Tristan chord

Tristan Und Isolde's opening chord (F, B, D sharp, G sharp: now known as the 'Tristan Chord') revolutionised how composers treated tonality.

Identifying the Tristan Chord and Its Context The chord is enharmonically similar to an F half-diminished chord. To build this chord, all you need is a tritone (F to B), an augmented 6th (F to D#), and an augmented 9th (F to G#) from the root note of the chord.

If you're a music lover, you may have heard of the so-called “Tristan chord” from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde. Audiences were stunned to hear this infamous harmony when the opera premiered on June 10, 1865 in Munich, Germany. As Tristan turns 150, let's take a look at what makes the Tristan chord so unique.

Tristan und Isolde - Prelude is written in the key of A Minor. According to the Theorytab database, it is the most popular key among Minor keys and the 7th most popular among all keys. Minor keys, along with major keys, are a common choice for popular music.

The second passage, given in example 6, is from the opening of the Prelude to act 3. In this passage, the Tristan chord appears as a B b minor triad with added sixth resolving to F minor.

Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde should prompt us to search for an antidote to the lovers' death wish - to pursue a love that preserves rather than destroys, celebrates rather than abolishes individuality, and seeks life rather than death.

The second passage, given in example 6, is from the opening of the Prelude to act 3. In this passage, the Tristan chord appears as a B b minor triad with added sixth resolving to F minor.

Since it is established that the bass of this chord is F, a major third lower than the first note of the Prelude, the TC can be a half-diminished seventh only if the oboe's G♯ of bar 2 is really an A♭.

The Augmented 4th, or Tritonus, which spans three whole steps in the scale, is one of the most dissonant musical intervals around. It was considered unpleasant and ugly, and was named "diabolus in musica" - "the devil in music" - and you wouldn't use anything diabolical to praise the Lord, would you?

The story of Tristan and Isolde is a quintessential romance of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 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.

It might be said that Wagner did not take his own advice, for soon he would be emphasising a dissonance himself, using a chord that he possibly discovered first in the score of Nirwana. Although it could with justification be called "the Nirwana chord", it has become known as "the Tristan chord".

Since it is established that the bass of this chord is F, a major third lower than the first note of the Prelude, the TC can be a half-diminished seventh only if the oboe's G♯ of bar 2 is really an A♭.