Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde": An Essay on the Wagnerian Drama

The essay offers a guided introduction to the Wagnerian drama, combining biographical context, critical history and close musical and textual analysis of Tristan und Isolde. It surveys Wagner criticism and theoretical writings, traces German musical antecedents and variants of the Tristan myth, explains the composer's conception and answers common objections, and argues for music as a vehicle of expression. Practical chapters examine harmonic language, leitmotivic diction and the opera's text-music relations. Written for newcomers, it urges a shift in listening habits to apprehend Wagner's aims and stresses clarity of musical expression over fashionable misconceptions.