Wagner disregards the harmony of the Baroque and Classical periods epitomized by Bach and Haydn, each of whom helped to establish the reigning traditional form of harmony. Thus, his unique style of composing create a confusion of sorts within the classical genre.
His concept of the all-encompassing Gesamtkunstwerk and the notion of endless melody rather than periodic cadences complicate the idea of music as performance and minimizes the achievements of his predecessors. Tristan und Isolde successfully represents the human striving to surpass the material world (day), and to reach the enlightened and eternal world of the spirit (night).
Wagner's use of various leitmotifs, particularly the friction created by the “Tristan Chord,” demonstrates the flexibility of musical modes of expression.
2 comments:
Do you really think he is minimizing the acheivements of his predecessors - mozart, haydn. Shouldn't it rather be thought of as a moving forward of music out of the sticky starched shirt bounds of the classical phrase?
I agree that he is moving music forward out of the "starched shirt bounds." However, I believe that in doing so, he IS minimizing his predecessors' achievements by demonstrating his ability to break free of their rigidity.
Post a Comment