Analysis of Wagner, Tristan and Und Isolde, mm. 1-25

This excerpt illustrates two techniques very well--highlighting (using one or more instrument(s) to double only one or a few notes of an ongoing line in other instruments) and linking (the transfer of a line from one instrument to another). mm. 1-2: The vc. are in their strongest and most singing register. The tempo is probably too slow for the slur to be executed literally--the players probably need to change bow--I recommend that they change in different places, to retain the effect of the slur. mm. 2-3: The e.h. links from the vc. on D#4. Ob. 1 and the bassoons are highlighted by ob.2 and the clarinets, respectively, creating an emphasis on the downbeat. Each of the four pitches is played by two "instruments" (counting the vc as "one"). After the clarinets and vc drop out, only double reeds are left, which should make a good blend. mm. 4-7: This is a sequence fo mm. 1-3 with similar format: the oboe and clarinet roles are reversed. This causes a mixture of single-reed (clarinet) and double reeds. The clarinet, now in a stronger register, is more effective in the soprano than it would have been in the first phrase. mm. 8-11: The vc. are now quite high and somewhat strained-sounding. The pitch relationship between the three opening phrases is such that the vc. leap up to the first note of the previous woodwind phrase: e.g., to G#4 in m. 5, which retakes that note in m.2 and to B4 in m. 8, which retakes that note in m. 6, thus creating a sort of delayed, or implied, linking. This phrase is another quasi-sequence, but with different harmony. The instrumental assignments are the same as in mm. 1-3, with the addition of hn. 2, which (together with cl. 2, which is in a weak register) highlights C4. We see that in m. 10 cl. 1 highlights the soprano ob. 1, whereas in m. 2 ob. 2 is used for the same purpose. This "change" is possibly because the clarinet is now in a stronger register. mm. 12-13: This is an echo, 8va, of mm. 10-11. The phrases, from the beginning, exhibit an alternation in the sopranos of double-reed and non-double-reed (oboe, clarinet,oboe, flute). Fl. 1 is in a brighter register than it would have been for any of sopranos of the previous phrases. Now, Wagner apparently did not want emphasis on the downbeat--there is no highlighting. mm. 14: The violins (reinforced by the lower octave) echo the soprano of m. 13 and m. 11. This resumes the alternation between woodwinds and strings. m. 15: The alternation and echoing continues. The upper octave is given to only two flutes while there are two clarinets and e.h. on the lower octave. For balance purposes, the stronger register of the flutes requires more instruments below since these instruments are in weaker registers. Also, including e. h. in the mix retains the instrumental sound of the previous woodwind phrase. mm. 16-17: The adding of instruments helps the notated crescendo from m. 14. The lower-string pizzicato highlights the notes marked "sf", and is resonantly full, covering many notes of the harmony, stretching from the bass to just below the soprano, A secondary line, G#4-B4-A4, important because it recalls those notes (in rearranged order) in mm, 2 and 3, is brought out by doubling in ob. 1 and hn. 3, both in strong registers. The surprising F major triad ("deceptive" resolution of V) in m. 17 is emphasized also by fuller texture, but evaporates when the vc. return melodically, taking the violins' last note an octave lower. The bass clarinet, unobtrusively entering, takes the bass line of a sustained woodwind group. mm. 18-21: The vc. are accompanied by woodwinds continuing from mm. 16-17, now articulated by the addition of vla.-cb. pizzes (this resumes the pizz. of m. 16 in a softer manner). In m. 20 hn. 3 holds the G5 that the vc. have arrived at while the vc. move away and back to it while hn. 4 reinforces bn. 2 below. The vc. are in the same register as they were in mm. 1-10 and again rise sequentially, again reaching Bb 5 as part of the climax (as they did in m. 9). In m. 21, on the surprising Neapolitan sixth chord (beat two) on a hushed "p" marking, the pizzes are replaced by sustained arco and the warmer-sounding strings replace the bassoons. In m. 22, second beat, the vn. 2 cross over the vc. to take over the soprano, having entered as if they were continuing the viola part. They play on the G string with its darker, huskier sound--otherwise, they might have sounded thin after the vc. In m. 23 vn. 1 takes over the line, linking from vn. 2's D#4, while the vc. move to a unison C#4 with vn. 2 and then drop a seventh, anticipating the same notes an octave higher they will play when they resume the lead in m. 25. Vn. 1 move between the same notes in reverse order (from D#4 up to C#5) as they ascend, with increasing intensity and straining on the G string. At the high point, after the horns and bassoons come in to fill out the lower part of the texture, the vc. take over the line again, linking with the vn. 1.