SKU: BR.CHB-138-02

Richard Wagner wrote Tristan and Isolde in the years 1857 to 1859. The first edition was published by Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig in 1860. The world premiere took place in the Konigliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich on 10 June 1865 u. Opera; Music theatre; Romantic. Choral score. 8 pages. Breitkopf and Haertel #ChB 138-02. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.CHB-138-02).

ISBN 9790004400791. 6 x 8.5 inches.

Translations: engl. (H. und F. Comer), french (A. Ernst/P. Bruck) Place: Tristan's ship, King Mark's castle in Cornwall, Tristan's castle Characters: Tristan (tenor) - King Mark (bass) - Isolde (soprano) - Kurwenal (baritone) - Melot (tenor) - Brangane (mezzo-soprano) - Shephard (tenor) - Mate (baritone) - Voice of a young sailor (tenor)In 1856 pressing financial obligations forced Wagner to interrupt the composition of the Ring to work on Tristan und Isolde. He initially planned a work that was modest in its production and performance demands. The project was also given priority not least because of the prospect of the royalties which he would then receive. He once again turned to Breitkopf & Hartel for the performance material: 'Tristan und Isolde' is scheduled to be given its first performance at the end of this year. I still hope that it will take place in Karlsruhe under my guidance. Due to the celebrity that I have now acquired, I assume that a new and easily performable work of mine should be able to spread very quickly across the German stages in its first winter season. Wagner was wrong. although the publisher had spent a great deal of time and money in producing preliminary material, Wagner wrote to Breitkopf & Hartel from Munich in November 1864: The squalor of Germany's opera singers and the vile condition of its opera houses have so far dissuaded me from allowing a performance of 'Tristan und Isolde'. What I needed was an impassioned young monarch to restore my courage. Next spring you will hear about the work's premiere in Munich, and you will then hopefully become more confident about this publication.

Richard Wagner wrote Tristan and Isolde in the years 1857 to 1859. The first edition was published by Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig in 1860. The world premiere took place in the Konigliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich on 10 June 1865 under the direction of Hans von Bulow.

SKU: CY.CC2742

Liebestod (German for Love Death) is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner. The music is actually an aria that Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body before she herself is consumed in death.

The music is lush, with rich harmonies and undulating rhythms as the agony of death is also meshed with the passion of love.

Randall Malmstrom has scored this 7-minute work for Trombone octet of advanced performers.

SKU: BT.EMBZ8526

German.

Zoltán Kocsis (1952-2016) left a lasting mark not only as a phenomenal pianist, but as a musical polymath: his genius combined the composer, conductor, editor, instrumentalist, and orchestrator. With his transcriptions he enriched the symphonic, chamber, song, and piano repertoires with a hundred and fifty works.This publication contains a transcription by Kocsis of the prelude to Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. In 1982 the work was recorded played by Kocsis, and today we regularly find it in pianists' programmes. This publication is printed on high quality, durable paper made from renewable raw materials in an environmentally friendly way.

SKU: CN.S11307

Sea Dreams was written in memory of the composer's wife, Jean. After an introduction, which is not heard again until the end of the piece, the music becomes a rondo allegro, and gradually builds to a big climax. At the very end there is an oblique reference to the Liebestod of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde.

Sea Dreams was originally a commission, in 2007, from an American University who wanted me to write a piece in memory of my first wife, Jean, who died in 2006. I set about writing the music and quickly completed the score early in 2008, but, unfortunately, because of the sudden collapse in the worldwide financial markets the commission itself fell through. The music draws on three of the pieces that I had written for Jean in the early days before we were married, namely two violin sonatas (she was a violinist) and the 'Serenade' Opus 22 one of my most popular pieces. However the bulk of the music is new, and the quotes from these early pieces are subtle and merely passing references, not at all like the originals. After an introduction, which is not heard again until the end of the piece, the music becomes a rondo allegro, and gradually builds to a big climax. At the very end there is an oblique reference to the Liebestod of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Sea Dreams was premiered by Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen, on Saturday March 20th 2010 at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham, England.

SKU: FA.MFCD007PN

8.27 x 11.69 inches.

Debussy's friendship with the versatile poet and playwright Gabriel Mourey began in 1899, and in July 1907 Mourey offered Debussy a libretto based on Le roman de Tristan - Joseph Bedier's adaptation of a twelfth-century Breton romance by the Anglo-Norman poet known as Thomas - which had recently been published in Paris. Debussy enthusiastically outlined the four-act plot to Victor Segalen that October, and the main differences from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde are that none of the action takes place in Cornwall and that Isolde of the White Hands is found guilty of cuckolding King Marc with Tristan, who has to rescue her from the leper colony in which she is abandoned in Act 1. She also betrays him when he goes mad at the end.

The idea of a Tristan that restored its 'legendary character' and had no connections with Wagner, appealed to Debussy, who was extremely moved by the circumstances of Tristan's death. Even if he thought that Mourey's poetry was 'not very lyrical and many passages do not exactly invite music', he did work on the libretto and the music that summer and sent his publisher, Jacques Durand, 'one of the 363 themes for the Roman de Tristan' in a letter sent from Pourville on 23 August, 1907. The present prelude grows from this theme, together with the poignant Breton folksong Le Faucon. After a short atmospheric introduction, Debussy's dance-like theme (which is definitely not a leitmotif) gradually gains momentum and after it reaches its ecstatic climax, representing the transient happiness of the lovers, it dissolves into an expressive coda and an elegiac close (all growing from Debussy's opening, off-stage trumpet calls), leaving us with the ultimate tragedy of their ill-fated affair.

Unfortunately, Mourey's actual libretto has been lost and the project eventually foundered because Bedier's cousin, Louis Artus, wanted Debussy to use the scenario he had prepared and copyrighted for the stage, and would not allow him to proceed with Mourey's version. Debussy, it need hardly be said, would never have dreamed of collaborating with the author of the vaudeville hit La culotte (The pants)!