How one chord changed the world: "Tristan" at 150

WFMT ^ | 6/10/2015

[Borges]

The beginning of the end of tonal music.

[BenLurkin]

Wagner’s orchestral works are gorgeous and sublime.

When the guys and gals start singing though — not so much.

[Borges]

Ping

[BenLurkin]

The Tristan Chord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpWg_cZkDho

[mbarker12474]

“Wagner’s music: It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

[To Hell With Poverty]

Ping

[Borges]

You must dislike virtually all music after Wagner since it was either influenced or imitative of him. Tchaikovsky, Debussy...

[MeshugeMikey]

I get a pretentious drama..”vibe’ “from” “the chord”.

[gr8eman]

Is that A flat, flat 5th, flat 7th?

[Norm Lenhart]

Sounds awesome on a Roland Integra 7 with a detuned Supersaw ;)

[massgopguy]

The Tristan Chord by Robert Ludlum. Coming out on paperback.
Say it in an ominous voice and it sounds real.

[BenLurkin]

“The Tristan Chord by Robert Ludlum”

Sounds VERY cool.

It could be about what came after the Rat Line....

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Agreed. I detest opera.

I particularly like the opening movement to Mozart's Quartet No. 19 in C Major (Dissonanzen Quartett). Very soothing even though it is in dissonance.

[tellw]

Stephen Fry - The Tristan Chord (youtube)

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

To our modern ears, it’s nothing more complex than a half diminished chord, Fm7flat5. But that jazz sound didn’t “exist” back then, so it cannot be dismissed so casually. Even “today” it is not very common to start a tune with that kind of chord. Reminiscent of Thelonius Monk “Round Midnight”.

[Borges]

Opera or all Classical singing? Say Schubert songs...

[chajin]

Gesualdo was writing out Wagnerian chords 250 years before Wagner was writing our Wagnerian chords. cf. here

[tellw]

The beginning of the end of tonal music.

Not quite. Tonality lived on in popular music. The problem is that high classical music at the end of the 19th century had become so heavily saturated with chromaticism that it had almost nowhere to go but away from tonality. Serialism and atonality were arguably an ugly but almost next step. Fortunately audiences (and eventually composers) realized that entirely atonal music was simply not sustainable. This is why you hear more concerts with music of Britten and Shostakovich rather than Boulez and Schoenberg.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

No...just opera. I can appreciate the power of the voices and the talent it takes...but it’s lost on me. And I love all kinds of music. Except opera...when the singing starts.