Despite being a Wagner/Tristan nut for around 40 years, there's always something new to learn. This video certainly lived up to that tradition. Fascinating!
That opening was what turned me into a Wagner fan. When the opening of Tristian and Isolde is played, I find myself closing my eyes and mentally floating with the music.
More Tristan content please!! Such a fascinating opera for so many reasons. Thank you for your excellent videos and dedication to accessible music education!
Said this before but once more: thank you for being a great educator and for conveying this enthusiasm and knowledge about classical music to those of us that know less about it but still love it
I think it is indeed a good explanation. Like in jazz, we find mystery chords which can be finally explained by delayed notes, next resolved or not resolved in full chords.
Great overview with some fascinating facts and thoughts about the historic musical context. Just like the chord itself, its mysteries still remain unresolved.
I think he found a good explanation. Like in jazz, we find mystery chords which can be finally explained by delayed notes, next resolved or not resolved in full chords.
Thank you so much for this professor! My first encounter with this music was a live concert featuring a performance of the Prelude/Liebstod (sung by Birgit Nilsson) when I was 14. It was life-changing, and nothing was ever the same again. My composition professor at university ranked Wagner right after God, but he never taught the cultural history of the work. Please carry on with more! Some 14-year-old is waiting to discover your talks! 🙏🙏
Thanks for the information regarding how Wagner was taught composition. I love the analysis of the Tristan chord as a French sixth chord with an appoggiatura leading to the dominant. The fascinating link between Wagner, Debussy, Shönberg, and Stravinsky is certainly evident in your presentation.
Wow- newer to classical music here- I've never really listened to Wagner because the length of the operas seems a bit daunting. But listening to your playing here- he sounds so modern. Big fan of Mahler and can hear the fingerprints, too. Cool. Thanks for sharing!
As a brazilian musician, I'm quite happy to read this! I know Jobim was a big fan of Debussy, and maybe that's one possible origin. Take a listen to his "Imagina", a song he wrote in his 17's; to me sounds very debussyian. He also liked Chopin, and his "Insensatez", or "How insensitive" is heavily inspired by the Em prelude.
@@LucasFranco-w5p I love "Imagina"! It's amazing that Jobim was only 17 when he wrote such a beautiful song! One of my favorite Brazilian guitarists, Marcus Tardelli, does a beautiful arrangement of it on guitar (I play guitar). Oh wow I never made that connection with "Insensatiz"! But yes, I can hear it! If I recall correctly, the bridge of "Chovendo na Roseira" was another classical influenced song...? Anyhow, Brazilian music has so many great composers!
@@Jasper_the_Cat Yes! Well, Chovendo na Roseira definitely has that modal approach that you could certainly trace to that type of sound. This influence actually shows up in much of Jobim's work, specially his more classically inclined and "ecological" compositions (records like Matita Perê, Urubu and Passarim are examples of this direction). His "Sabiá" has a quite debussyian introduction, that even has those half diminished chords that feel taken straight from Prelude a l'apres midi dun faune. Another huge influence for him was brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and you'll see many quotes of pieces like "Trenzinho do caipira" in Jobim's music. Jobim actually has composed at least one symphonic poem, Sinfonia da Alvorada, but I'd say his best work was at song writing. Anyways, always awesome to know of a brazilian music admirer! Cheers!
Superb talk. I wish I could put more "likes" :) the whole opera never ceases to fascinate! Please sure, do more videos about it, not just the beginning!!!
I would love more Wagner, maybe do a rundown of the transformation music from Parsifal , which is obviously so touched by Tristan. And even imo a successful attempt at imbedding the syntax developed in Tristan into a tonal context ( functionally speaking) every human alive should have heard it at least once. This was delightful!
Your lecture is perfect at my level of university music studies education background. You're picking up exactly where my music education stopped (i had to drop out after junior year for stupid visa reasons). I know the augmented sixth Italian, German, French and all the theory. We did some composition and i composed a miniature sonata but never got to composition class or counter point class. I liked that you played the reduction at the end, it was really necessary after focusing on the first bars. I could hear in the later bars harmonic possibilities of false Chopin "states" but that do not indulge toward Chopin and continues its more chromatic and dissonant route, also Scriabin. I hear several harmonic hinges beautiful ambiguities in the music that could lead to many resolutions that my trained ear (let's not be too modest) can faintly hear there emotional impact of the possible resolutions but Wagner never chooses to resolve and linger, not to make a decision. It's very chromatic.
Excellent video, really interesting analysis/ explanation of the chord plus its roots/sources in the past and its influence in later music. Yes please! to more analysis of Tristan and Isolde (and Wagner).
Many thanks! Your interpretation of the Tristan Chord is absolutely spot on: an ascending soprano appoggiatura on to a French augmented sixth in A minor!
Amazing video Professor! I always thought that Wagner was only a mad antisemitic, but now I see that he was a much more interesting historical figure than just that. This video explains lots of thinks about him and his music. I hope you reconsider to do a Tristan und Isolde series even with just a few views, I would be interested on watching that on full. Cheers!
The 4 notes that open Tristan und Isolde are also an intentional quote from Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, specifically from the beginning of "Roméo Seul" (Romeo Alone). The opening gesture is quoted almost verbatim, save for the first interval, turned from a 4th into a 6th instead, but to an F nonetheless! Wagner harmonized the landing with his famous chord, whereas Berlioz had left the melody completely bare, likely to represent Roméo's solitude. Wagner was smitten by Roméo et Juliette when he first heard it. He recounted in his autobiography to having been greatly affected by it, and that it showed him things that he didn't know could be done in music. It remained a big influence on him, as he offered the first copy of Tristan to Berlioz in 1860 with the dedication "To the dear and great author of Roméo et Juliette, the grateful author of Tristan und Isolde."
Yes, you broke the Wagner code. 1. With the appoggiatura G# of the Tristan Chord resolving upward to A, then it's harmonic function can be understood as a form of the Subdominant in the key of A Minor, labeled either as F7 b5 or a B7 b5/F. 2. In jazz theory, the first two measures would be referred to as an incomplete ii - V progression in the key of A minor since the Tonic i chord is not arrived at. Unresolved ii - V progressions abound in jazz harmony that accompany simple melodies. 3.Therefore, in the key of A Minor, Tristan's opening measure 1 = Subdominant function and measure 2 = Dominant function. The Tristan chord can also be considered as V of V in the key of A Minor using Figured Bass analysis.
Agree with your definition of genius. What a lovely resolution to the French 6th. Thanks! Great information! Loke'! Dogs love rolling in disgusting stinky... stuff. And mine always look so proud about it! hahaha! 🙂
It's interesting to look at this from the perspective of jazz harmony. In that analysis we have F7#9#11 E7 (with passing tones). In other words an "altered" predominant, or a bVI V movement which is a common substitution for a ii V movement, especially in minor. A lot of jazz musicians frequently use French, Itailan and Gernan sixth chords without actually knowing - they just conceive them differently. These substitutions come from the realisation that the defining character of dominants is the tritone, so as in this instance F7 can stand in for B7 as well as the fact that dominants can be freely altered.
The chord illustrated at the beginning of the talk is a G# minor 6th, in inversion. It's not an unusual chord (ask any guitarist), but more that it is unexpected in the middle of other chords, and improved by the use of the orchestral instruments which Wagner chooses.
Ironic that he was reinventing opera, when the cliché image of a fat lady dressed as a valkyrie is the first thing normies think of when they think of opera.
I am more of a Parsifal person, probably because I have never seen a truly good enactment of Tristan und Isolde (already dreading when I get to see this year's Bayreuth production eventually), but your explanation leads me to re-listen to it again. More Wagner content. Please. 😊
@@themusicprofessor then have a look at the current enactment in Bayreuth. We went this year, and it was beautifully interpreted both musically and visually
Thank you for this new excellent video. I really love what you are doing. Going back to Wagner and his music, I wonder whether when he composed his music he was actually conscientious about all the theory you so well explained in your video. Sure Wagner’s music is all about emotion but on the other hand it is so well crafted, especially when I’m thinking about the leitmotiv he makes use of. As to the length of his operas: once you have dived into them, you won’t notice the clock. Please do more videos about his music!!!
A quick answer to the theory question: no, because the partimento tradition in which he was trained (like Beethoven & Mozart and most composers before 1900) ensured that he had an absolutely solid grasp of harmony as a practical tool. He didn't need to think about chords in a theoretical way most of the time, although I'd imagine he would have been able to give a theoretical explanation of what he was doing.
Fascinating! Thank you for this very erudite resolution of the Wagnerian enigma... I bought a chordless vacuum cleaner yesterday and I can't work out how to plug it in.... Woe! 😢 😉
I'm just amazed by your knowledge, Matthew. I watch with probably slightly more musical comprehension than Loki, but I don't want to miss a word. When you first mention the Tristan chord, it plays in isolation, and around twelve minutes in the first orchestral bars are played. Both times, I'm afraid my brain went to the theme tune to Coronation Street. I don't know if it's just the particular quality of the sound, the horns with subtle vibrato, or some harmonic relationship. We've found the level, as they say. :) I'm not at all into opera or music of the romantic period, but maybe I'll meander there eventually from my baroque obsession. The discussion of going from dissonance into dissonance, and the final resolution of this piece made me think this is what makes great music, finding that balance between yearning and arriving, stretching the journey into different harmonic lands. I love the exquisite surprises Bach springs on the ear. You think we're going this way, but nope...this other voice has different ideas! And eventually, after all the twists and turns, it's so satisfying to arrive.
Ah Wilcocks...”WORD of the Father” . Well, not really the same but close to the Tristan chord. Really appreciate your videos and love the historical context.
One thing I find interesting about it is that there's a contradiction between the chord's harmonic functionality and its expressive role. Even though it's the main chord of the entire opera, its function is, as you said, an appoggiatura to the French 6th chord, which is functionally the main chord. However, Wagner leans into the Tristan chord while treating the next A as a passing note, thereby inverting their roles. So, it's as if the opera's main idea isn't actually there or is somewhere in the distant background. But during the climax of the introduction, the chord is enharmonically reinterpreted as the II chord of Eb minor, which has an independent function within that key, thus moving the chord to the foreground. Afterwards, it recedes to the background again when the key changes back to A minor.
I think the opera really begins in d minor: a f e ... We expect a normal cadence on d, but instead we get e-flat, implying a modulation to the Neapolitan minor key. Donald Tovey once said that such a modulation casts a dark pall over the music (_Harmony_ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica). But then the magic occurs. The Tristan chord somehow transforms this tragic modulation into a life-affirming modulation to the dominant, and A is established as the true tonic (albeit minor).
It is very true that the first three notes can be heard in D minor. I have played these notes for my students very often, asking them what the key is, and they most often vote for D minor. Wagner even makes use of this possibility in Act 3, Scene 1: in Tristan's first big monologue, the chord is quoted after the words "Wie schwand mir seine Ahnung?" We're clearly coming from D minor at that moment. I think the point is that the first three notes can be heard in D minor, in A minor, even in F major or C major, but not in Eb minor, which is the key that F-halfdim is almost always used in. In fact, Eb minor is a tritone away from A minor, the actual key of the piece. (And as another commenter already mentioned, Wagner plays with this tension between Eb minor and A minor at the climax of the prelude, in mm. 81-84.) I don't think any of this, nor anything else in Tristan, is life-affirming, though. ;-)
Yes, I am so overwhelmed by that work and think it should be also set in a symphonic garment: ua-cam.com/video/QUFYtm0sCys/v-deo.htmlsi=pMDYztyUm0jYeFcw
Harold Schonberg, in his Lives of the Great Composers book, writes of the enormous influence that Liszt's chromaticism had on composers. That a lieder by Liszt, Ich Mochte Hengen has the Tristan chords note for note with the exception being a D natural. He also tells an old story, possibly apocryphal in which Liszt and Wagner are in a box listening to Tristan, and Wagner says, " those are your chords, Papa." To which Liszt replied, " at least now they'll be heard."
You can also hear the Tristan phrase in the 2nd version of Liszt's "Ich möchte hingehn" from 1859. However, Liszt uses a D instead of D#, but the chromatic melody is identical. For once it may be Liszt quoting Wagner, it is nearly always the other way around.
@@themusicprofessor In fact, it is often quite clear that the "original" ideas emanates from Liszt's pen, some people think that the Tristan chord originates from the Faust symphony, but I think it appears in a different context there. However, the opening of Parsifal is clearly derived from Liszt's Excelsoir composed in 1873/74. It would be interesting if you could make a video discussing the Haydn/Mozart-connection.
Wagner was like a sponge: he responded in a very profound way to music he heard. Tristan is profoundly influenced by Hans von Bulow's Nirvana (I didn't mention this in the video) which is also a fascinating piece. What is so admirable (and irritating) in Wagner is his capacity to steal ideas off other people and realise huge potential in these ideas (far exceeding their original source!)
@@themusicprofessor Indeed, but it was mainly Liszt's music that entered that sponge. Wagner's music changed after he met Liszt in Weimar and Liszt sent him the scores of the first symphonic poems while Wagner was in exile in Switzerland. Some say that Orpheus was the inspiration for Tristan, but it is not evident to my ears, only the mood is similar.
I hear the "Tristan" chord as a G# minor added 6th. Kind of the way the first chord in Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is a C# minor added 6th...
Delightful presentation and thank you for posting! I've just written a book with my 2 cts (ie. introducing "architectonic" theory) that attempts to resolve Wagner's "Tristan" and Scriabin's "Mystic" Chords (plus another cool sonority from Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61) and hope that it will be published soon 8-) Cheers
I disagree with your characterisation of Tristan und Isolde as a "tragedy". I suppose in one sense it is a "tragedy" but that only really applies to the phenomenal realm in which the on-stage drama takes place. The radiant music that concludes this great music-drama tells us the opposite: in the transcendent, noumenal realm of "night" Tristan and Isolde are 'one' with no separation (since, for Wagner, the noumenal realm does not contain subject and object; its undifferentiated). The Tristan Chord, in fact, finally resolves into a radiant, almost glowing B major chord. After read Schopenhauer Wagner came to the conclusion that there is a transcendent reality beyond time and space; that the fundamental reality is consciousness; universal compassion, non-violence and that the 'goal' is a transcendent state of peace and egoless-ness. Human life is a chain of suffering and empty illusion. Cravings can never be satisfied; erotic love and desire for power give rise to an endless cycle of cause and effect that can only be effaced by death. When Isolde dies at the end of 'Tristan und Isolde' she is redeemed from the on-stage drama, the phenomenal world, but liberated into total metaphysical peace. You could think of it as Nirvana. Wagner was of course also influenced by Buddhism at this point.
I think in conventional dramatic terms, it is a tragedy, but yes, it has an extra transcendental, quasi-Buddhist celebration of being absorbed into the eternal nothingness at the end. I hinted at this earlier in the discussion.
@@themusicprofessor Yes, I suppose I agree, but in so far as the drama is in the music (which by this point it most certainly is) then I think that the radiantly beautiful conclusion of Tristan und Isolde is radically different to a genuine tragedy, such as Verdi's Otello. You did indeed hint at all this but I thought it was worthwhile making it more explicit, especially since Wagner's 'operas' are all about redemption (or, if you prefer, salvation). Its no coincidence that just before the last few bars of Tristan und Isolde we hear an "amen" in the orchestra: this is a sacred work of art. Scruton and Magee are very illuminating about all this.
Thanks for an excellent video! The importance of partimento has been discovered more and more... Here in Sweden we have for ex. Peter van Tour, a former teacher of mine, who has done reasearch and uses it in his teaching. By the way, you should get yourself a piano tuning! Then the playing would be even more enjoyable. Unfortunately I live in Sweden, otherwise I could have done it for you! 😄
Man, it's crazy how I instantly associated the entrance of that half diminished chord with a Debussy type of sound. I'm a brazilian musician (not classically trained, working with more of a "jazz" background, if i'm trying to translate it poorly), and I've always enjoyed Debussy's music and the harmonic directions he kinda opened up along with other modern composers (Stravinsky, Ravel...), with more of a modal, colorful aproach of harmony. I thought of Wagner (and was told about it this way) as a composer that led to another modern direction, a chromatic one, that would lead to Schoenberg's theories. I've also always kind of steered away from him, maybe because of an aesthetic preference, or simply lack of dedication hearing long operas, and even a bit because of his infamous association with antisemitism and nazi history (which maybe could be a good subject to cover in some way; I was really surprised to find about his alignement with marxist thinkers), and ended up not listening to much of his work, although I've known of this Tristan and Isolde chord for some time. The thing is, it's really cool to see how these different aproaches to new grounds in harmony actually interacted at that time, and it's clear how Wagner got to that sound chromatically, and how it makes sense within that tonal logic, while maybe Debussy took that color (specifically before the appogiatura resolves), and resignified it throughout his work, in a modal way. To my ears, that chord is very Debussy, but it's the other way around. Great video, as always! I've been watching some of your videos and learning a lot, and I'm surely curious to hear what more you've got to say about Tristan and Isolde!
Wagner's influence over French culture and French composers is profound, and Wagner's wonderful, sensual approach to harmony and orchestration etc. was absolutely alluring to French (and non-Germanic) composers. I find it very odd that he's aways framed in Teutonic terms, always being blamed for establishing two equal and opposite pathways: one 'leading to Hitler' (who I believe grew to fear his music) and the other 'leading to Schoenberg' and atonality. Schoenberg preferred Brahms!
@@themusicprofessor It's never late to break some rigid notions. It's an unfair weight to put over a composer, and such an important one. I'll be sure to look at this with a new view. It's interesting to know Shoenberg prefered Brahms; I'd say this thing about not ever resolving to the tonic during an entire movement is a very Shoenberg type of thing. Now I'm wondering more about Brahms... Anyways, thanks for the response!
the 'Tristan Chord' does not exist, because it is a progression of 2 chords, and those 2 chords constitute a II-V (the II being a secondary Dominant), so in 'jazz terms' (the language, everyone, unfortunately, nowadays seems to speak) "it" is a B6/F , with the 6 (g#) "resolving" to an 'a': the minor 7 of the chord:resulting in B7, followed by E7+11 with the a# ( +11 ) resolving to a 'b' (5 ) of the chord (E7). It really is that simple and there isn't any possible other explanation.
That was very interesting but I wonder if you are being coy. Surely, the opera is about the power of sexuality, not love. There are few pieces as erotic (well, the Rite is pretty sexy too). But thank you for making such an interesting video
Adjustable ranges Pitch blend synthesizer best with a foot pedal may help rather then conroled by a finger located next to synthesized keyboards.also if any keyboard note can b individually controlled to a altered pitch from a440 a447 higher or lower etc
It’s a nihilistic chord that says in one note that romantic love is futile. Essentially Wagner is satirically mocking romanticism as naive and futile. 😂
I personally disagree with the idea that this type of writing leads naturally to atonality. I think without the context of tonality and the typical devices (i.e. structures of partimento) this music loses its impact. We need an aspect of grounded familiarity in order to be affected by the twists and turns
This is absolutely true. Tristan is firmly rooted in tonality, otherwise its effects simply would not work. All these non-resolving dissonances and deceptive cadences have the effect that they have precisely because you do want the dissonances to resolve, you do want the cadences to arrive. The idea that Tristan necessarily led to atonality is highly controversial, and even considered outdated by now. That is not to deny, as is stated correctly in this video, that pretty much all post-Tristan composers responded to it in one way or another. Keep in mind, also, that in Wagner's output Tristan is immediately followed by Meistersinger, the most consonant of Wagner's music dramas.
@ralfpisters That last point is so cogent to me. Wagner wasn't stepping away from tonality but embracing it wholeheartedly! But yes, it definitely opened the door for people to do more radical things
Measure 1 is an implied a-minor tonic with a long 6-5 appoggiatura; measure 2 then develops/inverts that, but now as a French 6th with long #2-3 appoggiatura. That's how I hear it, anyway.
On a similar note, I'd love to hear your take on Nuages Gris by Liszt, in which he (essentially) ends on the Tristan chord which to me is like the ultimate non-resolved ending
I've always taken what I thought to be a path of littlest possible resistance with this one. You mention that calling it a half diminished doesn't explain anything, but personally, I think it does an adequate job if you look at this as just a series of subdominants and dominants that take little swerves away from their normal targets. I see the first chord as F half diminished inverted(3rd in the bass). Then it passes through an E7 with the b5 in the melody, and this, idiomatically, is acting as kind of an "N" of Eb dominant, or substitution for Bb7. from there, it really wants to hit an Ebdominant, but it just doesn't, which is a common late romantic chromatic little curve-ball. It sounds to me like functional harmony in an expanded chromatic context. Anyone else have a take like this? it helps me to replace the swerves with the normal moves. In this case, play Fm7-5, to Bb7, to Eb7. To me that's the normal, functional passage that Wagner then just kind of zigs where you think he'll zag. Maybe this is too blunt a take, but that's always how I heard it.
Despite being a Wagner/Tristan nut for around 40 years, there's always something new to learn. This video certainly lived up to that tradition. Fascinating!
Thank you!
That opening was what turned me into a Wagner fan. When the opening of Tristian and Isolde is played, I find myself closing my eyes and mentally floating with the music.
More Tristan content please!! Such a fascinating opera for so many reasons. Thank you for your excellent videos and dedication to accessible music education!
Said this before but once more: thank you for being a great educator and for conveying this enthusiasm and knowledge about classical music to those of us that know less about it but still love it
Thank you!
Yes please to a mini-series on Tristan & Isolde! 🙏🏼 🥂
Very insightful video. I'm hoping for the follow-up video, or videos!
Wow! I loved how you showed how the Tristan chord came from French and Italian augmented 6th chords!
I think it is indeed a good explanation. Like in jazz, we find mystery chords which can be finally explained by delayed notes, next resolved or not resolved in full chords.
Wagner: *writes a half-diminished chord because he likes it*
We: 😮😮😮
Great overview with some fascinating facts and thoughts about the historic musical context. Just like the chord itself, its mysteries still remain unresolved.
I think he found a good explanation. Like in jazz, we find mystery chords which can be finally explained by delayed notes, next resolved or not resolved in full chords.
Thank you for making such informative, detailed videos
Thank you so much for this professor! My first encounter with this music was a live concert featuring a performance of the Prelude/Liebstod (sung by Birgit Nilsson) when I was 14. It was life-changing, and nothing was ever the same again. My composition professor at university ranked Wagner right after God, but he never taught the cultural history of the work. Please carry on with more! Some 14-year-old is waiting to discover your talks! 🙏🙏
Wagner's voice from the grave: "I told you I was good!" 😉
😢
They say "talking about music is like singing about football." That is incorrect, and this is fantastic!
Thanks for the information regarding how Wagner was taught composition. I love the analysis of the Tristan chord as a French sixth chord with an appoggiatura leading to the dominant. The fascinating link between Wagner, Debussy, Shönberg, and Stravinsky is certainly evident in your presentation.
Yes, i need this Tristan series in my life
Seconding the motion for a follow-up video ;)
Thank you so much for this one!
Wow- newer to classical music here- I've never really listened to Wagner because the length of the operas seems a bit daunting. But listening to your playing here- he sounds so modern. Big fan of Mahler and can hear the fingerprints, too. Cool. Thanks for sharing!
Mahler was a huge admirer of Wagner, and a great conductor of his operas. They are very similar (minus the opera part lol)
Possibly sounds so modern because it's a *very* short step from Wagner to almost all orchestral film scores, from Erich Korngold to John Williams
Thank you. I look forward to your next talk .
Another example of composer citing Tristan und Isolde, is Bernard Herrmann, in his "scene d'amour" of the Vertigo sound track.
How interesting!
As a fan of Brazilian bossa nova I'd call that the "Corcovado" chord. :)
Jobim was a huge fan of the late romantic composers, and it shows in his use of harmony.
As a brazilian musician, I'm quite happy to read this! I know Jobim was a big fan of Debussy, and maybe that's one possible origin. Take a listen to his "Imagina", a song he wrote in his 17's; to me sounds very debussyian. He also liked Chopin, and his "Insensatez", or "How insensitive" is heavily inspired by the Em prelude.
@@LucasFranco-w5p I love "Imagina"! It's amazing that Jobim was only 17 when he wrote such a beautiful song! One of my favorite Brazilian guitarists, Marcus Tardelli, does a beautiful arrangement of it on guitar (I play guitar). Oh wow I never made that connection with "Insensatiz"! But yes, I can hear it! If I recall correctly, the bridge of "Chovendo na Roseira" was another classical influenced song...? Anyhow, Brazilian music has so many great composers!
@@Jasper_the_Cat Yes! Well, Chovendo na Roseira definitely has that modal approach that you could certainly trace to that type of sound. This influence actually shows up in much of Jobim's work, specially his more classically inclined and "ecological" compositions (records like Matita Perê, Urubu and Passarim are examples of this direction). His "Sabiá" has a quite debussyian introduction, that even has those half diminished chords that feel taken straight from Prelude a l'apres midi dun faune. Another huge influence for him was brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and you'll see many quotes of pieces like "Trenzinho do caipira" in Jobim's music. Jobim actually has composed at least one symphonic poem, Sinfonia da Alvorada, but I'd say his best work was at song writing. Anyways, always awesome to know of a brazilian music admirer! Cheers!
An absolutely illuminating and fascinating video. Thank you
What a thoroughly top explanation of the chord. I've not listened to much Wagner through my life. Maybe I should.
You should!
Superb talk. I wish I could put more "likes" :) the whole opera never ceases to fascinate! Please sure, do more videos about it, not just the beginning!!!
I would love more Wagner, maybe do a rundown of the transformation music from Parsifal , which is obviously so touched by Tristan. And even imo a successful attempt at imbedding the syntax developed in Tristan into a tonal context ( functionally speaking) every human alive should have heard it at least once. This was delightful!
Your lecture is perfect at my level of university music studies education background. You're picking up exactly where my music education stopped (i had to drop out after junior year for stupid visa reasons). I know the augmented sixth Italian, German, French and all the theory. We did some composition and i composed a miniature sonata but never got to composition class or counter point class. I liked that you played the reduction at the end, it was really necessary after focusing on the first bars. I could hear in the later bars harmonic possibilities of false Chopin "states" but that do not indulge toward Chopin and continues its more chromatic and dissonant route, also Scriabin. I hear several harmonic hinges beautiful ambiguities in the music that could lead to many resolutions that my trained ear (let's not be too modest) can faintly hear there emotional impact of the possible resolutions but Wagner never chooses to resolve and linger, not to make a decision. It's very chromatic.
My theory professor talked about this and how the opera never resolves until the end. Thanks for the video!
Thank you. I quite liked your historical survey leading through the aug 6th to Wagner's creation.
Yes yes! A gossipy video about Wagner please! This was great. 🙏
Fascinating. Thank you so much for this edifying discussion.
Excellent video, really interesting analysis/ explanation of the chord plus its roots/sources in the past and its influence in later music.
Yes please! to more analysis of Tristan and Isolde (and Wagner).
Many thanks! Your interpretation of the Tristan Chord is absolutely spot on: an ascending soprano appoggiatura on to a French augmented sixth in A minor!
Amazing video Professor! I always thought that Wagner was only a mad antisemitic, but now I see that he was a much more interesting historical figure than just that. This video explains lots of thinks about him and his music. I hope you reconsider to do a Tristan und Isolde series even with just a few views, I would be interested on watching that on full. Cheers!
The 4 notes that open Tristan und Isolde are also an intentional quote from Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, specifically from the beginning of "Roméo Seul" (Romeo Alone). The opening gesture is quoted almost verbatim, save for the first interval, turned from a 4th into a 6th instead, but to an F nonetheless! Wagner harmonized the landing with his famous chord, whereas Berlioz had left the melody completely bare, likely to represent Roméo's solitude.
Wagner was smitten by Roméo et Juliette when he first heard it. He recounted in his autobiography to having been greatly affected by it, and that it showed him things that he didn't know could be done in music. It remained a big influence on him, as he offered the first copy of Tristan to Berlioz in 1860 with the dedication "To the dear and great author of Roméo et Juliette, the grateful author of Tristan und Isolde."
Yes, of course you're right. Wagner must have been amazed by the opening of "Roméo Seul"
Yes, you broke the Wagner code.
1. With the appoggiatura G# of the Tristan Chord resolving upward to A, then it's harmonic function can be understood as a form of the Subdominant in the key of A Minor, labeled either as F7 b5 or a B7 b5/F.
2. In jazz theory, the first two measures would be referred to as an incomplete ii - V progression in the key of A minor since the Tonic i chord is not arrived at. Unresolved ii - V progressions abound in jazz harmony that accompany simple melodies.
3.Therefore, in the key of A Minor, Tristan's opening measure 1 = Subdominant function and measure 2 = Dominant function. The Tristan chord can also be considered as V of V in the key of A Minor using Figured Bass analysis.
Agree with your definition of genius. What a lovely resolution to the French 6th. Thanks! Great information!
Loke'! Dogs love rolling in disgusting stinky... stuff. And mine always look so proud about it! hahaha! 🙂
Pure magic. Thank you!
It's interesting to look at this from the perspective of jazz harmony.
In that analysis we have F7#9#11 E7 (with passing tones). In other words an "altered" predominant, or a bVI V movement which is a common substitution for a ii V movement, especially in minor. A lot of jazz musicians frequently use French, Itailan and Gernan sixth chords without actually knowing - they just conceive them differently. These substitutions come from the realisation that the defining character of dominants is the tritone, so as in this instance F7 can stand in for B7 as well as the fact that dominants can be freely altered.
Thank you❤
Please do more Wagner videos, Tristan, Ring cycle, Parsifal would be great! Very insightful, great analysis
Bravo! Someday I should try to see the whole opera live. Tell us more--especially the gossipy stuff.
The chord illustrated at the beginning of the talk is a G# minor 6th, in inversion. It's not an unusual chord (ask any guitarist), but more that it is unexpected in the middle of other chords, and improved by the use of the orchestral instruments which Wagner chooses.
Do more on Tristan, listened to the whole video on my way to work 💪🏼
Ironic that he was reinventing opera, when the cliché image of a fat lady dressed as a valkyrie is the first thing normies think of when they think of opera.
I am more of a Parsifal person, probably because I have never seen a truly good enactment of Tristan und Isolde (already dreading when I get to see this year's Bayreuth production eventually), but your explanation leads me to re-listen to it again.
More Wagner content. Please. 😊
I love Parsifal too.
@@themusicprofessor then have a look at the current enactment in Bayreuth. We went this year, and it was beautifully interpreted both musically and visually
Thank you for this new excellent video. I really love what you are doing. Going back to Wagner and his music, I wonder whether when he composed his music he was actually conscientious about all the theory you so well explained in your video. Sure Wagner’s music is all about emotion but on the other hand it is so well crafted, especially when I’m thinking about the leitmotiv he makes use of. As to the length of his operas: once you have dived into them, you won’t notice the clock. Please do more videos about his music!!!
A quick answer to the theory question: no, because the partimento tradition in which he was trained (like Beethoven & Mozart and most composers before 1900) ensured that he had an absolutely solid grasp of harmony as a practical tool. He didn't need to think about chords in a theoretical way most of the time, although I'd imagine he would have been able to give a theoretical explanation of what he was doing.
What glorious riches! Thank you so much for sharing your extraordinary knowledge.
Thank you!
Yes, more on Tristan, please!
More! This was brilliant (and reminded me of Steve Goss' excellent lectures on this sort of thing)
Maybe I should chat to Steve on the channel at some point...
@@themusicprofessor That would be well worth a watch !
I would be very interested to see a video that shows the connections between Wagner's Tristan and the philosophy of Schopenhauer.
Great show Loke - it's clear who is the driving force behind all this.
Fascinating. Please, more on Wagner.
Fascinating! Thank you for this very erudite resolution of the Wagnerian enigma... I bought a chordless vacuum cleaner yesterday and I can't work out how to plug it in.... Woe! 😢 😉
Thank you for a very interesting bit of music theory and history. I didn't know about his political leanings and that's based!
I'm just amazed by your knowledge, Matthew. I watch with probably slightly more musical comprehension than Loki, but I don't want to miss a word.
When you first mention the Tristan chord, it plays in isolation, and around twelve minutes in the first orchestral bars are played. Both times, I'm afraid my brain went to the theme tune to Coronation Street. I don't know if it's just the particular quality of the sound, the horns with subtle vibrato, or some harmonic relationship. We've found the level, as they say. :) I'm not at all into opera or music of the romantic period, but maybe I'll meander there eventually from my baroque obsession.
The discussion of going from dissonance into dissonance, and the final resolution of this piece made me think this is what makes great music, finding that balance between yearning and arriving, stretching the journey into different harmonic lands. I love the exquisite surprises Bach springs on the ear. You think we're going this way, but nope...this other voice has different ideas! And eventually, after all the twists and turns, it's so satisfying to arrive.
I don't think the words 'Tristan' and 'Coronation Street' have ever appeared in a sentence together before!
Would love to watch the series if you make it.
OK, now I'm going to be buried in a Wagnerian soundscape for days. I'll start with T&I, but then I hear a 160 bar E flat calling
Loved the video
Ah Wilcocks...”WORD of the Father” . Well, not really the same but close to the Tristan chord. Really appreciate your videos and love the historical context.
I always said that the secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord was a minor sixth.
Wagner really said nah I'm not going to resolve that for 4 hours... (Liebestod is something else though)
One thing I find interesting about it is that there's a contradiction between the chord's harmonic functionality and its expressive role. Even though it's the main chord of the entire opera, its function is, as you said, an appoggiatura to the French 6th chord, which is functionally the main chord. However, Wagner leans into the Tristan chord while treating the next A as a passing note, thereby inverting their roles. So, it's as if the opera's main idea isn't actually there or is somewhere in the distant background.
But during the climax of the introduction, the chord is enharmonically reinterpreted as the II chord of Eb minor, which has an independent function within that key, thus moving the chord to the foreground. Afterwards, it recedes to the background again when the key changes back to A minor.
Yes - Wagner understands the deep ambiguity of the chord and exploits it to the highest possible level.
I think the opera really begins in d minor: a f e ... We expect a normal cadence on d, but instead we get e-flat, implying a modulation to the Neapolitan minor key. Donald Tovey once said that such a modulation casts a dark pall over the music (_Harmony_ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica). But then the magic occurs. The Tristan chord somehow transforms this tragic modulation into a life-affirming modulation to the dominant, and A is established as the true tonic (albeit minor).
Fair comment but Wagner’s key signature (and first note) does suggest A minor.
It is very true that the first three notes can be heard in D minor. I have played these notes for my students very often, asking them what the key is, and they most often vote for D minor. Wagner even makes use of this possibility in Act 3, Scene 1: in Tristan's first big monologue, the chord is quoted after the words "Wie schwand mir seine Ahnung?" We're clearly coming from D minor at that moment.
I think the point is that the first three notes can be heard in D minor, in A minor, even in F major or C major, but not in Eb minor, which is the key that F-halfdim is almost always used in. In fact, Eb minor is a tritone away from A minor, the actual key of the piece. (And as another commenter already mentioned, Wagner plays with this tension between Eb minor and A minor at the climax of the prelude, in mm. 81-84.)
I don't think any of this, nor anything else in Tristan, is life-affirming, though. ;-)
Listen to the whole album, Pete! I'm not fast-forwarding it for you again. Give it a chance.
10:36 I never noticed that the chord the Tristan chord moves to features both a diminished 5th and an augmented 5th. Take that harmony teachers!
Hey thank you for this video! Have you ever considered a breakdown of Mozart's k.608 fantasia? There is a lot of juicy material there to explore.
Yes. It's a fascinating piece.
Yes, I am so overwhelmed by that work and think it should be also set in a symphonic garment: ua-cam.com/video/QUFYtm0sCys/v-deo.htmlsi=pMDYztyUm0jYeFcw
I absolutely second that. One of my favs.
Harold Schonberg, in his Lives of the Great Composers book, writes of the enormous influence that Liszt's chromaticism had on composers. That a lieder by Liszt, Ich Mochte Hengen has the Tristan chords note for note with the exception being a D natural. He also tells an old story, possibly apocryphal in which Liszt and Wagner are in a box listening to Tristan, and Wagner says, " those are your chords, Papa." To which Liszt replied, " at least now they'll be heard."
Brilliant
You can also hear the Tristan phrase in the 2nd version of Liszt's "Ich möchte hingehn" from 1859. However, Liszt uses a D instead of D#, but the chromatic melody is identical. For once it may be Liszt quoting Wagner, it is nearly always the other way around.
It's a little like Haydn & Mozart: it's not always easy to tell who influences whom.
@@themusicprofessor In fact, it is often quite clear that the "original" ideas emanates from Liszt's pen, some people think that the Tristan chord originates from the Faust symphony, but I think it appears in a different context there. However, the opening of Parsifal is clearly derived from Liszt's Excelsoir composed in 1873/74. It would be interesting if you could make a video discussing the Haydn/Mozart-connection.
Wagner was like a sponge: he responded in a very profound way to music he heard. Tristan is profoundly influenced by Hans von Bulow's Nirvana (I didn't mention this in the video) which is also a fascinating piece. What is so admirable (and irritating) in Wagner is his capacity to steal ideas off other people and realise huge potential in these ideas (far exceeding their original source!)
@@themusicprofessor Indeed, but it was mainly Liszt's music that entered that sponge. Wagner's music changed after he met Liszt in Weimar and Liszt sent him the scores of the first symphonic poems while Wagner was in exile in Switzerland. Some say that Orpheus was the inspiration for Tristan, but it is not evident to my ears, only the mood is similar.
Yes! Please do the others you suggested :)
Nice
oh! that glorious hidden part of youtube!
I hear the "Tristan" chord as a G# minor added 6th. Kind of the way the first chord in Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is a C# minor added 6th...
Delightful presentation and thank you for posting!
I've just written a book with my 2 cts (ie. introducing "architectonic" theory) that attempts to resolve Wagner's "Tristan" and Scriabin's "Mystic" Chords (plus another cool sonority from Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61) and hope that it will be published soon 8-)
Cheers
Sounds fascinating!
@@themusicprofessor
Thank you and I'll be sure to forward the title, if interested 🙂🎵
Yes please, may I have more?
I disagree with your characterisation of Tristan und Isolde as a "tragedy". I suppose in one sense it is a "tragedy" but that only really applies to the phenomenal realm in which the on-stage drama takes place. The radiant music that concludes this great music-drama tells us the opposite: in the transcendent, noumenal realm of "night" Tristan and Isolde are 'one' with no separation (since, for Wagner, the noumenal realm does not contain subject and object; its undifferentiated). The Tristan Chord, in fact, finally resolves into a radiant, almost glowing B major chord. After read Schopenhauer Wagner came to the conclusion that there is a transcendent reality beyond time and space; that the fundamental reality is consciousness; universal compassion, non-violence and that the 'goal' is a transcendent state of peace and egoless-ness. Human life is a chain of suffering and empty illusion. Cravings can never be satisfied; erotic love and desire for power give rise to an endless cycle of cause and effect that can only be effaced by death. When Isolde dies at the end of 'Tristan und Isolde' she is redeemed from the on-stage drama, the phenomenal world, but liberated into total metaphysical peace. You could think of it as Nirvana. Wagner was of course also influenced by Buddhism at this point.
I think in conventional dramatic terms, it is a tragedy, but yes, it has an extra transcendental, quasi-Buddhist celebration of being absorbed into the eternal nothingness at the end. I hinted at this earlier in the discussion.
@@themusicprofessor Yes, I suppose I agree, but in so far as the drama is in the music (which by this point it most certainly is) then I think that the radiantly beautiful conclusion of Tristan und Isolde is radically different to a genuine tragedy, such as Verdi's Otello. You did indeed hint at all this but I thought it was worthwhile making it more explicit, especially since Wagner's 'operas' are all about redemption (or, if you prefer, salvation). Its no coincidence that just before the last few bars of Tristan und Isolde we hear an "amen" in the orchestra: this is a sacred work of art. Scruton and Magee are very illuminating about all this.
Thanks for an excellent video!
The importance of partimento has been discovered more and more... Here in Sweden we have for ex. Peter van Tour, a former teacher of mine, who has done reasearch and uses it in his teaching.
By the way, you should get yourself a piano tuning! Then the playing would be even more enjoyable. Unfortunately I live in Sweden, otherwise I could have done it for you! 😄
Thank you. It gets done from time to time. I'm sorry it's a little under-par at the moment.
I always think about Debussy having fun with the Tristan chord in the gollywog's cakewalk...
The video discusses Debussy at 25:47
Yes. I didn't notice the connection to Le prélude à l'après midi d'un faune. Thank you.
on the piano the beginning section and the chord sounds somewhat jazzy, gershwin-like to my uneducated ears
I hear it too!
You have no idea how much effort dogs put into their punge. And you washed him!
I like you and your dog, but can do without Wagner. Now I am off to look up Mendelsohn and my new best friend Bellini.
I can finally sight-read tolerably well in my 3rd year. Big strides on the piano in your 4th-6th year?
Man, it's crazy how I instantly associated the entrance of that half diminished chord with a Debussy type of sound. I'm a brazilian musician (not classically trained, working with more of a "jazz" background, if i'm trying to translate it poorly), and I've always enjoyed Debussy's music and the harmonic directions he kinda opened up along with other modern composers (Stravinsky, Ravel...), with more of a modal, colorful aproach of harmony. I thought of Wagner (and was told about it this way) as a composer that led to another modern direction, a chromatic one, that would lead to Schoenberg's theories. I've also always kind of steered away from him, maybe because of an aesthetic preference, or simply lack of dedication hearing long operas, and even a bit because of his infamous association with antisemitism and nazi history (which maybe could be a good subject to cover in some way; I was really surprised to find about his alignement with marxist thinkers), and ended up not listening to much of his work, although I've known of this Tristan and Isolde chord for some time. The thing is, it's really cool to see how these different aproaches to new grounds in harmony actually interacted at that time, and it's clear how Wagner got to that sound chromatically, and how it makes sense within that tonal logic, while maybe Debussy took that color (specifically before the appogiatura resolves), and resignified it throughout his work, in a modal way. To my ears, that chord is very Debussy, but it's the other way around. Great video, as always! I've been watching some of your videos and learning a lot, and I'm surely curious to hear what more you've got to say about Tristan and Isolde!
Wagner's influence over French culture and French composers is profound, and Wagner's wonderful, sensual approach to harmony and orchestration etc. was absolutely alluring to French (and non-Germanic) composers. I find it very odd that he's aways framed in Teutonic terms, always being blamed for establishing two equal and opposite pathways: one 'leading to Hitler' (who I believe grew to fear his music) and the other 'leading to Schoenberg' and atonality. Schoenberg preferred Brahms!
@@themusicprofessor It's never late to break some rigid notions. It's an unfair weight to put over a composer, and such an important one. I'll be sure to look at this with a new view. It's interesting to know Shoenberg prefered Brahms; I'd say this thing about not ever resolving to the tonic during an entire movement is a very Shoenberg type of thing. Now I'm wondering more about Brahms... Anyways, thanks for the response!
the 'Tristan Chord' does not exist, because it is a progression of 2 chords, and those 2 chords constitute a II-V (the II being a secondary Dominant), so in 'jazz terms' (the language, everyone, unfortunately, nowadays seems to speak) "it" is a B6/F , with the 6 (g#) "resolving" to an 'a': the minor 7 of the chord:resulting in B7, followed by E7+11 with the a# ( +11 ) resolving to a 'b' (5 ) of the chord (E7). It really is that simple and there isn't any possible other explanation.
That was very interesting but I wonder if you are being coy. Surely, the opera is about the power of sexuality, not love. There are few pieces as erotic (well, the Rite is pretty sexy too).
But thank you for making such an interesting video
Leonard Bernstein analyzes this famous prelude in his Norton Lectures. Bernstein insists there is no A-minor chord in the whole prelude.
He's right.
Love the shirt! Where'd you get it? 😭
Adjustable ranges Pitch blend synthesizer best with a foot pedal may help rather then conroled by a finger located next to synthesized keyboards.also if any keyboard note can b individually controlled to a altered pitch from a440 a447 higher or lower etc
That's a pretty common voicing in Jazz for G7alt (or G7#5b9) and Db9.
sounds like a min 6 to me. I'm :46 in though. Let me watch more.
Gradual pitch space note changes In between c to c sharp or lowered.a mixture a mess or resolve
Gossip? Private life? OH NO! Ohhhh . . . well . . . alright then.
You may want to correct your Tristan und Isolde timestamp.
Done
Thank you for the video! Another interesting chord is Rachmaninoff's subdominant.
It’s a nihilistic chord that says in one note that romantic love is futile. Essentially Wagner is satirically mocking romanticism as naive and futile. 😂
Wagner was a good composer.
I understand just a little more of this than the dog does.
An inaccuracy right from the start: the great Enigma of music is actually by Elgar!
I personally disagree with the idea that this type of writing leads naturally to atonality. I think without the context of tonality and the typical devices (i.e. structures of partimento) this music loses its impact. We need an aspect of grounded familiarity in order to be affected by the twists and turns
This is absolutely true. Tristan is firmly rooted in tonality, otherwise its effects simply would not work. All these non-resolving dissonances and deceptive cadences have the effect that they have precisely because you do want the dissonances to resolve, you do want the cadences to arrive. The idea that Tristan necessarily led to atonality is highly controversial, and even considered outdated by now. That is not to deny, as is stated correctly in this video, that pretty much all post-Tristan composers responded to it in one way or another.
Keep in mind, also, that in Wagner's output Tristan is immediately followed by Meistersinger, the most consonant of Wagner's music dramas.
@ralfpisters That last point is so cogent to me. Wagner wasn't stepping away from tonality but embracing it wholeheartedly! But yes, it definitely opened the door for people to do more radical things
Measure 1 is an implied a-minor tonic with a long 6-5 appoggiatura; measure 2 then develops/inverts that, but now as a French 6th with long #2-3 appoggiatura. That's how I hear it, anyway.
Yes. I kind of say this at 21:42: ua-cam.com/video/Aya6rG0PgRs/v-deo.htmlsi=bXcpccmZ0rZfwRwO&t=1303
Yes - I kind of say this: ua-cam.com/video/Aya6rG0PgRs/v-deo.htmlsi=bXcpccmZ0rZfwRwO&t=1303
On a similar note, I'd love to hear your take on Nuages Gris by Liszt, in which he (essentially) ends on the Tristan chord which to me is like the ultimate non-resolved ending
Yes. Fascinating piece.
I've always taken what I thought to be a path of littlest possible resistance with this one. You mention that calling it a half diminished doesn't explain anything, but personally, I think it does an adequate job if you look at this as just a series of subdominants and dominants that take little swerves away from their normal targets.
I see the first chord as F half diminished inverted(3rd in the bass). Then it passes through an E7 with the b5 in the melody, and this, idiomatically, is acting as kind of an "N" of Eb dominant, or substitution for Bb7. from there, it really wants to hit an Ebdominant, but it just doesn't, which is a common late romantic chromatic little curve-ball.
It sounds to me like functional harmony in an expanded chromatic context. Anyone else have a take like this?
it helps me to replace the swerves with the normal moves. In this case, play Fm7-5, to Bb7, to Eb7. To me that's the normal, functional passage that Wagner then just kind of zigs where you think he'll zag.
Maybe this is too blunt a take, but that's always how I heard it.