Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Seven leading international writers discuss the genesis, libretto and music, and performance and reception history of Wagner's Tristan.

Arthur Groos (Edited by)

9780521437387, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 March 2011

228 pages, 14 b/w illus. 1 table 28 music examples
21.5 x 13.8 x 1 cm, 0.32 kg

'Each [essay] is a considered, thought-provoking exploration of one or more aspects of Tristan, carefully argued and generously annotated.' Opera

Wagner's Tristan und Isolde occupies a singular position in the history of Western culture. What Nietzsche called the 'sweet and terrible infinity' of its basic nexus of longing and death has fascinated audiences since its first performance in 1865. At the same time, its advanced harmonic language, immediately announced by the opening 'Tristan chord', marks a defining moment in the evolution of modern music. This accessible handbook brings together seven leading international writers to discuss the opera's genesis and the libretto's relationship to late Romantic literary concerns, present an analysis of the Prelude, the music of the drama itself, and Wagner's innovative use of instrumental timbre, and illustrate the production history and reception of the music-drama into the twenty-first century. The book includes the first English translation of Wagner's draft prose of the libretto, a detailed discussion of Wagner's orchestration, and rare pictures from important and influential productions.

Introduction Arthur Groos
Synopsis: Wagner's prose draft (1857)
1. Public and private life: on the genesis of Tristan und Isolde and the Wesendonck Lieder John Deathridge
2. Between memory and desire: Wagner's libretto and late Romantic subjectivity Arthur Groos
3. The Prelude and the play Joseph Kerman
4. In the realm of the senses: sight, sound, and the music of desire in Tristan und Isolde Thomas Grey
5. A mantle of sound for the night: timbre in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde Jürgen Maehder
6. Staging Tristan Stewart Spencer
7. Tristan's traces Steven Huebner
Select bilbiography.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB], Opera [AVGC9]