Wagner

- Prelude to Tristan und Isolde

Set Works 2013/14 - The Grange School & Sports College

Wagner: Q 1 & 2 -

Tristan und Isolde is a Gesamtkunst - werk (a work

that aims to being all the arts together). Wagner
himself was responsible for almost every element of
the opera: words, music, produc9on, set etc.
The outline of the story involves Tristan (Medieval
Knight) who travels from Cornwall to Ireland in order
to bring back Isolde in order to marry King Mark.
The pair fall in love & betray the trust of the King
which has disastrous consequences.

Revision Q3 -

The Prelude is scored for a large orchestra, including the following

transposing instruments (i.e. not concert pitch):

Cor Anglais (sounding a perfect 5th lower than printed)

Clarinet & Bass Clarinet in A (sounding a minor 3rd lower than printed)

Two horns in F (sounding a perfect 5th lower than printed)

Two horns in E (sounding a minor 6th lower than printed)

Two trumpets in F (sounding a perfect 4th above the printed pitch)

Double Bass (sounding an octave lower than wriKen)

Revision Q4 -
Rising minor 6th (8 semi tones)
represent yearning

Grief - cellos Bar 1 and 2. Used to form part of the Tristan Chord as it
overlaps:

Revision Q5 -
Desire

Love Potion

Glance

Revision Q6 -

Wagner creates deliberate tonal ambiguity through use of sustained, lingering & oJen
unresolved dissonances. The rst chord, which is closely linked to the rest of the opera, is
known as the Tristan chord. During the mid 19th century this chord was revoluLonary &
uses the Grief and Desire leitmoLf which are a key symbol of the tragic themes which
underpin the opera:
Grief
Desire

F - B - D# - G#
(half diminished 7th
chord - diminished
triad (F -G# - B) &
minor 7th (D#)

ChromaSc accent
which resolves by
rising to the B

Revision Q7 -

Signicantly the V7 in A minor which follows the Tristan

chord in Bar 3 does not resolve (i.e. to the tonic as you would
normally expect). Instead the chord is followed by silence.

Wagner - Structure: rhythm, tonality & texture

The prelude makes no use of convenLonal structure

The determining features of the structure and shape of the music are repeLLon,
melodic sequence and diminuLon.

Analyse your given secSon of the Prelude & use your worksheet to make
notes
SecLon

Notes:

Bars 0-24

Fred and Liz

Bars 246 - 65
Bars 66 - 83

Anna& Ben
Bars 84 - 111

Wagner: Texture

Can you nd examples of the following?

Monophony

Single line in octaves

Broken Chords

Wagner: Texture

The underlying texture is oJen melody - dominated

homophony (harmonic progress that moves in step with a
prevailing melody)
The end of one phrase oJen overlaps with the start of another
however the shape of the texture can oJen be inuenced by
the principal melody (e.g. bars 48 - 51)
Monophony - Bar 1
Single line in octaves (bars 14 - 15)
4 - Part wriSng with undoubled lines (bar 36)
RomanSc orchestraSons (e.g. broken chords in strings - bar 67)
Doubling of parts at 2 or 3 octaves (e.g. bar 53)

Wagner: Tonality

Perfect cadences (which would normally conrm or reinforce our sense

of key) are rarely heard in the Prelude which creates tonal ambiguity.
The use of chromaLcism allows Wagner to create a sense of
conSnuous suspense by sliding from dominant to dominant.
Can you idenSfy the key suggested by cadences at the following
points?

Bar 24

Bar 35 - 36

Bar 62 - 63

Wagner: Tonality

Bar 16 - 17 (interrupted cadence in A minor)

Bar 63 - Dominant pedal

Bar 35 - 36 - Perfect Cadence in D Minor

Bar 62 - 63 - Imperfect Cadence in A Major

The opening is based around A Minor (imperfect

cadence in Bar 3) then moving to C Major (Bar 7)and
E Major (Bar 11).

Wagner: Instrument techniques

The score is marked with great detail in a mixture of

Italian and German. Describe the instrumental
techniques (e.g. tremolo) found in:

Bar 16

Bar 36

Bar 22 - 23

Bar 83

Wagner: Instrument techniques

Bar 16: Pizzicato (accent & thicken texture) Arco

(Bar 17)
Bar 36: Divided parts (German - geteilt get.)
Bar 22 - 23: Sul G play on the G string. ParScular
use of tonal colour
Bar 83: Tremelo (Double Basses)

Wagner: Rhythm & Metre

Wagner takes a very exible approach to rhythm, accent and

phrase-structure
The prelude is in slow compound 6/8 Lme
Ties over the bar, pauses and silences mean that the pulse is
not always easy to discern
As the music moves towards the main climax note lengths
become shorter (e.g.triplet demi semi quavers that reinforce
surgin gures in 63 - 73).
Dobed rhythms frequently occur

Still to come: Harmony, Performing

forces

Wagner: Harmony

Chord ii7b (an inversion of a half diminished chord - minor

3rd, diminished 5th and minor 7th)
The Neapolitan sixth chord - (bII) rst inversion of the
major triad built on the abened 2nd degree of the scale

The Tristan Chord

Diminished 7th chord e.g. bar 29

Bars 16 - 22 explore a wide variety of chords (see next

slide)

Wagner: Harmony

Add the harmonic devices above to your set work score

Wagner: Rhythm & Metre

The compound Lme signature allows a wide variety of internal

(subdivided) rhythms to be place between the principal beats
The short long appoggiatura rhythm of bar 3 reoccurs, as does the rhythm
rst hear in bar 17 (3 quaver group with a doeed rhythm on the second and
third quavers)
A melody note beginning on a weak quaver is oJen Sed across the main
beats which suggests a hint of syncopaSon (e.g. Bar 3 - oboe B held across
quavers 2, 3 and 4).
Adjacent notes are typically at dierent lengths, parScularly in the melody
The bass line at bars 33 - 34 and again at 58 - 62 moves steadily by half -
bars to increase tension

Wagner: Performing Forces

The Lmbres of the oboe and cor anglais are used carefully for specic orchestral
colouring (e.g. the solo parts between 100 - 105).
Double woodwinds feature throughout and Wagner is very specic with his
indicaSons. OJen the bass clarinets and bassoons are scored with the doubles
basses
This adds colour and strengthens the bass line
The full brass secSon is used with subtlety and restraint (the poor trombones
and tuba only play for 18 bars!)
This subtlety creates climaLc climax (E.g. trumpets bar 81 - 83)
Like the brass tuned percussion is used only to reinforce the climax or to ll
silences with a sinister undertone

Homework - DUE Thursday 24th

Finishing adding the notes about structure, harmony,

rhythm & performing forces to your notes & score (I will
add these to the blog)
Listen to each set work that we have studied (Debussy,
Webern, YellowBird, Duke Ellington, Taverner, Wagner
& Sweenlick) with your score & revise or add to your
notes
Revise all of the set works above ahead of a test on the
24th October