of the drama, but as such it often seems imposed or external, demanding that it be understood in relation to “deeper,” purely musical processes of the kind that Wagner described as transitional and developmental. In act 3, Tristan’s cycles—his quest for self-understanding—are the embodiment of the latter. In keeping with Wagner’s Schopenhauerian agenda, they are occupied with the role of desire in his life. From the point of his awakening until his first extended solo Tristan speaks in nothing more than the most fragmented utterances, often sounding to little more than a Tristan chord or related harmony. Tristan’s solo is occupied with his attempt to recapture the past, in particular the night that is now lost to him.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195343007
- eISBN:
- 9780199851928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343007.003.0016
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
The tritone that sounds as Tristan sinks unconscious to F and the orchestra and Kurvenal enter on B is an expression of the purely negating view of existence. When Kurvenal, having pronounced love a ...
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The tritone that sounds as Tristan sinks unconscious to F and the orchestra and Kurvenal enter on B is an expression of the purely negating view of existence. When Kurvenal, having pronounced love a delusion, cadences in B minor—“Behold what thanks love has won from him, what love ever wins”—Wagner brings in the F beneath his cadential b, then the Tristan chord, an octave below its usual pitch and in its darkest coloring, as if to evoke only the negative side of his words, not their ironic truth. This reveals that truth is the central theme of the opera from this point on, as expressed in the title of this chapter, taken from the final sections of Schopenhauer’s treatise and echoed by Wagner in his description of his amendment.Less
The tritone that sounds as Tristan sinks unconscious to F and the orchestra and Kurvenal enter on B is an expression of the purely negating view of existence. When Kurvenal, having pronounced love a delusion, cadences in B minor—“Behold what thanks love has won from him, what love ever wins”—Wagner brings in the F beneath his cadential b, then the Tristan chord, an octave below its usual pitch and in its darkest coloring, as if to evoke only the negative side of his words, not their ironic truth. This reveals that truth is the central theme of the opera from this point on, as expressed in the title of this chapter, taken from the final sections of Schopenhauer’s treatise and echoed by Wagner in his description of his amendment.
