Tristan und Isolde Tristan and Isolde , WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg.
Wagner's composition of Tristan und Isolde was inspired in part by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer , as well as by his relationship with his muse Mathilde Wesendonck. Tristan und Isolde is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements of Western art music , intriguing audiences with philosophical depths not usually associated with opera, and the "terrible and sweet infinity" of its musical-poetic language.
Other composers such as Claude Debussy , Maurice Ravel , and Igor Stravinsky formulated their styles in contrast to Wagner's musical legacy. Wagner was forced to abandon his position as conductor of the Dresden Opera in , as there was a warrant posted for his arrest for his participation in the unsuccessful May Revolution.
There, in , he met the wealthy silk trader Otto Wesendonck. Wesendonck became a supporter of Wagner and bankrolled the composer for several years. Wesendonck's wife, Mathilde , became enamoured of the composer. The re-discovery of medieval Germanic poetry, including Gottfried von Strassburg 's version of Tristan [ de ] , the Nibelungenlied and Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival , left a large impact on the German Romantic movements during the midth century.
Several versions of the story exist, the earliest dating to the middle of the 12th century. Gottfried's version, part of the "courtly" branch of the legend, had a huge influence on later German literature. According to his autobiography , Mein Leben , Wagner decided to dramatise the Tristan legend after his friend, Karl Ritter, attempted to do so, writing that:. He had, in fact, made a point of giving prominence to the lighter phases of the romance, whereas it was its all-pervading tragedy that impressed me so deeply that I felt convinced it should stand out in bold relief, regardless of minor details.
