#Tristan und Isolde

[oeuvrinarydurian]

I absolutely hate “Scherzo”. I hate most of S8. Not as much as S7, but I do hate it. In any case, though, as with S7, there are wonderful moments. This is one of the highlights for me.

Since I’ve only been part of this cult community for a short time, I’m sure someone has discussed this before now, but towards the beginning of the episode, Morse is getting dressed. We haven’t seen him appear yet and we’re a few minutes in. 

As the scene opens, we hear Wagner‘s famous “Tristan Chord”.

Part of the reason why it’s famous is because of its construction. It’s unresolved. Unresolved chords create tension and uncertainty. They’re also quite dramatic.

This happens several times in the opera “Tristan und Isolde“, and at this moment, at the beginning of Act 3 (the thing is four hours long), our hero, Tristan, is injured and hoping for help.

As the camera pulls back from the image of the turntable, we see empty bottles - it’s first thing in the morning we realize, because Morse is carrying coffee and putting on his tie. That’s lot of bottles. He’s clearly not okay. There’s a knock at the door.

Instead of help for our hero, it’s Gwen. 

I know it’s not a Thursday Thursday, but I thought I’d leave you with a Tristan Thursday before I head off to a busy workday. 

Volume up.

[hjtart]

isolde 🌊

[too-antigonish]

A Bit on Music in Endeavour

A favorite musical moment in Endeavour is at around 04min45s in Scherzo (S8E2) where you hear Wagner’s Prelude to Act III of Tristan und Isolde. Morse has it going on his record player while he dresses for work. We’ve just come off of the first episode of S8 and we’ve seen the degree to which he is starting to fall apart. He’s a mess really. Perfect time for some Wagner.

If you don’t know about Wagner, he was a horrible human being, but an innovative composer. Tristan und Isolde, in particular, is considered a real turning point in composition because of its very intentional use of dissonance. It’s so significant, in fact, that the very first chord you hear in this piece is actually referred to as the “Tristan chord”—one of only about a dozen or so “named” chords in the western musical canon. 

The chord just…aches. There’s a really intense urge to hear it move on to its harmonic resolution. You want it to get better!

And this particular prelude is at the beginning of Act III, so if you know the opera, you start to picture it in your mind…

…As Act III opens, Tristan is lies mortally wounded. His faithful servant waits for the arrival of Isolde, the only one who has the power to heal Tristan. A shepherd lad has been instructed to signal the servant by playing a tune on his pipes when the ship carrying Isolde is sighted. They wait, listening. Surely help will arrive in time to save the dying man…

Nope. It’s Gwen. 

Another favorite is in Neverland at about 15min. Monica and Morse are in a cozy, domestic scene. He’s doing the crossword. She’s darning a sock. She asks if he’s happy and somewhere along the line you realize that they’re listening to the beginning of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (basically a musical retelling of the crucifixion). By the first time I saw that episode, I’d learned enough about how they used music in the series to guess that things were about to go very, very wrong. There actually was going to be a crucifixion of sorts.

There are so many instances where they use music (both classical—and if you you are lucky enough to be watching the UK versions—popular as well) to either foreshadow or pull a bait-and-switch or to reference another work or otherwise give a scene additional layers of meaning.

It’s just beautifully done—but it’s also done gently. It’s done in such a way that those not “in the know” aren’t left on the outside. There’s nothing crucial that you’re going to miss out on, but at the same time it’s great fun when you see it.

[ladyjuquia]

„A Lady reading Tristan & Isolde“

art by @xinyanfanclub (Twitter/X)

『A Medieval Lady reading Gottfried von Straßburgs „Tristan“, the words on the scrolls are supposed to show the first verses of the Poem in old medieval German language.』 ~ Description based on one of the pop-up books (Serie No.206 - The Bedroom/Tristan Legend) you can purchase in the Neuschwanstein Castle

Based on the August Spieẞ Painting you can find in Neuschwanstein Castle in Ludwigs Bedroom, the room dedicated to the Tristan & Isolde Legend. The Title & the Description felt so perfectly made for a Re-Draw of Medieval Juquia/Me…

[derring-do]

Upcoming Opera Streams: Mid-Late October 2024

Oct 19th: Fin de Partie (Endgame) from Wiener Staatsoper. Featuring Georg Nigl, Hilary Summers, Charles Workman and Philippe Sly. Free (login required)!

Oct 20th: Mosè in Egitto from Teatro Comunale Modena. Featuring Michele Pertusi, Dave Monaco, and Aida Pascu. Free!

Oct 22nd: Concours de Genève Finals. Finalists to be announced. Free!

Oct 25th: La Boheme from Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier. Featuring Adriana Ferfecka, Long Long, Mikołaj Trąbka, and Julia Muzychenko. Free!

Oct 27th: Tristan und Isolde from San Francisco Opera. Featuring Simon O'Neill, Anja Kampe, Wolfgang Koch, and Kwangchul Youn. Rental.

[opera-ghosts]

July 25. 1886 was the first time Wagner’s Opera “Tristan und Isolde” present at the Bayreuther Festspiele. Here you see a original poster from that first serie 1886. The Conductor was Felix Mottl.

[skeppsbrott]

Isolde by Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898), printed poster

Via Bukowskis:

In the tales of King Arthur, the knight Tristan and the Irish princess Isolde were bound together by a love potion, with ultimately tragic results. Although Beardsley illustrated Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a version of the medieval legend first published in the 15th century, the reference in this drawing is more likely to Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, which was performed frequently in the 1890s.

Most of Beardsley’s drawings were made for illustration: Isolde was reproduced as a color lithograph in the periodical The Studio in 1895.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

so in my arthurian literature class a few years ago, we read gottfried von strassburg’s tristan and isolde, and I can’t stop thinking about how FUNNY it is

a list of dumb things that happen in gottfried von strassburg’s tristan and isolde:

tristan manages to sneak into ireland calling himself "tantris," and somehow fools isolde and the queen (also named isolde; there are three people named isolde in the whole book) and the only way isolde finds out it's him is because she's able to match his sword with the wound in her uncle's skull, and not, you know, because tristan just switched the two syllables in his name around. she spends a whole paragraph trying to figure this out

tristan can speak five different languages and the best thing he can come up with is fucking tantris

isolde and her mother are supposed to be like super advanced healers but they somehow can’t immediately figure this out

one of tristan’s skills is being a really good liar. but no we got TANTRIS. do you see why I’m mad about this

this whole story started in the first place because tristan got abducted by norwegian pirates while playing chess on a boat, and he doesn't even notice he's been kidnapped at first

a whole two pages on how to skin a deer carcass, as well as extensive etymology for obscure hunting terms

tristan saying he's not good at playing the harp, only for his epic harp playing to be described in lengthy detail

tristan being depressed until he meets his friend's dog, then wanting to get the dog for isolde, then going on a huge side quest where he fights a giant so his friend will give him the dog

the whole love triangle where tristan has to choose between isolde and someone else also named isolde with basically the same personality

in the wagner opera adaptation, brangane deliberately switches the love and death potions. meanwhile in gottfried’s source text, she literally just forgets she was supposed to deliver a love potion so isolde and mark could drink it, mistakes it for wine, and gives it to tristan and isolde

tristan and isolde spend the entire journey to cornwall having sex

the whole sideplot where marjadoc and melot are trying to catch tristan and isolde having an affair so they dump flour all over the ground

there’s a dragon for some reason

in conclusion, you can guess why I was so disappointed when I watched the wagner opera

[julianpeterscomics]

"The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot, page 8

Check out page 8 of my comics adaptation of "The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot!

Every week on this site, I will be publishing a new page from my ongoing comics adaptation of “The Burial of the Dead,” the first section of T. S. Eliot’s epochal poem “The Waste Land” (Click on image to enlarge). Next week: A look into the heart of light!

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

HELLO???????????

[issela-santina]

Kurwenal is definitely bisexual and by that I mean he's gay for Tristan and hangs out alterously with Brangäne every other night whenever he sees that she's not having a good day with Isolde. Brangäne probably concocts contraceptives for the both of them

[7i74]

Max Brückner, Scenery for Tristan und Isolde (1906)

[pink-fiat003]

Started listening to my first opera the other day, Tristan und Isolde by Wagner. This is gonna take me much longer than I thought it would take to complete, but so far I’m lovinggg it. I got the CD so I can listen to it on my CD player.

[ladyjuquia]

❝I fear I have been Isolted now for the second time.❞ - Tristan, Gottfried von Straßburg

Art by @leletosu

Here are my Takes on both Isoldes! I felt like sooner or later it’s gonna happen that I will create a Design for all the major Characters from the Tristan Legend, haha.

Unlike my Gottfried Tristan whose appearance is only based on Gottfried von Straßburgs „Tristan“ the two Isoldes are a fusion of many different depictions combined with my own interpretation and take of them!

While it is said that Isolde Weißhand has dark hair there is also a mention that she looks very similar (in some points) to Isolde from Ireland/La Belle Isolde. So I just decided to go with dark blonde hair in contrast to La Belles Strawberry Blonde!

I also used more story telling on Weißhand with the two roses. It is said that blue roses stand for unrequited love and yellow roses for envy or jealousy. Green is also often associated with Jealousy or Envy, so this is just to summarise her Character Arc in most Myths!

La Belle Isolde was a real obstacle to find a expression that fits her strongwilled personality and her calculating and yet very sublime Aura. So there was more work on her overall than Isolde Weißhand. Especially to capture her natural Beauty but yet let her appear like a Queen. Both Isoldes are royal but Isolde from Ireland seems way more powerful in appearance as a whole, haha.

[derring-do]

From James Helme Sutcliff's review of the 1975/1976 Dresden production of Tristan und Isolde