Tristan and Isolde Wikipedia pages

Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search




Sir Tristram and la Belle Ysoude drink the potion, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., 1862, after a design by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Bradford Art Galleries and Museums.


 Cartoon for Queen Guenevere and Isoude Les Blanches Mains, William Morris, 1862. Tate Britain, London.
The Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels are a series of 13 small stained glass windows made in 1862 by Morris, Marshall, Faulker & Co. for Harden Grange, the house of textile merchant Walter Dunlop, near Bingley in Yorkshire, England. Depicting the legend of Tristan and Iseult, they were designed by six of the leading Pre-Raphaelite artists of the day, to an overall design by William Morris. Since 1917 the panels have been held by Bradford Art Gallery.
Details[edit]
The 13 small[1] stained glass panels depict scenes from the story of Sir Tristram and la Belle Isoude as told in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur.[2][3][4] They were commissioned by Walter Dunlop, a Bradford textile merchant, for a new music room to be built at Harden Grange, his house near Bingley, Yorkshire, and were designed and executed in 1862 by Morris, Marshall, Faulker & Co., the decorative arts firm established the year before by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Morris in partnership with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown, Philip Webb, Charles Faulkner and Peter Paul Marshall.[2][3][4][5]
This was the firm's first commission for windows for a private residence, or with a non-ecclesiastical subject, and Morris provided Dunlop with a hand-written programme for the proposed work headed "Short abstract of the Romance of Tristram", with marginal annotations suggesting the pictorial possibilities of the story.[2][3][4]
To design the cartoons or preparatory drawings for the individual panels, Morris turned to four of the artists who had worked with him in 1857 on another project based on the Arthurian legend as retold by Malory, the Oxford Union murals—Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Val Prinsep and Arthur Hughes—plus his partner Madox Brown.[3][6] Morris himself designed four of the 13 panels and maintained the cohesiveness of the series through his overall design, matching text blocks, placement of the lead lines, and selection of colours, including deep ruby-reds and olive greens.[3][6]
The subjects of the 13 panels and their designers are:[4][7]
1.The Birth of Sir Tristram (Hughes)
2.The Fight between Sir Tristram and Sir Marhaus (Rossetti)
3.The Departure of Tristram and Isoude from Ireland (Prinsep)
4.Tristram and Isoude drink the Love Potion (Rossetti)
5.The Marriage of Tristram and Isoude Les Blanches Mains (Burne-Jones)
6.The Madness of Tristram (Burne-Jones)
7.The Attempted Suicide of La Belle Isoude (Burne-Jones)
8.The Recognition of Tristram by La Belle Isoude (Burne-Jones)
9.At the Court of King Arthur (Morris)
10.King Mark slays Tristram (Madox Brown)
11.The Tomb of Tristram and Isoude (Burne-Jones)
12.Queen Guenevere and Isoude Les Blanches Mains (Morris)
13.King Arthur and Sir Launcelot (Morris)
The Tristram and Isoude windows were acquired by the Bradford Art Gallery in 1917, along with documentation relating to the subject matter of the panels and their installation, including the "Short abstract".[3][4]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The panels average 68 x 60.5 cm; Poulson, Christine, "'That Most Beautiful of Dreams': Tristram and Isoude in British Art of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries". In Grimbert (2002), p. 339
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Wroot (1917), p. 69
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Poulson, pp. 338-339
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lawson (1985)
5.Jump up ^ Harvey & Press (1991), p. 38
6.^ Jump up to: a b Wroot (1917), p. 73
7.Jump up ^ Wroot (1917), pp. 69-73
References[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels.
Grimbert, Joan T., ed. (2002). Tristan and Isolde: a casebook. Psychology Press/Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93910-2.
Harvey, Charles; Press, Jon (1991). William Morris: design and enterprise in Victorian Britain. New York: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-2419-1.
Parry, Linda (1996). William Morris. New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-4282-0.
Lawson, Paul (1985). "The Tristram and Isoude Stained Glass Panels". The Bradford Antiquary. Third (Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society) 1: 50–55. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
Treuherz, Julian; Prettejohn, Elizabeth; Becker, Edwin (2003). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-09316-0.
Wroot, Herbert E. (1917). "Pre-Raphaelite Windows at Bradford". The International Studio (New York: John Laen Company) 63 (72): 69–73. Retrieved 3 October 2010.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
British and Irish stained glass















































































































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Pre-Raphaelite artworks
Stained glass
Arthurian legend
Visitor attractions in Bradford
Morris & Co.




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 21 June 2013 at 21:58.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan Quilt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The Tristan Quilt, sometimes called the Tristan and Isolde Quilt, is one of the earliest surviving quilts in the world.[1] Depicting scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde, an influential romance and tragedy, it was made in Sicily during the second half of the 13th century.[2] There are at least two sections of the quilt, one of which is displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, and the other in the Bargello in Florence.[1][2] A third quilt, also depicting Tristan and Isolde, but not thought to be part of the V&A and Bargello examples, is held in private hands.[3] The Tristan Quilts are the only known surviving examples of medieval quilts.[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Material and construction
2 Subjects
3 Dimensions
4 Purpose
5 History
6 References

Material and construction[edit]
The quilt is made from two layers of linen, stitched together without wadding in between. Backstitch in cream and brown linen thread defines a series of pictures with captions that have been brought into relief by inserting rolls of cotton stuffing to raise sections of the design, a technique known as trapunto. The stuffing could have been introduced during the quilting process, or because the backing layer is looser in weave, its threads could have been parted to introduce the stuffing; some elements are done using cord quilting.[2]
Subjects[edit]
The imagery on the quilt is based upon chapters 17-19 of a 14th-century novella, La Tavola Rotonda o L'Istoria di Tristano which describes the oppression of Cornwall by Languis of Ireland and his champion Amoroldo (a variation on "Morholt"), and the battle of Tristan on behalf of King Mark of Cornwall.[2] The foliage on the quilt includes ivy and grape vines, a reference to the plants that grew and intertwined from the tombs of the doomed Tristan and Isolde.[2] The scenes on the V&A quilt are not in their original order, having been re-arranged at some point.[2] Each scene has a caption in Sicilian dialect.
There are six scenes in the central section of the V&A quilt, with a border of four-leaf clovers:
1: Morholt, bearing a fleur-de-lis shield, is shown shooting with a bow whilst on horseback in a boat. A page rows the boat. Caption: COMU LU AMORODU FERIU: TRISTAINU A TRaDIMANTU (How the Morholt wounded Tristan)2: A castle with a king and queen and a third person looking out, possibly Languis and Lotta and their daughter Isolde waiting for Morholt. Partial caption: ...SITA: IN AIRLANDIA (...in Ireland)3: Tristan, with a three-horned shield, fights Morholt on an island. Caption: COMU: TRISTAINU FERIU LU AMOROLLDU In TESTA (How Tristan wounded Morholt in the head)4: A page with a saddled horse. Caption: COMU:LU InNA (?) DELU AMOROLDU: ASPECTTAUA LU PATRUNU (How the Morholt's page waited for his master)5: A ship being pushed away by Tristan's foot. Caption: COMU TRISTAINU BUCTA: LA VARCA: ARRETU: INTU ALLU MARU (How Tristan struck his boat behind him into the sea)6: Tristan with his horse and shield. Caption: COMU: TRISTAINU: ASPECTA: LU AMOROLDU: ALLA ISOLA DI LU MARU: SANSA UINTURA (How Tristan awaits Morholt on the isle Sanza Ventura in the sea)
There are also eight scenes in the border. Along the lower edge are two scenes:
7: Mark of Cornwall receives a letter from two kneeling ambassadors while Tristan stands behind them. Caption:COMU (li m) ISSAGIERI: SO UINNTI: AL (lu) RRE: MARGU: Per LU TRIBUTU DI SECTI ANNI (How the ambassadors are come to King Mark for the tribute of seven years)8: The ambassadors, in a ship rowed by soldiers and bearing a fleur-de-lis banner. Caption: COMU: LU RRE: LANGUIs: MANDA: Per LU TRABUTU In CORNUALIA (How Languis sent to Cornwall for the tribute)
On the left side, from the top:
9: A ship, bearing fleur-de-lis banners with a man blowing a boatswain's call in the poop deck. Caption: COMU: LU AMOROLDU: EUINUTU: IN CORNUALGIA: CUm XXXX GALS (How Morholt came to Cornwall with forty galleys)10: Tristan giving his glove to Morholt. Caption: COMU: Tristainu DAI: LU GUAnTU ALLU AMOROLDU DELA BACTAGLIA (How Tristan gives the glove of battle to Morholt)11: A Cornish noble paying money to seven of Morholt's men. Caption: COMU: LU AMOROLDU: SULDARI: LA GENTI (How Morholt made the people pay)
On the right side, from the top:
12: A ship bearing a fleur-de-lis banner with Morholt in the poop deck with a man blowing a boatswain's call. Caption: COMU: LU AMOROLDU VAI: In CORNUALGIA (How Morholt comes to Cornwall)13: King Languis, with three nobles behind him, gives a letter to two kneeling ambassadors, while Morholt stands behind them. Caption: COMU: LURRE: LANGUIS: CUMANDA: CHI VAIA: LO OSTI: CORNUAGLIA (How King Languis ordred that the host should go to Cornwall)14: Morholt, with a mace, with a herald blowing a trumpet. Caption: COMO: LU AMOROLDU FAB ANDIRI: LU OSTI: In CORNUALGIA (How Morholt made the host go to Cornwall)
The Bargello quilt has eight scenes and is made from three longitudinal strips joined together.[2] Some of the scenes on the Bargello quilt portray Tristan leaving his foster father's court to go to Mark of Cornwall; the meeting of Tristan with Morholt for combat; and their fight on horseback.[4]
A third quilt in a private collection, thought to be from the same atelier but not actually part of these two quilts, includes a central medallion showing Tristan and Isolde on a field of fleur de lis.[3]
Dimensions[edit]
The V&A quilt measures 320 cm high by 287 cm wide. These measurements were verified in 2006 when it was prepared for display in the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.[2]
The Bargello quilt measures 2.47m high by 2.07m wide.[2]
Purpose[edit]
Recent research suggests it is more likely the quilts were made as a pair of wall hangings, and subsequently altered.[2] Some sources state that there was a third quilt, believed to have been made for the royal Capetian House of Anjou.[5] This third fragment, known as the Pianetti or Azzolini quilt, is in private hands and is thought to come from the same source as the V&A and Bargello quilts.[3]
The textile historian Sarah Randle argues that the two quilts were originally one large quilt, measuring a monumental 6 metres high by 4 metres wide, and that significant sections are missing.[4] Randle's plan for the quilt suggests that the scenes would have been arranged counter-clockwise in the border, with the central images paired and reading bottom to top.[4] Ultraviolet light tests on the Bargello quilt revealed traces of calcium on the reverse, which could have come from its use as a wall hanging.[4]
History[edit]
It is believed that the quilts were made to be given as a wedding gift to Pietro di Luigi Guicciardini and Laodomia Acciaiuli in 1395.[2][5] The three hunting horns on Tristan's shield are the coat of arms of the Guicciardini family.[2] The inventories of the Guicciardini family do not include a definitive reference to the quilts, but do mention "three quilted bedcovers".[2]
The V&A quilt, according to its museum number (1391-1904), was acquired in 1904.
The Bargello acquired their quilt in July 1927 from Count Paolo Guicciardini, to whose family it is believed the quilt had always belonged.[2]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b The Tristan and Isolde Quilt. Accessed 7-02-2010
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The Tristan Quilt in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Accessed 5-2-2010
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Randles, Sarah (2009), "The Guicciardini Quilts", Medieval Clothing and Textiles Vol.5, Woodbridge, p. 93
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Berenson, Kathryn. "Tales from the 'Coilte'". Retrieved 2010-02-08.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Cummings, Patricia L. "Wholecloth Quilts, Trapunto and Boutis: History and Techniques". Retrieved 2010-02-07.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Layered textiles and quilts



















Quilt03.jpg






















































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Medieval art
Quilts
Culture of Sicily


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 12 December 2013 at 21:06.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Souvenirs de Munich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Souvenirs de Munich is a quadrille on themes from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, for piano, four hands by Emmanuel Chabrier.
Background[edit]
Chabrier’s interest in Wagner dated from 1862, when as a study exercise he copied out the score of Tannhäuser.[1] In early 1880 he requested time off from his ministry job to visit Munich that March with Duparc and other friends to go to a performance of Tristan und Isolde as it could only be seen there. The experience was a musical revelation for Chabrier.[2] Chabrier, as assistant to Charles Lamoureux, helped in the rehearsals for the concert performances in Paris of Act I (1884) and Act II (1885) of Tristan und Isolde.[1]
However, much as he admired the music of Wagner, he was still able to create musical parodies of the German composer. Chabrier regularly improvised works of this kind at the piano; Delage describes an evening dinner at the home of Lamoureux where an improvisation on themes from The Ring enraged von Bülow.[1] Poulenc described Souvenirs de Munich as "irresistibly funny", where Wagner's principal themes appear with "false beards and fake moustaches".[3]
The exact date of the creation of Souvenirs de Munich is unknown, but it probably dates from 1887.[1] Possibly with Offenbach's satire Le musicien de l'avenir in mind, it led to Fauré and Messager's 'Souvenirs de Bayreuth' in similar vein.[4]
Music[edit]
The five movements follow the traditional layout of a musical quadrille[5]
Pantalon (C major, 2/4) uses themes of the sailors’ greeting to King Marke (Act 1), the Kareol leitmotif (Act III)
Eté (G major, 2/4) uses themes of Ecstasy, Love call, Love song (Act II)
Poule (C major, 6/8) uses themes of the shepherd’s joyful tune (Act III), death song (Act II)
Pastourelle (D major, 2/4) uses themes of Kurwenal’s song
Galop (F major, 2/4) Sailor’s doleful song (Act I), Kurwenal’s aria (Act I) and Longing for death (Act II)
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d Delage R. Emmanuel Chabrier. Fayard, Paris, 1999.
2.Jump up ^ Myers R. Emmanuel Chabrier and his circle. J M Dent and Sons, London, 1973.
3.Jump up ^ Poulenc F. Emmanuel Chabrier. La Palatine, Geneva & Paris, 1961.
4.Jump up ^ Howat R. The Art of French Piano Music. Yale University Press, 2009.
5.Jump up ^ ‘Quadrille’ in the Grove Dictionary of Music.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Emmanuel Chabrier










































Portal




[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Compositions for piano four-hands
1887 compositions
Compositions by Emmanuel Chabrier


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 18 January 2014 at 23:42.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Cligès
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


French literature
by category
French literary history
Medieval
16th ·
 17th ·
 18th

19th ·
 20th century

Contemporary

French writers
Chronological list
Writers by category
Novelists ·
 Playwrights

Poets ·
 Essayists

Short story writers

Portals
France
Literature

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Cligès is a poem by the medieval French poet Chrétien de Troyes, dating from around 1176. Cligès is the second of five Arthurian Romances; Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain, Lancelot and Perceval. It tells the story of the knight Cligès and his love for his uncle's wife, Fenice. Because of the story's de-romanticized depiction of adultery, it has been called a criticism or parody of the Tristan and Isolde romances[citation needed]. Cligès scholar Lucie Polak not only verifies the Tristan and Isolde reworking found in the text, but also suggests that Cligès may be modeled after Ovid's character Narcissus. Cligès opening lines give some of the only extant information on the creator's biography and earlier work.
The story starts with Alexander, the son of the Greek emperor (also called Alexander), who comes to King Arthur's realm and marries and has a child with Arthur's niece. This child is Cligès, who is raised in Greece but follows his father's footsteps to Arthur's kingdom when he is old enough to be knighted. Alexander had inherited the throne of Greece when his father died but passes away himself a few years later, leaving Constantinople in the hands of his brother Alis, who is to rule the kingdom until Cligès matures. Cligès falls in love with his uncle Alis' wife, Fenice, but Fenice must pretend she is dead for them to consummate their love. They hide in a tower but are found by Bertrand, who tells Alis; Cligès goes to Arthur to ask for help in getting his kingdom back from his uncle, but Alis dies while he is away. Cligès and Fenice are free to marry.
Cligès can be better understood by dividing the text into two parts, or two nearly separate stories. The first story consists of Cligès's father's adventures and the second story consists of Cligès's adventures. Cligès scholar Z.P. Zaddy supports the dual story approach, but also divides the text even further. Zaddy creates a new structure where the two stories are divided into 8 episodes. This approach is intended to make the text read more dramatically.
There are many stylistic techniques that set Chrétien de Troyes and his work Cligès apart from his contemporaries and their work. Chrétien used many Latin writing techniques such as nature topos, portraiture, conjointure, amplificato and interpretatio to convey a realistic romance story.
Cligès has come down to us through seven manuscripts and various fragments. The poem comprises 6,664 octosyllables in rhymed couplets. A 15th century prose version also exists. The first modern edition of Cligès was in 1884 by Wendelin Foerster.
Another version of the romance is known, a few fragments of a German version. The character Cligès himself appears in other stories. In the fifteenth century, an unknown Burgundian author created a prose version of Chrétien's Cligés, under the title "Le Livre de Alixandre Empereur de Constentinoble et de Cligés Son Filz". This prose version differs from the original in several aspects, and the story is thought to have been adapted to the cultural and political circumstances of the Burgundian court at the time.
See also[edit]
Sir Cleges
References[edit]
Chrétien de Troyes; Owen, D. D. R. (translator) (1988). Arthurian Romances. New York: Everyman's Library. ISBN 0-460-87389-X.
Colombo Timelli, Maria. Le Livre de Alixandre Empereur de Constentinoble et de Cligés Son Filz. Genève: Librairie Droz, 2004.
Lacy, Norris J. (1991). "Chrétien de Troyes". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 88–91. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
Luttrell, Claude. The Creation of the First Arthurian Romance: A Quest.(Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1974)
Polak, Lucie. Chrétien de Troyes: Cligés. (London: Grant & Cutler Ltd, 1982).
Zaddy, Z.P. Chrétien Studies: Problems of Form and Meaning in Erec, Yvain, Cligés and the Charrete. (Glasgow: University of Glasgow Press, 1973), 159-183.
External links[edit]
 Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Cligès

Cliges by Chrétien de Troyes' at Project Gutenberg
Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes' at Project Gutenberg (includes Cliges)
Cliges in a freely-distributable PDF document


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Works by Chrétien de Troyes











[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 1170s books
French poems
Knights of the Round Table
Medieval French romances
Works by Chrétien de Troyes
Courtly love





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Edit links
This page was last modified on 8 April 2013 at 23:56.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Prose Tristan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend. It was also the first major Arthurian prose cycle commenced after the widely popular Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate Cycle), which influenced especially the later portions of the Prose Tristan.
According to the prologue, the first part of the book (i.e. everything before the Grail material) is attributed to the otherwise unknown Luce de Gat, and were probably begun between 1230 and 1235. The work was expanded and reworked sometime after 1240. In the epilogue, a second author names himself as "Helie de Boron," asserting that he is the nephew of the first author of the Arthurian Grail cycles, poet Robert de Boron. Helie de Boron claims, like the so-called authors of the Roman de la Rose, to have picked up the story where Luce left off. Neither the biographies of the two authors, nor the claim that they had been translating the work from a Latin original are taken seriously by scholars.[1][2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Scholarship
3 Notes
4 References

Synopsis[edit]
The first part of the work stays closer to the traditional story as told by verse writers like Béroul and Thomas of Britain, but many episodes are reworked or altered entirely. Tristan's parents are given new names and backstories, and the overall tone has been called "more realistic" than the verse material though there are moments where characters sing.[3] Tristan's guardian Governal takes him to France, where he grows up at the court of King Pharamond. He later arrives at the court of his uncle Mark, King of Cornwall, and defends his country against the Irish warrior Morholt. Wounded in the fight, he travels to Ireland where he is healed by Iseult, a renowned doctor and Morholt's niece, but he must flee when the Irish discover he has killed their champion. He later returns, in disguise, to seek Iseult as a bride for his uncle. When they accidentally drink the love potion[4] prepared for Iseult and Mark, they engage in a tragic affair that ends with Tristan being banished to the court of Hoel of Brittany. He eventually marries Hoel's daughter, also named Iseult.
Especially after this point, however, the traditional narrative is continually interrupted for side adventures by the various characters and episodes serving to "Arthurianize" the story.[5] Notably, Tristan's rivalry with the Saracen knight Palamedes is given substantial attention. Additionally, in the long version, Tristan leaves Brittany and returns to his first love, and never sees his wife again, though her brother Kahedin remains his close companion. Tristan is compared frequently to his friend Lancelot in both arms and love, and at times even unknowingly engages him in battles. He becomes a Knight of the Round Table (taking Morholt's old seat) and embarks on the Quest for the Holy Grail before abandoning the idea to stay with Iseult at Lancelot's castle.
The Grail Quest has been a source of controversy regarding the Tristan en prose. Instead of writing new material, the author chose to insert (or interpolate) the entire Queste del Saint Graal from the Vulgate Cycle into the Tristan story. The result of this copying undermines the sanctity of the Vulgate Quest itself.[6] Manuscripts which do not include the Grail material preserve the earlier version of the lovers' deaths, while the longer versions have Mark kill Tristan while he plays the harp for Iseult, only to see her die immediately afterwards.
Scholarship[edit]
Before any modern editions of the Prose Tristan were attempted, scholars were dependent on an extended summary and analysis of all the manuscripts by Eilert Löseth in 1890 (republished in 1974). Of the modern editions, the long version is made up of two editions: one edited by Renée L. Curtis and the other by Philippe Ménard.[7][8] Curtis' edition of a simple manuscript (Carpentras 404) covers Tristan's ancestry and the traditional legend up to Tristan's madness. However, the massive amount of manuscripts in existence dissuaded other scholars from attempting what Curtis had done until Ménard hit upon the idea of using multiple teams of scholars to tackle the infamous Vienna 2542 manuscript. His edition follows from Curtis', includes Tristan's participation in the Quest for the Holy Grail and ends with Tristan and Iseult's death and the first signs of Arthur's fall. Richard Trachsler is currently preparing an edition of the "continuation" of the Prose Tristan. The shorter version, which contains no Grail Quest, is published by Joël Blanchard in five volumes.
Though part of the larger prose cycles, which dominated all things Arthurian after the early 13th century, the originality of the Tristan en prose is found in the author's use of lyrical poems to express characters' hopes, despair or anger. Various books and articles have studied the lyrical content of the Prose Tristan whether expressed as riddles in verse, letters in verse, songs of mockery or love songs.[9][10] In this way, the Prose Tristan functions like a musical. Characters placed in extreme situations actually "break into song." All of this is appropriate considering Tristan's traditional link to poetry.
The Prose Tristan had a huge effect on subsequent medieval literature and treatments of the Arthurian legend. Characters like Palamedes, Dinadan, and Lamorak, all of whom first appear in the Tristan, achieved popularity in later works. The pagan knight Palamedes even lent his name to the Romance of Palamedes, a later work that expands on episodes from the Tristan. This material is also preserved in the Compilation of Rustichello da Pisa and numerous later redactions in several languages. The Prose Tristan also influenced the Post-Vulgate Cycle, the next major prose treatment of the Arthurian mythos, and served as the source for the Tristan section of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Renée Curtis, The Romance of Tristan, p. xvii.
2.Jump up ^ Baumgartner, Emmanuèle (1958). “Luce de Gast et Hélie de Boron, le chevalier et l’écriture”. In Romania 106 (1985): 326-340; Curtis, Renée L. (1958). “The Problems of the Authorship of the Prose Tristan”. In Romania LXXIX (1958): 314-38.
3.Jump up ^ Renée Curtis, The Romance of Tristan, pp. xxii–xxv.
4.Jump up ^ Controversially, Tristan does not fall in love with Iseult "love at first sight." Instead, he falls in love with her because the pagan knight Palamedes falls in love with her first.
5.Jump up ^ Busby, Keith (1991). "Prose Tristan." In Norris J. Lacy (Ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 374–375. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
6.Jump up ^ The interpolation of the Vulgate Queste begins in Volume 6 of Ménard's edition. On the Medieval technique of manuscript interpolation, see Emmanuèle Baumgartner, "La préparation à la Queste del Saint Graal dans le Tristan en prose" in Norris Lacy, ed. Conjunctures (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994), pp. 1-14, Fanni Bogdanow, "L'Invention du texte, intertextualité et le problème de la transmission et de la classification de manuscrits" Romania 111 (190): 121-40 and Janina P. Traxler, "The Use and Abuse of the Grail Quest" Tristania 15 (1994): 23-31. Gaston Paris, in 1897, also noted the interpolation of a verse romance of Brunor in Prose Tristan.
7.Jump up ^ Curtis, Renée L., ed. Le Roman de Tristan en prose, vols. 1-3 (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1963-1985)
8.Jump up ^ Ménard, Philippe exec. ed. Le Roman de Tristan en Prose, vols. 1-9 (Geneva: Droz, 1987-1997).
9.Jump up ^ Lods, Jeannee (1955). "Les parties lyriques du Tristan en prose" in Bulletin Bibliographique de la Société International Arthurienne 7: 73-78.
10.Jump up ^ Fotitch, T. and Steiner, R. (1974). Les Lais du Roman de Tristan en Prose. Munich.
References[edit]
Curtis, Renée L. (Ed.) (1963–1985). Le Roman de Tristan en prose, vols. 1-3. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer.
Curtis, Renée L. (translator) (1994). The Romance of Tristan. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-282792-8.
Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
Ménard, Philippe (Ed.) (1987–1997). Le Roman de Tristan en Prose, vols. 1-9. Geneva: Droz.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 1230s books
1240s books
Arthurian literature in French
Medieval French romances
Courtly love


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Français
Italiano
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Português
Edit links
This page was last modified on 8 April 2013 at 23:57.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan (novella)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Tristan
Thomas Mann Tristan 1903.jpg
1st edition

Author
Thomas Mann
Original title
Tristan
Country
Germany
Language
German
Genre
Novella
Publisher
Reclam

Publication date
 1903
OCLC
4764708
Tristan is a 1903 novella by German writer Thomas Mann. It contains many references to the myth of Tristan and Iseult. The novella alludes in particular to the version presented in Richard Wagner's opera of the same name. As such, it can be seen as an ironic paraphrase, juxtaposing the romantic heroism of Wagner's characters with their essentially flawed counterparts in the novella[citation needed]. It also heavily deals with psychology and a major part of the novel is set in a sanatorium and details the lives of two people who are patients at the sanatorium.
External links[edit]
Project Gutenberg's German etext of Tristan


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Thomas Mann


















Thomas Mann 1929.jpg
















[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult





























































Stub icon This article about a 1900s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: Novels by Thomas Mann
1903 novels
Novellas
1900s novel stubs








Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Deutsch
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 10 May 2013 at 21:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Finnegans Wake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the book. For the street ballad after which it is named, see Finnegan's Wake.

Finnegans Wake
Simple book cover, unadorned.
Author
James Joyce
Language
English
Genre
Sui generis
Publisher
Faber and Faber

Publication date
 4 May 1939
Media type
Print (hardback and paperback)
ISBN
0-14-118126-5
OCLC
42692059
Dewey Decimal
823/.912 21
LC Class
PR6019.O9 F5 1999
Preceded by
Ulysses (1922)
Finnegans Wake is a work of comic prose[1] by Irish writer James Joyce which is significant for its experimental style and the resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language.[2][3] Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's death, Finnegans Wake was Joyce's final work. The entire book is written in a largely idiosyncratic language, consisting of a mixture of standard English lexical items and neologistic multilingual puns and portmanteau words, which many critics believe attempts to recreate the experience of sleep and dreams.[4] Owing to the work's expansive linguistic experiments, stream of consciousness writing style, literary allusions, free dream associations, and its abandonment of the conventions of plot and character construction, Finnegans Wake remains largely unread by the general public.[5][6]
Despite these obstacles, readers and commentators have reached a broad consensus about the book's central cast of characters and, to a lesser degree, its plot. However, a number of key details remain elusive.[7][8] The book discusses, in an unorthodox fashion, the Earwicker family, comprising the father HCE, the mother ALP, and their three children Shem the Penman, Shaun the Postman, and Issy. Following an unspecified rumour about HCE, the book, in a nonlinear dream narrative,[9] follows his wife's attempts to exonerate him with a letter, his sons' struggle to replace him, Shaun's rise to prominence, and a final monologue by ALP at the break of dawn. The opening line of the book is a sentence fragment which continues from the book's unfinished closing line, making the work a never-ending cycle.[10] Many noted Joycean scholars such as Samuel Beckett[11] and Donald Phillip Verene[12] link this cyclical structure to Giambattista Vico's seminal text La Scienza Nuova ("The New Science"), upon which they argue Finnegans Wake is structured.
Joyce began working on Finnegans Wake shortly after the 1922 publication of Ulysses. By 1924 installments of Joyce's new avant-garde work began to appear, in serialized form, in Parisian literary journals transatlantic review and transition, under the title "fragments from Work in Progress". The actual title of the work remained a secret until the book was published in its entirety, on 4 May 1939.[13] Initial reaction to Finnegans Wake, both in its serialized and final published form, was largely negative, ranging from bafflement at its radical reworking of the English language to open hostility towards its lack of respect for the conventions of the novel.
The work has since come to assume a preeminent place in English literature, despite its numerous detractors. Anthony Burgess has praised the book as "a great comic vision, one of the few books of the world that can make us laugh aloud on nearly every page."[14] Harold Bloom called the book "Joyce's masterpiece", and wrote that "[if] aesthetic merit were ever again to center the canon [Finnegans Wake] would be as close as our chaos could come to the heights of Shakespeare and Dante."[14] In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Finnegans Wake 77th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.[15]


Contents  [hide]
1 Background and composition 1.1 Chapter summaries
1.2 Book I
1.3 Book II
1.4 Book III
1.5 Book IV
2 Critical response and themes 2.1 Difficulties of plot summary
2.2 Themes
2.3 A reconstruction of nocturnal life
3 Characters 3.1 Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE)
3.2 Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP)
3.3 The children: Shem, Shaun and Issy
3.4 Minor characters
4 Language and style 4.1 Allusions to other works
4.2 Norwegian influence
5 Literary significance and criticism
6 Publication history
7 Translations and derivative works
8 Recordings
9 Cultural impact
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links

Background and composition[edit]

Head and shoulders drawing of a man with a slight moustache and narrow goatee in a jacket, low-collared shirt and bow tie. He wears round glasses and an eye patch over his right eye, attached by a string around his head.

 A drawing of Joyce (with eyepatch) by Djuna Barnes from 1922, the year in which Joyce began the 17-year task of writing Finnegans Wake
Having completed work on Ulysses, Joyce was so exhausted that he did not write a line of prose for a year.[16] On 10 March 1923 he wrote a letter to his patron, Harriet Weaver: "Yesterday I wrote two pages—the first I have since the final Yes of Ulysses. Having found a pen, with some difficulty I copied them out in a large handwriting on a double sheet of foolscap so that I could read them."[17] This is the earliest reference to what would become Finnegans Wake.[18]
The two pages in question consisted of the short sketch "Roderick O'Conor", concerning the historic last king of Ireland cleaning up after guests by drinking the dregs of their dirty glasses.[19] Joyce completed another four short sketches in July and August 1923, while holidaying in Bognor. The sketches, which dealt with different aspects of Irish history, are commonly known as "Tristan and Isolde", "Saint Patrick and the Druid," "Kevin's Orisons" and "Mamalujo".[20] While these sketches would eventually be incorporated into Finnegans Wake in one form or another, they did not contain any of the main characters or plot points which would later come to constitute the backbone of the book. The first signs of what would eventually become Finnegans Wake came in August 1923 when Joyce wrote the sketch "Here Comes Everybody", which dealt for the first time with the book's protagonist HCE.[21]
Over the next few years, Joyce's method became one of "increasingly obsessional concern with note-taking, since [he] obviously felt that any word he wrote had first to have been recorded in some notebook."[22] As Joyce continued to incorporate these notes into his work, the text became increasingly dense and obscure.
By 1926 Joyce had largely completed both Books I and III. Geert Lernout asserts that the Wake had, at this early stage, "a real focus that had developed out of the HCE ["Here Comes Everybody"] sketch: the story of HCE, of his wife and children. There were the adventures of Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker himself and the rumours about them in chapters 2–4, a description of his wife ALP's letter in chapter 5, a denunciation of his son Shem in chapter 7, and a dialogue about ALP in chapter 8. These texts [...] formed a unity."[23] In the same year Joyce met Maria and Eugene Jolas in Paris, just as his new work was generating an increasingly negative reaction from readers and critics, culminating in The Dial's refusal to publish the four chapters of Book III in September 1926.[23] The Jolases gave Joyce valuable encouragement and material support throughout the long process of writing Finnegans Wake,[24] and published sections of the book in serial form in their literary magazine transition, under the title Work In Progress. For the next few years Joyce worked rapidly on the book, adding what would become chapters I.1 and I.6, and revising the already written segments to make them more lexically complex.[25]
However, by this time some early supporters of Joyce's work, such as Ezra Pound and the author's brother Stanislaus Joyce, had grown increasingly unsympathetic to his new writing.[26] In order to create a more favourable critical climate, a group of Joyce's supporters (including Samuel Beckett, William Carlos Williams, Rebecca West and others) put together a collection of critical essays on the new work. It was published in 1929 under the title Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress.[27] In July 1929, increasingly demoralised by the poor reception his new work was receiving, Joyce approached his friend James Stephens about the possibility of his completing the book. Joyce wrote to Weaver in late 1929 that he had "explained to [Stephens] all about the book, at least a great deal, and he promised me that if I found it madness to continue, in my condition, and saw no other way out, that he would devote himself heart and soul to the completion of it, that is the second part and the epilogue or fourth."[28] Apparently Joyce chose Stephens on superstitious grounds, as he had been born in the same hospital as Joyce, exactly one week later, and shared both the first names of Joyce himself and his fictional alter-ego Stephen Dedalus.[29] In the end, Stephens was not asked to finish the book.
In the 1930s, as he was writing Books II and IV, Joyce's progress slowed considerably. This was due to a number of factors including the death of his father John Stanislaus Joyce in 1931;[30] concern over the mental health of his daughter Lucia;[31] and his own health problems, chiefly his failing eyesight.
Finnegans Wake was published in book form, after seventeen years of composition, on 4 May 1939. Joyce died two years later in Zürich, on 13 January 1941.
Chapter summaries[edit]
Finnegans Wake comprises seventeen chapters, divided into four Books. Book I contains eight chapters, Books II and III contain four, and Book IV only consists of one short chapter. The chapters appear without titles, and while Joyce never provided possible chapter titles as he had done for Ulysses, he did title various sections published separately (see Publication history below). The standard critical practice, however, is to indicate book number in Roman numerals, and chapter title in Arabic, so that III.2, for example, indicates the second chapter of the third book.
Given the book's fluid and changeable approach to plot and characters, a definitive, critically agreed-upon plot synopsis remains elusive (see Critical response and themes: Difficulties of plot summary below). Therefore, the following synopsis attempts to summarise events in the book which find general, although inevitably not universal, consensus among critics.
Book I[edit]
"In the first chapter of Finnegans Wake Joyce describes the fall of the primordial giant Finnegan and his awakening as the modern family man and pub owner H.C.E." –
Donald Phillip Verene's summary and interpretation of the Wake's episodic opening chapter[32]"

The entire work is cyclical in nature: the last sentence—a fragment—recirculates to the beginning sentence: "a way a lone a last a loved a long the / riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." Joyce himself revealed that the book "ends in the middle of a sentence and begins in the middle of the same sentence."[33] The introductory chapter (I.1) establishes the book's setting as "Howth Castle and Environs", and introduces Dublin hod carrier "Finnegan", who falls to his death from a ladder while constructing a wall.[34][35] Finnegan's wife Annie puts out his corpse as a meal spread for the mourners at his wake, but he vanishes before they can eat him.[35] A series of episodic vignettes follows, loosely related to the dead Finnegan, most commonly referred to as "The Willingdone Museyroom",[36] "Mutt and Jute",[37][38] and "The Prankquean".[39] At the chapter's close a fight breaks out, whiskey splashes on Finnegan's corpse, and “the dead Finnegan rises from his coffin bawling for whiskey and his mourners put him back to rest”,[40] persuading him that he is better off where he is.[41] The chapter ends with the image of the HCE character sailing into Dublin Bay to take a central role in the story.

Figure of a young woman sitting on a slope with legs crossed. It is in the middle of a rectangular fountain, surrounded by flowing water.

 Fountain in Dublin representing Anna Livia Plurabelle, a character in Finnegans Wake
I.2 opens with an account of "Harold or Humphrey" Chimpden receiving the nickname "Earwicker" from the Sailor King, who encounters him attempting to catch earwigs with an inverted flowerpot on a stick while manning a tollgate through which the King is passing. This name helps Chimpden, now known by his initials HCE, to rise to prominence in Dublin society as "Here Comes Everybody". He is then brought low by a rumor that begins to spread across Dublin, apparently concerning a sexual trespass involving two girls in the Phoenix Park, although details of HCE's transgression change with each retelling of events.
Chapters I.2 through I.4 follow the progress of this rumor, starting with HCE's encounter with "a cad with a pipe" in Phoenix Park. The cad greets HCE in Gaelic and asks the time, but HCE misunderstands the question as an accusation, and incriminates himself by denying rumours the cad has not yet heard. These rumours quickly spread across Dublin, gathering momentum until they are turned into a song penned by the character Hosty called "The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly". As a result, HCE goes into hiding, where he is besieged at the closed gate of his pub by a visiting American looking for drink after hours.[42] However HCE remains silent – not responding to the accusations or verbal abuse – dreams, is buried in a coffin at the bottom of Lough Neagh,[43] and is finally brought to trial, under the name Festy King. He is eventually freed, and goes once more into hiding. An important piece of evidence during the trial – a letter about HCE written by his wife ALP – is called for so that it can be examined in closer detail.
ALP's Letter becomes the focal point as it is analysed in detail in I.5. This letter was dictated by ALP to her son Shem, a writer, and entrusted to her other son Shaun, a postman, for delivery. The letter never reaches its intended destination, ending up in a midden heap where it is unearthed by a hen named Biddy. Chapter I.6 digresses from the narrative in order to present the main and minor characters in more detail, in the form of twelve riddles and answers.
In the final two chapters of Book I we learn more about the letter's writer Shem the Penman (I.7) and its original author, his mother ALP (I.8). The Shem chapter consists of "Shaun's character assassination of his brother Shem", describing the hermetic artist as a forger and a "sham", before "Shem is protected by his mother [ALP], who appears at the end to come and defend her son."[44] The following chapter concerning Shem's mother, known as "Anna Livia Plurabelle", is interwoven with thousands of river names from all over the globe, and is widely considered the book's most celebrated passage.[45] The chapter was described by Joyce in 1924 as "a chattering dialogue across the river by two washerwomen who as night falls become a tree and a stone."[46] These two washerwomen gossip about ALP's response to the allegations laid against her husband HCE, as they wash clothes in the Liffey. ALP is said to have written a letter declaring herself tired of her mate. Their gossip then digresses to her youthful affairs and sexual encounters, before returning to the publication of HCE's guilt in the morning newspaper, and his wife's revenge on his enemies: borrowing a "mailsack" from her son Shaun the Post, she delivers presents to her 111 children. At the chapter's close the washerwomen try to pick up the thread of the story, but their conversation is increasingly difficult as they are on opposite sides of the widening Liffey, and it is getting dark. Finally, as they turn into a tree and a stone, they ask to be told a Tale of Shem or Shaun.[47]
Book II[edit]
While Book I of Finnegans Wake deals mostly with the parents HCE and ALP, Book II shifts that focus onto their children, Shem, Shaun and Issy.
II.1 opens with a pantomime programme, which outlines, in relatively clear language, the identities and attributes of the book's main characters. The chapter then concerns a guessing game among the children, in which Shem is challenged three times to guess by "gazework" the colour which the girls have chosen.[48] Unable to answer due to his poor eyesight, Shem goes into exile in disgrace, and Shaun wins the affection of the girls. Finally HCE emerges from the pub and in a thunder-like voice calls the children inside.[49]
Chapter II.2 follows Shem, Shaun and Issy studying upstairs in the pub, after having been called inside in the previous chapter.[50][51] The chapter depicts "[Shem] coaching [Shaun] how to do Euclid Bk I, 1", structured as "a reproduction of a schoolboys' (and schoolgirls') old classbook complete with marginalia by the twins, who change sides at half time, and footnotes by the girl (who doesn't)".[52][53] Once Shem (here called Dolph) has helped Shaun (here called Kev) to draw the Euclid diagram, the latter realises that he has drawn a diagram of ALP's genitalia, and "Kev finally realises the significance of the triangles [..and..] strikes Dolph." After this "Dolph forgives Kev" and the children are given "[e]ssay assignments on 52 famous men."[54] The chapter ends with the children's "nightletter" to HCE and ALP, in which they are "apparently united in a desire to overcome their parents."[55]
"Section 1: a radio broadcast of the tale of Pukklesen (a hunchbacked Norwegian Captain), Kersse (a tailor) and McCann (a ship's husband) in which the story is told inter alia of how HCE met and married ALP.
Sections 2–3: an interruption in which Kate (the cleaning woman) tells HCE that he is wanted upstairs, the door is closed and the tale of Buckley is introduced.
Sections 4–5: the tale, recounted by Butt and Taff (Shem and Shaun) and beamed over the television, of how Buckley shot the Russian General (HCE)
– Danis Rose's overview of the extremely complex chapter 2.3, which he believes takes place in the bar of Earwicker's hotel[56]"


II.3 moves to HCE working in the pub below the studying children. As HCE serves his customers, two narratives are broadcast via the bar's radio and television sets, namely "The Norwegian Captain and the Tailor's Daughter",[57][58] and "How Buckley Shot the Russian General". The first portrays HCE as a Norwegian Captain succumbing to domestication through his marriage to the Tailor's Daughter. The latter, told by Shem and Shaun ciphers Butt and Taff, casts HCE as a Russian General who is shot by the soldier Buckley.[59] Earwicker has been absent throughout the latter tale, having been summoned upstairs by ALP. He returns and is reviled by his customers, who see Buckley's shooting of the General as symbolic of Shem and Shaun's supplanting their father.[60] This condemnation of his character forces HCE to deliver a general confession of his crimes, including an incestuous desire for young girls.[61][62][63][64] Finally a policeman arrives to send the drunken customers home, the pub is closed up,[65] and the customers disappear singing into the night as a drunken HCE, clearing up the bar and swallowing the dregs of the glasses left behind, morphs into ancient Irish high king Rory O'Connor, and passes out.[66][67]
II.4, ostensibly portraying the drunken and sleeping Earwicker's dream, chronicles the spying of four old men (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) on Tristan and Iseult's journey.[68] The short chapter portrays "an old man like King Mark being rejected and abandoned by young lovers who sail off into a future without him",[69] while the four old men observe Tristan and Isolde, and offer four intertwining commentaries on the lovers and themselves which are "always repeating themselves".[70]
Book III[edit]
Book III concerns itself almost exclusively with Shaun, in his role as postman, having to deliver ALP's letter, which was referred to in Book I, but never seen.[71]
III.1 opens with the Four Masters' ass narrating how he thought, as he was "dropping asleep",[72] he had heard and seen an apparition of Shaun the Post.[73] As a result Shaun re-awakens, and, floating down the Liffey in a barrel, is posed fourteen questions concerning the significance and content of the letter he is carrying. However, Shaun, "apprehensive about being slighted, is on his guard, and the placating narrators never get a straight answer out of him."[74] Shaun's answers focus on his own boastful personality and his admonishment of the letter's author – his artist brother Shem. After the inquisition Shaun loses his balance and the barrel in which he has been floating careens over and he rolls backwards out of the narrator's earshot, before disappearing completely from view.[75]
In III.2 Shaun re-appears as "Jaunty Jaun" and delivers a lengthy and sexually suggestive sermon to his sister Issy, and her twenty-eight schoolmates from St. Brigid's School. Throughout this book Shaun is continually regressing, changing from an old man to an overgrown baby lying on his back, and eventually, in III.3, into a vessel through which the voice of HCE speaks again by means of a spiritual medium. This leads to HCE's defence of his life in the passage "Haveth Childers Everywhere". Book III ends in the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Porter as they attempt to copulate while their children, Jerry, Kevin and Isobel Porter, are sleeping upstairs and the dawn is rising outside (III.4). Jerry awakes from a nightmare of a scary father figure, and Mrs. Porter interrupts the coitus to go comfort him with the words "You were dreamend, dear. The pawdrag? The fawthrig? Shoe! Hear are no phanthares in the room at all, avikkeen. No bad bold faathern, dear one."[76] She returns to bed, and the rooster crows at the conclusion of their coitus at the Book's culmination.[77]
Book IV[edit]
"1: The waking and resurrection of [HCE]; 2: the sunrise; 3:the conflict of night and day; 4: the attempt to ascertain the correct time; 5: the terminal point of the regressive time and the [Shaun] figure of Book III; 6: the victory of day over night; 7: the letter and monologue of [ALP]
– Roland McHugh's summary of the events of Book IV[78]"

Book IV consists of only one chapter, which, like the book's opening chapter, is mostly composed of a series of seemingly unrelated vignettes. After an opening call for dawn to break,[79] the remainder of the chapter consists of the vignettes "Saint Kevin", "Berkely and Patrick" and "The Revered Letter".[80][81] ALP is given the final word, as the book closes on a version of her Letter[82] and her final long monologue, in which she tries to wake her sleeping husband, declaring "Rise up, man of the hooths, you have slept so long!",[83] and remembers a walk they once took, and hopes for its re-occurrence. At the close of her monologue, ALP – as the river Liffey – disappears at dawn into the ocean. The book's last words are a fragment, but they can be turned into a complete sentence by attaching them to the words that start the book:

A way a lone a last a loved a long the / riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
Critical response and themes[edit]
Difficulties of plot summary[edit]
“ Thus the unfacts, did we possess them, are too imprecisely few to warrant our certitude...[84] ”
Commentators who have summarised the plot of Finnegans Wake include Joseph Campbell, John Gordon, Anthony Burgess and William York Tindall. While no two summaries interpret the plot in the same way, there are a number of central "plot points" upon which they find general agreement. However, a number of Joyce scholars question the legitimacy of searching for a linear storyline within the complex text. As Bernard Benstock highlights, "in a work where every sentence opens a variety of possible interpretations, any synopsis of a chapter is bound to be incomplete."[85] David Hayman has suggested that "For all the efforts made by critics to establish a plot for the Wake, it makes little sense to force this prose into a narrative mold."[86] The book's challenges have led some commentators into generalised statements about its content and themes, prompting critic Bernard Benstock to warn against the danger of "boiling down" Finnegans Wake into "insipid pap, and leaving the lazy reader with a predigested mess of generalizations and catchphrases."[87] Fritz Senn has also voiced concerns with some plot synopses, saying "we have some traditional summaries, also some put in circulation by Joyce himself. I find them most unsatisfactory and unhelpful, they usually leave out the hard parts and recirculate what we already think we know. I simply cannot believe that FW would be as blandly uninteresting as those summaries suggest."[88]
The challenge of compiling a definitive synopsis of Finnegans Wake lies not only in the opacity of the book's language, but also in the radical approach to plot which Joyce employed. Joyce acknowledged this when he wrote to Eugene Jolas that:

"I might easily have written this story in the traditional manner [...] Every novelist knows the recipe [...] It is not very difficult to follow a simple, chronological scheme which the critics will understand [...] But I, after all, am trying to tell the story of this Chapelizod family in a new way.[89]
This "new way" of telling a story in Finnegans Wake takes the form of a discontinuous dream-narrative, with abrupt changes to characters, character names, locations and plot details resulting in the absence of a discernible linear narrative, causing Herring to argue that the plot of Finnegans Wake "is unstable in that there is no one plot from beginning to end, but rather many recognizable stories and plot types with familiar and unfamiliar twists, told from varying perspectives."[90] Patrick A. McCarthy expands on this idea of a non-linear, digressive narrative with the contention that "throughout much of Finnegans Wake, what appears to be an attempt to tell a story is often diverted, interrupted, or reshaped into something else, for example a commentary on a narrative with conflicting or unverifiable details."[91] In other words, while crucial plot points – such as HCE's crime or ALP's letter – are endlessly discussed, the reader never encounters or experiences them first hand, and as the details are constantly changing, they remain unknown and perhaps unknowable. Suzette Henke has accordingly described Finnegans Wake as an aporia.[92] Joyce himself tacitly acknowledged this radically different approach to language and plot in a 1926 letter to Harriet Weaver, outlining his intentions for the book: "One great part of every human existence is passed in a state which cannot be rendered sensible by the use of wideawake language, cutanddry grammar and goahead plot."[93] Critics have seen a precedent for the book's plot presentation in Laurence Sterne's famously digressive The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, with Thomas Keymer stating that "Tristram Shandy was a natural touchstone for James Joyce as he explained his attempt "to build many planes of narrative with a single esthetic purpose" in Finnegans Wake".[94]
Book II is usually considered the book's most opaque section, and hence the most difficult to synopsize. William York Tindall said of Book II's four chapters "Than this [...] nothing is denser."[95] Similarly, Patrick Parrinder has described Book II as the "worst and most disorienting quagmire[..] in the Wake."[96]
Despite Joyce's revolutionary techniques, the author repeatedly emphasized that the book was neither random nor meaningless; with Ellmann quoting the author as having stated: "I can justify every line of my book."[97] To Sisley Huddleston he stated "critics who were most appreciative of Ulysses are complaining about my new work. They cannot understand it. Therefore they say it is meaningless. Now if it were meaningless it could be written quickly without thought, without pains, without erudition; but I assure you that these 20 pages now before us [i.e. chapter I.8] cost me twelve hundred hours and an enormous expense of spirit."[98] When the editor of Vanity Fair asked Joyce if the sketches in Work in Progress were consecutive and interrelated, Joyce replied "It is all consecutive and interrelated."[99]
Themes[edit]
Fargnoli and Gillespie suggest that the book's opening chapter "introduces [the] major themes and concerns of the book", and enumerate these as "Finnegan's fall, the promise of his resurrection, the cyclical structure of time and history (dissolution and renewal), tragic love as embodied in the story of Tristan and Iseult, the motif of the warring brothers, the personification of the landscape and the question of Earwicker's crime in the park, the precise nature of which is left uncertain throughout the Wake."[100] Such a view finds general critical consensus, viewing the vignettes as allegorical appropriations of the book's characters and themes; for example, Schwartz argues that "The Willingdone Museyroom" episode represents the book's "archetypal family drama in military-historical terms."[101] Joyce himself referred to the chapter as a "prelude",[102] and as an "air photograph of Irish history, a celebration of the dim past of Dublin."[103] Riquelme finds that "passages near the book's beginning and its ending echo and complement one another",[104] and Fargnoli and Gillespie representatively argue that the book's cyclical structure echoes the themes inherent within, that "the typologies of human experience that Joyce identifies [in Finnegans Wake] are [..] essentially cyclical, that is, patterned and recurrent; in particular, the experiences of birth, guilt, judgment, sexuality, family, social ritual and death recur throughout the Wake.[105] In a similar enumeration of themes, Tindall argues that "rise and fall and rise again, sleeping and waking, death and resurrection, sin and redemption, conflict and appeasement, and, above all, time itself [..] are the matter of Joyce's essay on man."[106]
Henkes and Bindervoet generally summarise the critical consensus when they argue that, between the thematically indicative opening and closing chapters, the book concerns "two big questions" which are never resolved: what is the nature of protagonist HCE’s secret sin, and what was the letter, written by his wife ALP, about?[107] HCE's unidentifiable sin has most generally been interpreted as representing man's original sin as a result of the Fall of Man. Anthony Burgess sees HCE, through his dream, trying "to make the whole of history swallow up his guilt for him" and to this end "HCE has, so deep in his sleep, sunk to a level of dreaming in which he has become a collective being rehearsing the collective guilt of man."[108] Fargnoli and Gillespie argue that although undefined, "Earwicker's alleged crime in the Park" appears to have been of a "voyeuristic, sexual, or scatological nature".[100] ALP's letter appears a number of times throughout the book, in a number of different forms, and as its contents cannot be definitively delineated, it is usually believed to be both an exoneration of HCE, and an indictment of his sin. Herring argues that "[t]he effect of ALP's letter is precisely the opposite of her intent [...] the more ALP defends her husband in her letter, the more scandal attaches to him."[109] Patrick A. McCarthy argues that "it is appropriate that the waters of the Liffey, representing Anna Livia, are washing away the evidence of Earwicker's sins as [the washerwomen speak, in chapter I.8] for (they tell us) she takes on her husband's guilt and redeems him; alternately she is tainted with his crimes and regarded as an accomplice".[110]
A reconstruction of nocturnal life[edit]
Throughout the book's seventeen-year gestation, Joyce stated that with Finnegans Wake he was attempting to "reconstruct the nocturnal life",[4] and that the book was his "experiment in interpreting 'the dark night of the soul'."[111] According to Ellmann, Joyce stated to Edmond Jaloux that Finnegans Wake would be written "to suit the esthetic of the dream, where the forms prolong and multiply themselves",[112] and once informed a friend that "he conceived of his book as the dream of old Finn, lying in death beside the river Liffey and watching the history of Ireland and the world – past and future – flow through his mind like flotsam on the river of life."[113][114] While pondering the generally negative reactions to the book Joyce said  :

I can't understand some of my critics, like Pound or Miss Weaver, for instance. They say it's obscure. They compare it, of course, with Ulysses. But the action of Ulysses was chiefly during the daytime, and the action of my new work takes place chiefly at night. It's natural things should not be so clear at night, isn't it now?[115]
Joyce's claims to be representing the night and dreams have been accepted and questioned with greater and lesser credulity. Supporters of the claim have pointed to Book IV as providing its strongest evidence, as when the narrator asks “You mean to see we have been hadding a sound night’s sleep?”,[116] and later concludes that what has gone before has been “a long, very long, a dark, very dark [...] scarce endurable [...] night.”[117] Tindall refers to Book IV as "a chapter of resurrection and waking up",[118] and McHugh finds that the chapter contains "particular awareness of events going on offstage, connected with the arrival of dawn and the waking process which terminates the sleeping process of [Finnegans Wake]."[119]
However, this conceptualisation of the Wake as a dream is a point of contention for some. Harry Burrell, representative of this view, argues that "one of the most overworked ideas is that Finnegans Wake is about a dream. It is not, and there is no dreamer." Burrell argues that the theory is an easy way out for "critics stymied by the difficulty of comprehending the novel and the search for some kind of understanding of it."[120] However, the point upon which a number of critics fail to concur with Burrell's argument is its dismissal of the testimony of the book's author on the matter as "misleading... publicity efforts".[121] Parrinder however, equally skeptical of the concept of the Wake as a dream, argues that Joyce came up with the idea of representing his linguistic experiments as a language of the night around 1927 as a means of battling his many critics, further arguing that "since it cannot be said that neologism is a major feature of the dreaming process, such a justification for the language of Finnegans Wake smacks dangerously of expediency."[122]
While many, if not all, agree that there is at least some sense in which the book can be said to be a "dream", few agree on who the possible dreamer of such a dream might be.[123] Edmund Wilson's early analysis of the book, The Dream of H. C. Earwicker, made the assumption that Earwicker himself is the dreamer of the dream, an assumption which continued to carry weight with Wakean scholars Harry Levin, Hugh Kenner, and William Troy.[123] Joseph Campbell, in A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, also believed Earwicker to be the dreamer, but considered the narrative to be the observances of, and a running commentary by, an anonymous pedant on Earwicker's dream in progress, who would interrupt the flow with his own digressions.[124]
Ruth von Phul was the first to argue that Earwicker was not the dreamer, which triggered a number of similarly-minded views on the matter, although her assertion that Shem was the dreamer has found less support.[124][125]
The assertion that the dream was that of Mr. Porter, whose dream personality personified itself as HCE, came from the critical idea that the dreamer partially wakes during chapter III.4, in which he and his family are referred to by the name Porter.[126] Anthony Burgess representatively summarized this conception of the "dream" thus: "Mr. Porter and his family are asleep for the greater part of the book [...] Mr. Porter dreams hard, and we are permitted to share his dream [...] Sleeping, he becomes a remarkable mixture of guilty man, beast, and crawling thing, and he even takes on a new and dreamily appropriate name – Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker."[127]
Harriet Weaver was among the first to suggest that the dream was not that of any one dreamer, but was rather an analysis of the process of dreaming itself. In a letter to J.S. Atherton she wrote:

In particular their ascription of the whole thing to a dream of HCE seems to me nonsensical. My view is that Mr. Joyce did not intend the book to be looked upon as the dream of any one character, but that he regarded the dream form with its shiftings and changes and chances as a convenient device, allowing the freest scope to introduce any material he wished—and suited to a night-piece.[128]
Bernard Benstock also argued that "The Dreamer in the Wake is more than just a single individual, even if one assumes that on the literal level we are viewing the dream of publican H.C. Earwicker."[129]
Other critics have been more skeptical of the concept of identifying the dreamer of the book's narrative. Clive Hart argues that "[w]hatever our conclusions about the identity of the dreamer, and no matter how many varied caricatures of him we may find projected into the dream, it is clear that he must always be considered as essentially external to the book, and should be left there. Speculation about the 'real person' behind the guises of the dream-surrogates or about the function of the dream in relation to the unresolved stresses of this hypothetical mind is fruitless, for the tensions and psychological problems in Finnegans Wake concern the dream-figures living within the book itself."[130]
John Bishop has been the most vocal supporter of treating Finnegans Wake absolutely, in every sense, as a description of a dream, the dreamer, and of the night itself; arguing that the book not only represents a dream in an abstract conception, but is fully a literary representation of sleep. On the subject Bishop writes:

The greatest obstacle to our comprehension of Finnegans Wake [...has been...] the failure on the part of readers to believe that Joyce really meant what he said when he spoke of the book as a "reconstruction of the nocturnal life" and an "imitation of the dream-state"; and as a consequence readers have perhaps too easily exercised on the text an unyielding literalism bent on finding a kind of meaning in every way antithetical to the kind of meaning purveyed in dreams[131]
Bishop has also somewhat brought back into fashion the theory that the Wake is about a single sleeper; arguing that it is not "the 'universal dream' of some disembodied global everyman, but a reconstruction of the night – and a single night – as experienced by 'one stable somebody' whose 'earwitness' on the real world is coherently chronological."[132] Bishop has laid the path for critics such as Eric Rosenbloom, who has proposed that the book "elaborates the fragmentation and reunification of identity during sleep. The masculine [...] mind of the day has been overtaken by the feminine night mind. [...] The characters live in the transformation and flux of a dream, embodying the sleeper’s mind."[133]
Characters[edit]
“ Whence it is a slopperish matter, given the wet and low visibility [...] to idendifine the individuone[134] ”
Critics disagree on whether or not discernible characters exist in Finnegans Wake. For example, Grace Eckley argues that Wakean characters are distinct from each other,[135] and defends this with explaining the dual narrators, the "us" of the first paragraph, as well as Shem-Shaun distinctions[136] while Margot Norris argues that the "[c]haracters are fluid and interchangeable".[137] Supporting the latter stance, Van Hulle finds that the "characters" in Finnegans Wake are rather "archetypes or character amalgams, taking different shapes",[138] and Riquelme similarly refers to the book's cast of mutable characters as "protean".[139] As early as in 1934, in response to the recently published excerpt "The Mookse and the Gripes", Ronald Symond argued that "the characters in Work in Progress, in keeping with the space-time chaos in which they live, change identity at will. At one time they are persons, at another rivers or stones or trees, at another personifications of an idea, at another they are lost and hidden in the actual texture of the prose, with an ingenuity far surpassing that of crossword puzzles."[140] Such concealment of character identity has resulted in some disparity as to how critics identify the book's main protagonists; for example, while most find consensus that Festy King, who appears on trial in I.4, is a HCE type, not all analysts agree on this – for example Anthony Burgess believes him to be Shaun.[141]
However, while characters are in a constant state of flux; constantly changing names, occupations, and physical attributes; a recurring set of core characters, or character types (what Norris dubs "ciphers"), are discernible. During the composition of Finnegans Wake, Joyce used signs, or so-called “sigla”, rather than names to designate these character amalgams or types. In a letter to his Maecenas, Harriet Shaw Weaver (March 1924), Joyce made a list of these sigla.[138] For those who argue for the existence of distinguishable characters, the book focuses on the Earwicker family, which consists of father, mother, twin sons and a daughter.
Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE)[edit]
Kitcher argues for the father HCE as the book's main protagonist, stating that he is "the dominant figure throughout [...]. His guilt, his shortcomings, his failures pervade the entire book".[6] Bishop states that while the constant flux of HCE's character and attributes may lead us to consider him as an "anyman," he argues that "the sheer density of certain repeated details and concerns allows us to know that he is a particular, real Dubliner." The common critical consensus of HCE's fixed character is summarised by Bishop as being "an older Protestant male, of Scandinavian lineage, connected with the pubkeeping business somewhere in the neighbourhood of Chapelizod, who has a wife, a daughter, and two sons."[142]
HCE is referred to by literally thousands of names throughout the book; leading Terence Killeen to argue that in Finnegans Wake "naming is [..] a fluid and provisional process".[143] HCE is at first referred to as "Harold or Humphrey Chimpden";[144] a conflation of these names as "Haromphreyld",[145] and as a consequence of his initials "Here Comes Everybody".[146] These initials lend themselves to phrase after phrase throughout the book; for example, appearing in the book's opening sentence as "Howth Castle and Environs". As the work progresses the names by which he may be referred to become increasingly abstract (such as "Finn MacCool",[147] "Mr. Makeall Gone",[148] or "Mr. Porter"[149]).
Some Wake critics, such as Finn Fordham, argue that HCE's initials come from the initials of the portly politician Hugh Childers (1827–96), who had been nicknamed "Here Comes Everybody" for his size.[150]
Many critics see Finnegan, whose death, wake and resurrection are the subject of the opening chapter, as either a prototype of HCE, or as another of his manifestations. One of the reasons for this close identification is that Finnegan is called a "man of hod, cement and edifices" and "like Haroun Childeric Eggeberth",[151] identifying him with the initials HCE. Parrinder for example states that "Bygmester Finnegan [...] is HCE", and finds that his fall and resurrection foreshadows "the fall of HCE early in Book I [which is] paralleled by his resurrection towards the end of III.3, in the section originally called "Haveth Childers Everywhere", when [HCE's] ghost speaks forth in the middle of a seance."[152]
Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP)[edit]
Patrick McCarthy describes HCE's wife ALP as "the river-woman whose presence is implied in the "riverrun" with which Finnegans Wake opens and whose monologue closes the book. For over six hundred pages, however, Joyce presents Anna Livia to us almost exclusively through other characters, much as in Ulysses we hear what Molly Bloom has to say about herself only in the last chapter."[153] The most extensive discussion of ALP comes in chapter I.8, in which hundreds of names of rivers are woven into the tale of ALP's life. Similarly hundreds of city names are woven into "Haveth Childers Everywhere", the corresponding passage at the end of III.3 which focuses on HCE. As a result it is generally contended that HCE personifies the Viking-founded city of Dublin, and his wife ALP personifies the river Liffey, on whose banks the city was built.
The children: Shem, Shaun and Issy[edit]
ALP and HCE have a daughter, Issy – whose personality is often split (represented by her mirror-twin). Parrinder argues that "as daughter and sister, she is an object of secret and repressed desire both to her father [...] and to her two brothers."[154] These twin sons of HCE and ALP consist of a writer called Shem the Penman and a postman by the name of Shaun the Post, who are rivals for replacing their father and for their sister Issy's affection. Shaun is portrayed as a dull postman, conforming to society's expectations, while Shem is a bright artist and sinister experimenter, often perceived as Joyce's alter-ego in the book.[155] Hugh Staples finds that Shaun "wants to be thought of as a man-about-town, a snappy dresser, a glutton and a gourmet... He is possessed of a musical voice and is a braggart. He is not happy in his work, which is that of a messenger or a postman; he would rather be a priest."[156] Shaun's sudden and somewhat unexpected promotion to the book's central character in Book III is explained by Tindall with the assertion that "having disposed of old HCE, Shaun is becoming the new HCE."[157]
Like their father, Shem and Shaun are referred to by different names throughout the book, such as "Caddy and Primas";[158] "Mercius" and "Justius";[159][160] "Dolph and Kevin";[161] and "Jerry and Kevin".[162] These twins are contrasted in the book by allusions to sets of opposing twins and enemies in literature, mythology and history; such as Set and Horus of the Osiris story; the biblical pairs Jacob and Esau, Cain and Abel, and Saint Michael and the Devil – equating Shaun with "Mick" and Shem with "Nick" – as well as Romulus and Remus.
Minor characters[edit]
The book is also populated by a number of minor characters, such as the Four Masters, the twelve customers, the Earwickers' cleaning staff Kate and Joe, as well as more obscure characters such as "McGrath", Lily Kinsella, and the bell-ringer "Fox Goodman".
The most commonly recurring characters outside of the Earwicker family are the four old men known collectively as "Mamalujo" (a conflation of their names: Matt Gregory, Marcus Lyons, Luke Tarpey and Johnny Mac Dougall). These four most commonly serve as narrators, but they also play a number of active roles in the text, such as when they serve as the judges in the court case of I.4, or as the inquisitors who question Yawn in III.4. Tindall summarises the roles that these old men play as those of the Four Masters, the Four Evangelists, and the four Provinces of Ireland ( "Matthew, from the north, is Ulster; Mark, from the south, is Munster; Luke, from the east, is Leinster; and John, from the west, is Connaught").[163] According to Finn Fordham, Joyce related to his daughter-in-law Helen Fleischmann that "Mamalujo" also represented Joyce's own family, namely his wife Nora (mama), daughter Lucia (lu), and son Giorgio (jo).[164]
In addition to the four old men, there are a group of twelve unnamed men who always appear together, and serve as the customers in Earwicker's pub, gossipers about his sins, jurors at his trial and mourners at his wake.[165] The Earwicker household also includes two cleaning staff: Kate, the maid, and Joe, who is by turns handyman and barman in Earwicker's pub. These characters are seen by most critics as older versions of ALP and HCE.[166] Kate often plays the role of museum curator, as in the "Willingdone Museyroom" episode of 1.1, and is recognisable by her repeated motif "Tip! Tip!" Joe is often also referred to by the name "Sackerson", and Kitcher describes him as "a figure sometimes playing the role of policeman, sometimes [...] a squalid derelict, and most frequently the odd-job man of HCE's inn, Kate's male counterpart, who can ambiguously indicate an older version of HCE."[167]
Language and style[edit]
"riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs."—
The opening line of Finnegans Wake, which continues from the book's unfinished closing line[168]"

Joyce invented a unique polyglot-language or idioglossia solely for the purpose of this work. This language is composed of composite words from some sixty to seventy world languages,[169] combined to form puns, or portmanteau words and phrases intended to convey several layers of meaning at once. Senn has labelled Finnegans Wake's language as "polysemetic",[88] and Tindall as an "Arabesque".[170] Norris describes it as a language which "like poetry, uses words and images which can mean several, often contradictory, things at once"[171] An early review of the book argued that Joyce was attempting "to employ language as a new medium, breaking down all grammatical usages, all time space values, all ordinary conceptions of context [..] the theme is the language and the language the theme, and a language where every association of sound and free association is exploited."[172] Seconding this analysis of the book's emphasis on form over content, Paul Rosenfeld reviewed Finnegans Wake in 1939 with the suggestion that "the writing is not so much about something as it is that something itself [..] in Finnegans Wake the style, the essential qualities and movement of the words, their rhythmic and melodic sequences, and the emotional color of the page are the main representatives of the author's thought and feeling. The accepted significations of the words are secondary."[173]
While commentators emphasize how this manner of writing can communicate multiple levels of meaning simultaneously, Hayman and Norris contend that its purpose is as much to obscure and disable meaning as to expand it. Hayman writes that access to the work's "tenuous narratives" may only be achieved through "the dense weave of a language designed as much to shield as to reveal them."[174] Norris argues that Joyce's language is "devious" and that it "conceals and reveals secrets."[171] Allen B. Ruch has dubbed Joyce's new language "dreamspeak," and describes it as "a language that is basically English, but extremely malleable and all-inclusive, rich with portmanteau words, stylistic parodies, and complex puns."[175] Although much has been made of the numerous world languages employed in the book's composite language, most of the more obscure languages appear only seldom in small clusters, and most agree with Ruch that the latent sense of the language, however manifestly obscure, is "basically English".[176][177] Burrell also finds that Joyce's thousands of neologisms are "based on the same etymological principles as standard English."[178] However, the Wake's language is not entirely unique in literature; for example critics have seen its use of portmanteaux and neologisms as an extension of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky.[179]
Although Joyce died shortly after the publication of Finnegans Wake, during the work's composition the author made a number of statements concerning his intentions in writing in such an original manner. In a letter to Max Eastman, for example, Joyce suggested that his decision to employ such a unique and complex language was a direct result from his attempts to represent the night:

In writing of the night I really could not, I felt I could not, use words in their ordinary connections. Used that way they do not express how things are in the night, in the different stages – the conscious, then semi-conscious, then unconscious. I found that it could not be done with words in their ordinary relations and connections. When morning comes of course everything will be clear again [...] I'll give them back their English language. I'm not destroying it for good.[180]
Joyce is also reported as having told Arthur Power that "what is clear and concise can't deal with reality, for to be real is to be surrounded by mystery."[181] On the subject of the vast amount of puns employed in the work Joyce argued to Frank Budgeon that "after all, the Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church was built on a pun. It ought to be good enough for me",[180] and to the objection of triviality he replied "Yes. Some of the means I use are trivial – and some are quadrivial."[180] A great many of the book's puns are etymological in nature. Sources tell us that Joyce relished delving into the history and the changing meanings of words, his primary source being An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat (Oxford, at the Clarendon Press; 1879). For example, one of the very first entries in Skeat is for the letter A, which begins: "...(1) adown; (2) afoot; (3) along; (4) arise; (5) achieve; (6) avert; (7) amend; (8) alas; (9) abyss..." Further in the entry, Skeat writes: "These prefixes are discussed at greater length under the headings Of, On, Along, Arise...Alas, Aware, Avast..." It seems likely that these strings of words prompted Joyce to finish the Wake with a sentence fragment that included the words: "...a way a lone a last a loved a long..."[citation needed] Samuel Beckett collated words from foreign languages on cards for Joyce to use, and, as Joyce's eyesight worsened, wrote down the text from his dictation.[182] Beckett described and defended the writing style of Finnegans Wake thus:

This writing that you find so obscure is a quintessential extraction of language and painting and gesture, with all the inevitable clarity of the old inarticulation. Here is the savage economy of hieroglyphics.[183]
Faced with the obstacles to be surmounted in "understanding" Joyce's text, a handful of critics have suggested readers focus on the rhythm and sound of the language, rather than solely on "meaning." As early as 1929, Eugene Jolas stressed the importance of the aural and musical dimensions of the work. In his contribution to Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress, Jolas wrote:

Those who have heard Mr. Joyce read aloud from Work in Progress know the immense rhythmic beauty of his technique. It has a musical flow that flatters the ear, that has the organic structure of works of nature, that transmits painstakingly every vowel and consonant formed by his ear.[184]
The Canadian critic, historian and novelist Patrick Watson has also argued this point, writing that

Those people who say the book is unreadable have not tried reading it aloud. This is the secret. If you even mouth the words silently, suddenly what seemed incomprehensible (Hubert Butler called it "Joyce's learned gibberish,") leaps into referential meaning, by its sound, since page after page is rich in allusion to familiar phrases, parables, sayings of all kinds – and the joyous and totally brilliant wordplay, over and over again imperceivable until you actually listen to it – transforms what was an unrelievable agony into an adventure.[citation needed]
Allusions to other works[edit]
Finnegans Wake incorporates a high number of intertextual allusions and references to other texts; Parrinder refers to it as "a remarkable example of intertextuality" containing a "wealth of literary reference."[185] Among the most prominent are the Irish ballad "Finnegan's Wake" from which the book takes its name, Italian philosopher Giovanni Battista Vico's La Scienza Nuova,[186] the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the plays of Shakespeare,[187] and religious texts such as the Bible and Qur'an. These allusions, rather than directly quoting or referencing a source, normally enter the text in a contorted fashion, often through humorous plays on words. For example, Hamlet Prince of Denmark becomes "Camelot, prince of dinmurk"[188] and St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews becomes a "farced epistol to the hibruws".[189]
The book begins with one such allusion to Vico's New Science:

riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
"Commodius vicus" refers to Giambattista Vico (1668–1744), who proposed a theory of cyclical history in his work "La Scienza Nuova" (The New Science). Vico argued that the world was coming to the end of the last of three ages, these being the age of gods, the age of heroes, and the age of humans. These ideas recur throughout Finnegans Wake, informing the book's four-part structure. Vico's name appears a number of times throughout the Wake, indicating the work's debt to his theories, such as “The Vico road goes round and round to meet where terms begin.”[190] That a reference to Vico's cyclical theory of history is to be found in the opening sentence which is a continuation of the book's closing sentence – thus making the work cyclical in itself – creates the relevance of such an allusion.
One of the sources Joyce drew from is the Ancient Egyptian story of Osiris,[191] and the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a collection of spells and invocations. Bishop asserts that "it is impossible to overlook the vital presence of the Book of the Dead in Finnegans Wake, which refers to ancient Egypt in countless tags and allusions."[192] At one of their last meetings, Joyce suggested to Frank Budgen that he write an article about Finnegans Wake, entitling it "James Joyce's Book of the Dead". Budgen followed Joyce's advice with his paper "Joyce's Chapters of Going Forth by Day", highlighting many of the allusions to Egyptian mythology in the book.[193]
The Tristan and Iseult legend – a tragic love triangle between the Irish princess Iseult, the Cornish knight Tristan and his uncle King Mark – is also oft alluded to in the work, particularly in Book II chapter 4. Fargnoli and Gillespie argue that "various themes and motifs throughout Finnegans Wake, such as the cuckoldry of Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (a King Mark figure) and Shaun's attempts at seducing Issy, relate directly to Tristan and Isolde [...] other motifs relating to Earwicker's loss of authority, such as the forces usurping his parental status, are also based on Tristan and Isolde."[194]
The book also alludes heavily to Irish mythology, with HCE sometimes corresponding to Fionn mac Cumhaill,[195] Issy and ALP to Gráinne, and Shem/Shaun to Dermot (Diarmaid). Not only Irish mythology, but also notable real-life Irish figures are alluded to throughout the text. For example, HCE is often identified with Charles Stewart Parnell, and Shem's attack on his father in this way mirrors the attempt of forger Richard Pigott to incriminate Parnell in the Phoenix Park Murders of 1882 by means of false letters. But, given the flexibility of allusion in Finnegans Wake HCE assumes the character of Pigott as well, for just as HCE betrays himself to the cad, Pigott betrayed himself at the inquiry into admitting the forgery by his spelling of the word "hesitancy" as "hesitency"; and this misspelling appears frequently in the Wake.
Finnegans Wake also makes a great number of allusions to religious texts. When HCE is first introduced in chapter I.2, the narrator relates how "in the beginning" he was a "grand old gardener", thus equating him with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Spinks further highlights this allusion by highlighting that like HCE's unspecified crime in the park, Adam also "commits a crime in a garden".[196]
Norwegian influence[edit]
With Dublin, an early Viking settlement, as the setting for Finnegans Wake, it is perhaps not surprising that Joyce incorporated a number of Norwegian linguistic and cultural elements into the work (notably Riksmål references for the most part). For example, one of the main tales of chapter II.3 concerns a Norwegian tailor, and a number of Norwegian words such as bakvandets, Knut Oelsvinger and Bygmester Finnegan (the latter a reference to Ibsen's Bygmeester Solness) are used throughout. Indeed, most of Ibsen's works, many of his characters and also some quotations are referenced in the Wake. While Joyce was working on Finnegans Wake, he wanted to insert references to Scandinavian languages and literature, hiring five teachers of Norwegian. The first one turned out to be the poet Olaf Bull. Joyce wanted to read Norwegian works in the original language, including Peter Andreas Munch's Norrøne Gude- og Heltesagn (Norse tales of gods and heroes). He was looking for puns and unusual associations across the barriers of language, a practice Bull well understood. Lines from Bull's poems echo through Finnegans Wake, and Bull himself materializes under the name "Olaph the Oxman", a pun on his surname.[197]
Literary significance and criticism[edit]
The value of Finnegans Wake as a work of literature has been a point of contention since the time of its appearance, in serial form, in literary reviews of the 1920s. Initial response, to both its serialised and final published forms, was almost universally negative. Even close friends and family were disapproving of Joyce's seemingly impenetrable text, with Joyce's brother Stanislaus "rebuk[ing] him for writing an incomprehensible night-book",[198] and former friend Oliver Gogarty believing the book to be a joke, pulled by Joyce on the literary community, referring to it as "the most colossal leg pull in literature since Macpherson's Ossian".[199] When Ezra Pound, a former champion of Joyce's and admirer of Ulysses, was asked his opinion on the text, he wrote "Nothing so far as I make out, nothing short of divine vision or a new cure for the clap can possibly be worth all the circumambient peripherization."[200] H.G. Wells, in a personal letter to Joyce, argued that "you have turned your back on common men, on their elementary needs and their restricted time and intelligence [...] I ask: who the hell is this Joyce who demands so many waking hours of the few thousands I have still to live for a proper appreciation of his quirks and fancies and flashes of rendering?"[201] Even Joyce's patron Harriett Weaver wrote to him in 1927 to inform him of her misgivings regarding his new work, stating "I am made in such a way that I do not care much for the output from your Wholesale Safety Pun Factory nor for the darknesses and unintelligibilities of your deliberately entangled language system. It seems to me you are wasting your genius."[202]
The wider literary community were equally disparaging, with D. H. Lawrence declaring, in reaction to the sections of the Wake being published individually as "Work in Progress", "My God, what a clumsy olla putrida James Joyce is! Nothing but old fags and cabbage-stumps of quotations from the Bible and the rest, stewed in the juice of deliberate journalistic dirty-mindedness – what old and hard-worked staleness, masquerading as the all-new!"[93] Vladimir Nabokov, who had also admired Ulysses, described Finnegans Wake as "nothing but a formless and dull mass of phony folklore, a cold pudding of a book, a persistent snore in the next room [...] and only the infrequent snatches of heavenly intonations redeem it from utter insipidity."[93] In response to such criticisms, Transition published essays throughout the late 1920s, defending and explaining Joyce's work. In 1929, these essays (along with a few others written for the occasion) were collected under the title Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress and published by Shakespeare and Company. This collection featured Samuel Beckett's first commissioned work, the essay "Dante... Bruno. Vico.. Joyce",[203] along with contributions by William Carlos Williams, Stuart Gilbert, Marcel Brion, Eugene Jolas and others. As Margot Norris highlights, the agenda of this first generation of Wake critics and defenders was "to assimilate Joyce's experimental text to an already increasingly established and institutionalized literary avant-garde" and "to foreground Joyce's last work as spearhead of a philosophical avant-garde bent on the revolution of language".[204]
Upon its publication in 1939, Finnegans Wake received a series of mixed, but mostly negative reviews. Louise Bogan, writing for Nation, surmised that while "the book's great beauties, its wonderful passages of wit, its variety, its mark of genius and immense learning are undeniable [...], to read the book over a long period of time gives one the impression of watching intemperance become addiction, become debauch" and argued that "Joyce's delight in reducing man's learning, passion, and religion to a hash is also disturbing."[205] Edwin Muir, reviewing in Listener wrote that "as a whole the book is so elusive that there is no judging it; I cannot tell whether it is winding into deeper and deeper worlds of meaning or lapsing into meaningless", although he too acknowledged that "there are occasional flashes of a kind of poetry which is difficult to define but is of unquestioned power."[206] B. Ifor Evans, writing in the Manchester Guardian, similarly argued that, due to its difficulties, the book "does not admit of review", and argued that, perhaps "in twenty years' time, with sufficient study and with the aid of the commentary that will doubtless arise, one might be ready for an attempt to appraise it." Taking a swipe at many of the negative reviews circulating at the time, Evans writes: "The easiest way to deal with the book would be [...] to write off Mr. Joyce's latest volume as the work of a charlatan. But the author of Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist and Ulysses is not a charlatan, but an artist of very considerable proportions. I prefer to suspend judgement..."[207]
In the time since Joyce's death, the book's admirers have struggled against public perception of the work to make exactly this argument for Finnegans Wake. One of the book's early champions was Thornton Wilder, who wrote to Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas in August 1939, a few months after the book's publication: "One of my absorptions [...] has been James Joyce's new novel, digging out its buried keys and resolving that unbroken chain of erudite puzzles and finally coming on lots of wit, and lots of beautiful things has been my midnight recuperation. A lot of thanks to him".[208] The publication in 1944 of the first in-depth study and analysis of Joyce's final text—A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by mythologist Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson—tried to prove to a skeptical public that if the hidden key or "Monomyth" could be found, then the book could be read as a novel with characters, plot, and an internal coherence. As a result, from the 1940s-1960s critical emphasis moved away from positioning the Wake as a "revolution of the word" and towards readings that stressed its "internal logical coherence", as "the avant-gardism of Finnegans Wake was put on hold [and] deferred while the text was rerouted through the formalistic requirements of an American criticism inspired by New Critical dicta that demanded a poetic intelligibility, a formal logic of texts.[204] Slowly the book's critical capital began to rise to the point that, in 1957, Northrop Frye described Finnegans Wake as the “chief ironic epic of our time”[209] and Anthony Burgess lauded the book as "a great comic vision, one of the few books of the world that can make us laugh aloud on nearly every page."[14]
In 1962, Clive Hart wrote the first major book-length study of the work since Campbell's Skeleton Key, Structure and Motif in "Finnegans Wake" which approached the work from the increasingly influential field of structuralism. However through the 1960s it was to be French post-structuralist theory that was to exert the most influence over readings of Finnegans Wake, refocussing critical attention back to the work's radical linguistic experiments and their philosophical consequences. Jacques Derrida developed his ideas of literary "deconstruction" largely inspired by Finnegans Wake (as detailed in the essay "Two Words for Joyce"), and as a result literary theory—in particular post-structuralism—has embraced Joyce's innovation and ambition in Finnegans Wake.[210] Derrida tells an anecdote about the two books' importance for his own thought; in a bookstore in Tokyo,

an American tourist of the most typical variety leaned over my shoulder and sighed: "So many books! What is the definitive one? Is there any?" It was an extremely small book shop, a news agency. I almost replied, "Yes, there are two of them, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.[211]
The text's influence on other writers has grown since its initial shunning, and contemporary American author Tom Robbins is among the writers working today to have expressed his admiration for Joyce's complex last work:

the language in it is incredible. There's so many layers of puns and references to mythology and history. But it's the most realistic novel ever written. Which is exactly why it's so unreadable. He wrote that book the way that the human mind works. An intelligent, inquiring mind. And that's just the way consciousness is. It's not linear. It's just one thing piled on another. And all kinds of cross references. And he just takes that to an extreme. There's never been a book like it and I don't think there ever will be another book like it. And it's absolutely a monumental human achievement. But it's very hard to read.[212]
More recently, Finnegans Wake has become an increasingly accepted part of the critical literary canon, although detractors still remain. As an example, John Bishop described the book's legacy as that of "the single most intentionally crafted literary artifact that our culture has produced [...] and, certainly, one of the great monuments of twentieth-century experimental letters."[176] The section of the book to have received the most praise throughout its critical history has been "Anna Livia Plurabelle" (Book I, chapter 8), which Parrinder describes as being "widely recognized as one of the most beautiful prose-poems in English."[96] In 1994, in The Western Canon, Harold Bloom wrote of Finnegans Wake: "[if] aesthetic merit were ever again to center the canon [it] would be as close as our chaos could come to the heights of Shakespeare and Dante," and in 1998 the Modern Library placed Finnegans Wake seventy-seventh amongst its list of "Top 100 English-language novels of the twentieth century."
Publication history[edit]
Throughout its seventeen-year composition, Finnegans Wake was published in short excerpts in a number of literary magazines, most prominently in the Parisian literary journals Transatlantic Review and Eugene Jolas's transition. It has been argued that "Finnegans Wake, much more so than Ulysses, was very much directly shaped by the tangled history of its serial publication."[213] In October 1923 in Ezra Pound's Paris flat, Ford Madox Ford convinced Joyce to contribute some of his new writings to the Transatlantic Review, a new journal Ford was editing. As a result, the eight page "Mamalujo" sketch became the first fragment from the book to be published in its own right, in Transatlantic Review 1.4 in April 1924.[214] The sketch appeared under the title "From Work in Progress", a term applied to works by Ernest Hemingway and Tristan Tzara published in the same issue, and the one by which Joyce would refer to his final work until its publication as Finnegans Wake in 1939.[213] The sketch would appear in the final published text, in radically altered form, as chapter 2.4.[215]
1925 saw four sketches published from the developing work. "Here Comes Everybody"[216] was published as "From Work in Progress" in the Contact Collection of Contemporary Writers, edited by Robert McAlmon. "The Letter"[217] was published as "Fragment of an Unpublished Work" in Criterion 3.12 (July 1925), and as "A New Unnamed Work" in Two Worlds 1.1. (September 1925).[215] The first published draft of "Anna Livia Plurabelle"[218] appeared in Le Navire d'Argent 1 in October, and the first published draft of "Shem the Penman"[219] appeared in the Autumn–Winter edition of This Quarter.[215]
In 1925-6 Two Worlds began to publish redrafted versions of previously published fragments, starting with "Here Comes Everybody" in December 1925, and then "Anna Livia Plurabelle" (March 1926), "Shem the Penman" (June 1926), and "Mamalujo" (September 1925), all under the title "A New Unnamed Work".[215]
Eugene Jolas befriended Joyce in 1927, and as a result serially published revised fragments from Book I in his transition literary journal. This began with the debut of the book's opening chapter, under the title "Opening Pages of a Work in Progress", in April 1927. By November chapters I.2 through I.8 had all been published in the journal, in their correct sequence, under the title "Continuation of a Work in Progress".[220] From 1928 Book's II and III slowly began to emerge in transition, with a brief excerpt of II.2 ("The Triangle") published in February 1928, and Book III's four chapters between March 1928 and November 1929.[220]
At this point, Joyce started publishing individual books of chapters from Work in Progress. The first of these, Tales Told of Shem and Shaun was published by Harry and Caresse Crosby's publishing house Black Sun Press. The slim volume contained three short fables pertaining to the novel's three children Shem, Shaun and Issy; namely "The Mookse and the Gripes",[221] "The Triangle",[222] and "The Ondt and the Gracehoper".[220][223] Faber and Faber published book editions of "Anna Livia Plurabelle" (1930), and "Haveth Childers Everywhere" (1931), HCE's long defence of his life which would eventually close chapter III.3.[224][225] A year later they published Two Tales of Shem and Shaun, which dropped "The Triangle" from the previous Black Sun Press edition. Book 2 was published serially in transition between February 1933 and May 1938, and a final individual book publication, Storiella as She Is Syung, was published by Corvinus Press in 1937, made up of sections from what would become chapter II.2.[225]
By 1938 virtually all of Finnegans Book was in print in the transition serialisation and in the booklets, with the exception of Book IV. However, Joyce continued to revise all previously published sections until Finnegans Wake's final published form, resulting in the text existing in a number of different forms, to the point that critics can speak of Finnegans Wake being a different entity to Work in Progress. The book was finally published by Faber and Faber on 4 May 1939, after seventeen years of composition.
In March 2010, a new "critically emended edition" was published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies by Houyhnhnm Press [226] in conjunction with Penguin. This edition was published in a trade edition in 2012.[227] Edited by Danis Rose and John O'Hanlon, is the "summation of thirty years’ intense engagement by textual scholars Danis Rose and John O’Hanlon verifying, codifying, collating and clarifying the 20,000 pages of notes, drafts, typescripts and proofs." In the publisher's words the new edition "incorporates some 9,000 minor yet crucial corrections and amendments, covering punctuation marks, font choice, spacing, misspellings, misplaced phrases and ruptured syntax." According to the publisher, "Although individually minor, these changes are nonetheless crucial in that they facilitate a smooth reading of the book’s allusive density and essential fabric." An attempt to identify these "9,000 minor yet crucial corrections and amendments" is under way at the Finnegans Wake Extensible Elucidation Treasury (FWEET).[228]
Translations and derivative works[edit]



Jürgen Partenheimer's "Violer d'amores", a series of drawings inspired by Joyce's Finnegans Wake
Despite its linguistic complexity, Finnegans Wake has been translated into other languages, including French, Italian, German,[229] Hungarian, Spanish, Dutch,[230] Polish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.[231]
A musical play, The Coach with the Six Insides by Jean Erdman, based on the character Anna Livia Plurabelle,[232] was performed in New York in 1962.[233][234] Parts of the book were adapted for the stage by Mary Manning as Passages from Finnegans Wake, which was in turn used as the basis for a film of the novel by Mary Ellen Bute.[235] Danish visual artists Michael Kvium and Christian Lemmerz created a multimedia project called "the Wake", an 8 hour long silent movie based on the book.[236] A version adapted by Barbara Vann with music by Chris McGlumphy was produced by The Medicine Show Theater in April 2005 and received a favorable review in the 11 April 2005 edition of The New York Times.
John Cage's Roaratorio: an Irish circus on Finnegans Wake combines a collage of sounds mentioned in Finnegans Wake, with Irish jigs and Cage reading his Writing for the Second Time through Finnegans Wake, one of a series of five writings based on the Wake. The work also sets textual passages from the book as songs, including The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs and Nowth upon Nacht.[237] Phil Minton set passages of the Wake to music, on his 1998 album Mouthfull of Ecstasy.[238]
André Hodeir composed a jazz cantata on Anna Plurabelle (1966).
Recordings[edit]
Joyce made a recording in 1929 of an excerpt from the "Anna Livia Plurabelle" section of the book (Book I, chapter 8, from page 213, line 13, to the end of the chapter).[239]
In January 1992 Patrick Healy read and recorded the complete text in Bow Lane Recording Studios, Dublin, over a four-day period. The unabridged twenty-hour recording was released in a box-set of seventeen compact discs with a limited run of 1,000 by The Lilliput Press.[240]
Cultural impact[edit]
Finnegans Wake is a difficult text, and it has been noted that Joyce would not have aimed it at the general reader;[241] however, certain aspects of the work have made an impact on popular culture beyond the awareness of it being difficult.[242] In the academic field, physicist Murray Gell-Mann named a type of subatomic particle as a quark, after the phrase "Three quarks for Muster Mark" on page 383 of Finnegans Wake,[243] as he already had the sound "kwork".[244] Similarly, the comparative mythology term monomyth, as described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces,[245] was taken from a passage in Finnegans Wake.[246] According to the official company history[247] of the popular blogging tool WordPress, their name was invented by Christine Selleck[248] in March 2003, whereas James Joyce first uses this word in Finnegans Wake p. 20, l. 9.[249] The work of Marshall McLuhan was greatly inspired by James Joyce, especially referencing Finnegans Wake throughout the collage book War and Peace in the Global Village.[250] The novel also was the source of the title of Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody.[251]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ While some critics argue for treating Finnegans Wake as a novel, Tim Conley articulates the current critical consensus on this matter when he states that the Wake "is not a novel or, at least, it follows none of the traditions of the novel, makes no claims to be a novel, and its author did not refer to it as such." Conley 2003 p. 109
2.Jump up ^ Joyce, Joyceans, and the Rhetoric of Citation, p 3, Eloise Knowlton, University Press of Florida, 1998, ISBN 0-8130-1610-X
3.Jump up ^ What Art is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand, p 245, Louis Torres, Michelle Marder Kamhi, Open Court Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-8126-9372-8
4.^ Jump up to: a b Mercanton 1988, p.233
5.Jump up ^ Joyce critic Lee Spinks argues that Finnegans Wake "has some claim to be the least read major work of Western literature." Spinks, Lee. A Critical Guide to James Joyce, p.127
6.^ Jump up to: a b Kitcher 2007
7.Jump up ^ James Atherton states that despite the amount of critical work "explaining [the book's] profundities from various viewpoints and in varying ways [...] agreement has still not been reached on many fundamental points" Atherton 2009, p. ii; Vincent Cheng similarly argues that "through the efforts of a dedicated handful of scholars, we are approaching a grasp of the Wake. Much of Finnegans Wake, however, remains a literary outland that is still barely mapped out." Cheng 1984, p.2
8.Jump up ^ The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce, p 98, Eric Bulson, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-84037-6
9.Jump up ^ James Joyce A to Z, p 74, A. Nicholas Fargnoli, Oxford University Press US, 1996, ISBN 0-19-511029-3
10.Jump up ^ Chaucer's Open Books, p 29, Rosemarie P McGerr, University Press of Florida, 1998, ISBN 0-8130-1572-3
11.Jump up ^ via Beckett's signal contribution to Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress ("Dante . . . Bruno . Vico . . Joyce")
12.Jump up ^ Giambattista Vico article in The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
13.Jump up ^ The Oxford companion to Irish literature, p 193, Robert Welch, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-866158-4
14.^ Jump up to: a b c "Putting It Into Words ~ Finnegans Wake". It's About Women.
15.Jump up ^ "100 Best Novels". Random House. 1999. Retrieved 23 June 2007. This ranking was by the Modern Library Editorial Board of authors and critics; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was ranked third by the board and Ulysses was ranked as the best novel of the century.
16.Jump up ^ Bulson, Eric. The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Page 14.
17.Jump up ^ Joyce, James. Ulysses: The 1922 Text. Oxford University Press, 1998. Page xlvii.
18.Jump up ^ Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 5
19.Jump up ^ The piece would eventually become the conclusion of Book II Chapter 3 (FW: 380.07–382.30); cf Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 5.
20.Jump up ^ Hofheinz, p. 120.
21.Jump up ^ Crispi, Slote 2007 pp. 12–13.
22.Jump up ^ Mailhos 1994, p. 49
23.^ Jump up to: a b Lernout, in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 50
24.Jump up ^ Crispi, Slote 2007, p.22
25.Jump up ^ quoted in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 22
26.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, pp. 577–585, 603
27.Jump up ^ The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce, Derek Attridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-521-37673-4, p 174
28.Jump up ^ quoted in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 23
29.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, pp. 591–592
30.Jump up ^ The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce, p 15, Eric Bulson, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-84037-6
31.Jump up ^ Ethical Joyce, p 110, Marian Eide, Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-521-81498-7
32.Jump up ^ Verene, Donald Phillip. Knowledge of Things Human and Divine, p. 5
33.Jump up ^ Joyce, Letters I, p.246
34.Jump up ^ Finnegan is first referred to on p.4, line 18, as "Bygmester Finnegan"
35.^ Jump up to: a b "The Online shorter Finnegans Wake". Robot Wisdom. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
36.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 8–10, which presents a guided tour through a museum in the Wellington Monument, which commemorates Finnegan's fall, retold as the battle of "Willingdone" versus the "Lipoleums" and "Jinnies" at Waterloo.
37.Jump up ^ , Joyce 1939, pp. 16–18, which describes a dialogue between respectively deaf and dumb aboriginal ancestors, who have difficulty hearing, seeing and understanding each other. Bishop characterises them as two prehistoric men who "babble and stammer imperceptively like Vico's men"; Bishop 1986, p.194
38.Jump up ^ Herman, David (1994). "The Mutt and Jute dialogue in Joyce's Finnegans Wake: Some Gricean Perspectives – author James Joyce; philosopher H.P. Grice". bnet Research Center. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
39.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 21–23[dead link], which depicts Finnegan – under the name "Jarl van Hoother" – as the victim of a vengeful pirate queen, who arrives "three times at the Jarl's castle [..] each time asking a riddle and – upon the Jarl's inability to answer it – each time kidnapping a child, until the third visit results in a concession from the furious Jarl. Benstock 1965, p.268.
40.Jump up ^ Bishop, John; collected in‘’A Collideorscape of Joyce’’, p.233
41.Jump up ^ His mourners advise him: "Now be aisy, good Mr Finnimore, sir. And take your laysure like a god on pension and don't be walking abroad"; Joyce 1939, p.24, line 16
42.Jump up ^ Benstock 1965, p.xvi. Benstock, Bernard. "Benstock, Bernard / Joyce-again's wake: an analysis of Finnegans wake, p. xvi". The James Joyce Scholars' Collection.
43.Jump up ^ Burgess, Anthony, A Shorter Finnegans Wake, p.17
44.Jump up ^ Fordham, Finn. Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake, p.12
45.Jump up ^ A Starchamber Quiry: A James Joyce Centennial Volume, 1882–1982, p 23, Edmund L. Epstein, Routledge, 1982, ISBN 0-416-31560-7
46.Jump up ^ Killeen, Terence. "Life, Death and the Washerwomen". Hypermedia Joyce Studies.
47.Jump up ^ cf Patrick A. McCarthy's chapter summary in Crispi, Slote 2007, pp. 165–6
48.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.224, lines 22,26. According to Joyce, the piece was based on a children's game called "Angels and Devils" or "Colours," in which one child ("the devil", here played by Shem, or Nick) is supposed to guess a colour that has been chosen by the others ("the angels", here played by the girls). Joyce, Letters, I, p.295
49.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, pp. 153–170
50.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 282, line 5 – p.304, line 4
51.Jump up ^ Finnegans Wake II.2§8 (282.05–304.04), the main narrative of which is known critically as "The Triangle" and which Joyce referred to in letters as "Night Lessons", first appeared as "The Triangle" in transition 11 in February 1928 and then again under the newer title “The Muddest Thick That Was Ever Heard Dump” in Tales Told of Shem and Shaun, and finally as a book called "Storiella as She is Syung" in 1937 (Paris: Black Sun Press, June 1929). See JJA 52 and 53.
52.Jump up ^ Joyce, Letters I, p. 242
53.Jump up ^ Joyce, Letters I, p405–6
54.Jump up ^ Benstock 1965, pp. xx–xxi
55.Jump up ^ Fordham, Finn Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake, p. 242
56.Jump up ^ Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce, p.122
57.Jump up ^ Joyce called the Norwegian Captain's story a "wordspiderweb" and referred to it as "perhaps the most complacently absurd thing that I ever did until now [...] It is the story of a Captain [...] and a Dublin tailor which my god-father told me forty years ago, trying to explain the arrival of my Viking in Dublin, his marriage, and a lot of things I don't care to mention here." See, Joyce, Letters, III, p. 422
58.Jump up ^ Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce, p.122–3
59.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.187
60.Jump up ^ Bishop, John; Introduction to Penguin's 1999 edition of Finnegans Wake, pp. xxii–xxiii
61.Jump up ^ Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce, p.129
62.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p. 361, line 36 – p.363, line 16
63.Jump up ^ Burgess, A Shorter Finnegans Wake, p.166
64.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, pp. 202–203
65.Jump up ^ cf the section starting "Shatten up ship"; Joyce 1939, p. 376, line 30 – p.371, line 5
66.Jump up ^ Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce, p. 131
67.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.205
68.Jump up ^ The chapter is a composite of two shorter pieces called "Mamalujo" and "Tristan and Isolde", which Joyce had written as early as 1923. See Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce, p.131
69.Jump up ^ Bishop, Introduction, p. xxiii
70.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.210
71.Jump up ^ Joyce referred to Book III's four chapters as "The Four Watches of Shaun", and characterised them as "a description of a postman travelling backwards in the night through the events already narrated. It is narrated in the form of a via crucis of 14 stations but in reality is only a barrel rolling down the river Liffey." Joyce, Letters, 1, p.214
72.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p. 403, line 17
73.Jump up ^ "who was after having a great time [...] in a porterhouse." Joyce 1939, p.407, lines 27–28
74.Jump up ^ Wim Van Mierlo, in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 347
75.Jump up ^ cf "and, lusosing his harmonical balance [...] over he careened [...] by the mightyfine weight of his barrel [...and] rolled buoyantly backwards [...] out of farther earshot [...] down in the valley before [...] he spoorlessly disappealed and vanesshed [...] from circular circulatio." Joyce 1939, p.426, line 28 – p. 427, line 8
76.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.565
77.Jump up ^ Crispi, Slote 2007, p.413
78.Jump up ^ McHugh, The Sigla of Finnegans Wake p. 106
79.Jump up ^ “Calling all downs to dayne” and “Calling all daynes to dawn”; Joyce 1939, .htm p. 593, lines 2 and 11[dead link], respectively
80.Jump up ^ Joyce gave some hint of the intention behind the three separate episodes in conversation with Frank Budgen: "In Part IV there is in fact a triptych – though the central window is scarcely illuminated. Namely the supposed windows of the village church gradually lit up by the dawn, the windows, i.e., representing on one side the meeting of St Patrick (Japanese) & the (Chinese) Archdruid Bulkely (this by the way is all about colour) & the legend of the progressive isolation of St Kevin, the third being St Lawrence O’Toole, patron saint of Dublin; buried in Eu in Normandy." quoted in McHugh, ‘’Annotations to Finnegans Wake: Third Edition’’, p.613
81.Jump up ^ "Finnegans Wake chapter 17 review". Robot Wisdom. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
82.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 615–619; critics disagree on whether this is the definitive version of The Letter which has been discussed throughout, or merely another variation of it
83.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p. 619
84.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 57, line 6
85.Jump up ^ Benstock 1965, p.6. Benstock, Bernard. "Benstock, Bernard / Joyce-again's wake: an analysis of Finnegans wake, p. xvi". The James Joyce Sholars' Collection.
86.Jump up ^ Hayman, David. The "Wake" in Transit, p.41, footnote 1
87.Jump up ^ Benstock 1965, p.4.
88.^ Jump up to: a b "Fritz Senn and Finnegans Wake". The Joyce Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
89.Jump up ^ quoted in Norris, Margot, The decentered universe of Finnegans wake, p.2
90.Jump up ^ Herring, Joyce's Uncertainty Principle, p. 190
91.Jump up ^ McCarthy, Patrick A. (2005). "Attempts at Narration in Finnegans Wake". Genetic Joyce Studies, Issue 5. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
92.Jump up ^ Henke, Suzette, James Joyce and the Politics of Desire, page 185,
93.^ Jump up to: a b c "Joyce – Quotations". The Modern World. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
94.Jump up ^ Keymer, Thomas. Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy: A Casebook, Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-517561-1; p.14
95.Jump up ^ Tindall, William York; A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake, p.153
96.^ Jump up to: a b Parrinder 1984, p.205
97.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, p. 702
98.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, p. 598
99.Jump up ^ Joyce, Letters III, page 193, note 8
100.^ Jump up to: a b Fargnoli, Gillespie, James A-Z, p.78
101.Jump up ^ Schwartz, John Pedro. ""In greater support of his word": Monument and Museum Discourse in Finnegans Wake". James Joyce Quarterly 44.1 (2006) 77–93.
102.Jump up ^ quoted in Joyce, Letters I, p.246
103.Jump up ^ from a note Cyril Connolly made after interviewing Joyce in 1929, quoted in A Wake Newslitter, Occasional Paper no 1, August 82
104.Jump up ^ Riquelme 1983, p.13
105.Jump up ^ Fargnoli, Gillespie. James Joyce A-Z, p.74
106.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p. 4
107.Jump up ^ Henkes, Robbert-Jan; Erik Bindervoetid. "The Quiz Chapter as the Key to a Potential Schema for Finnegans Wake". Genetic Joyce Studies – Issue 4 (Spring 2004). Retrieved 20 November 2007.
108.Jump up ^ Burgess, A Shorter Finnegans Wake, p.8
109.Jump up ^ quoted in: Herring, Joyce's Uncertainty Principle, p. 196
110.Jump up ^ Patrick A. McCarthy in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 1965
111.Jump up ^ In a letter to Harriet Weaver, quoted in Ellmann 1983
112.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, pp. 546
113.Jump up ^ Marsh, Roger. "Finnegans Wake: the Purest Blarney You Never Heard". The Modern World. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
114.Jump up ^ Hart 1962, p.81
115.Jump up ^ in conversation with William Bird, quoted in Ellmann 1983, p.590
116.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 597, line 1–2
117.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 598, lines 6–9
118.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.306
119.Jump up ^ McHugh, The Sigla of Finnegans Wake, p. 5
120.Jump up ^ Burrell 1996, p. 4
121.Jump up ^ Burrell 1996, p. 5
122.Jump up ^ Parrinder 1984, p.207
123.^ Jump up to: a b Hart 1962, p.78
124.^ Jump up to: a b Hart 1962, p.79
125.Jump up ^ von Phul, Ruth (1957). Who Sleeps at Finnegans Wake?, in The James Joyce Review vol. I, no. 2, pp. 27–38
126.Jump up ^ Hart 1962, p.83
127.Jump up ^ Burgess, A Shorter Finnegans Wake, p.7
128.Jump up ^ quoted in Hart 1962, p.81
129.Jump up ^ "James Joyce Quotes". angelfire.com. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
130.Jump up ^ Hart 1962, p.82
131.Jump up ^ Bishop 1986, p.309
132.Jump up ^ Bishop 1986, p.283
133.Jump up ^ Rosenbloom, Eric. "A Word In Your Ear".
134.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 51, lines 3–6
135.Jump up ^ Herring, Joyce's Uncertainty Principle, p.186
136.Jump up ^ "Mythic Time by Grace Eckley". Newsstead.itgo.com. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
137.Jump up ^ Norris, Margot, The decentered universe of Finnegans wake, p.4
138.^ Jump up to: a b van Hulle, Dirk. "Finnegans Wake". The Literary Encyclopedia.
139.Jump up ^ Riquelme 1983, p. 8
140.Jump up ^ Symond, Ronald, quoted in James Joyce: The Critical Heritage, p.606
141.Jump up ^ Burgess, A Shorter Finnegans Wake, p.17
142.Jump up ^ Bishop 1986, p. 135
143.Jump up ^ Killeen, terence. "Life, Death, and the Washerwomen". Hypermedia Joyce studies: VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1, 2008 ISSN 1801-1020. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
144.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 30, lines 2–3
145.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 31, lines 29–30
146.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 32, lines 18–19
147.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 139, line 14
148.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 220, line 24
149.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 560, line 24
150.Jump up ^ See Fordham, Finn. "The Universalization of Finnegans Wake and the Real HCE." Joyce, Ireland, Britain. Ed. Gibson, Andrew; Platt, Len. Florida James Joyce Series. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. 198-211. ISBN 0-8130-3015-3
151.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 4, lines 26–27, 32
152.Jump up ^ Parrinder 1984, p.222
153.Jump up ^ Patrick A. McCarthy, in Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 163
154.Jump up ^ Parrinder 1984, p.210
155.Jump up ^ cf, for example, Parrinder 1984, p.205
156.Jump up ^ quoted in Norris, The De-Centred Universe of Finnegans Wake, p. 16
157.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p. 223
158.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 14, line 12
159.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 193, line 31
160.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, page 187, 24
161.Jump up ^ in Chapter II.2
162.Jump up ^ in Chapter III.4
163.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p. 255
164.Jump up ^ Fordham, Finn. Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake, p.77
165.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.5
166.Jump up ^ as for example in Tindall 1969, pp. 4–5
167.Jump up ^ Kitcher 2007, p. 17
168.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.3
169.Jump up ^ McHugh, Roland (2006). Annotations to Finnegans Wake. Books.google.com. p. . xix. ISBN 978-0-8018-8382-8. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
170.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p.13
171.^ Jump up to: a b Norris, The Decentered Universe of Finnegans Wake, p.120
172.Jump up ^ "The shock of the new: Finnegans Wake by James Joyce – in lieu of review". London: The Guardian. 12 May 1939. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
173.Jump up ^ Rosenfeld, Paul. James Joyce's Jabberwocky, Saturday Review of Literature, 6 May 1939, pp. 10–11. Quoted in James Joyce: The Critical Heritage, p. 663
174.Jump up ^ Hayman, David, The "Wake" in Transit, p.42
175.Jump up ^ Ruch, Allen B. "Joyce – Works: Finnegans Wake". The Modern World.
176.^ Jump up to: a b Bishop, John. Introduction to Finnegans Wake, Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition, 1999, p. vii
177.Jump up ^ Tindall 1969, p. 20
178.Jump up ^ Burrell 1996, page 2
179.Jump up ^ Explorations in the Field of Nonsense, p 20, Wim Tigges, Rodopi, 1987, ISBN 90-6203-699-6
180.^ Jump up to: a b c Ellman, James Joyce, p.546
181.Jump up ^ Cage, John. X: writings '79–'82, p.54
182.Jump up ^ Gluck, p. 27.
183.Jump up ^ Beckett, Samuel, Dante... Bruno. Vico.. Joyce, p.15
184.Jump up ^ "Music in Finnegans Wake". james-joyce-music.com.
185.Jump up ^ Parrinder 1984, p.208
186.Jump up ^ Verene 2003 presents a book-long study of allusions to Vico's New Science in Finnegans Wake
187.Jump up ^ Cheng 1984 presents a book-long study of allusions to Shakespeare's writings in Finnegans Wake
188.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.143
189.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.228
190.Jump up ^ 'Joyce 1939, p.452.21–22
191.Jump up ^ Troy, Mark L. "Mummeries of Resurrection: The Cycle of Osiris in Finnegans Wake". Doctoral dissertation at the University of Uppsala 1976.
192.Jump up ^ Bishop, Joyce's Book of the Dark, p. 86
193.Jump up ^ Budgen, Frank. James Joyce, Horizon, 1941, rpt. Givens, p. 26.
194.Jump up ^ Fargnoli and Gillespie, James Joyce A-Z, p.218
195.Jump up ^ Fargnoli and Gillespie argue that "as an archetypal figure, Finn is an avatar of the book's central figure HCE." Fargnoli and Gillespie, James Joyce A-Z, p.73
196.Jump up ^ Spinks, Lee. James Joyce: A Critical Guide. joyce&f=false p.130
197.Jump up ^ Fredrik Wandrup: «Norsklærer Bull», Dagbladet 22.juni 2004
198.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, p. 603
199.Jump up ^ Quoted in Ellmann 1983, p. 722, from "the Observer, 7 May 1939".
200.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, p. 584, from a letter from Pound to Joyce, dated Nov, 15, 1926.
201.Jump up ^ Ellmann 1983, p. 688
202.Jump up ^ quoted in Parrinder 1984, p.205
203.Jump up ^ The Complete Critical Guide to Samuel Beckett, David Pattie, Routledge, 2000, ISBN 041520253 p 14
204.^ Jump up to: a b Norris 1992, p.344.
205.Jump up ^ Bogan, Louise. Finnegans Wake Review. Nation, cxlviii, 6 May 1939. pp. 533–535. Quoted in James Joyce: The Critical Heritage, p.667
206.Jump up ^ Muir, Edwin. "Finnegans Wake Review" in Listener, 1939. Quoted in James Joyce: The Critical Heritage, p.677
207.Jump up ^ Evans, B. Ifor. Manchester Guardian, 12 May 1939. Quoted in James Joyce: The Critical Heritage. p.678
208.Jump up ^ Burns (ed.), A Tour of the Darkling Plain, p.xxi
209.Jump up ^ Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p.323
210.Jump up ^ A number of critical works have approached the question of the influence of Finnegans Wake on Derrida's writings and thinking, such as: Mahon, Peter (2007); Imagining Joyce and Derrida: Between Finnegans Wake and Glas, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-9249-7; and Roughly, Alan; Reading Derrida Reading Joyce, University Press of Florida; ISBN 0-8130-1684-3
211.Jump up ^ Derrida, "Ulysses Gramophone: Hear Say Yes in Joyce" (in Acts of Literature, ed. Derek Attridge [New York: Routledge, 1992], pp. 253–309), p. 265.
212.Jump up ^ Richards, Linda. "January Interview – Tom Robbins". January Magazine.
213.^ Jump up to: a b Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 17
214.Jump up ^ Polyglot Joyce, Patrick O'Neill, University of Toronto Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8020-3897-2 p 126
215.^ Jump up to: a b c d Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 490
216.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 30–34
217.Jump up ^ the basis of chapter 1.5 in the final published work; cf Joyce 1939, pp. 104–125
218.Jump up ^ the basis of chapter 1.8 in the final published work; cf Joyce 1939, pp. 196–216
219.Jump up ^ the basis of chapter 1.7 in the final published work; cf Joyce 1939, pp. 169–195
220.^ Jump up to: a b c Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 491
221.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 152–159
222.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 282–304
223.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 414–419
224.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, pp. 532–554
225.^ Jump up to: a b Crispi, Slote 2007, p. 492
226.Jump up ^ Houyhnhnm Press. "Finnegans Wake Prospectus". Houyhnhnmpress.com. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
227.Jump up ^ Joyce, James (2012). Rose, Danis; O'Hanlon, John, eds. The Restored Finnegans Wake. London: Penguin Classics 2012. ISBN 978-0-14-119229-1.
228.Jump up ^ "Restaure Those Allcotten Glooves". Finnegans Wake Extensible Elucidation Treasury. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
229.Jump up ^ Two Approaches to "Finnegans Wake", James Joyce Quarterly, Vol.30, No.3, Spring 1993, Jorg W Rademacher, quoted in JSTOR, p482
230.Jump up ^ James Joyce Quarterly, 41.1/2 (Fall 2003/Winter 2004), 19., Ellen Carol Jones, quoted in Two Japanese Translations of Finnegans Wake Compared, Eishiro Ito (paper)
231.Jump up ^ Finnegans Wake becomes a hit book in China, Guardian, Jonathan Kaiman, 5 Feb 2013
232.Jump up ^ James Joyce A to Z, p 66, A. Nicholas Fargnoli, Oxford University Press US, 1996, ISBN 0-19-511029-3
233.Jump up ^ Joyce 1939, p.359
234.Jump up ^ "Jean Erdman: "The Coach with the Six Insides" dance drama". Creative Arts Television: Filmed and videotaped arts footage from 1950 to date. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
235.Jump up ^ "Passages from Finnegans Wake (1965)". The Modern World. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
236.Jump up ^ "Interview with Kvium & Lemmerz". The Wake.
237.Jump up ^ "Roaratorio: an Irish circus on Finnegans wake". www.johncage.info. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
238.Jump up ^ "John Butcher & Phil Minton". www.johnbutcher.org.uk.
239.Jump up ^ B000003HHC
240.Jump up ^ Full recording available in MP3 format at UbuWeb Sound
241.Jump up ^ Who Reads Ulysses?, Julie Sloan Brannon, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-415-94206-3 p26
242.Jump up ^ For a list of some references to Finnegans Wake in film and television, see Ruch, Allen B. (31 October 2003). "The Last Word in Stolentelling: References to Finnegans Wake in Film & TV". The Brazen Head. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
243.Jump up ^ M. Gell-Mann (1964). "A schematic model of baryons and mesons". Phys. Lett. 8 (3): 214–215. Bibcode:1964PhL.....8..214G. doi:10.1016/S0031-9163(64)92001-3.
244.Jump up ^ M. Gell-Mann (1995). The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. Owl Books. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-8050-7253-2.
245.Jump up ^ Monomyth website accessed 28 November 2006.
246.Jump up ^ Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949. p. 30, n35. Campbell cites Joyce 1939, p. 581, line 24
247.Jump up ^ "The History of the WordPress Name". WordPress Semantics. WordPress.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
248.Jump up ^ Selleck, Christine. "Next, I Save the World …". Retrieved 9 April 2013.
249.Jump up ^ http://propagandum.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/inventing-the-future-the-earliest-mention-of-the-word-wordpress/
250.Jump up ^ Peter Lunenfeld (2000). Snap to Grid: A User's Guide to Digital Arts, Media, and Cultures. Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. p. 206 n. 31. ISBN 978-0-262-62158-8. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
251.Jump up ^ Glenn Fleishman (17 March 2008). "Author sees profit in empowering Web users". Seattle Times. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
References[edit]
D. Accardi. The Existential Quandary in Finnegans Wake (Loudonville, Siena College Press, 2006)
Atherton, James S. (2009). The Books at the Wake: A Study of Literary Allusions in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake
Samuel Beckett; William Carlos Williams; et al. Our Exagmination Round His Factification For Incamination Of Work In Progress (Shakespeare and Company, 1929)
Benstock, Bernard (1965). Joyce-Again's Wake: An Analysis of Finnegans Wake. (Seattle: University of Washington Press)
Benstock, Shari. Nightletters: Woman's Writing in the Wake: Critical Essays on James Joyce. Ed. Bernard Benstock. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall & Co., 1985. 221–233.
Bishop, John (1986). Joyce's Book of the Dark: Finnegans Wake, University of Wisconsin Press.
Burrell, Harry (1996). Narrative Design in Finnegans Wake: The Wake Lock Picked (University Press of Florida)
Burgess, Anthony (ed.) A Shorter 'Finnegans Wake' (1969)
—, Here Comes Everybody: An Introduction to James Joyce for the Ordinary Reader (1965); also published as Re Joyce.
—, Joysprick: An Introduction to the Language of James Joyce (1973)
Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson (1961). A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake
Cheng, Vincent John (1984). Shakespeare and Joyce: A Study of Finnegans Wake. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Conley, Tim. (2003). Joyces mistakes: Problems of Intention, Irony and Interpretation. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-8755-8
Crispi, Luca and Sam Slote, eds (2007). How Joyce Wrote Finnegans Wake: A Chapter-By-Chapter Genetic Guide. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-21860-7.
Ellmann, Richard (1983). James Joyce. Oxford University Press, 1959, revised edition 1983. ISBN 0-19-503381-7.
Flashpoint. Finnegans Wake issue, Summer 2009.
Fordham, Finn. 'Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake: Unravelling Universals' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)
Glasheen, Adaline. Third Census of Finnegans Wake. (Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1977)
Gluck, Barbara Reich, Beckett and Joyce: Friendship and Fiction. Bucknell University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8387-2060-9.
Hart, Clive(1962). Structure and Motif in Finnegans Wake, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-0114-9 available online
Henke, Suzette. James Joyce and the Politics of Desire. (New York: Routledge, 1990)
Herring, Phillip F (1987). Joyce's Uncertainty Principle Princeton University Press, New Jersey. ISBN 0-691-06719-8.
Hofheinz, Joyce and the Invention of Irish History: Finnegans Wake in Context, Cambridge University Press (26 May 1995). ISBN 978-0-521-47114-5
Kitcher, Philip (2007). Joyce's Kaleidoscope: An Invitation to Finnegans Wake. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-532102-2
Joyce, James (1939). Finnegans Wake. Faber and Faber, London.
Mailhos, Jacques (1994). “Begin to Forget It” The Preprovided Memory of Finnegans Wake. In Finnegans Wake: Teems of Times (European Joyce Studies 4), ed. Treip, Andrew. Amsterdam: Rodopi
McHugh, Roland. Annotations to Finnegans Wake. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8018-8381-1.
—, The Sigla of Finnegans Wake. (University of Texas Press, 1976)
—, The Finnegans Wake Experience. (University of California Press, 1981)
Mercanton, James (1967). Les heures de James Joyce, Diffusion PUF. ISBN 2-86869-207-9
Norris, Margot. "The Postmodernization of Finnegans Wake Reconsidered." Rereading the new: a backward glance at modernism, ed. Kevin J. H. Dettmar. University of Michigan Press, 1992. pp. 343-362.
Parrinder, Patrick (1984). James Joyce, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28398-1
Riquelme, John Paul (1983). Teller and Tale in Joyce's Fiction, The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-2854-6
Rose, Danis. The Textual Diaries of James Joyce (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 1995)
Rosenbloom, Eric (2007). A Word in Your Ear: How and Why to Read James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Booksurge Publishing. ISBN 1-4196-0930-0.
Verene, Donald Philipp (2003). Knowledge of Things Human and Divine: Vico's New Science and Finnegans Wake. Yale University
Tindall, William York (1969). A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake. Syracuse University Press.
Wilson, Robert Anton. Coincidance. (New Falcon Publications; Rev edition (February 1991)). Contains essay on Finnegans Wake.
Further reading[edit]
Beckman, Richard. Joyce's Rare View: The Nature of Things in Finnegans Wake. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8130-3059-3.
Brivic, Sheldon. Joyce's Waking Women: An Introduction to Finnegans Wake. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-299-14800-3.
Crispi, Luca and Sam Slote, eds. How Joyce Wrote Finnegans Wake: A Chapter-By-Chaper Genetic Guide. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-299-21860-7.
Deane, Vincent, et al. The Finnegans Wake Notebooks at Buffalo. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2001–. LCCN 2003-442392.
Epstein, Edmund L. A Guide Through Finnegans Wake. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8130-3356-3
Fordham, Finn. 'Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake'. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-921586-7.
McHugh, Roland. Annotations to Finnegans Wake. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8018-8381-1.
Mink, Louis O.. A Finnegans wake gazetteer Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. ISBN 0-253-32210-3 .
Platt, Len. Joyce, Race and Finnegans Wake. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-86884-6.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James Joyce
Finnegans Wake Extensible Elucidation Treasury (FWEET) A searchable database with more than 82,000 notes on Finnegans Wake gathered from numerous sources. Also contains the etext of Finnegans Wake (free of the known typos present in the "Trent University" etext).
Etext of Finnegans Wake (but note that this "Trent University" etext is known to have many errors, more than 300 of which are listed on FWEET)
Online shorter Finnegans Wake
Online really short Finnegans Wake
Editions of Finnegans Wake
The James Joyce Scholars' Collection includes etexts of several works of Wakean scholarship.
Finnegans Wiki, an ambitious project to Wiki the Wake
Terence McKenna lecture 'Surfing Finnegan's Wake'
Art of the States: To Wake the Dead song cycle by Stephen Albert set to texts from Finnegans Wake
James Joyce reading a portion of "Anna Livia Plurabelle"
Finnegans Wake public domain in Canada (incomplete and suffering from the same typos present in the "Trent University" etext)
The Writing Of Finnegans Wake
Concordance of Finnegans Wake
Encarta Article on Joyce and His Work[dead link] (Archived 2009-10-31)
"Genesis, Geniuses, and Guinesses," The Common Review, Fall 2005, pg. 58: a pop-culture gloss for effective reading, with headings based on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"[dead link]
Wake in Progress Page by page illustrations of Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake read by Patrick Healy A recording of the full text at UbuWeb Sound ("Removed by request of the copyright holder")
The Strange Case of Translating Finnegans Wake into Polish
Further information about Finnegans Wake, including the full text, is found on the site Sandulescu Online


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
James Joyce



















































Jamesjoyce tuohy-ohne.jpg











































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































This is a good article. Click here for more information.
 


Categories: Finnegans Wake
1939 novels
Books written in fictional dialects
Macaronic language
Modernist novels
Novels by James Joyce
Novels first published in serial form
Satirical novels
Works originally published in The Transatlantic Review (1924)
Faber and Faber books
Dreams in fiction














Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Català
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
Gaeilge
贛語
Hrvatski
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
മലയാളം
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Occitan
Polski
Português
Русский
Simple English
Suomi
Svenska
ไทย
Türkçe
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 2 February 2014 at 20:07.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Arthur Rex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel
ArthurRex.jpg
First edition

Author
Thomas Berger
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Historical fiction
Publisher
Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence

Publication date
 1978
Media type
Print (Hardback)
Pages
499 pp
ISBN
ISBN 0-440-00362-8
Preceded by
Who Is Teddy Villanova?
Followed by
Neighbors
Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel is a 1978 novel by American author Thomas Berger. Berger offers his own take on the legends of King Arthur, from the heroic monarch's inauspicious conception, to his childhood in bucolic Wales, his rise to the throne, his discovery of the great sword Excalibur, his establishment of the Knights of the Round Table, his long and honorable reign, and his heroic death in battle against the evil Mordred, his bastard son.


Contents  [hide]
1 Major themes
2 Literary significance and reception
3 Characters
4 References

Major themes[edit]
The author emphasizes the glory and idealism of Arthur's court at Camelot, but the ultimate futility of any attempt to ignore human nature and sinfulness. The book is written in an archaic style appropriate to the subject, but with a witty and engaging tone. It is essentially respectful of the Arthurian tales while putting a more modern, even somewhat rueful imprint on them. For instance, the wizard Merlin makes occasional anachronistic references to such things as aircraft, viruses and nuclear power, but always couched in period-appropriate terms, reminiscent of T.H. White's characterization of Merlin, in "The Once and Future King," published in 1958. Berger gives considerable attention to the adulterous relationships between Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, and Tristan and Isolde, and even offers a somewhat sympathetic portrait of the villainous Mordred. The Lady of the Lake is a prominent character.
Literary significance and reception[edit]
Arthur Rex received mixed reviews on its publication in 1978. In both positive and negative assessments of the book, reviewers noted the changes to the Arthurian legend made by the author, evidently to enhance the story's "appeal in contemporary American society."[1]
Characters[edit]
King Arthur
Sir Lancelot
Sir Gawain
Merlin
Guinevere
Mordred
The Lady of the Lake
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Ruud, Jay. "Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex: Galahad and Earthly Power," Critique, Winter 1984.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult





























































Stub icon This article about a 1970s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 1978 novels
Modern Arthurian fiction
American historical novels
Arthurian literature in English
20th-century American novels
1970s novel stubs




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 22 November 2013 at 10:11.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Chevrefoil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

"Chevrefoil" is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. The eleventh poem in the collection called The Lais of Marie de France, its subject is an episode from the romance of Tristan and Iseult. The title means "honeysuckle," a symbol of love in the poem. "Chevrefoil" consists of 118 lines and survives in two manuscripts, Harley 978 or MS H, which contains all the Lais, and in Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 1104, or MS S.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Summary
2 Allusions and significance
3 Notes
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

Summary[edit]
The lai begins with a statement that others have sung it previously, and that the author has seen it in written form.[2] The story tells of the love between the knight Tristan and his uncle's wife Iseult, which, according to Marie, was so pure that it eventually caused their deaths on the same day. Tristan has been exiled from Cornwall by his uncle Mark for his adulterous transgressions, and is forced to return to his homeland in South Wales. After pining away for a year, Tristan hears news that Mark is planning a great feast for Pentecost at Tintagel, and Iseult will be present. On the day the king's court sets out, Tristan takes to the woods, where he cuts a hazel branch into an appropriate signal and carves his name into it. Marie says Iseult will be on the lookout for such a sign, since Tristan has contacted her in a similar manner in the past. Immediately recognizing the branch as Tristan's, Iseult asks her party to stop and rest, and goes out in the woods with only her faithful servant Brangaine. The lovers spend their time together, and Iseult tells Tristan how he can win back his uncle's favor. When it comes time to leave, the lovers weep, and Tristan returns to Wales to wait for his uncle's word.
Lines 68 through 78 compare Tristan and Iseult's love to the intertwining of the honeysuckle with the hazel; the two plants grow so entwined that both will die if they are separated. Marie says the original author of the lai was none other than Tristan, an accomplished bard who put his thoughts into a song at Iseult's request. According to Marie, "Chevrefoil" is the French name for the poem; it is called "Gotelef" (Goatleaf) in English.[3]
Allusions and significance[edit]
Similar episodes to that recounted in "Chevrefoil" appear in longer Tristan poems; it is feasible that Marie drew her material from a longer source.[4] Though there are several allusions to the greater Tristan and Iseult cycle, such as Tintagel and the character Brangaine, Marie is unique in placing Tristan's homeland in South Wales, rather than Cornwall or the fictitious Lyonesse. A testament to Marie's popularity appears in Gerbert's Continuation to Chrétien de Troyes's unfinished romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail, which contains an episode in which a disguised Tristan plays the lay of "Chevrefoil" to his unsuspecting lover at a tournament.[5]
"Chevrefoil" is one of Marie's several lais concerning an adulterous love. It is also one of several which deal with the sexual frustration suffered by a young woman who has been married to an older man.[6] Like other lais, prominence is given to the analysis of the characters' emotions and to the contrast between the ideals of love and the needs of reality.[7] It has been speculated that Marie arranged her poems as they appear in MS H in order to pair a short, tragic poem with a longer one on the power of love and the importance of fidelity. If this is true, "Chevrefoil" may be paired with "Eliduc," the final poem in the collection.[8]
One of the most discussed features of the lai is the hazel branch Tristan leaves for Iseult. The poet indicates that Tristan carves his name on the branch; it is unclear if he also leaves a fuller message. In any case Iseult interprets it correctly. Glyn Burgess suggests the branch is merely a signal Tristan has already told Iseult about in an earlier message; the poet indicates that Iseult would be on the lookout for the branch, "for this had all happened before".[9] Others have read the poem as indicating that Tristan has left a longer message, perhaps lines 77-78, or the entirety of lines 61-78.[10] In such a case the message may have been transcribed in notches on the branch, perhaps in the ogham alphabet, or in a fashion similar to the tally stick.[10]
Like the other Lais, "Chevrefoil" was adapted into other languages. It was translated as "Geitarlauf" in the Old Norse version of Marie's Lais known as Strengleikar, perhaps written by Brother Robert.[11]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, pp. 7–8.
2.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, p. 109.
3.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, p. 110.
4.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, p. 26.
5.Jump up ^ Perceval, p. 215.
6.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, p. 10.
7.Jump up ^ Lacy, Norris J. (1991), "Marie de France", in Lacy, Norris J., The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, p. 309
8.Jump up ^ The Lais of Marie de France, p. 14.
9.Jump up ^ Burgess 1987
10.^ Jump up to: a b Whalen, pp. 80–81.
11.Jump up ^ Rivera, Isidro J. (1991), "Brother Robert", in Lacy, Norris J., The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, p. 56
Notes[edit]

References[edit]
Burgess, Glyn S. The Lais of Marie de France. Athens. The University of Georgia Press, 1987.
Chrétien de Troyes; Bryant, Nigel (translator) (1996). Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-224-8.
Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
Marie de France; Busby, Keith (translator) (2003). The Lais of Marie de France. New York: Penguin ISBN 0-14-044759-8
Whalen, Logan E. Marie de France & The Poetics of Memory. Washington, D.C. The Catholic University of America Press. 2008.
External links[edit]
"Honeysuckle". From The Honeysuckle and the Hazel Tree at content.cdlib.org/escholarship. Retrieved May 12, 2007.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 12th-century works
Anglo-Norman literature
Arthurian literature in French
French poems
Lais of Marie de France


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 8 April 2013 at 23:57.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristram of Lyonesse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies on references to primary sources. Please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. (January 2009)
"Tristram of Lyonesse" is a long epic poem written by the British poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, that recounts in grand fashion the famous medieval story of the ill-fated lovers Tristan and Isolde (Tristram and Isuelt in Swinburne's version). It was first published in 1882 by Chatto and Windus, in a volume entitled Tristram of Lyonesse and Other Poems. Swinburne himself considered 'Tristram of Lyonesse' to be the crowning achievement of his poetic career (quoted by Harrison, p. 96). William Morris (referring to this poem) commented that Swinburne's work 'always seemed to me to be founded on literature, not on nature'.[1]
Contents[edit]
The poem consists of 4488 rhyming pentameters and is divided into ten different sections: one 'Prelude' and nine 'Cantos'. It is usually preceded, as in Tristram of Lyonesse and Other Poems by a dedicatory sonnet to Swinburne's friend Theodore Watts-Dunton. Below is a brief summary of the content of the poem's different parts:
Prelude The 'Prelude' starts with a hymn to love and then places Isuelt among the twelve beautiful women of myth and story, each of whom represents a different month of the year. It ends with Swinburne's apology for adding yet another retelling to the already lengthy literature written on the subject of Tristan and Iseult.
I. The Sailing of the Swallow In the poem's first canto the actual story begins, with elaborate descriptions of both Iseult and Tristram sailing to King Mark of Cornwall whom Iseult is to marry. The future lovers discuss various tales of the Matter of Britain and Tristram sings two love-songs to please the innocent Isuelt. The canto ends with their drinking of the love-potion and their fateful first kiss.
II. The Queen's Pleasance The ship arrives in Cornwall and Iseult marries King Mark. By trickery, however, she spends her first marriage-night with Tristram while her hand-maid Brangwain sleeps with King Mark. Swinburne tells of the lovers' fortunes in Tintagel, which abruptly end when the evil knight Palamides carries Iseult away. After Tristram has chased and killed Palamides, the lovers retreat together to a bower in the woods and are allowed the first full consummation of their love, which Swinburne describes in abundant detail.
III. Tristram in Brittany The third canto recounts Tristram's exile in Brittany, and opens with what will be the first in a series of three dramatic monologues. In it, Tristram laments his fate and deplores the Gods in typical Swinburnian fashion. He is awakened from his melancholy musings by nature and the advent of a new spring which erupts all around him. The canto ends with Tristram's meeting with the young Isuelt of the White Hands, whose name beguiles Tristram into marrying her.
IV. The Maiden Marriage Yet having married Iseult of the White Hands, Tristram's mind wanders back to his days in Cornwall with Iseult of Ireland, and we learn how by betrayal their adulterous love was finally discovered, upon which King Mark sent Tristram to the top of a cliff to be executed. Tristram, however, managed to escape from his bonds, to dive from a great height down into the ocean and with great hardships to finally reach the shores of Brittany. Thus reminded of his first love, Tristram is unable to consummate his marriage-night with Iseult of the White Hands.
V. Isuelt at Tintagel That same night Iseult of Ireland sits up alone in her room in King Mark's palace. While outside her window the sea and the night-winds battle it out, she delivers a dramatic monologue full of violent blasphemy and bitter lamentation, at the end of which she ruefully watches the sun rise and breaks down in tears.
VI. Joyous Gard To his dismay Ganhardine the brother of Iseult of the White Hands then discovers that his sister, notwithstanding her marriage with Tristram, still remains a virgin. Tristram explains that he cannot forsake his first love and, Ganhardine demanding to see her, the two travel to Tintagel. As it happens, King Mark is out hunting when the men arrive, and Tristram flees with Iseult of Ireland to Camelot, where they finds grace from Launcelot and Guinevere, that other famous adulterous couple. By their grace Tristram and Isuelt are allowed to stay at Launcelot's seaside castle Joyous Gard, where they enjoy their second sustained period together, sweetly conversing about their love.
VII. The Wife's Vigil At the same time over in Brittany, Iseult of the White Hands grows bitter with the shame of her unconsummated marriage; looking out over the British channel she vows, in the poem's third dramatic monologue, that she will take revenge upon her husband by whatever means fate will give her.
VIII. The Last Pilgrimage Also Tristram and Iseult's second brief stay together comes to an end: Tristram is called upon by King Arthur to defeat the Giant Urgan, and Isuelt is called back to Tintagel by her husband King Mark. Tristram defeats Urgan and sets sail once more for the coast of Brittany, leaving behind him for the last time the shores of Britain. In Brittany he is immediately met by a knight who is also called Tristram and who implores him to help him free his love from the hands of eight felonious knights. Tristram accepts his plea and the two name-fellows decide to waylay the eight knights besides the sea, where they will pass the following morning. While they lie in waiting, Tristram is roused by the dawn and, throwing off his clothes, he meets the ocean for a last glorious swim. He then defeats the evil knights but is wounded fatally in the event, and only with great difficulty does he manage to reach the castle where his wedded wife, Iseult of the White Hands, awaits him.
IX. The Sailing of the Swan The poem's last canto begins with a long hymn to fate, and tells of the final fortunes of Tristram and Iseult. The former is so sore wounded that only Isuelt of Ireland's healing skills can now give him any help. Ganhardine decides to set sail for Tintagel to bring Isuelt of Ireland to the wounded Tristram, and they agree that Ganhardine will hoist a white sail if he returns with Iseult on board, and a black one if he returns alone. In the end he does return to Brittany with Iseult and a white sail, but Iseult of the White Hands takes her final revenge and tells Tristram that the returning sail is black instead, upon which he dies immediately. When Iseult arrives and sees her lover newly dead, she bends over him, kisses him one last time, and dies from grief. The lovers are then buried by King Mark, who finally discovers the cause of their love and pardons them. Their grave in turn is swallowed by the ocean where they find their final rest.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. by M. Drabble, 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 1985; p.999
Harrison, Anthony H. Swinburne’s medievalism: a Study in Victorian Love Poetry. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Tristram of Lyonesse. New York: Boydell Press, 1990.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: English poems
Epic poems
Arthurian literature in English
1882 poems
Victorian poetry
Chatto & Windus books





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 19 September 2013 at 17:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristram and Iseult
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search




 Tristram and Iseult by Hugues Merle
Tristram and Iseult, published in 1852 by Matthew Arnold, is a narrative poem containing strong romantic and tragic themes. This poem draws upon the Tristan and Iseult legends which were popular with contemporary readers.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Overview
2 See also
3 External links
4 Notes

Overview[edit]
The poem opens with Tristram upon his deathbed. The monologue of the dying man is shot through by sharp pangs of regret: centering upon his induced passion for Iseult of Ireland - inflamed by his unwittingly imbibing an irresistible love-potion.
Before his decease Iseult of Ireland arrives in time to share his deathbed. Iseult of Brittany, his lawful wife, graciously accedes to their request to be buried near each other - in a splendidly-constructed mausoleum back in King Mark's Tyntagel (sic.) in Cornwall.
Iseult of Brittany survives to raise Tristram's children in isolation. She forgives Tristram his adultery, and with delightful pathos is thankful for the years of happiness that she spent espoused to one of King Arthur's most renowned knights.[2]
See also[edit]
Tristan and Iseult — romantic narrative from medieval and modern Western literature
External links[edit]
Tristram and Iseult (Librivox audiobook recording)
Tristram and Iseult (from Archive.org)
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Arnold, Matthew. Poetic Works. London: Oxford University Press, 1950.
2.Jump up ^ Arnold, Matthew. Poetic Works. London: Oxford University Press, 1950. pp. 130-ff.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Matthew Arnold







NSRW Matthew Arnold.png































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Narrative poems
1850s poems
Poetry by Matthew Arnold


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 16 January 2014 at 06:58.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Question book-new.svg
 This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

"Tristan"

Single by Patrick Wolf

from the album Wind in the Wires

Released
31 October 2005
Genre
Indie rock, folktronica
Length
2:36
Label
Tomlab
Writer(s)
Patrick Wolf
Producer
Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf singles chronology

"Wind in the Wires" "Tristan" "Accident & Emergency"

"Tristan" is the third, and final, single from English singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf's second full-length album Wind in the Wires, the singles was released on CD and limited 1000 vinyl.
Based on Tristram of Lyonesse, Patrick described the writing process in a 2005 interview:
"I took a holiday down to Cornwall in October, which down there is almost mid-autumn; it's very stormy and so you get this huge shipwrecking kind of weather down there. There was no-one around, no tourists. It was my first night there and I had taken down my organ to finish off some lyrics. Then I went for a long walk and suddenly a storm came in in this very dangerous place. I came back safe and sound and dried myself off and suddenly this song "Tristan" came wrapping on the door. It came in two minutes. It was finished then and it was almost like a possession, like I was possessed for two minutes. And I wrote that song. I didn't really know what happened and then suddenly had this gift. It's like someone came to the door and jumped inside me, wrote a song and then ran away again." Lightspeed_champion has made a cover of it.


Contents  [hide]
1 Track listing 1.1 CD-single
1.2 7" vinyl single
2 Charts

Track listing[edit]
CD-single[edit]
1."Tristan" – 2:36
2."The Hazelwood" – 4:03
3.”Idumea” – 2:45
7" vinyl single[edit]
1."Tristan (Album Version)" – 2:36
2."Idumea" – 2:45
Charts[edit]

Year
Chart
Position
2007 UK Singles Top 250 129


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Patrick Wolf














































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult





























































Stub icon This 2000s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 2005 singles
Patrick Wolf songs
2000s single stubs





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 8 April 2013 at 23:59.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Qntal III: Tristan und Isolde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Qntal III

Studio album by Qntal

Released
2003
Genre
Darkwave, Heavenly Voices[1]
Label
Stars in the Dark / Noir Records
Qntal chronology

Qntal II
 (1995) Qntal III
 (2003) Nihil
 (2003)

Qntal III is the third album of the German Darkwave/Gothic Rock/Industrial band Qntal, released in 2003. It is a concept album based on the medieval narratived Tristan and Iseult.[2] Many tracks feature original lyrics by poets of that period.[3]
Reception[edit]

Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating
Prémonition favourable[1]
Sonic Seducer favourable[2]
The German Sonic Seducer magazine gave a positive review, remarking that the natural sound of III was something new after two albums of contrast between rather cold sounds and the vocals by singer Syrah. The album was lauded for its diverse interpretation of the Tristan tale using elements of Ambient music, Pop and World Music.[2]
The Prémonition magazine of Paris, France, observed that Ernst Horn's style had disappeared from Qntal's works after his leaving of the band but that Syrah's clear voice was still their main assett.[1]
Track listing[edit]

No.
Title
Writer(s)
Translation
Length

1. "Ôwî, Tristan"   Qntal, Gottfried von Strassburg Oh, Tristan 5:55
2. "Name der Rose"   Qntal, Von Lille Name of the Rose 5:28
3. "Maiden In The Mor"   Anonymous, Qntal   6:33
4. "Lamento de Tristano"   Qntal Tristan's Lament 1:38
5. "Am Morgen Fruo"   Qntal, Walther von der Vogelweide Early in the Morning 4:52
6. "Lasse"   Anonymous, Qntal Tired 8:03
7. "Ecce Gratum"   Carmina Burana, Qntal Look, the Lovely [one]! 5:11
8. "Spiegelglas"   Qntal, Von Strassburg Mirror Glass 7:39
9. "Maravillosos"   Cantigas de Santa Maria, Qntal The Wonderful 4:02
10. "Entre Moi Et Mon Amin"   Anonymous, Qntal Between Me and My Friend 7:20
11. "Gottinne Minne"   Qntal, Von Strassburg My Goddess 2:24
12. "Vedes Amigo"   Cantiga de amigo, Qntal The Waves, my Friend 6:40
13. "Verirret"   Qntal Lost 5:03
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Cornaire, Laure. "QNTAL – III Tristan und Isolde". Prémonition. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Kirschenberger, Anne (2003). "Qntal – III". Sonic Seducer (in German) (2).
3.Jump up ^ "Qntal III: Tristan Und Isolde". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 January 2012.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 2003 albums
Dark wave albums




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Français
Português
Edit links
This page was last modified on 15 November 2013 at 12:07.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan (Henze)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Tristan is a six-movement orchestral work by the German composer Hans Werner Henze.
Scored for piano, tape and full orchestra, it takes the form of a homage to Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, with the piano providing preludes to a series of widely divergent material, both live and on tape, including direct quotations from Brahms's First Symphony and Chopin's Funeral March, a birdsong-like treatment on tape of a recording of a soloist singing Isolde's part and a child reading extracts from Joseph Bédier's account of the death of Isolde (in the English translation by Hilaire Belloc) as well as a recording of a human heartbeat.
Commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, it was premiered on 20 October 1975 under Colin Davis at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The piano soloist was Homero Francesch, who later recorded it with the composer conducting.
The six movements are:
Prologue
Lament
Prelude and Variations
Tristan's Folly
Adagio
Epilogue


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Hans Werner Henze
















































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 1975 compositions
Compositions by Hans Werner Henze


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 13 August 2013 at 14:14.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Turangalîla-Symphonie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen (1908–92). It was written from 1946 to 1948 on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The premiere was in Boston on 2 December 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. The commission did not specify the duration, orchestral requirements or style of the piece, leaving the decisions to the composer.[1] Koussevitzky was billed to conduct the premiere, but fell ill,[citation needed] and the task fell to the young Bernstein. Bernstein has been described as "the ideal conductor for it, and it made Messiaen's name more widely known".[2] Yvonne Loriod, who later became Messiaen's second wife, was the piano soloist, and Ginette Martenot played the ondes Martenot for the first and several subsequent performances. From 1953, Yvonne's sister Jeanne Loriod was the ondes Martenot player in many performances and recordings.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Concept
2 Instrumentation
3 Cyclic themes
4 Structure
5 Recordings
6 Cultural references
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Concept[edit]
While most of Messiaen's compositions are religious in inspiration, at the time of writing the symphony the composer was fascinated by the myth of Tristan and Isolde, and the Turangalîla Symphony forms the central work in his trilogy of compositions concerned with the themes of romantic love and death; the other pieces are Harawi for piano with soprano and Cinq rechants for unaccompanied choir.[4] It is considered a 20th-century masterpiece and a typical performance runs around 80 minutes in length. When asked about the meaning of the work's duration in its ten movements and the reason for the use of the ondes Martenot, Messiaen simply replied, "It's a love song."[5]
Although the concept of a rhythmic scale corresponding to the chromatic scale of pitches occurs in Messiaen's work as early as 1944, in the Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus, the arrangement of such durations into a fixed series occurs for the first time in the opening episode of the movement "Turangalîla 2" in this work, and is an important historical step toward the concept of integral serialism.[6]
The title of the work, and those of its movements, were a late addition to the project. They were first described by Messiaen in a diary entry in early 1948.[4] He derived the title from two Sanskrit words, turanga and lîla, which roughly translate into English as "love song and hymn of joy, time, movement, rhythm, life, and death",[7] and described the joy of Turangalîla as "superhuman, overflowing, dazzling and abandoned".[this quote needs a citation]
Messiaen revised the work in 1990.[3]
Instrumentation[edit]
The piece is scored for:
Solo piano and ondes Martenot;
Woodwind: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons;
Brass: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 1 trumpet in D, cornet, 3 trombones, 1 tuba;
At least 8 and up to 11 percussionists,[3] playing: vibraphone, keyed or mallet glockenspiels, triangle, temple blocks and wood block, cymbals (crash and three types of suspended), tam tam, tambourine, maracas, snare drum, Provençal tabor, bass drum, and tubular bells;
celesta, and strings (32 violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos and 10 double basses)[3]
The demanding piano part includes several solo cadenzas.
Cyclic themes[edit]
In writing about the work, Messiaen identified four "cyclic" themes that reappear throughout; there are other themes specific to each movement.[7] In the score the themes are numbered, but in later writings he gave them names to make them easier to identify, without intending the names to have any other, literary meaning.
Turangalila ex 1.PNG Introduced by trombones and tuba, this is the statue theme. According to Messiaen, it has the oppressive, terrible brutality of ancient Mexican monuments, and has always evoked dread. It is played in a slow tempo, pesante.
Turangalila ex 2.PNG This is the flower theme. It is introduced by two clarinets.
Turangalila ex 3.PNG This theme, the most important of all, is the love theme. It appears in many different guises, from hushed strings in movement 6, to a full orchestral treatment in the climax of the finale.
Turangalila ex 4.PNG A simple chain of chords, used to produce opposing chords on the piano and crossing counterpoints in the orchestra.
Structure[edit]
The work is in ten movements, linked by the common themes identified above, and other musical ideas:
1.Introduction. Modéré, un peu vif: A "curtain raiser" introducing the "statue theme" and the "flower theme", followed by the body of the movement, which superimposes two ostinato groups with rhythmic punctuations. A reprise of the "statue" theme closes the introduction.
2.Chant d’amour (Love song) 1. Modéré, lourd: After an atonal introduction, this movement is built on an alternation of a fast and passionate theme dominated by the trumpets, and a soft and gentle theme for the strings and ondes.
3.Turangalîla 1. Presque lent, rêveur: Three themes are stated: one starting with a solo clarinet, the second for low brass and strings, and the third a sinuous theme on the woodwinds. The movement then develops and, later, overlaps the themes, with the addition of a new rhythm in the percussion.
4.Chant d’amour 2. Bien modéré: Introduced by a scherzo for piccolo and bassoon, this movement is in nine sections, some of which recall and develop music heard earlier. A calm coda in A major brings it to a close.
5.Joie du Sang des Étoiles (Joy of the Blood of the Stars). Vif, passionné avec joie: A frenetic dance whose main theme is a fast variant of the "statue theme". For Messiaen, it represented the union of two lovers seen as a transformation on a cosmic scale. The dance is interrupted by a shattering piano cadenza before a brief orchestral coda.
6.Jardin du Sommeil d’amour (Garden of Love’s Sleep). Très modéré, très tendre: The first full rendition of the "love" theme in the strings and ondes is accompanied by idealized birdsong played by the piano, and by other orchestral coloristic effects. According to Messiaen, "The two lovers are enclosed in love's sleep. A landscape comes out from them..."
7.Turangalîla 2. Un peu vif, bien modéré: A completely atonal movement that is intended to invoke terror, with a predominant role for the percussion ensemble.
8.Développement d’amour (Development of Love). Bien modéré: For Messiaen, the title can be considered in two ways. For the lovers, it is terrible: united by the love potion, they are trapped in a passion growing to the infinite. Musically, this is the work's development section.
9.Turangalîla 3. Bien modéré: A theme is introduced by the woodwind. A five-part percussion ensemble introduces a rhythmic series that then sustains a set of superimposed variations on the woodwind theme.
10.Final. Modéré, presque vif, avec une grande joie: The movement is in sonata form: A brass fanfare, coupled with a fast variation of the "love theme", is developed and leads to a long coda, a final version of the "love" theme played fortissimo by the entire orchestra. The work ends on an enormous chord of F♯ major. In Messiaen's words, "glory and joy are without end".
The composer's initial plan was for a symphony in the conventional four movements, which eventually became numbers 1, 4, 6, and 10. Next, he added the three Turangalîla movements, which he originally called tâlas, a reference to the use of rhythm in Indian classical music. Numbers 2 and 8 came next, and finally the 5th movement was inserted.[4] Early on, Messiaen authorized separate performance of movements 3, 4, and 5, as Three tâlas (not to be confused with the original use of the term for the three Turangalîla movements), but later came to disapprove of the performance of extracts.
Recordings[edit]
Roger Désormière, Orchestre National de la Radio Télévision Française, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Ginette Martenot (ondes martenot) – INA 1950 live (European premiere, at Aix-en-Provence Festival on 25 July 1950)[full citation needed]
Hans Rosbaud, SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Ginette Martenot (ondes martenot) – Wergo 1951[full citation needed]
Maurice Le Roux, Orchestre National de la RTF, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – Vega/Accord 1961 (supervised by Messiaen)[full citation needed]
Jean Fournet, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – Q Disc 1967 live[full citation needed]
Seiji Ozawa, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – RCA 1967[full citation needed]
André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra, Michel Béroff (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – EMI 1977[full citation needed]
Louis de Froment, Orchestre Symphonique de RTL, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – Forlane 1982 live[full citation needed]
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Crossley (piano) and Tristan Murail (ondes martenot) – CBS/Sony 1985[full citation needed]
Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Peter Donohoe (piano) and Tristan Murail (ondes martenot) – EMI 1986[full citation needed]
Myung-Whun Chung, Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille, Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) – Deutsche Grammophon 1990 (supervised by Messiaen, and first recording of the revised version)[full citation needed]
Riccardo Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) and Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) – Decca 1992[full citation needed]
Marek Janowski, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Roger Muraro (piano) and Valérie Hartmann-Claverie (ondes martenot) – RCA 1992[full citation needed]
Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic, Howard Shelley (piano) and Valérie Hartmann-Claverie (ondes martenot) – Chandos 1998[full citation needed]
Antoni Wit, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Francois Weigel (piano) and Thomas Bloch (ondes martenot) – Naxos 1998[full citation needed]
Hans Vonk, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Garrick Ohlsson (piano) and Jean Laurendeau (ondes martenot) – Pentatone 1999 live[full citation needed]
Kent Nagano, Berliner Philharmoniker, Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) and Dominique Kim (ondes martenot) – Teldec 2000 live[full citation needed]
Norichika Iimori, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Kazuoki Fujii (piano) and Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) – Canyon 2001[full citation needed]
Ryusuke Numajiri, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Ichiro Nodaira (piano) and Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) – Exton 2002 live[full citation needed]
Thierry Fischer, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Roger Muraro (piano) and Jacques Tchamkerten (ondes martenot) – BBC Music 2006 live[full citation needed]
Hiroyuki Iwaki, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Kaori Kimura (piano), Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) – ABC Classics 2007 (live, recorded in 1985)[full citation needed]
Sylvain Cambreling, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Roger Muraro (piano) and Valérie Hartmann-Claverie (ondes martenot) – Hänssler 2008[full citation needed]
Juanjo Mena, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Steven Osborne (piano) and Cynthia Millar (ondes martenot) – Hyperion 2012[full citation needed]
Jan Latham-Koenig, is the only person to have performed the Turangililia symphony as the pianist, and then later conduct the work.
Cultural references[edit]
The Futurama character Leela is named after this piece.
See also[edit]
Classic 100 Music of France (ABC)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Program notes provided with the Naxos Records recording by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra with François Weigel (piano), Thomas Bloch (ondes Martenot) and Antoni Wit (conductor).
2.Jump up ^ Ford, Andrew (2012). Try whistling this : writings about music. Collingwood, Victoria.: Black Inc. p. 261. ISBN 9781863955713.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Full score, pub, Durand.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone (2005). Messiaen. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 0-300-10907-5.
5.Jump up ^ Olivier Messiaen, Liner notes to Turangalîla Symphonie, (Myung-Whun Chung, conductor; Orchestre de la Bastille; Yvonne Loriod, piano; Jeanne Loriod, ondes martenot). CD recording. DG 431 781-2.
6.Jump up ^ Robert Sherlaw Johnson, Messiaen, revised and updated edition (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1989): 94, 192.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Some of the information in this article can be found in the program notes, written by Messiaen, provided with the DG recording by Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille.
External links[edit]
Turangalîla-Symphonie The Philharmonia Orchestra's Olivier Messiaen Website. Featuring films, photos, documents and much more. An interview with Esa-Pekka Salonen, a look at the percussion used and a visit to the site of the premiere in Boston.
Programme notes for the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Luke Berryman
About the ondes Martenot : facts, videos, pictures, recordings, players...
Audio excerpts from all 10 movements of the Symphonie


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Olivier Messiaen



































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Compositions by Olivier Messiaen
20th-century symphonies
1948 compositions








Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Latina
Nederlands
日本語
Polski
Português
Русский
Slovenčina
Suomi
Svenska
Українська
Edit links
This page was last modified on 28 November 2013 at 05:20.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Liebestod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

"Liebestod" ([ˈliːbəsˌtoːt] German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic aria from the 1859 opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner. When used as a literary term, liebestod (from German Liebe, love and Tod, death) refers to the theme of erotic death or "love death" meaning the two lovers' consummation of their love in death or after death. Other two-sided examples include Pyramus and Thisbe, Romeo and Juliet, and to some degree Wuthering Heights. One-sided examples are Porphyria's Lover and The Sorrows of Young Werther. The joint suicide of Heinrich von Kleist and lover Henriette Vogel (de) is often associated with the Liebestod theme.



Liebestod motif
The aria is the climactic end of the opera as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body.


Contents  [hide]
1 Partial text
2 Adaptations
3 References
4 External links

Partial text[edit]


Mild und leise
 wie er lächelt,
 wie das Auge
 hold er öffnet
—seht ihr's, Freunde?
 Seht ihr's nicht?
 Immer lichter
 wie er leuchtet,
 stern-umstrahlet
 hoch sich hebt?
 Seht ihr's nicht?


 ertrinken,
 versinken, –
unbewusst, –
höchste Lust!

Softly and gently
 how he smiles,
 how his eyes
 fondly open
—do you see, friends?
 do you not see?
 how he shines
 ever brighter.
 Star-haloed
 rising higher
 Do you not see?
[...and ends...]
 to drown,
 to founder –
unconscious –
utmost joy!

Adaptations[edit]
Mild und leise is also the title of an 18-minute synthesized composition by Paul Lansky, made in 1973 on an IBM 360 mainframe. Parts of it became the foundation for Radiohead's song "Idioteque".
Netherlands-based Brazilian composer Cristiano Melli composed "Immer Lichter" (2012) for solo bassoon, based on Isolde's vocal line.
References[edit]
Elisabeth Bronfen (de), Liebestod und Femme fatale. Der Austausch sozialer Energien zwischen Oper, Literatur und Film, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2004. ISBN 3-518-12229-0
External links[edit]
"Isolde's Liebestod", act 3, complete score and transcriptions: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Full text and some performances


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Literary terms
Compositions by Richard Wagner
Arias
Death in art





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Deutsch
Español
Galego
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 24 April 2013 at 11:20.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan chord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Tristan chord

Component intervals from root
augmented second
augmented sixth
augmented fourth (tritone)
root
Forte no. / Complement
4-27 / 8-27
The Tristan chord is a chord made up of the notes F, B, D♯ and G♯. More generally, it can be any chord that consists of these same intervals: augmented fourth, augmented sixth, and augmented ninth above a root. It is so named as it is heard in the opening phrase of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde as part of the leitmotif relating to Tristan.


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Analysis 2.1 Motif
2.2 Chord 2.2.1 Functional analyses
2.2.2 Nonfunctional analyses
2.3 Mayrberger's opinion
3 Responses and influences
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Background[edit]
The notes of the Tristan chord are not unusual; they could be re-spelled to form a conventional half-diminished seventh chord. What distinguishes the chord is its unusual relationship to the implied key of its surroundings. When Tristan und Isolde was first heard in 1865, the chord was considered innovative, disorienting, and daring. Musicians of the twentieth century often identify the chord as a starting point for the modernist disintegration of tonality.
TristanChord.svg
Speaker Icon.svg Sound sample of these bars (MIDI file)
Recording of these bars







Problems listening to the files? See media help.
This motif also appears in measures 6, 10, and 12, several times later in the work and at the end of the last act.
Much has been written about the Tristan chord's possible harmonic functions or voice leading (melodic function), and the motif has been interpreted in various ways. For instance, Schering (1935) traces the development of the Tristan chord through ten intermediate steps, beginning with the Phrygian cadence (iv6-V).[1]
Vogel points out the "chord" in earlier works by Guillaume de Machaut, Carlo Gesualdo, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, or Louis Spohr,[2] as in the following example from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18, tempo allegro:




 Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31, No. 3, with notes of Tristan chord
What makes the Tristan motif different from earlier appearances of the same notes, in the eyes of many analysts, is its duration. In the Beethoven example, the E♭ resolves to D in approximately a quarter of the time it takes the G♯ to "resolve" to the A in the Wagner. In Wagner, the resolution is used merely in passing to a further chromatic dissonance (the A♯ in the following measure), rather than as a resting point in itself. In Beethoven, the notes' simultaneity may be considered to consist partly of nonchord tones; it is not a chord or harmonic entity in itself.
The Tristan chord's significance is in its move away from traditional tonal harmony, and even towards atonality. With this chord, Wagner actually provoked the sound or structure of musical harmony to become more predominant than its function, a notion which was soon explored by Debussy and others. In the words of Robert Erickson,[3] "The Tristan chord is, among other things, an identifiable sound, an entity beyond its functional qualities in a tonal organization."
Analysis[edit]
Although at the same time enharmonically sounding like the half-diminished chord F-A♭-C♭-E♭, it can also be interpreted as the suspended altered subdominant II: B-D♯-F-G♯ (the G♯ being the suspension in the key of A minor).
Jean-Jacques Nattiez writes that musical analyses are determined by analytical situations especially in regard to the tripartition, plots, and transcendent principles. Regarding the Tristan chord, the situations discussed here include what the analyst believes happens with the chord later in Tristan and Isolde, and relate to the possible belief in only three harmonic functions, or in functional successions determined by the circle of fifths.
Motif[edit]
According to J. Chailley (1963, p. 40[4]), "it is rooted in a simple dominant chord of A minor [E major], which includes two appoggiaturas resolved in the normal way":




 Tristan chord as dominant with appoggiaturas
Thus in this view it is not a chord but an anticipation of the dominant chord in measure three. He explains (1963, p. 8): "Tristan's chromaticism, grounded in appoggiaturas and passing notes, technically and spiritually represents an apogee of tension. I have never been able to understand how the preposterous idea that Tristan could be made the prototype of an atonality grounded in destruction of all tension could possibly have gained credence. This was an idea that was disseminated under the (hardly disinterested) authority of Schoenberg, to the point where Alban Berg could cite the Tristan Chord in the Lyric Suite, as a kind of homage to a precursor of atonality. This curious conception could not have been made except as the consequence of a destruction of normal analytical reflexes leading to an artificial isolation of an aggregate in part made up of foreign notes, and to consider it—an abstraction out of context—as an organic whole. After this, it becomes easy to convince naive readers that such an aggregation escapes classification in terms of harmony textbooks."
Chord[edit]
Nattiez[5] distinguishes between functional and nonfunctional analyses of the chord.
Functional analyses[edit]



 Tristan chord analyzed as a French sixth with appoggiatura and dominant seventh with passing tone in A minor.[6]
Functional analyses include interpreting the chord's root as on:
the fourth scale degree (IV) of A minor (D, according to Arend "a modified minor seventh chord" F-B-D♯-G♯ → F-C♭-E♭-A♭ → F-B-D-A = D-F-A, according to Lorenz an augmented sixth chord F-A-D♯) (Arend, Riemann, D'Indy, Lorenz, Deliège, Gut), based after Riemann on the transcendent principle that there are only three functions, tonic, subdominant, and dominant (I, IV, and V);
the second degree (II) of A minor (B) (Piston, Walter 1941, Goldman 1965) (Schoenberg, Arnold, 1954[7]), as a French sixth (F-A-B-D♯), based on the transcendent principle of closeness on the circle of fifths with IV being farther than II, with G♯ seen as an accented passing tone, or
as a secondary dominant (V/V=B, five of five, I=A, V=E), and thus also with a root on B (Ergo 1921, Kurth 1920, Distler 1940), favoring the fifth motion B to E and seeing the chord as a seventh chord with lowered fifth (B-D♯(D♮)-F♯-A).
F or B in A: Considering the G♯ as an appoggiatura, the chord can be interpreted as a type of augmented sixth, specifically the French sixth[8] (F A B D♯ = F B D♯ (G♯-)A).
D'Indy (1903, p. 117),[9] who analyses the chord as on IV after Riemann's transcendent principle (as phrased by Serge Gut: "the most classic succession in the world: Tonic, Subdominant, Dominant" (1981, p. 150)) and rejects the idea of an added "lowered seventh", eliminates, "all artificial, dissonant notes, arising solely from the melodic motion of the voices, and therefore foreign to the chord," finding that the Tristan chord is "no more than a subdominant in the key of A, collapsed in upon itself melodically, the harmonic progression represented thus:



 D'Indy Tristan chord IV6 in IV6-V, as shown in Nattiez.[9]
"This is the simplest in the world," just a sophisticated sixth chord.
Deliège, independently, sees the G♯ as an appoggiatura to A, describing that

in the end only one resolution is acceptable, one that takes the subdominant degree as the root of the chord, which gives us, as far as tonal logic is concerned, the most plausible interpretation ... this interpretation of the chord is confirmed by its subsequent appearances in the Prelude's first period: the IV6 chord remains constant; notes foreign to that chord vary.
—1979, p.23
Nonfunctional analyses[edit]
Nonfunctional analyses are based on structure (rather than function), and are characterized as vertical characterizations or linear analyses. Vertical characterizations include interpreting the chord's root as on the
seventh degree (VII) (Ward 1970, Sadai 1980), of F♯ minor (E♯) (Kistler 1879, Jadassohn 1899)
Linear analyses include that of Noske (1981: 116-17) and Schenker was the first to analyse the motif entirely through melodic concerns. Schenker and later Mitchell compare the Tristan chord to a dissonant contrapuntal gesture from the E minor fugue of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (cf. Schenker 1925-1930 II: 29).
William Mitchell, from a Schenkerian perspective, does not see the G♯ as an appoggiatura because the melodic line (oboe: G♯-A-A♯-B) ascends to B, making the A a passing note. This ascent by minor third is mirrored by the descending line (cello: F-E-D♯, English horn: D), a descent by minor third, making the D♯, like A♯, an appoggiatura. This makes the chord a diminished seventh (G♯-B-D-F).
Serge Gut (1981, p. 150), argues that, "if one focuses essentially on melodic motion, one sees how its dynamic force creates a sense of an appoggiatura each time, that is, at the beginning of each measure, creating a mood both feverish and tense ... thus in the soprano motif, the G♯ and the A♯ are heard as appoggiaturas, as the F and D♯ in the initial motif." The chord is thus a minor chord with added sixth (D-F-A-B) on the fourth degree (IV), though it is engendered by melodic waves.
Allen Forte, who (1988, p. 328) identifies the chord as an atonal set, 4-27 (half-diminished seventh chord) but then "elect[s] to place that consideration in a secondary, even tertiary position compared to the most dynamic aspect of the opening music, which is clearly the large-scale ascending motion that develops in the upper voice, in its entirety a linear projection of the Tristan Chord transposed to level three, g♯'-b'-d"-f♯"."
Schoenberg (1911, p. 284) describes it as a "wandering chord [vagierender Akkord]... it can come from anywhere."
Mayrberger's opinion[edit]
After summarizing the above analyses Nattiez asserts that the context of the Tristan chord is A minor, and that analyses which say the key is E or E♭ are "wrong". He privileges analyses of the chord as on the second degree (II). He then supplies a Wagner-approved analysis, that of Czech professor K. Mayrberger (1878), who "places the chord on the second degree, and interprets the G♯ as an appoggiatura. But above all, Mayrberger considers the attraction between the E and the real bass F to be paramount, and calls the Tristan chord a Zwitterakkord (an ambiguous, hybrid, or possibly bisexual or androgynous, chord), whose F is controlled by the key of A minor, and D♯ by the key of E minor." According to Hans von Wolzogen, Wagner, "with considerable delight believed he had found in this heretofore unknown man from faraway Hungary the theorist he had long been waiting for."[citation needed]
Responses and influences[edit]
The chord and the figure surrounding it is well enough known to have been parodied and quoted by a number of later musicians. Berg also quotes it in his Lyric Suite for string quartet, deriving the figure from his twelve-tone compositional material.[citation needed] Arthur Sullivan uses the chord (re-spelling it as a chord of F seventh with a flattened fifth) during a recitative in his operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, and Debussy includes the chord in a setting of the phrase 'je suis triste' in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Debussy also jokily quotes the opening bars of Wagner's opera several times in "Golliwogg's Cakewalk" from his piano suite Children's Corner. Benjamin Britten slyly invokes it at the moment in Albert Herring when Sid and Nancy spike Albert's lemonade and then again when he drinks it. More recently, American composer and humorist Peter Schickele crafted a tango around this same figure, a chamber work for four bassoons entitled Last Tango in Bayreuth.
The Brazilian conductor and composer Flavio Chamis wrote Tristan Blues, a composition based on the Tristan chord. The work, for harmonica and piano was recorded on the CD "Especiaria" [1], released in Brazil by the Biscoito Fino label. Flavio Chamis found an intriguing relation between the Tristan chord/resolution and the blues scale - much used in jazz - in which all have practically the same notes.
In 1993, the opening theme was used in the film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould in the scene on Lake Simcoe as performed by the NBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini (recorded 1952). Gould had been a fan of Wagner and adapted some of his music to piano, one of Gould's rare recordings from the Romantic Period. The chord is also prominently used in the film "Melancholia" by Lars von Trier.
See also[edit]
Synthetic chord
Elektra chord
Mystic chord
Petrushka chord
Psalms chord
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Schering, Arnold (1935). "Musikalische Symbolkunde", Jahrbuch der Musikbibliothek, pp 15-36.
2.Jump up ^ Vogel, Martin (1962). Der Tristan-Akkord und die Krise der modernen Harmonielehre, p. 12. Titled in response to Kurth (1920). Cited in Nattiez (1990).
3.Jump up ^ Erickson, Robert (1975). Sound Structure in Music. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-520-02376-5.
4.Jump up ^ Chailley, J. (1963). "Tristan et Isolde de Richard Wagner", Paris: Centre de documentation universitaire. Discussed Diény (1965) and Serge Gut (1981: 149). Cited in Nattiez (1990).
5.Jump up ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990) [1987]. Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music (Musicologie générale et sémiologue). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. pp. 219–29. ISBN 0-691-02714-5.
6.Jump up ^ Benward & Saker (2008). Music in Theory and Practie, Vol. II, p.233. ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0.
7.Jump up ^ Schoenberg, Arnold: "Structural Functions of Harmony" (Revised Edition), pg. 77, W. W. Norton & Company, 1969, Library of Congress - 74-81181
8.Jump up ^ Ellis, Mark (2010). A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from Monteverdi to Mahler, pp. 29-32 and pp. 211-214. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6385-0.
9.^ Jump up to: a b D'Indy, V. (1903). Cours de composition musicale, vol. 1. Paris: Durand. Cited in Nattiez (1990), p.224.
Further reading[edit]
Bailey, Robert (1986). Prelude and Transfiguration from Tristan and Isolde (Norton Critical Scores). ISBN 0-393-95405-6. Contains complete orchestral score, together with extensive discussion of the Prelude (especially the chord), Wagner's sketches, and leading essays by various analysts.
Kurth, Ernest (1920). Romantische Harmonik und ihre Krise in Wagners "Tristan".
Magee, Bryan (2002). The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy. ISBN 0-8050-7189-X.
Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Wagner androgyne. ISBN 2-267-00707-X. Contains discussion of the Tristan chord as "androgynous". 1997 English edition (trans. Stewart Spencer) ISBN 0-691-04832-0.
Stegemann, Benedikt: Theory of Tonality. Theoretical Studies, Wilhelmshaven, Noetzel 2013, ISBN 978-3-7959-0963-5
External links[edit]
Some occurrences of the Tristan chord in the scores of Petrucci Music Library


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Chords









































































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Chords
Opera terminology
Richard Wagner
Post-tonal music theory






Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Català
Deutsch
Eesti
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
Français
Galego
한국어
Latina
日本語
Polski
Русский
Slovenščina
Suomi
Українська
Edit links
This page was last modified on 23 January 2014 at 08:46.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan und Isolde discography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This is an audio and video discography of Tristan und Isolde, an opera by Richard Wagner which was first performed on 10 June 1865 in Munich.


Contents  [hide]
1 Recording history
2 Audio recordings
3 Video recordings
4 References
5 External links

Recording history[edit]
Tristan und Isolde has a long recorded history. In the years before World War II, Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior were considered to be the prime interpreters of the lead roles, and mono recordings exist of this pair in a number of live performances led by conductors such as Thomas Beecham, Fritz Reiner, Artur Bodanzky and Erich Leinsdorf. Flagstad recorded the part commercially only near the end of her career in 1952, under Wilhelm Furtwängler for EMI, producing a set which is considered a classic recording.[1] Following the war, the performances at Bayreuth with Martha Mödl and Ramon Vinay under Herbert von Karajan (1952) were highly regarded, and these performances are now available as a live recording. In the 1960s, the soprano Birgit Nilsson was considered the major Isolde interpreter, and she was often partnered with the Tristan of Wolfgang Windgassen. Their performance at Bayreuth in 1966 under the baton of Karl Böhm was captured by Deutsche Grammophon—a performance often hailed as one of the best Tristan recordings.[2] Some collectors prefer the pairing of Nilsson with the Canadian tenor Jon Vickers, available in "unofficial" recordings from performances in Vienna or Orange.
There are several DVD productions of the opera including Götz Friedrich's production at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin featuring the seasoned Wagnerians René Kollo and Dame Gwyneth Jones in the title roles. Deutsche Grammophon released a DVD of a Metropolitan Opera performance featuring Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner, conducted by James Levine, in a production staged by Jürgen Rose and a DVD of the 1993 Bayreuth festival production with conductor Daniel Barenboim and featuring Waltraud Meier as Isolde and Siegfried Jerusalem as Tristan, staged by Heiner Mueller.
Audio recordings[edit]

Year
cast:
 (Tristan, Isolde, Brangäne, King Marke, Kurwenal)
Conductor,
 Opera House and Orchestra
Label[3]
1928 Gunnar Graarud,
Nanny Larsen-Todsen,
 Anny Helm,
 Ivar Andresen,
 Rudolf Bockelmann Karl Elmendorff,
 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus
 (abridged) Naxos Historical,[4]
 Cat: 8.110200-02
1936 Lauritz Melchior,
Kirsten Flagstad,
Sabine Kalter,
Emanuel List,
Herbert Janssen Fritz Reiner,
 Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus (Live recording and the sound is good considering the age of the recording) VAI Audio:
 VAIA 1004-3,
 Naxos «Historical,
 Cat: 8.110068.70
1937 Lauritz Melchior,
Kirsten Flagstad,
Margarete Klose,
 Sven Nilsson,
Herbert Janssen Thomas Beecham,
 Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus,
 (Only part of the EMI recording is conducted by Beecham; the rest is conducted by Reiner) EMI Classics,
 Cat: 64037
1943 Lauritz Melchior,
Helen Traubel,
Kerstin Thorborg,
Alexander Kipnis,
 Julius Huehn Erich Leinsdorf,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Naxos Historical,
 Cat: 8.110010-2
1948 Set Svanholm,
Kirsten Flagstad,
Viorica Ursuleac,
Ludwig Weber,
Hans Hotter Erich Kleiber,
 Buenos Aires Opera Myto,
 Cat: H031
1950 Gunther Treptow,
 Helena Braun,
Margarete Klose,
Ferdinand Frantz,
Paul Schöffler Hans Knappertsbusch,
 Bavarian State Opera Orchestra Orfeo,
 Cat: C355 943 D
1951 Max Lorenz,
Gertrude Grob-Prandl,
 Elsa Cavelti,
 Sven Nilsson,
Sigurd Björling Victor de Sabata,
 Orchestra of La Scala Milan Archipel,
 Cat: ARPCD 0027[5]
1952 Ramón Vinay,
Martha Mödl,
Ira Malaniuk,
Ludwig Weber,
Hans Hotter Herbert von Karajan,
 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra Arkadia,
 Cat: CDHP 528.4 and other labels[6]
1952 Ludwig Suthaus,
Kirsten Flagstad,
Blanche Thebom,
Josef Greindl,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Wilhelm Furtwängler,
 Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra EMI Classics
Naxos Historical
 Cat: 8.110321-24
1959 Wolfgang Windgassen,
Birgit Nilsson,
Hilde Rössel-Majdan,
Hans Hotter,
Gustav Neidlinger Herbert von Karajan,
 Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Golden Melodram,
 Cat: GM 1.0080
1961 Fritz Uhl,
Birgit Nilsson,
Regina Resnik,
Arnold van Mill,
Tom Krause Georg Solti,
 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Friends of Music Society Chorus Decca,
 Cat: 470814
1966 Wolfgang Windgassen,
Birgit Nilsson,
Christa Ludwig,
Martti Talvela,
Eberhard Wächter Karl Böhm,
 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus (Recording of a performance at the Bayreuth Festival, August) Deutsche Grammophon,
 Cat: 449772
1971 Jon Vickers,
Birgit Nilsson,
 Grace Hoffman,
Franz Crass,
 Norman Mittelman Horst Stein,
 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Orchestra VAI,
 Cat: VAIA 1178-3
1972 Jon Vickers,
Helga Dernesch,
Christa Ludwig,
Karl Ridderbusch,
Walter Berry Herbert von Karajan,
 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus EMI Classics,
 Cat: 69319
1981 Alberto Remedios,
Linda Esther Gray,
Felicity Palmer,
John Tomlinson,
Norman Bailey Reginald Goodall,
 Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera,
 Performance in English Oriel Music Society,
 OMS 181
1981 Peter Hofmann,
Hildegard Behrens,
Yvonne Minton,
Hans Sotin,
Bernd Weikl Leonard Bernstein,
 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus Philips,
 Cat: 2PH5410-447
1980/82 René Kollo,
Margaret Price,
Brigitte Fassbaender,
Kurt Moll,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Carlos Kleiber,
 Leipzig Radio Chorus, Dresden Staatskapelle Deutsche Grammophon,
 Cat: 403202
1995 Siegfried Jerusalem,
Waltraud Meier,
Marjana Lipovšek,
Matti Salminen,
Falk Struckmann Daniel Barenboim,
 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin State Opera Chorus Teldec,
 Cat: 94568
2003 Thomas Moser,
Deborah Voigt,
Petra Lang,
Robert Holl,
Peter Weber Christian Thielemann,
 Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus (Live) Deutsche Grammophon,
 Cat: 474 974
2004 Plácido Domingo,
Nina Stemme,
Mihoko Fujimura,
René Pape,
Olaf Bär Antonio Pappano,
 Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus EMI Classics,
 Cat: 5.58006
Video recordings[edit]
Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Pierre Boulez. Soloists: Wolfgang Windgassen; Birgit Nilsson; Hans Hotter; Chorus and Orchestra of the Osaka Festival. Recorded [on black and white film], Osaka, 10 April 1967. Wieland Wagner directed the production.
Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Karl Böhm. Soloists: Jon Vickers; Birgit Nilsson. New Philharmonia Chorus; ORTF Orchestra. Théâtre Antique, Orange, France, 7 July 1973. This is a highly valued video recording due to its excellent performance despite some technical problems (as of 2005-11-21). DVD: Hardy Classic Video HCD 40009 (2 DVDs) (2003) is a good print
Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Daniel Barenboim, Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Staged and Directed by: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Soloists: René Kollo, Johanna Meier, Matti Salminen, Hermann Becht, Hanna Schwarz, Unitel 1983, Laserdisc Philips 070-509-1
Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Jiří Kout, Orchestra & Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staged and Directed by: Götz Friedrich, Soloists: René Kollo, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Robert Lloyd, Gerd Feldhoff, Hanna Schwarz. TDK 1993 DVD
Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Zubin Mehta; Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester; Stage Director: Peter Konwitschny; Soloists: Jon Frederic West, Waltraud Meier, Kurt Moll, Bernd Weikl, Marjana Lipovšek. Opus Arte DVD 1998.
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Holloway, Robin (1982) in "Opera on Record", Harper and Row ISBN 0-06-090910-2, page 367.
2.Jump up ^ Blyth, Alan (1992), "Opera on CD" Kyle Cathie Ltd, ISBN 1-85626-056-9 page 65.
3.Jump up ^ Recordings of Tristan und Isolde on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
4.Jump up ^ Brown, p. 36
5.Jump up ^ Brown, p. 13
6.Jump up ^ Brown, p. 16
SourcesBrown, Jonathan (2000). Tristan und Isolde on record: a comprehensive discography of Wagner's music drama with a critical introduction to the recordings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-31489-6.
External links[edit]
Jonathan Brown's discography


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Opera discographies




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Español
Galego
Edit links
This page was last modified on 1 July 2013 at 09:54.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Pardes (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Pardes
Pardes.jpg
Directed by
Subhash Ghai
Produced by
Subhash Ghai
Written by
Subhash Ghai
 Neeraj Pathak
Javed Siddiqui
Starring
Shahrukh Khan
Amrish Puri
Mahima Chaudhry
Apoorva Agnihotri
Alok Nath
Himani Shivpuri
Aditya Narayan
Music by
Nadeem-Shravan
Cinematography
Kabir Lal
Editing by
Renu Saluja
Distributed by
Mukta Arts
Release dates
8 August 1997
Running time
191 mins
Country
India
Language
Hindi
Urdu
English
Box office
INR30,00,00,000 [1]
Pardes (English: Foreign Land) is a Bollywood musical drama film directed by Subhash Ghai. It was released on 8 August 1997. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Amrish Puri, Alok Nath, and newcomers Mahima Chaudhry and Apurva Agnihotri. The film was a commercial, critical and musical hit. Mahima Chaudary won the Best Newcomer Award for her performance. The film was remade in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1998).


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Soundtrack
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]
Pardes is a story that revolves around Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) and Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary). Ganga is an Indian girl, brought up by her conservative family, living in a village. Kishorilal (Amrish Puri) is a wealthy and successful Indian American businessman who lives in Los Angeles, America ( although most of the filming happened in Vancouver, Canada) but is still deeply attached to his motherland India and adores the values and culture of India. On a visit to India, he meets his old friend Suraj Dev (Alok Nath) and stays at his house. During his stay, he gets to know Suraj Dev's family and becomes very attached to Ganga, Dev's eldest daughter, who is the epitome of Indian culture. He hopes to find an Indian girl for his westernized, American son, Rajiv (Apoorva Agnihotri) and feels that Ganga is just right. He proposes marriage between Ganga and Rajiv; Dev's family accepts. Kishorilal knows he will have a tough time trying to convince Rajiv, who has never even visited India.
But Kishorilal has a plan. He sends his foster son, Arjun (Shahrukh Khan) to play cupid and convince Rajiv to meet Ganga in India. Arjun arrives at Dev's house and arranges to make the place suitable for Rajiv. Then, Rajiv arrives and initially does not like the idea of the marriage. Arjun spends many days trying to get Ganga and Rajiv to like each other and, in the process, becomes a close friend of Ganga. Eventually, Rajiv and Ganga agree to the wedding.
The engagement is set in India with the wedding in America. Ganga excitedly leaves for America with her new family. In her new surroundings, her only friend and confidant is Arjun, with whom she begins to form a special bond. As time goes on, Ganga realizes that Rajiv isn't the person Arjun portrayed to her. She goes through many culture shocks when she sees Rajiv smoking, drinking and partying; later, she finds out that he has had sexual affairs in the past and is still seeing his former girlfriend. She confronts Arjun about why he lied to her, and Arjun realizes that he has fallen in love with her.
Rajiv's family member notices the closeness between Ganga and Arjun and warns Kishorilal. He tells Arjun to leave the city. Ganga goes on a trip to Las Vegas with Rajiv. She misses Arjun and his companionship but tries to get on with Rajiv. One night, in a drunken state, Rajiv tries to rape Ganga; she manages to knock him unconscious and runs away. Arjun finds out Ganga is missing and looks for her. He finds her crying at a train station with her clothes torn. As she explains what happened, Arjun promises to protect her and help her get back to her family in India.
Suraj Dev is misinformed about the circumstances in which Arjun brought Ganga to India. Believing Arjun eloped with his daughter, Dev tries to kill him. He mistrusts his daughter and locks her up in a shed. Ganga realizes that she is in love with Arjun. By this time, Kishorilal has come to India with Rajiv, who is ready to kill Arjun.
After a lengthy fight between Arjun and Rajiv, Ganga reveals to her family and Kishorilal what Rajiv had tried to do to her. Shocked, both families realize their mistake. In disgust, Kishorilal disowns Rajiv and accepts Arjun as his real son. The families unite Ganga and Arjun; the two are finally married and live happily.
Cast[edit]
Shahrukh Khan as Arjun Sagar
Amrish Puri as Kishorilal
Mahima Chaudhry as Kusum Ganga a.k.a. Ganga
Apurva Agnihotri as Rajiv
Alok Nath as Suraj Dev
Padmavati Rao as Narmada, wife of Suraj Dev
Dina Pathak as Suraj's mother
Himani Shivpuri as Kulwanti
Madhuri Bhatia as Neeta
Smita Jaykar as Paddy
Richa Pallod
Prachi Save as Daksha
Aditya Narayan as Potla (Ganga's little brother)
Rakesh Thareja as Paul (Rajiv's friend)
Reception[edit]
Pardes received mixed reviews from critics. Praise was given to the music, however aspects of the script were criticised. [2] [3]
The film was a box office success, becoming the 3rd highest grossing of 1997. Although it got an "Above Average" opening, it was eventually given the verdict of a "Hit." [4]
Soundtrack[edit]

Pardes

Soundtrack album by Nadeem Shravan

Genre
Feature film soundtrack
Label
Tips
Producer
Nadeem Shravan
Nadeem Shravan chronology

Saat Rang Ke Sapne
 (1997) Pardes
 (1997) Maharaja
 (1998)

The soundtrack was composed by the duo of Nadeem Shravan while the lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi. It was released under the label of Tips Music Films. The album was very successful amongst the audience. The tracks "I Love My India", "Meri Mehbooba", "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain" and "Nahin Hona Tha" were immensely popular with songs being played till date. Music director duo Nadeem-Shravan received a Filmfare nomination for the album and won a Star Screen Award for Best Music Director. Ghai wanted A.R.Rahman to compose the music of this film but Rahman politely declined the offer since Ghai wanted the tunes ready in less than two months.
Tracklist
Track #
Title
Singer(s)
1 "Nahin Hona Tha" Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Hema Sardesai, Sabri Bros.(Jaipuri)
2 "Meri Mehbooba" Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
3 "Yeh Dil Deewana" Sonu Nigam, Hema Sardesai, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan
4 "I Love My India" Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shankar Mahadevan, Aditya Narayan
5 "My First Day in USA" Hema Sardesai
6 "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain" Kumar Sanu
7 "Jahan Piya Wahan Main" Shankar Mahadevan, K. S. Chitra
8 "I Love My India (Part 2)" Kavita Krishnamurthy
9 "Title Music" Sapna Awasthi, Shankar Mahadevan
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Box office 1997". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2.Jump up ^ http://planetbollywood.com/Film/pardes2.html
3.Jump up ^ http://www.apunkachoice.com/titles/par/pardes/mid_61/reviews-editor/
4.Jump up ^ http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=203&catName=MTk5Nw==
External links[edit]
Pardes at the Internet Movie Database


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films by Subhash Ghai




































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Indian films
Hindi-language films
Urdu-language films
1997 films
Compositions by Nadeem-Shravan




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
العربية
Dansk
Deutsch
Français
हिन्दी
Italiano
नेपाल भाषा
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Русский
Simple English
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
اردو
Edit links
This page was last modified on 1 February 2014 at 10:48.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






In the Shadow of the Raven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Í skugga hrafnsins

Directed by
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
Produced by
Christer Abrahamsen
Written by
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
Starring
Reine Brynolfsson
Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir
Egill Ólafsson
Sune Mangs
Kristbjörg Kjeld
Music by
Harry Manfredini
Hans-Erik Philip
Cinematography
Tony Forsberg
Editing by
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
Release dates
1988

Running time
124 minutes
Country
Iceland
Language
Icelandic, German
Budget
ISK 200,000,000
In the Shadow of the Raven (orig. Í skugga hrafnsins (About this sound pronunciation (help·info))) is the title of a 1988 film by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, set in Viking Age Iceland.
In the Shadow of the Raven is the second film of the legendary Raven Trilogy (also known as the Viking Trilogy) that consists of three 'Viking' films:
1) When the Raven Flies (1984) - (original Icelandic title: Hrafninn flýgur) - usually known as simply The Raven or Revenge of the Barbarians.
2) In The Shadow of the Raven (1987) - (original Icelandic title: Í skugga hrafnsins).
3) Embla (2007) - (original Icelandic title: Hvíti víkingurinn) - the directors cut of The White Viking .
External links[edit]
In the Shadow of the Raven at the Internet Movie Database
In the Shadow of the Raven at the Swedish Film Database
In the Shadow of the Raven at allmovie
Í skugga hrafnsins at Kvìkmyndír


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































Stub icon This article related to Icelandic film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




Stub icon This article about a 1980s action film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 1988 films
1980s action films
Films based on Norse mythology
Films directed by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
Films set in Iceland
Films set in the Viking Age
Icelandic films
Icelandic-language films
Icelandic film stubs
1980s action film stubs




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Dansk
Deutsch
Íslenska
Norsk bokmål
Русский
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last modified on 26 January 2014 at 15:59.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Fire and Sword
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the film. For the 2009 novel, see Fire and Sword (novel). For the 1884 novel, see With Fire and Sword.

Fire and Sword

Directed by
Veith von Fürstenberg
Starring
Christoph Waltz
Antonia Preser
Peter Firth
Leigh Lawson
Country
West Germany
Language
German
Fire and Sword (Feuer und Schwert – Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde) is a 1982 German romance/adventure film, directed by Veith von Fürstenberg. It is based on the legend of Tristan and Iseult.
The film won the Caixa de Catalunya in Best Cinematography and was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film.
Cast[edit]
Christoph Waltz – Tristan
Antonia Preser – Isolde
Peter Firth – Dinas
Leigh Lawson – King Mark.
External links[edit]
Fire and Sword at the Internet Movie Database


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































Stub icon This article related to a German film of the 1980s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: German-language films
1982 films
Arthurian film and television
West German films
1980s German film stubs


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export









This page was last modified on 4 December 2013 at 13:33.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Lovespell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Question book-new.svg
 This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)

Lovespell

Directed by
Tom Donovan
Produced by
Tom Hayes
 Douglas Hughes
Claire Labine
Thomas H. Ryan
Written by
Claire Labine
Starring
Richard Burton
Kate Mulgrew
Nicholas Clay
Cyril Cusack
Niall O'Brien
Music by
Paddy Moloney
Cinematography
Richard H. Kline
Editing by
Russell Lloyd
Studio
Paramount Pictures
Distributed by
John Lucas Ltd
Release dates
December 1981
Running time
97mins
Country
Ireland, UK
Language
English
Lovespell is a 1981 fantasy romantic tragedy film featuring Richard Burton as King Mark of Cornwall. It was directed by Tom Donovan. Originally filmed in 1979, this film got released for limited screenings in theaters in 1981. It would be remade in 2006 as Tristan and Isolde.
Plot synopsis[edit]
Lovespell is based around a love triangle between King Mark of Cornwall (Richard Burton), Isolt (Kate Mulgrew), and Tristan (Nicholas Clay). Mark discovers Isolt's love for Tristan, and banishes Tristan. However, while being away, Tristan is mortally wounded. Isolt persuades Mark to go and take Tristan back to Cornwall. Mark says if he returns casting white sails Tristan is alive and if they are black Tristan is dead. Mark returns with Tristan barely alive with white sails, but casts black sails when Tristan reveals his plans to run away with Isolt as soon as he has recovered. This causes Isolt to kill herself by throwing herself off the White Cliffs of Dover. Mark helps Tristan swim to the shore, and as Tristan and Isolt's hands touch they both die, while Mark, knee deep in the water, looks on.
Cast[edit]

Character Name
Actor Name
King Mark of Cornwall Richard Burton
Isolt Kate Mulgrew
Tristan Nicholas Clay
Gondor of Ireland Cyril Cusack
Bronwyn Geraldine Fitzgerald
Andred Niall Toibin
Alix Diana Van der Vlis
Corvenal Niall O'Brien
Yseult of the White Hand Kathryn Dowling
Father Colm John Jo Brooks
Anne Trudy Hayes
Bishop John Scanlon
William the Guard Bobby Johnson
Eoghanin John Labine
External links[edit]
Lovespell at the Internet Movie Database
Blowen, Michael (Aug 16, 1982). "Movie review: Tristan and Isolt founder in a sea of nonsense". Boston Globe. Retrieved 16 May 2010.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: 1981 films
Films set in the 6th century
Films set in Cornwall
Films set in Kent
Arthurian film and television





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Norsk bokmål
Edit links
This page was last modified on 28 December 2013 at 16:44.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






The Woman Next Door
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The Woman Next Door
Woman-next-door-poster.jpg
Directed by
François Truffaut
Produced by
Armand Barbault
 François Truffaut
Written by
Jean Aurel
Suzanne Schiffman
 François Truffaut
Starring
Fanny Ardant
Gérard Depardieu
Music by
Georges Delerue
Cinematography
William Lubtchansky
Editing by
Martine Barraqué
Studio
Les Films du Carrosse/ TF 1
Distributed by
Gaumont-France Distribution France
United Artists Classics US
Palador Pictures India
Release dates
(Paris) September 30, 1981
 (UK) January 17, 1982
Running time
106 min.
Language
French
The Woman Next Door (French: La Femme d'à côté) is a 1981 French film directed by François Truffaut. The film was the 39th highest grossing film of the year with a total of 1,087,600 admissions in France. [1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 References
4 External links

Plot[edit]
Bernard Coudray lives with his wife and young son in a remote country house near to Grenoble. One day, a married couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, move into the house next door. Mathilde and Bernard were lovers, many years before, and both are equally surprised at the unexpected reunion. Initially, Bernard avoids Mathilde, but a chance meeting in a supermarket reawakens a long-buried passion and they are soon having an affair. Unfortunately, neither of them seems capable of controlling the emotional whirlwind which this unleashes. And yes, it ends badly for both in a swirl of Gaulish tragedy.
Cast[edit]
Gérard Depardieu as Bernard Coudray
Fanny Ardant as Mathilde Bauchard
Henri Garcin as Philippe Bauchard
Michèle Baumgartner as Arlette Coudray
Roger Van Hool as Roland Duguet
Véronique Silver as Madame Odile Jouve
Philippe Morier-Genoud as the Doctor
Olivier Bedquaert as Thomas Coudray[2]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=7262&affich=france
2.Jump up ^ Allen, Don. Finally Truffaut. New York: Beaufort Books. 1985. ISBN 0-8253-0335-5. pp. 239.
External links[edit]
The Woman Next Door at the Internet Movie Database


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
François Truffaut


















































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































Stub icon This article related to a French film of the 1980s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 1981 films
French films
French-language films
Films directed by François Truffaut
1980s French film stubs




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Català
Dansk
Deutsch
Français
Italiano
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Svenska
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 27 November 2013 at 03:03.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






L'Éternel retour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


L'Éternel retour

Directed by
Jean Delannoy
Written by
Jean Cocteau
Starring
Madeleine Sologne
Jean Marais
Music by
Georges Auric
Cinematography
Roger Hubert
Release dates
13 October 1943 (France)
 3 January 1948 (USA)
Running time
107 minutes
Country
France
Language
French
L'Éternel retour (English: The Eternal Return) is a French drama romance film from 1943, directed by Jean Delannoy, written by Jean Cocteau, starring Madeleine Sologne and Jean Marais.[1] In United Kingdom, the film was also known under the alternative title Love Eternal.[2]
Cast[edit]
Madeleine Sologne: Nathalie, the blonde
Jean Marais: Patrice
Jean Murat: Marc
Junie Astor: Nathalie, the brunette
Roland Toutain: Lionel
Jane Marken: Anne
Jean d'Yd: Amédée Frossin
Piéral: Achille Frossin
Yvonne de Bray: Gertrude Frossin
Alexandre Rignault: Morholt
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ L'Éternel retour (1943) at the Films de France
2.Jump up ^ L'Éternel retour at the Internet Movie Database
External links[edit]
L'Éternel retour at the Internet Movie Database
L'Éternel retour (1943) at the Films de France


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult





























































Stub icon This article related to a French film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: French-language films
1943 films
French drama films
French romance films
Black-and-white films
Films directed by Jean Delannoy
1940s drama films
French films
1940s French film stubs


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Deutsch
Français
Português
Русский
Edit links
This page was last modified on 1 October 2013 at 23:46.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Tristan (disambiguation).


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)



 Tristan and Iseult as depicted by Herbert James Draper
 (1864 -1920).
Tristan (Latin & Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Trystan), also known as Tristram, is the male hero of the Arthurian Tristan and Iseult story. He was a Cornish knight of the Round Table. He is the son of Blancheflor and Rivalen (in later versions Isabelle and Meliodas), and the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, sent to fetch Iseult back from Ireland to wed the king. However, he and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion while en route and fall helplessly in love. The pair undergo numerous trials that test their secret affair.


Contents  [hide]
1 Tristan legend cycle
2 Historical roots
3 Modern adaptations
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Tristan legend cycle[edit]
Tristan makes his first medieval appearance in the early twelfth century in Celtic folklore circulating in the north of France and the Kingdom of Brittany, which had close ancestral and cultural links with Cornwall by way of the ancient British kingdom of Dumnonia, as made clear in the story itself, and the closely related Cornish and Breton languages. Although the oldest stories concerning Tristan are lost, some of the derivatives still exist. Most early versions fall into one of two branches, the "courtly" branch represented in the retellings of the Anglo-Norman poet Thomas of Britain and his German successor Gottfried von Strassburg, and the "common" branch, including the works of the French poet Béroul and the German poet Eilhart von Oberge.
Arthurian romancier Chrétien de Troyes mentions in his poem Cligès that he composed his own account of the story; however, there are no surviving copies or records of any such text. In the thirteenth century, during the great period of prose romances, Tristan en prose or Prose Tristan appeared and was one of the most popular romances of its time. This long, sprawling, and often lyrical work (the modern edition takes up thirteen volumes) follows Tristan from the traditional legend into the realm of King Arthur where Tristan participates in the Quest for the Holy Grail. In the fifteenth century, Sir Thomas Malory shortened this French version into his own take, The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, found in his Le Morte D'Arthur.
Historical roots[edit]
There are obscure aspects to Tristan; his ancient Cornish, Welsh or Breton name appears to mean "clanking swords," while the more recent Romance languages version, including French, is interpreted as "sadness" in keeping with the Tristan and Iseult romantic tale. Tristan (Trystan, Drystan) is almost certainly taken from the legendary Pictish Chronicle Drest or Drust which frequently appears as the name of several ancient Pictish kings in modern Scotland far to the northwest; Drustanus is merely Drust rendered into Latin. It may have originated from an ancient legend regarding a Pictish king who slew a giant in the distant past, which had spread throughout the isles, or the name may also come from a sixth-century Pictish saint who bore another form of the name – or it may have migrated upwards from the southwest due to the fame of the legends of King Arthur. In addition, there was a Tristan who bore witness to a legal document at the Swabian Abbey of Saint Gall in 807AD.
Another strange aspect is his kingdom, Lyonesse, for whose existence there is no evidence. However, there were two places called Leonais: one in Brittany, the other the Old French transcription of Lothian. However, the Isles of Scilly have also been proposed to be this place, since they were possibly one island until Roman times and several islands are interconnected at low tide. Regardless, Tristan being a prince of Lothian would make his name more sensible, Lothian being on the borderlands of the Pictish High-Kingship (and once was a part of Pictish territory; Tristan may in fact have been a Pictish prince under a British King). There are also records of a Turstan Crectune, who's name gave the Lothian village of Crichton it's name. He was granted lands in 1128 by King David of Scotland. One other suggestion is that he could have been adopted into the family of Mark of Cornwall, a historical practice attested in Roman law.
Possible evidence for his Cornish roots is the 5th century inscribed Tristan Stone, set beside the road leading to Fowey in Cornwall. It measures some 7 feet in height and has been set in a modern concrete base. Until the 1980s it was in its original position some yards from the coastal road in a field near the turn down to the small harbour of Polkerris. It was then closer to Castle Dore and may have been the origin of the association of this site with the story of the tragic love of Tristan and Iseult. There is a Tau cross on one side and a Latin inscription on the other side, now much worn, reading:[1]

Drustanus Hic Lacit Cunomori Filius
 Drustanus lies here, son of Cunomorus
It has been suggested, and is confidently asserted on the plaque by the stone, that the characters referred to are Tristan, of which Drustan is a variant, and Cynvawr Latinized to Cunomorus. Cynvawr, in turn, is said by the ninth-century author Nennius, who compiled an early pseudo-historical account of King Arthur, to be identified with King Mark. Around 1540 John Leland recorded a third line now missing: CVM DOMINA OUSILLA ('with the lady Ousilla': Ousilla is conceivably a latinisation of the Cornish Eselt), but missed the badly weathered first line ('DRUSTINVS HIC IACIT') which has led Craig Weatherhill to speculate that this third line could have been lost by stone fracture.[2]
The writer Sigmund Eisner concluded that the name Tristan comes from Drust, son of Talorc, but that the legend of Tristan as we know it, was gathered together by an Irish monk living in North Britain around the early eighth century.[3] Eisner explains that Irish monks of this time would have been familiar with the Greek and Roman narratives that the legend borrows from such as Pyramus and Thisbe; they would also have been familiar with the Celtic elements of the story such as The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne. Eisner concludes that "the author of the Tristan story used the names and some of the local traditions of his own recent past. To these figures he attached adventures which had been handed down from Roman and Greek mythology. He lived in the north of Britain, was associated with a monastery, and started the first rendition of the Tristan story on its travels to wherever it has been found."[4]
Modern adaptations[edit]
From 1857 to 1859, Richard Wagner composed the opera Tristan and Isolde, now considered one of the most influential pieces of music of the 19th century. In his work, Tristan is portrayed as a doomed romantic figure.
Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote an epic poem Tristram of Lyonesse.
The legend of Tristan has also been represented through the song of the same name by English singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf, and was the lead single from his 2005 album, Wind in the Wires.
Tristan et Iseult is also featured in the 2005 album/CD by Carlos Núñez Cinema do Mar.
Tristan plays a prominent role in the comic book series Camelot 3000, in which he is reincarnated in A.D. 3000, as a woman and subsequently struggles to come to terms with his new body, sexuality and identity, reconciling them in turn with his previous notions of gender roles.
In 1983, Russian composer Nikita Koshkin wrote a classical guitar solo entitled Tristan Playing the Lute, evoking the spirit of Tristan from the legend of "Tristan and Isolde", initially set in a playful adaptation of traditional English lute music. According to Koshkin:

"Tristan was written as a musical joke. It was a period when I was fond of all the stories about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Tristan was not only a great fighter, but he also played many musical instruments and had a beautiful singing voice. This is why I thought he could be the subject of a piece to suggest the process of improvising in a characteristic early style that then begins to change to futuristic musical ideas. The first section of the piece is clearly ancient in style; the second is more modern; then the third introduces elements of Eastern music as well as some rock riffs. The idea is that Tristan, during his improvising, is building musical bridges to the future."
The story has also been adapted into film many times.[5] In the 2004 film, King Arthur, based on the Sarmatian connection theory of origin for the Arthurian legends, Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen) is a prominent member of the knights, who are Sarmatians serving under a half-Roman Arthur in the 5th century. Tristan is a cavalry archer, able to make amazing shots with his bow, a Mongol/Eurasian style reflex composite bow. In addition, its smaller size, easier handling and manoeuvrability, provide the ability to shoot from horseback without sacrificing its symmetrical shape. He uses a Chinese Beile Dao sword and holds true to the style, armour and weapons, of a Sarmatian mounted archer—who were much like Parthians, Mongols and other mounted warriors from the area surrounding and including the Eurasian Steppe. After many injuries, he dies a heroic death at the hand of the Saxon King Cerdic in single combat at the Battle of Badon Hill.
The 2006 film Tristan & Isolde starred James Franco as Tristan, Thomas Sangster as the child Tristan and Sophia Myles as Isolde. The film was produced by Tony and Ridley Scott, written by Dean Georgaris and directed by Kevin Reynolds.
The 2008 TV show Merlin shows Tristan and his partner Isolde as smugglers in the season 4 finale "The Sword in the Stone" parts 1 & 2. They help Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights regain Camelot after Morgana takes over. In the end, Isolde is killed by Helios, Morgana's henchman, but nothing is said of what happens with Tristan.
The Kneehigh Theatre of Cornwall has staged Tristan and Iseult in 2013, and tours with this production in the United States in 2014.
See also[edit]
Auchinleck manuscript
Palamedes
List of Arthurian characters
Medieval hunting (Terminology)
Medieval French literature
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Megalithic Portal
2.Jump up ^ Craig Weatherhill, "Cornovia, Ancient sites of Cornwall & Scilly 4000 BC – 1000 AD" Halsgrove, Wellington, 2009 p.88
3.Jump up ^ Sigmund Eisner, “The Tristan Legend, A Study in Sources, Northwestern University Press, Chicago, 1969, p.37,52
4.Jump up ^ Sigmund Eisner, "The Tristan Legend, A Study in Sources, Northwestern University Press, Chicago, 1969, p.37
5.Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/find?q=Tristan%20and%20Isolde;s=tt
External links[edit]
Béroul: Le Roman de Tristan
Thomas d'Angleterre : Tristan
Tristan page from the Camelot Project
Transcription and page images of the Auchinleck manuscript
The libretto for Wagners opera, bilingual English and German
Bibliography of Modern Tristaniana in English
English verse translation of Gottfried von Strassburg Tristan: [1]


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
King Arthur and the Matter of Britain






















































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult





























































 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Categories: Knights of the Round Table
People from Cornwall
Medieval French romances








Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Brezhoneg
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
Esperanto
Français
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Simple English
Suomi
Türkçe
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 6 February 2014 at 17:16.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Iseult
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search




Tristan and Iseult as depicted by Herbert Draper (1863–1920).
Iseult (/ɪˈsuːlt/ or /ɪˈzuːlt/), alternatively Isolde (/ɪˈsoʊld(ə)/ or /ɪˈzoʊld(ə)/), Iseo, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Izolda, Esyllt, Isotta, is the name of several characters in the Arthurian story of Tristan and Iseult. The most prominent is Iseult of Ireland, wife of Mark of Cornwall and adulterous lover of Sir Tristan. Her mother, the Queen of Ireland, is also named Iseult. The third is Iseult of the White Hands, the daughter of Hoel of Brittany, sister of Sir Kahedin, and eventual wife of Tristan.


Contents  [hide]
1 Iseult of Ireland
2 Iseult of Brittany
3 Modern portrayals
4 References

Iseult of Ireland[edit]
The Irish princess, Iseult of Ireland (also La Belle Iseult, Iseult "the Fair"), is the daughter of King Anguish of Ireland and Queen Iseult the Elder. She is a main character in the Tristan poems of Béroul, Thomas of Britain, and Gottfried von Strassburg and in the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner.
Iseult is first seen as a young princess who heals Tristan from wounds he received fighting her uncle, Morholt. When his identity is revealed, Tristan flees back to his own land. Later, Tristan returns to Ireland to gain Iseult's hand in marriage for his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. She is betrothed to an evil steward who claims to have killed a dragon, but when Tristan proves he killed the dragon Iseult's parents agree to marry her to Mark. On the journey back to Cornwall, Iseult and Tristan accidentally drink a love potion prepared for her and Mark by Iseult the elder and guarded by Brangaine, Iseult's lady-in-waiting. The two fall hopelessly in love, and begin an affair that ends when Mark banishes Tristan from Cornwall.
In the verse tradition, the lovers do not meet again until Tristan is on his death bed (see below), but in the later Prose Tristan and works based upon it, Tristan returns from Brittany and they resume their affair. Mark is much less sympathetic in these versions, and the adulterers eventually flee from his wrath. Lancelot gives them refuge in his estate Joyous Garde, and they engage in many further adventures. Additional episodes are integrated into the earlier sections of the narrative as well, including several involving the great Saracen knight Palamedes' unrequited love for Iseult, and in some versions, the two even have children. In the prose versions, the lovers' end comes when Mark finds them as Tristan plays the harp for Iseult beneath a tree. The cruel king stabs his nephew in the back, and Tristan, at Iseult's request, fatally crushes his beloved in a tight embrace as his final act.
One of her rumored burial sites is Chapelizod in Dublin, Ireland.
Iseult of Brittany[edit]
After King Mark learns of the secret love affair between Tristan and Iseult, he banishes Tristan to Brittany, never to return to Cornwall. There, Tristan is placed in the care of Hoel of Brittany after receiving a wound. He meets and marries Hoel's daughter, Iseult Blanchmains (Iseult "of the White Hands"), because she shares the name of his former lover. They never consummate the marriage because of Tristan's love for Iseult of Ireland.
During one adventure in Brittany, Tristan suffers a poisoned wound that only Iseult of Ireland, the world's most skilled physician, can cure. He sends a ship for her, asking that its crew fly white sails on the return if Iseult is aboard, and black if she is not. Iseult agrees to go, and the ship races home, white sails high. However, Tristan is too weak to look out his window to see the signal, so he asks his wife to check for him. In a moment of jealousy, Iseult of the White Hands tells him the sails are black, and Tristan expires immediately of despair. When the Irish Iseult arrives to find her lover dead, grief overcomes her, and she passes away at his side. This death sequence does not appear in the Prose Tristan. In fact, while Iseult of the White Hands figures into some of the new episodes, she is never mentioned again after Tristan returns to Cornwall, although her brother Kahedin remains a prominent character.
The plot element of the fatal misunderstanding of the white and black sails is similar to—and might have been derived from—the story of Aegeus and Theseus in Greek mythology.
Modern portrayals[edit]
Iseult of Ireland (as Isolde) was played by Sophia Myles in the 2006 film adaptation, Tristan & Isolde.
Isolde is confused for Minerva in the 1960 film by Jean Cocteau, The Testament of Orpheus.
References[edit]
Ronan Coghlan The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends, New York, 1993.
Norris J. Lacy (editor) The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, 1996.


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
King Arthur and the Matter of Britain






















































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


























































 


Categories: Arthurian characters
Articles about multiple people
Mythological queens
Mythological princesses
Celtic mythology
Irish mythology
Welsh mythology
Breton mythology and folklore


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Català
Dansk
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
Français
Norsk bokmål
Português
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 7 February 2014 at 17:17.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan und Isolde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Tristan and Iseult (disambiguation).

Richard Wagner
Photo of Wagner

Operas[show]



CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svgCD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg
CD icon.svg




v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde, or Tristan and Isolda, or Tristran and Ysolt) is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting. Wagner referred to the work not as an opera, but called it "eine Handlung" (literally a drama. a plot or an action), which was the equivalent of the term used by the Spanish playwright Calderón for his dramas.
Wagner's composition of Tristan und Isolde was inspired by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (particularly The World as Will and Representation) and his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertory, Tristan was notable for Wagner's unprecedented use of chromaticism, tonality, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension.
The opera was inexorably influential among Western classical composers and provided direct inspiration to composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Karol Szymanowski, Alban Berg, Arnold Schönberg and Benjamin Britten. Other composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky formulated their styles in contrast to Wagner's musical legacy. Many see Tristan as the beginning of the move away from common practice harmony and tonality and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century.[1] Both Wagner's libretto style and music were also profoundly influential on the Symbolist poets of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Composition history 1.1 Premiere
2 Performance history
3 Significance in the development of romantic music
4 Roles
5 Instrumentation
6 Synopsis 6.1 Act 1
6.2 Act 2
6.3 Act 3
7 Influence of Schopenhauer on Tristan und Isolde
8 Reactions to Tristan und Isolde
9 Recordings
10 Concert extracts and arrangements
11 References
12 External links

Composition history[edit]
Wagner was forced to abandon his position as conductor of the Dresden Opera in 1849, as there was a warrant posted for his arrest for his participation in the unsuccessful May Revolution. He left his wife, Minna, in Dresden, and fled to Zürich. There, in 1852, 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. Though Wagner was working on his epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, he found himself intrigued by the legend of Tristan and Iseult.
The re-discovery of mediæval Germanic poetry, including Gottfried von Strassburg's version of Tristan, the Nibelungenlied and Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, left a large impact on the German Romantic movements during the mid-19th century. 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.[3]
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.[4]
This impact, together with his discovery of the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer in October 1854, led Wagner to find himself in a "serious mood created by Schopenhauer, which was trying to find ecstatic expression. It was some such mood that inspired the conception of a Tristan und Isolde."[5]
Wagner wrote of his preoccupations with Schopenhauer and Tristan in a letter to Franz Liszt (December 16, 1854):

Never in my life having enjoyed the true happiness of love I shall erect a memorial to this loveliest of all dreams in which, from the first to the last, love shall, for once, find utter repletion. I have devised in my mind a Tristan und Isolde, the simplest, yet most full-blooded musical conception imaginable, and with the ‘black flag’ that waves at the end I shall cover myself over – to die.[6]
By the end of 1854, Wagner had sketched out all three acts of an opera on the Tristan theme, based on Gottfried von Strassburg's telling of the story. While the earliest extant sketches date from December 1856, it was not until August 1857, that Wagner began devoting his attention entirely to the opera, putting aside the composition of Siegfried to do so. On 20 August he began the prose sketch for the opera, and the libretto (or poem, as Wagner preferred to call it) was completed by September 18.[7] Wagner, at this time, had moved into a cottage built in the grounds of Wesendonck's villa, where, during his work on Tristan und Isolde, he became passionately involved with Mathilde Wesendonck. Whether or not this relationship was platonic remains uncertain. One evening in September of that year, Wagner read the finished poem of "Tristan" to an audience including his wife, Minna, his current muse, Mathilde, and his future mistress (and later wife), Cosima von Bülow.
By October 1857, Wagner had begun the composition sketch of the first Act. During November, however, he set five of Mathilde's poems to music known today as the "Wesendonck Lieder". This was an unusual move by Wagner, who almost never set to music poetic texts other than his own. Wagner described two of the songs - "Im Treibhaus" and "Träume" - as "Studies for Tristan und Isolde": "Träume" uses a motif that forms the love duet in Act 2 of "Tristan", while "Im Treibhaus" introduces a theme that later became the Prelude to Act 3.[8] But Wagner resolved to write Tristan only after he had secured a publishing deal with the Leipzig-based firm Breitkopf & Härtel, in January 1858. From this point on, Wagner finished each act and sent it off for engraving before he started on the next - a remarkable feat given the unprecedented length and complexity of the score.[9]
In April 1858 Wagner's wife Minna intercepted a note from Wagner to Mathilde and, despite Wagner's protests that she was putting a "vulgar interpretation" on the note, she accused first Wagner and then Mathilde of unfaithfulness.[10] After enduring much misery, Wagner persuaded Minna, who had a heart condition, to rest at a spa while Otto Wesendonck took Mathilde to Italy. It was during the absence of the two women that Wagner began the composition sketch of the second Act of Tristan. However, Minna's return in July 1858 did not clear the air, and on August 17, Wagner was forced to leave both Minna and Mathilde and move to Venice.
Wagner would later describe his last days in Zurich as "a veritable Hell". Minna wrote to Mathilde before departing for Dresden:

I must tell you with a bleeding heart that you have succeeded in separating my husband from me after nearly twenty-two years of marriage. May this noble deed contribute to your peace of mind, to your happiness.[11]
Wagner finished the second Act of Tristan during his eight-month exile in Venice, where he lived in the Palazzo Giustinian. In March 1859, fearing extradition to Saxony, where he was still considered a fugitive, Wagner moved to Lucerne where he composed the last Act, completing it in August 1859.
Premiere[edit]



 Ludwig and Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld as Tristan and Isolde
Tristan und Isolde proved to be a difficult opera to stage. Paris, the centre of the operatic world in the middle of the 19th century, was an obvious choice. However, after a disastrous staging of Tannhäuser at the Paris Opéra, Wagner offered the work to the Karlsruhe opera in 1861. When he visited the Vienna Court Opera to rehearse possible singers for this production, the management at Vienna suggested staging the opera there. Originally, the tenor Alois Ander was employed to sing the part of Tristan, but later proved incapable of learning the role. Despite over 70 rehearsals between 1862 and 1864, Tristan und Isolde was unable to be staged in Vienna, winning the opera a reputation as unperformable.
It was only after Ludwig II of Bavaria became a sponsor of Wagner (he granted the composer a generous stipend and in other ways supported Wagner's artistic endeavours) that enough resources could be found to mount the premiere of Tristan und Isolde. Hans von Bülow was chosen to conduct the production at the Munich Opera, despite the fact that Wagner was having an affair with his wife, Cosima von Bülow. Even then, the planned premiere on 15 May 1865 had to be postponed because the Isolde, Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld, had gone hoarse. The work finally premiered on 10 June 1865. Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld sang the role of Tristan and Malvina, his wife, sang Isolde.
On 21 July 1865, having sung the role only four times, Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld died suddenly—prompting speculation that the exertion involved in singing the part of Tristan had killed him. (The stress of performing Tristan has also "claimed" the lives of conductors Felix Mottl in 1911 and Joseph Keilberth in 1968. Both men died after collapsing while conducting the second Act of the opera.) Malvina sank into a deep depression over her husband's death, and never sang again, although she lived for another 38 years.
For some years thereafter, the only performers of the roles were another husband-wife team, Heinrich Vogl and Therese Vogl.[12]
Performance history[edit]
The next production of Tristan was in Weimar in 1874, and Wagner himself supervised another production of Tristan, this time in Berlin, in March 1876, but the opera was only given in his own theatre at the Bayreuth Festival, after Wagner's death. Cosima Wagner, his widow, oversaw the first Bayreuth production of Tristan in 1886, a production that was widely acclaimed.
The first production outside of Germany was given at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1882; the Tristan was Hermann Winkelmann, later that year to create Parsifal at Bayreuth. It was conducted by Hans Richter, who also conducted the first Covent Garden production two years later. Winkelmann was also the first Vienna Tristan, in 1883. The first American performance was at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1886 under the baton of Anton Seidl. Perhaps the most celebrated was Herbert von Karajan's live 1952 performance from Bayreuth, with Martha Mödl and Ramón Vinay in the title roles.
Significance in the development of romantic music[edit]
The score of Tristan und Isolde has often been cited as a landmark in the development of Western music.[13] Wagner uses throughout Tristan a remarkable range of orchestral colour, harmony and polyphony and does so with a freedom rarely found in his earlier operas. The very first chord in the piece, the Tristan chord, is of great significance in the move away from traditional tonal harmony as it resolves to another dissonant chord:[14]
Wagner Tristan opening.png



Sound sample







Recording of these bars

Problems playing this file? See media help.

The opera is noted for its numerous expansions of harmonic practice; for instance, one significant innovation is the frequent use of two consecutive chords containing tritones (diminished fifth or augmented fourth) neither of which is a diminished seventh chord (F-B, bar 2; E-A-sharp, bar 3). Tristan und Isolde is also notable for its use of harmonic suspension—a device used by a composer to create musical tension by exposing the listener to a series of prolonged unfinished cadences, thereby inspiring a desire and expectation on the part of the listener for musical resolution.[15] While suspension is a common compositional device (in use since before the Renaissance), Wagner was one of the first composers to employ harmonic suspension over the course of an entire work. The cadences first introduced in the Prelude are not resolved until the finale of Act 3, and, on a number of occasions throughout the opera, Wagner primes the audience for a musical climax with a series of chords building in tension—only to deliberately defer the anticipated resolution. One particular example of this technique occurs at the end of the love duet in Act 2 ("Wie sie fassen, wie sie lassen...") where Tristan and Isolde gradually build up to a musical climax, only to have the expected resolution destroyed by the dissonant interruption of Kurwenal ("Rette Dich, Tristan!"). The differed resolutions are frequently interpreted as symbolising both physical sexual release and spiritual release via suicide.The long-awaited completion of this cadence series arrives only in the final Liebestod (""Love-Death""), during which the musical resolution (at "In des Welt-Atems wehendem All") coincides with the moment of Isolde's death.[16]
The tonality of Tristan was to prove immensely influential in western Classical music. Wagner's use of musical colour also influenced the development of film music. Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Vertigo, is heavily reminiscent of the Liebestod, most evident concerning the resurrection scene. The Liebestod was incorporated in Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Surrealist film Un Chien Andalou. Not all composers, however, reacted favourably: Claude Debussy's piano piece "Golliwog's Cakewalk" mockingly quotes the opening of the opera in a distorted form, instructing the passage to be played 'avec une grande emotion'. However, Debussy was highly influenced by Wagner and was particularly fond of "Tristan." Frequent references to "Tristan" tonality mark Debussy's early compositions.
Roles[edit]

Role
Voice type
Premiere cast, 10 June 1865
 (Conductor: Hans von Bülow)
Tristan, a Breton nobleman, adopted heir of Marke tenor Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Isolde, an Irish princess betrothed to Marke soprano Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Brangäne, Isolde's maid soprano[17] Anna Deinet
Kurwenal, Tristan's servant baritone Anton Mitterwurzer
Marke, King of Cornwall bass Ludwig Zottmayer
Melot, a courtier, Tristan's friend tenor (or baritone)[18] Karl Samuel Heinrich
A shepherd tenor Karl Simons
A steersman baritone Peter Hartmann
A young sailor tenor 
Sailors, knights, and esquires
Instrumentation[edit]
Tristan und Isolde is scored for the following instruments:
3 flutes (one doubles piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons
4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass tuba
timpani, cymbals, triangle, tambourine
harp
1st and 2nd violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses (Die Streichinstrumente sind vorzüglich gut und stark zu besetzen.)
on-stage
cor anglais, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones
Synopsis[edit]



Isolde by Aubrey Beardsley, 1895 illustration for The Studio magazine of the tragic opera heroine drinking the love potion
Act 1[edit]
Isolde, promised to King Marke in marriage, and her handmaid, Brangäne, are quartered aboard Tristan's ship being transported to the king's lands in Cornwall. The opera opens with the voice of a young sailor singing of a "wild Irish maid", ("West-wärts schweift der Blick") which Isolde construes to be a mocking reference to herself. In a furious outburst, she wishes the seas to rise up and sink the ship, killing herself and all on board ("Erwache mir wieder, kühne Gewalt"). Her scorn and rage are directed particularly at Tristan, the knight responsible for taking her to Marke, and Isolde sends Brangäne to command Tristan to appear before her ("Befehlen liess' dem Eigenholde"). Tristan, however, refuses Brangäne's request, claiming that his place is at the helm. His henchman, Kurwenal, answers more brusquely, saying that Isolde is in no position to command Tristan and reminds Brangäne that Isolde's previous fiancé, Morold, was killed by Tristan ("Herr Morold zog zu Meere her.")
Brangäne returns to Isolde to relate these events, and Isolde, in what is termed the "narrative and curse", sadly tells her of how, following the death of Morold, she happened upon a stranger who called himself Tantris. Tantris was found mortally wounded in a barge ("von einem Kahn, der klein und arm"), Isolde used her healing powers to restore him to health. She discovered during Tantris' recovery, however, that he was actually Tristan, the murderer of her fiancé. Isolde attempted to kill the man with his own sword as he lay helpless before her. However, Tristan looked not at the sword that would kill him or the hand that wielded the sword, but into her eyes ("Er sah' mir in die Augen"). His action pierced her heart and she was unable to slay him. Tristan was allowed to leave with the promise never to come back, but he later returned with the intention of marrying Isolde to his uncle, King Marke. Isolde, furious at Tristan's betrayal, insists that he drink atonement to her, and from her medicine-chest produces a vial to make the drink. Brangäne is shocked to see that it is a lethal poison.
Kurwenal appears in the women's quarters ("Auf auf! Ihr Frauen!") and announces that the voyage is coming to an end, Isolde warns Kurwenal that she will not appear before the King if Tristan does not come before her as she had previously ordered and drink atonement to her. When Tristan arrives, Isolde reproaches him about his conduct and tells him that he owes her his life and how his actions have undermined her honour, since she blessed Morold's weapons before battle and therefore she swore revenge. Tristan first offers his sword but Isolde refuses, they must drink atonement. Brangäne brings in the potion that will seal their pardon, Tristan knows that it may kill him, since he knows Isolde's magic powers ("Wohl kenn' ich Irland's Königin"). The journey is almost at its end, Tristan drinks and Isolde takes half the potion for herself. The potion seems to work but it does not bring death but relentless love ("Tristan! Isolde!"). Kurwenal, who announces the imminent arrival on board of King Marke, interrupts their rapture. Isolde asks Brangäne which potion she prepared and Brangäne replies, as the sailors hail the arrival of King Marke, that it was not poison, but rather a love potion.



Tristan und Isolde by Ferdinand Leeke
Act 2[edit]
King Marke leads a hunting party out into the night, leaving the castle empty save for Isolde and Brangäne, who stand beside a burning brazier. Isolde, listening to the hunting horns, believes several times that the hunting party is far enough away to warrant the extinguishing of the brazier—the prearranged signal for Tristan to join her ("Nicht Hörnerschall tönt so hold"). Brangäne warns Isolde that Melot, one of King Marke's knights, has seen the amorous looks exchanged between Tristan and Isolde and suspects their passion ("Ein Einz'ger war's, ich achtet' es wohl"). Isolde, however, believes Melot to be Tristan's most loyal friend, and, in a frenzy of desire, extinguishes the flames. Brangäne retires to the ramparts to keep watch as Tristan arrives.
The lovers, at last alone and freed from the constraints of courtly life, declare their passion for each other. Tristan decries the realm of daylight which is false, unreal, and keeps them apart. It is only in night, he claims, that they can truly be together and only in the long night of death can they be eternally united ("O sink' hernieder, Nacht der Liebe"). During their long tryst, Brangäne calls a warning several times that the night is ending ("Einsam wachend in der Nacht"), but her cries fall upon deaf ears. The day breaks in on the lovers as Melot leads King Marke and his men to find Tristan and Isolde in each other's arms. Marke is heart-broken, not only because of his nephew's betrayal but also because Melot chose to betray his friend Tristan to Marke and because of Isolde's betrayal as well ("Mir - dies? Dies, Tristan - mir?").
When questioned, Tristan says he cannot answer to the King the reason of his betrayal since he would not understand, he turns to Isolde, who agrees to follow him again into the realm of night. Tristan denounces that Melot has fallen in love with Isolde too. Melot and Tristan fight, but, at the crucial moment, Tristan throws his sword aside and allows Melot to severely wound him.
Act 3[edit]
Kurwenal has brought Tristan home to his castle at Kareol in Brittany. A shepherd pipes a mournful tune and asks if Tristan is awake. Kurwenal replies that only Isolde's arrival can save Tristan, and the shepherd offers to keep watch and claims that he will pipe a joyful tune to mark the arrival of any ship. Tristan awakes ("Die alte Weise - was weckt sie mich?") and laments his fate — to be, once again, in the false realm of daylight, once more driven by unceasing unquenchable yearning ("Wo ich erwacht' Weilt ich nicht"). Tristan's sorrow ends when Kurwenal tells him that Isolde is on her way. Tristan, overjoyed, asks if her ship is in sight, but only a sorrowful tune from the shepherd's pipe is heard.
Tristan relapses and recalls that the shepherd's mournful tune is the same as was played when he was told of the deaths of his father and mother ("Muss ich dich so versteh'n, du alte, ernst Weise"). He rails once again against his desires and against the fateful love-potion ("verflucht sei, furchtbarer Trank!") until, exhausted, he collapses in delirium. After his collapse, the shepherd is heard piping the arrival of Isolde's ship, and, as Kurwenal rushes to meet her, Tristan tears the bandages from his wounds in his excitement ("Hahei! Mein Blut, lustig nun fliesse!"). As Isolde arrives at his side, Tristan dies with her name on his lips.
Isolde collapses beside her deceased lover just as the appearance of another ship is announced. Kurwenal spies Melot, Marke and Brangäne arriving ("Tod und Hölle! Alles zur Hand!"), he believes they have come to kill Tristan and, in an attempt to avenge him, furiously attacks Melot. Marke tries to stop the fight to no avail. Both Melot and Kurwenal are killed in the fight. Marke and Brangäne finally reach Tristan and Isolde. Marke, grieving over the body of his "truest friend" ("Tot denn alles!"), explains that Brangäne revealed the secret of the love-potion and has come not to part the lovers, but to unite them ("Warum Isolde, warum mir das?"). Isolde appears to wake at this and in a final aria describing her vision of Tristan risen again (the "Liebestod", "love death"), dies ("Mild und leise wie er lächelt").
Influence of Schopenhauer on Tristan und Isolde[edit]
Wagner's friend Georg Herwegh introduced him in late 1854 to the work of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.[19] The composer was immediately struck by the philosophical ideas to be found in "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung" (The World as Will and Representation), and the similarities between the two men's world-views became clear.[20]
Man, according to Schopenhauer, is driven by continued, unachievable desires, and the gulf between our desires and the possibility of achieving them leads to misery while the world is a representation of an unknowable reality. Our representation of the world is Phenomenon, while the unknowable reality is Noumenon: concepts originally posited by Kant. Schopenhauer's influence on Tristan und Isolde is most evident in the second and third acts. The second act, in which the lovers meet, and the third act, during which Tristan longs for release from the passions that torment him, have often proved puzzling to opera-goers unfamiliar with Schopenhauer's work.
Wagner uses the metaphor of day and night in the second act to designate the realms inhabited by Tristan and Isolde.[21] The world of Day is one in which the lovers are bound by the dictates of King Marke's court and in which the lovers must smother their mutual love and pretend as if they do not care for each other: it is a realm of falsehood and unreality. Under the dictates of the realm of Day, Tristan was forced to remove Isolde from Ireland and to marry her to his Uncle Marke—actions against Tristan's secret desires. The realm of Night, in contrast, is the representation of intrinsic reality, in which the lovers can be together and their desires can be openly expressed and reach fulfilment: it is the realm of oneness, truth and reality and can only be achieved fully upon the deaths of the lovers. The realm of Night, therefore, becomes also the realm of death: the only world in which Tristan and Isolde can be as one forever, and it is this realm that Tristan speaks of at the end of Act Two ("Dem Land das Tristan meint, der Sonne Licht nicht scheint").[22] In Act Three, Tristan rages against the daylight and frequently cries out for release from his desires (Sehnen). In this way, Wagner implicitly equates the realm of Day with Schopenhauer's concept of Phenomenon and the realm of Night with Schopenhauer's concept of Noumenon.[23] While none of this is explicitly stated in the libretto, Tristan's comments on Day and Night in Acts 2 and 3, as well as musical allusions to "Tristan" in The Mastersingers of Nürnberg and Parsifal make it very clear that this was, in fact, Wagner's intention.[citation needed]
The world-view of Schopenhauer dictates that the only way for man to achieve inner peace is to renounce his desires: a theme that Wagner explored fully in his last opera, Parsifal. In fact Wagner even considered having the character of Parsifal meet Tristan during his sufferings in Act 3, but later rejected the idea.[24]
Reactions to Tristan und Isolde[edit]
Although Tristan und Isolde is now widely performed in major opera houses around the world, critical opinion of the opera was initially unfavourable. The 5 July 1865 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reported:
Not to mince words, it is the glorification of sensual pleasure, tricked out with every titillating device, it is unremitting materialism, according to which human beings have no higher destiny than, after living the life of turtle doves, ‘to vanish in sweet odours, like a breath'. In the service of this end, music has been enslaved to the word; the most ideal of the Muses has been made to grind the colours for indecent paintings... (Wagner) makes sensuality itself the true subject of his drama.... We think that the stage presentation of the poem Tristan und Isolde amounts to an act of indecency. Wagner does not show us the life of heroes of Nordic sagas which would edify and strengthen the spirit of his German audiences. What he does present is the ruination of the life of heroes through sensuality.[25]
Eduard Hanslick's reaction in 1868 to the Prelude to Tristan was that it "reminds one of the old Italian painting of a martyr whose intestines are slowly unwound from his body on a reel." The first performance in London's Drury Lane Theatre drew the following response from The Era in 1882:
We cannot refrain from making a protest against the worship of animal passion which is so striking a feature in the late works of Wagner. We grant there is nothing so repulsive in Tristan as in Die Walküre, but the system is the same. The passion is unholy in itself and its representation is impure, and for those reasons we rejoice in believing that such works will not become popular. If they did we are certain their tendency would be mischievous, and there is, therefore, some cause for congratulation in the fact that Wagner's music, in spite of all its wondrous skill and power, repels a greater number than it fascinates.[26]
Mark Twain, on a visit to Germany, heard Tristan at Bayreuth and commented: "I know of some, and have heard of many, who could not sleep after it, but cried the night away. I feel strongly out of place here. Sometimes I feel like the one sane person in the community of the mad."[27]
Clara Schumann wrote that Tristan und Isolde was "the most repugnant thing I have ever seen or heard in all my life".[28]
With the passage of time, Tristan became more favourably regarded. In an interview shortly before his death, Giuseppe Verdi said that he "stood in wonder and terror" before Wagner's Tristan.[29] In The Perfect Wagnerite, writer and satirist George Bernard Shaw writes that Tristan was "an astonishingly intense and faithful translation into music of the emotions which accompany the union of a pair of lovers" and described it as "a poem of destruction and death". Richard Strauss, initially dismissive of Tristan, claimed that Wagner's music "would kill a cat and would turn rocks into scrambled eggs from fear of [its] hideous discords." Later, however, Strauss became part of the Bayreuth coterie and writing to Cosima Wagner in 1892 declared: "I have conducted my first Tristan. It was the most wonderful day of my life." He later wrote that "Tristan und Isolde marked the end of all romanticism. Here the yearning of the entire 19th century is gathered in one focal point."[citation needed]
The conductor Bruno Walter heard his first Tristan und Isolde in 1889 as a student:
So there I sat in the topmost gallery of the Berlin Opera House, and from the first sound of the cellos my heart contracted spasmodically... Never before has my soul been deluged with such floods of sound and passion, never had my heart been consumed by such yearning and sublime bliss... A new epoch had begun: Wagner was my god, and I wanted to become his prophet.
Arnold Schoenberg referred to Wagner's technique of shifting chords in Tristan as "phenomena of incredible adaptability and nonindependence roaming, homeless, among the spheres of keys; spies reconnoitering weaknesses; to exploit them in order to create confusion, deserters for whom surrender of their own personality is an end in itself".[citation needed]
Friedrich Nietzsche, who in his younger years was one of Wagner's staunchest allies, wrote that, for him, "Tristan and Isolde is the real opus metaphysicum of all art. . . insatiable and sweet craving for the secrets of night and death. . . it is overpowering in its simple grandeur". In a letter to his friend Erwin Rohde in October 1868, Nietzsche described his reaction to Tristan's Prelude: "I simply cannot bring myself to remain critically aloof from this music; every nerve in me is atwitch, and it has been a long time since I had such a lasting sense of ecstasy as with this overture". Even after his break with Wagner, Nietzsche continued to consider Tristan a masterpiece: "Even now I am still in search of a work which exercises such a dangerous fascination, such a spine-tingling and blissful infinity as Tristan — I have sought in vain, in every art."[30]
Marcel Proust, greatly influenced by Wagner, refers to Tristan und Isolde and its "inexhaustible repetitions" throughout his novel In Search of Lost Time. He describes the Prelude theme as "linked to the future, to the reality of the human soul, of which it was one of the most special and distinctive ornaments."[31][32]
Recordings[edit]
Main article: Tristan und Isolde discography
Tristan und Isolde has a long recorded history and most of the major Wagner conductors since the end of the First World War have had their interpretations captured on disc. The limitations of recording technology meant that until the 1930s it was difficult to record the entire opera, however recordings of excerpts or single acts exist going back to 1901, when excerpts of Tristan were captured on the Mapleson Cylinders recorded during performances at the Metropolitan opera.[33]
In the years before World War II, Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior were considered to be the prime interpreters of the lead roles, and mono recordings exist of this pair in a number of live performances led by conductors such as Thomas Beecham, Fritz Reiner, Artur Bodanzky and Erich Leinsdorf. Flagstad recorded the part commercially only near the end of her career in 1952, under Wilhelm Furtwängler for EMI, producing a set which is considered a classic recording.[34]
Following the war, another classic recording is the 1952 performance at the Bayreuth Festival with Martha Mödl and Ramon Vinay under Herbert von Karajan, which is noted for its strong, vivid characterizations and is now available as a live recording. In the 1960s, the soprano Birgit Nilsson was considered the major Isolde interpreter, and she was often partnered with the Tristan of Wolfgang Windgassen. Their performance at Bayreuth in 1966 under the baton of Karl Böhm was captured by Deutsche Grammophon—a performance often hailed as one of the best Tristan recordings.[35]
Karajan did not record the opera officially until 1971-72. Karajan's selection of a lighter soprano voice (Helga Dernesch) as Isolde, paired with an extremely intense Jon Vickers and the unusual balance between orchestra and singers favoured by Karajan was controversial. In the 1980s recordings by conductors such as Carlos Kleiber, Reginald Goodall and Leonard Bernstein were mostly considered to be important for the interpretation of the conductor, rather than that of the lead performers. The set by Kleiber is notable as Isolde was sung by the famous Mozartian soprano Margaret Price, who never sang the role of Isolde on stage. The same is true for Plácido Domingo, who sang the role of Tristan to critical acclaim in the 2005 EMI release under the baton of Antonio Pappano despite never having sung the role on stage. In the last ten years acclaimed sets include a studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic by Daniel Barenboim and a live set from the Vienna Staatsoper led by Christian Thielemann.
There are several DVD productions of the opera including Götz Friedrich's production at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin featuring the seasoned Wagnerians René Kollo and Dame Gwyneth Jones in the title roles. Deutsche Grammophon released a DVD of a Metropolitan Opera performance featuring Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner, conducted by James Levine, in a production staged by Dieter Dorn[36] and a DVD of the 1993 Bayreuth festival production with conductor Daniel Barenboim and featuring Waltraud Meier as Isolde and Siegfried Jerusalem as Tristan, staged by Heiner Mueller. More recently Barenboim's production at La Scala, Milan in the production by Patrice Chéreau has also been issued on DVD. There is also a technically flawed, but historically important video recording with Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers from a 1973 live performance at the Théâtre antique d'Orange, conducted by Karl Böhm.
In a world first, the British opera house Glyndebourne made a full digital video download of the opera available for purchase online in 2009. The performance stars Robert Gambill as Tristan, Nina Stemme as Isolde, Katarina Karnéus as Brangäne, Bo Skovhus as Kurwenal, René Pape as King Marke, and Stephen Gadd as Melot, with Jiří Bělohlávek as the conductor, and was recorded on 1 and 6 August 2007.[37]
Concert extracts and arrangements[edit]
The Prelude and Liebestod is a concert version of the overture and Isolde's Act 3 aria, "Mild und leise". The arrangement was by Wagner himself, and it was first performed in 1862, several years before the premiere of the complete opera in 1865. The Liebestod can be performed either in a purely orchestral version, or with a soprano singing Isolde's vision of Tristan resurrected.
However, the very first time the Prelude and its opening "Tristan chord" was heard publicly was on 12 March 1859, when it was performed at the Sophieninselsaal in Prague, in a charity concert in aid of poor medical students, conducted by Hans von Bülow, who provided his own concert ending for the occasion. Wagner had authorised such an ending, but did not like what Bülow had done with it and later wrote his own.[38][39]
Wagner called the Prelude the "Liebestod" (Love-death) while Isolde's final aria "Mild und leise" he called the "Verklärung" (Transfiguration). In 1867 his father-in-law Franz Liszt made a piano transcription of "Mild und leise", which he called Liebestod (S.447); he prefaced his score with a four-bar motto from the Love Duet from Act II, which in the opera is sung to the words "sehnend verlangter Liebestod". Liszt's transcription became well known throughout Europe well before Wagner's opera reached most places, and it is Liszt's title for the final scene that persists. The transcription was revised in 1875.[40]
Another composer to rework material from Tristan was Emmanuel Chabrier in his humorous Souvenirs de Munich - quadrilles on themes from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.[41] These were augmented and orchestrated by Markus Lehmann in 1988.[42] Leopold Stokowski made a series of purely orchestral "Symphonic Syntheses" of Wagner's operas during his time as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, bringing to concert audiences of the 1920s and '30s music they might not otherwise have heard. He made a 'long version' of music from Tristan and Isolde which consisted mainly of the Act 1 Prelude, the Liebesnacht from Act 2 and the Liebestod from Act 3. A shorter version of music from the 2nd and 3rd Acts was called "Love Music from Tristan and Isolde". He made recordings of both versions on 78s and again on LP.
Other works based on the opera include:
1.Clément Doucet's piano rags Isoldina and Wagneria.
2.Hans Werner Henze's Tristan: Préludes für Klavier, Tonbänder un Orchester (1973);
3.a 'symphonic compilation' Tristan und Isolde: an orchestral passion (1994) by Henk de Vlieger;
4.a six-minute paraphrase by Enjott Schnieder, Der Minuten-Tristan (1996), originally written for 12 pianists at six pianos;
5.the Nachtstück (1980–83) for viola and chamber orchestra by Volker David Kirchner [43]
6.David Bowerman's 'Isolde Fantasy' for violin and piano
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Millington 1992, p. 301.
2.Jump up ^ The Richard Wagner Cult, Degeneration (1892), translated by G.l. Mosse, New York, 1968, pp. 171-213.
3.Jump up ^ Classen 2003.
4.Jump up ^ Wagner 1911, vol. 2, p. 617. View1 at Google Books.
5.Jump up ^ Wagner 1911, vol. 2, p. 617. View2 at Google Books.
6.Jump up ^ Gutman 1990, p. 163.
7.Jump up ^ Millington 1992, p. 300.
8.Jump up ^ Millington 1992, p. 318.
9.Jump up ^ Deathridge 2008, "Public and Private Life", pp. 117-32.
10.Jump up ^ Gutman 1990, pp. 180-182.
11.Jump up ^ Gutman 1990, p. 182.
12.Jump up ^ Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., Vol. IX, p. 37
13.Jump up ^ Rose, John Luke. "A Landmark in Musical History" in Wagner 1981, p. 15.
14.Jump up ^ Magee 2001, p. 208.
15.Jump up ^ Magee 1983, p. 356.
16.Jump up ^ Millington 1992, p. 252.
17.Jump up ^ The score calls for a soprano, and Brangäne was sung by one in the original production; however, the role has been generally sung by a mezzo-soprano (Jander, Owen; Steane, J. B.; Forbes, Elizabeth. "Mezzo-soprano" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 372). Almost all available recordings feature a mezzo-soprano as Brangäne (see Tristan und Isolde discography).
18.Jump up ^ The score calls for a tenor in the role of Melot; however, the part is frequently assigned to a baritone.[citation needed]
19.Jump up ^ Gregor-Dellin 1983, p. 256.
20.Jump up ^ Magee 2001, p. 128.
21.Jump up ^ Magee 2001, pp. 217-221.
22.Jump up ^ Magee 2001, p. 221.
23.Jump up ^ Magee 2001, p. 218.
24.Jump up ^ Gregor-Dellin 1983, p. 258.
25.Jump up ^ Barth 1975, p. 208.
26.Jump up ^ Mander R. & Mitchenson J. (W.H.Allen, London, 1977), The Wagner Companion, p. 120.
27.Jump up ^ Twain, Mark (6 December 1891). "Mark Twain at Bayreuth". Chicago Daily Tribune. See "At the Shrine of St. Wagner". twainquotes.com. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
28.Jump up ^ Brauenstein, Joseph (1971). Notes for the LP "Clara Schumann. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7 ". Michael Ponti, piano; Symphonisches Orchester Berlin; Völker Schmidt-Gertenbach, conductor. Vox STGBY649. OCLC 34837519 and 3496053.
29.Jump up ^ Millington 1992, p. 382.
30.Jump up ^ Nietzsche 1979, p. 61.
31.Jump up ^ Proust, In Search of Lost Time (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7178/7178-h/7178-h.htm)
32.Jump up ^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. Proust as Musician. Oxford. http://books.google.com/books?id=tWoHGRw8No0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
33.Jump up ^ Brown 2000.[page needed]
34.Jump up ^ Holloway 1982, p. 367.
35.Jump up ^ Blyth 1992, p. 65.
36.Jump up ^ "On-line catalogue entry Tristan und Isolde DVD conducted by James Levine". Deutsche Grammophon. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
37.Jump up ^ "Glyndebourne – Tristan und Isolde – Download". glyndebourne.com. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
38.Jump up ^ Kenneth Birkin, Hans von Bülow: A Life for Music, p. 121
39.Jump up ^ Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Program Notes
40.Jump up ^ Charles Suttoni, Introduction, Franz Liszt: Complete Piano Transcriptions from Wagner's Operas, Dover Publications
41.Jump up ^ Payne, Anthony (12 February 1994). "Greatest of late starters: Anthony Payne feasts on Chabrier". The Independent. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
42.Jump up ^ Scott Aktuell.Jan/Feb 2012, p.11, accessed 3.3.2012
43.Jump up ^ Scott Aktuell.Jan/Feb 2012, pp. 10-12, accessed 3.3.2012
Sources
Barth Herbert; Mack, Dietrich; Voss Egon, editors (1975). Wagner: A Documentary Study. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-27399-9.
Blyth, Alan (1992). Opera on CD: The Essential Guide to the Best CD Recordings of 100 Operas London: Kyle Cathie. ISBN 978-1-85626-056-5.
Borchmeyer, Dieter (2003). Drama and the World of Richard Wagner. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11497-2.
Chafe, Eric (2005). The Tragic and the Ecstatic: The Musical Revolution of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517647-6.
Classen, Albrecht (20 May 2003). "Tristan and Isolde (also known as Tristan and Iseult, Tristan and Isolt, Tristram)". The Literary Encyclopedia. ISSN 1747-678X.
Deathridge, John (2008), "Wagner Beyond Good and Evil". Berkeley: California Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25453-4.
Fabinger, Carollina (2009). Tristano e Isotta. Una piccola storia sul destino e sull'amore eterno (illustrated version, in Italian). Milan: Nuages. ISBN 978-88-86178-90-7.
Gregor-Dellin, Martin (1983). Richard Wagner: His Life, His Work, His Century. London: William Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-216669-0.
Gutman, Robert W. (1990). Wagner - The Man, His Mind and His Music. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-677615-8.
Holloway, Robin (1982). "Tristan und Isolde" in Blyth, Alan, editor. Opera on Record, pp. 363–375. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-090910-9.
Magee, Bryan (1983). The Philosophy of Schopenhauer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-824673-2.
Magee, Bryan (2001). The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy. New York: Metropolitan Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-6788-0.
May, Thomas (2004). Decoding Wagner. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-097-4.
Millington, Barry, editor (1992). The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-28274-8.
Nietzsche, Friedrich; Hollingdale, Roger, translator (1979). Ecce Homo. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044515-2.
Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
Scruton, Roger (2004). Death-Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516691-4.
Wagner, Richard; Mottl, Felix, editor (1911 or slightly later). Tristan und Isolde (full score). Leipzig: C. F. Peters. Reprint by Dover (1973): ISBN 978-0-486-22915-7.
Wagner, Richard (1911). My Life (2 volumes; authorized English translation from German). New York: Dodd, Mead. Volume 1 and 2 at Google Books.
Wagner, Richard (1981). Tristan and Isolde (English National Opera Guide). London: J. Calder. ISBN 978-0-7145-3849-5. (Includes libretto, English translation by Andrew Porter, introduction by John Luke Rose, and commentaries.)
External links[edit]
Bilingual side by side German English Libretto Also available in Italian
Wagner Operas. A comprehensive website featuring photographs of productions, recordings, librettos, and sound files.
Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde. A gallery of historic postcards with motifs from Richard Wagner's operas.
Recordings of Tristan and Isolde rated. Recordings reviewed by Geoffrey Riggs.
Discography of Tristan und Isolde. List of recordings and videos from 1901–2004 by Jonathan Brown.
Wagner's Tristan and Isolde BBC / Metropolitan Opera synopsis
Tristan und Isolde resource site Comprehensive website containing source material and musical motives
Seattle Opera Performance Seattle Opera link


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Wagner





























































































Wikipedia book
Category
WikiProject




[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult



























































 


Categories: 1865 operas
German-language operas
Music dramas
Operas by Richard Wagner
Libretti by Richard Wagner
Operas
Operas set in France
Operas set in the British Isles
Arthurian operas









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Български
བོད་ཡིག
Bosanski
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Français
Galego
한국어
Հայերեն
Hrvatski
Italiano
Magyar
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Simple English
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Suomi
Svenska
ไทย
Türkçe
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 7 February 2014 at 01:26.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan & Isolde (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Tristan and Isolde (film))
Jump to: navigation, search


Tristan & Isolde
Tristan1.jpg
Directed by
Kevin Reynolds
Produced by
Ridley Scott
Tony Scott
 Lisa Ellzey
Giannina Facio
 Moshe Diamant
Elie Samaha
Written by
Dean Georgaris
Starring
James Franco
Sophia Myles
Rufus Sewell
Music by
Anne Dudley
Cinematography
Arthur Reinhart
Editing by
Peter Boyle
Studio
Scott Free Productions
Franchise Pictures
Distributed by
20th Century Fox
Release dates
January 13, 2006
Running time
125 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
 Germany
 Czech Republic
Language
English
Box office
$28,047,963
Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 epic romantic drama film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Isolde. It was produced by Ridley Scott (who had been working on an adaptation since the mid-seventies) and Tony Scott, directed by Kevin Reynolds and stars James Franco and Sophia Myles, with an original music score composed by Anne Dudley. This was Franchise Pictures' last film before bankruptcy.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Box office
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
The film is set in Great Britain and Ireland, in the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. Lord Marke of Cornwall (Rufus Sewell) plans to unify the peoples of Britain – Celts, Angles, Saxons and Jutes – under himself as high king to resist Irish domination.
Most lords agree to this, as Marke is highly regarded and respected as a fair and courageous leader. The Irish king Donnchadh (David O'Hara) discovers this and sends troops to attack a Jutish castle where a treaty between the British tribes is being discussed. The raid claims the lives of the castle's lord and his wife, and Marke saves their son Tristan at the cost of losing a hand.
Feeling compassion for the young boy whose father loyally supported him, Marke welcomes Tristan (James Franco) into his home and regards him as a son. Tristan grows to be a fierce, courageous warrior whose loyalty to Marke is not that of a knight to his lord, but rather a son to his father.
Tristan and other Cornish warriors launch an attack on an Irish slave caravan: in the battle, he finds himself fighting Morholt, Donnchadh's champion and leader of his army, to whom Princess Isolde (Sophia Myles) has been promised in marriage. Though he kills Morholt and Donnchadh's forces are overrun, Tristan is severely wounded in the fight and believed dead, though he is in fact only suffering the effects of Morholt's poisoned sword.
Tristan's body is put out to sea on a funeral boat which eventually washes up along the shores of Ireland. He is discovered by Isolde and her maid Bragnae, who administer an antidote that revives him and then secretly nurse him back to health. Tristan and Isolde fall in love; however, Isolde does not disclose her real name.
After some time Tristan is forced to flee to Cornwall. He returns home to a hero's welcome, where a confused but overjoyed Marke welcomes him back with open arms.
Plotting to defeat Britain, Donnchadh proposes a peace treaty, promising his daughter Isolde in marriage to the winner of a tournament. Tristan participates on behalf of King Marke, unaware that "the prize" is the woman he fell in love with in Ireland. He wins the tournament, only to discover the truth about Isolde and to see her betrothed to Marke.
Although Marke is kind to Isolde, and she grows fond of him, her heart still belongs to Tristan. Tristan, in turn, is torn between his love for Isolde and his loyalty to Marke, a man whom he has loved as a father and who saved his life as a child.
The couple eventually renew their love and begin an affair behind Marke's back, although they often consider ending it for the sake of their duty to Marke. This affair is discovered by Lord Wictred (Mark Strong), a longstanding dissenter to Marke's leadership. He conspires with Donnchadh to use their love to overthrow Marke, with Wictred getting Marke's throne in exchange.
In Tristan's final attempt to end the relationship, he and Isolde are caught in an awkward situation by all of the British kings. Seeing this as weakness on Marke's part, the kings decide to part ways with Marke; the alliances are ruined and his wife and son-figure have betrayed him.
Marke is at first hurt and furious over their betrayal, but relents after hearing Isolde explain her history with Tristan and offers them the chance to run away together. But Tristan (who tells Isolde that if they elope, they will be remembered for all time as those "whose love brought down a kingdom") chooses instead to stay in England and fight for his king.
At the same time, Marke's nephew and Tristan's old friend Melot (Henry Cavill), angry and resentful of his uncle's long favouring of Tristan and tricked by Wictred's seeming support of him, shows Wictred an old passage into the Roman foundations of Marke's castle that Tristan and Isolde used to carry out their affair. Wictred then fatally stabs Melot and sneaks his army into the castle. Marke and his forces swiftly become pinned down by Donnchadh's army outside the castle and Wictred's men within.
Tristan sneaks back into the castle via the secret tunnel. On the way, he finds the dying Melot: the old friends forgive one another before he dies. Tristan emerges from the tunnel and attacks Wictred's men, allowing Marke's soldiers to secure the castle, but he is mortally wounded in combat by Wictred, though he kills Wictred shortly afterwards.
Now outnumbered, Tristan, Marke and the soldiers loyal to him emerge from the castle and present Wictred's severed head to Donnchadh. Marke urges the British kings standing with the Irish to aid them in making Britain a single, free nation: inspired by his words, the British kings and their men attack Donnchadh and his army.
As a fierce battle between the British and Irish erupts, Marke carries a dying Tristan to the river, where they are met by Isolde. Marke leaves to lead the British to victory, while Tristan eventually dies in Isolde's arms after uttering his last words of "You were right. I don't know if life is greater than death. But love was more than either." Isolde sees to his burial beneath the ashes of the Roman villa where they had met to be with each other, and plants two willows by the grave, which grow intertwined; she then disappears from history and is never seen again. Marke, it is said, defeated the Irish, united Britain, then ruled in peace until the end of his days.
Cast[edit]
James Franco as Tristan Thomas Sangster as Young Tristan
Sophia Myles as Isolde
Rufus Sewell as Lord Marke of Cornwall
Mark Strong as Lord Wictred
Henry Cavill as Melot
David O'Hara as King Donnchadh
Bronagh Gallagher as Bragnae
Reception[edit]
Upon release, the film generally received poor reviews. It received a 32% rating at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with a consensus that it was "competent but somewhat static", failing to "achieve the sweeping romanticism that it aims for."[1] 38 of the 119 reviews were favourable. At Metacritic, the film scored a 49 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, with "mixed or average reviews".[2]
Box office[edit]
The film opened at number eight for the weekend of January 13, 2006. It grossed $7.85 million in its opening weekend. As of March 30, 2006, the film grossed a total of $14.73 million at the domestic box office.[1]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Film portal
List of historical drama films
Tristan and Iseult
Late Antiquity
List of films based on Arthurian legend
Celtic mythology in popular culture
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Tristan & Isolde". Retrieved 2009-02-01.
2.Jump up ^ "Tristan & Isolde". Retrieved 2009-02-01.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tristan and Isolde
Official site
Tristan & Isolde at the Internet Movie Database
Tristan & Isolde at allmovie
Tristan & Isolde at Rotten Tomatoes
Yahoo! Movies


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Kevin Reynolds















[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult


Characters
Tristan ·
 Iseult
 

Music
Tristan und Isolde (1865, Wagner)  (Discography ·
 Tristan chord ·
 "Liebestod")
   ·
 Turangalîla-Symphonie (1949, Messiaen) ·
 Tristan (1975, Henze) ·
 Qntal III: Tristan und Isolde (2003) ·
 "Tristan" (2005)
 

Film
L'Éternel retour (1943) ·
 The Woman Next Door (1981) ·
 Lovespell (1981) ·
 Fire and Sword (1982) ·
 In the Shadow of the Raven (1988) ·
 Pardes (1997) ·
 Tristan & Isolde (2006)
 

Poetry
"Tristram and Iseult" ·
 "Tristram of Lyonesse" ·
 "Chevrefoil"
 

Literature
Arthur Rex ·
 Finnegans Wake ·
 Tristan ·
 Prose Tristan
 

Variations
"Cligès" ·
 Souvenirs de Munich
 

Art
Tristan Quilt ·
 Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels
 

 


Categories: English-language films
2006 films
British films
British romantic drama films
British epic films
German films
Czech films
Romantic epic films
20th Century Fox films
Scott Free Productions films
Films set in the 6th century
Films set in Cornwall
Films set in Ireland
Films shot in the Czech Republic
Films directed by Kevin Reynolds
Adultery in films
Arthurian film and television


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
Hrvatski
Italiano
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Svenska
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 2 February 2014 at 06:28.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   






Tristan and Iseult
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Tristan and Iseult (disambiguation).


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2010)



Tristan and Iseult as depicted by Herbert Draper (1863–1920).


Tristan and Iseult as depicted by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853–1922).
Tristan and Iseult is a legend made popular during the 12th century through French medieval poetry, and inspired from archetypal Celtic legends. It has become an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.


Contents  [hide]
1 Legend
2 The Tristan Stone
3 Origins of the legend 3.1 Persian and Western
3.2 Analogues
3.3 Association with King Arthur
4 Early medieval Tristan literature 4.1 Courtly branch
4.2 Common branch
4.3 Questions regarding a common source
5 Later medieval versions 5.1 French
5.2 English
5.3 Nordic
5.4 Dutch
5.5 Welsh
5.6 Spanish
5.7 Czech
5.8 Italian
5.9 Belarusian
6 Art
7 Modern works 7.1 Literature
7.2 Music
7.3 Films
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Legend[edit]



 TRISTREM AND YSONDE - Illustration from Legends & Romances of Brittany by Lewis Spence, illustrated by W. Otway Cannell.
There are two main traditions of the Tristan legend. The early tradition comprised the French romances of two poets from the second half of the twelfth century, Thomas of Britain and Béroul. Their sources could be traced back to the original, archetypal Celtic romance. Later traditions come from the Prose Tristan (c. 1240), which was markedly different from the earlier tales written by Thomas and Béroul. The Prose Tristan became the common medieval tale of Tristan and Iseult that would provide the background for the writings of Sir Thomas Malory, the English author, who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469).
The story and character of Tristan vary from poet to poet. Even the spelling of his name varies a great deal, although "Tristan" is the most popular spelling. Most versions of the Tristan story follow the same general outline.
After defeating the Irish knight Morholt, Tristan goes to Ireland to bring back the fair Iseult for his uncle King Mark to marry. Along the way, they ingest a love potion which causes the pair to fall madly in love. In the courtly version, the potion's effects last for a lifetime; in the common versions, the potion's effects wane after three years. In some versions, they ingest the potion accidentally; in others, the potion's maker instructs Iseult to share it with Mark, but she deliberately gives it to Tristan instead. Although Iseult marries Mark, she and Tristan are forced by the potion to seek one another as lovers. While the typical noble Arthurian character would be shamed from such an act, the love potion that controls them frees Tristan and Iseult from responsibility. The king's advisors repeatedly try to have the pair tried for adultery, but again and again the couple use trickery to preserve their façade of innocence. In Béroul's version, the love potion eventually wears off, and the two lovers are free to make their own choice as to whether they cease their adulterous lifestyle or continue.
As with the Arthur-Lancelot-Guinevere love triangle, Tristan, King Mark, and Iseult all hold love for each other. Tristan honors, respects, and loves King Mark as his mentor and adopted father; Iseult is grateful that Mark is kind to her; and Mark loves Tristan as his son, and Iseult as a wife. But every night, they each have horrible dreams about the future. Tristan's uncle eventually learns of the affair and seeks to entrap his nephew and his bride. Also present is the endangerment of a fragile kingdom, the cessation of war between Ireland and Cornwall. Mark gets what seems proof of their guilt and resolves to punish them: Tristan by hanging and Iseult by burning on the stake, later putting her up in a lazar house (a leper colony). Tristan escapes on his way to the gallows by a miraculous leap from a chapel and rescues Iseult. The lovers escape into the forest of Morrois and take shelter there until they are discovered by Mark. They make peace with Mark after Tristan's agreement to return Iseult to Mark and leave the country. Tristan then travels on to Brittany, where he marries (for her name and her beauty) Iseult of the White Hands, daughter of Hoel of Brittany and sister of Sir Kahedin.
In the Prose Tristan and works derived from it, Tristan is mortally wounded by Mark, who treacherously strikes Tristan with a poisoned lance while the latter is playing a harp for Iseult. The poetic versions of the Tristan legend offer a very different account of the hero's death. According to Thomas' version, Tristan was wounded by a poison lance while attempting to rescue a young woman from six knights. Tristan sends his friend Kahedin to find Iseult, the only person who can heal him. Tristan tells Kahedin to sail back with white sails if he is bringing Iseult, and black sails if he is not. Iseult agrees to return to Tristan with Kahedin, but Tristan's jealous wife, Iseult of the White Hands, lies to Tristan about the colour of the sails. Tristan dies of grief, thinking that Iseult has betrayed him, and Iseult dies swooning over his corpse. Several versions of the Prose Tristan include the traditional account of Tristan's death found in the poetic versions. In some sources it states that two trees (hazel and honeysuckle) grow out of their graves and intertwine their branches so that they cannot be parted by any means. It was said that King Mark tried to have the branches cut three separate times, and each time, the branches grew back and intertwined. Thereafter, he gave up and let them grow.
A few later stories record that the lovers had a number of children. In some stories they produced a son and a daughter they named after themselves; these children survived their parents and had adventures of their own. In the romance Ysaie the Sad, the eponymous hero is the son of Tristan and Iseult; he becomes involved with the fay-king Oberon and marries a girl named Martha, who bears him a son named Mark.
The Tristan Stone[edit]
Known as The Tristan Stone, or The Longstone (Cornish: Menhir, meaning long stone), is a 2.7 m tall granite pillar near Fowey in Cornwall. The stone has a mid 6th century AD two line inscription which has been interpreted as reading DRVSTANVS HIC IACIT CVNOWORI FILIVS (‘Drustan lies here, of Cunomorus the son’). A now missing third line was described by the 16th century antiquarian John Leland as reading CVM DOMINA OUSILLA (‘with the lady Ousilla’). Ousilla is a Latinisation of the Cornish female name Eselt, otherwise known as Isolde. The disappearance of this third line may be as a result of the stone being moved several times over the past three centuries.[1]
Origins of the legend[edit]
Persian and Western[edit]
There are many theories present about the origins of Tristanian legend, but historians disagree over which is the most accurate. There is a "Tristan stone" in Cornwall, with an inscription referring to Drust, but not all historians agree that the Drust referred to is the archetype of Tristan. There are references to March ap Meichion and Trystan in the Welsh Triads, in some of the gnomic poetry, Mabinogion stories and in the late 11th century Life of St. Illtud.
A character called Drystan appears as one of Arthur's advisers at the end of The Dream of Rhonabwy, an early 13th-century tale in the Welsh prose collection known as the Mabinogion, and Iseult is listed along with other great men and women of Arthur's court in another, much earlier Mabinogion tale, Culhwch and Olwen.[2]
Some scholars suggest that the 11th century Persian story Vis u Ramin must have been the model for the Tristan legend because the similarities are too great to be coincidental.[3][4] The evidence for the Persian origin of Tristan and Iseult is very circumstantial[5] and different theories have been suggested how this Persian story reached the West, some suggesting story-telling exchanges during the crusades in Syrian court[4] and through minstrels who had free access to both Crusader and Saracen camps in the Holy Land.[6]
Analogues[edit]
Possible Irish antecedents to the Tristan legend have received much scholarly attention. An ill-fated triantán an grá or love triangle features into a number of Irish works, most notably in the text called Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne or The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne. In the story, the aging Fionn mac Cumhaill takes the young princess, Gráinne, to be his wife. At the betrothal ceremony, however, she falls in love with Diarmuid, one of Fionn's most trusted warriors. Gráinne gives a sleeping potion to all present but him, eventually convincing him to elope with her. The fugitive lovers are then pursued all over Ireland by the Fianna. Another Irish analogue is Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin, preserved in the 14th century Yellow Book of Lecan. In this tale, Cano is an exiled Scottish king who accepts the hospitality of King Marcan of Ui Maile. His young wife, Credd, drugs all present, and then convinces Cano to be her lover. They try to keep a tryst while at Marcan's court, but are frustrated by courtiers. Eventually Credd kills herself and Cano dies of grief. In the Ulster Cycle there is the text Clann Uisnigh or Deirdre of the Sorrows in which Naoise mac Usnech falls for Deirdre, who was imprisoned by King Conchobar mac Nessa due to a prophecy that Ulster would plunge into civil war due to men fighting for her beauty. Conchobar had pledged to marry Deirdre himself in time to avert war, and takes his revenge on Clan Usnech. The death of Naoise and his kin leads many Ulstermen to defect to Connacht, including Conchobar's stepfather and trusted ally Fergus mac Róich, eventually precipitating the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Some scholars believe that Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe, as well as the story of Ariadne at Naxos might have also contributed to the development of the Tristan legend.[3] The sequence in which Tristan and Iseult die and become interwoven trees also parallels Ovid's love story of Baucis and Philemon in which two lovers are transformed in death into two different trees sprouting from the same trunk. However this also occurs in the saga of Deidre of the Sorrows making the link more tenuous.
Association with King Arthur[edit]
In its early stages, the tale was probably unrelated to contemporary Arthurian literature,[citation needed] but the earliest surviving versions already incorporate references to Arthur and his court. The connection between Tristan and Iseult and the Arthurian legend was expanded over time, and sometime shortly after the completion of the Vulgate Cycle (or Lancelot-Grail Cycle) in the first quarter of the 13th century, two authors created the vast Prose Tristan, which fully establishes Tristan as a Knight of the Round Table who even participates in the Quest for the Holy Grail.
Early medieval Tristan literature[edit]
Courtly branch[edit]
The earliest representation of what scholars name the "courtly" version of the Tristan legend is in the work of Thomas of Britain, dating from 1173. Only ten fragments of his Tristan poem, representing six manuscripts, have ever been located: the manuscripts in Turin and Strassburg are now lost, leaving two in Oxford, one in Cambridge and one in Carlisle.[3] In his text, Thomas names another trouvère who also sang of Tristan, though no manuscripts of this earlier version have been discovered. There is also a passage telling how Iseult wrote a short lai out of grief that sheds light on the development of an unrelated legend concerning the death of a prominent troubadour, as well as the composition of lais by noblewomen of the 12th century.
The next essential text for knowledge of the courtly branch of the Tristan legend is the abridged translation of Thomas made by Brother Robert at the request of King Haakon Haakonson of Norway in 1227. King Haakon had wanted to promote Angevin-Norman culture at his court, and so commissioned the translation of several French Arthurian works. The Nordic version presents a complete, direct narrative of the events in Thomas' Tristan, with the telling omission of his numerous interpretive diversions. It is the only complete representative of the courtly branch in its formative period.[7] Preceding the work of Brother Robert chronologically is the Tristan and Isolt of Gottfried von Strassburg, written circa 1211-1215. The poem was Gottfried's only known work, and was left incomplete due to his death with the retelling reaching half-way through the main plot. The poem was later completed by authors such as Heinrich von Freiberg and Ulrich von Türheim, but with the "common" branch of the legend as the ideal source.[8]
Common branch[edit]
The earliest representation of the "common branch" is Béroul's Le Roman de Tristan, the first part of which is generally dated between 1150 and 1170, and the latter part between 1181 and 1190. The branch is so named due to its representation of an earlier non-chivalric, non-courtly, tradition of story-telling, making it more reflective of the Dark Ages than of the refined High Middle Ages. In this respect, they are similar to Layamon's Brut and the Perlesvaus. As with Thomas' works, knowledge of Béroul's is limited. There were a few substantial fragments of his works discovered in the nineteenth century, and the rest was reconstructed from later versions.[9] The more substantial illustration of the common branch is the German version by Eilhart von Oberge. Eilhart's version was popular, but pales in comparison with the later Gottfried.[8]
Questions regarding a common source[edit]
The French medievalist Joseph Bédier thought all the Tristan legends could be traced to a single original poem, adapted by Thomas of Brittany into French from an original Cornish or Breton source. He dubbed this hypothetical original the "Ur-Tristan", and wrote his still-popular Romance of Tristan and Iseult as an attempt to reconstruct what this might have been like. In all likelihood, Common Branch versions reflect an earlier form of the story; accordingly, Bédier relied heavily on Eilhart, Béroul and Gottfried von Strassburg, and incorporated material from other versions to make a cohesive whole. Some scholars still consider Bédier's argument convincing.[citation needed] A new English translation of Bédier's Roman de Tristan et Iseut (1900) by Edward J. Gallagher was published in 2013 by Hackett Publishing Company.
Later medieval versions[edit]
French[edit]
Contemporary with Béroul and Thomas, the famous Marie de France presents a Tristan episode in one of her lais: "Chevrefoil". It concerns another of Tristan's clandestine returns to Cornwall in which the banished hero signals his presence to Iseult by means of an inscription on a branch of a hazelnut tree placed on the road she will travel. The title refers to the symbiosis of the honeysuckle and hazelnut tree which die when separated, as do Tristan and Iseult: "Ni moi sans vous, ni vous sans moi." ("Neither me without you, nor you without me.") This episode is reminscient of one in the courtly branch when Tristan uses wood shavings put in a stream as signals to meet in the garden of Mark's palace.
There are also two 12th century Folie Tristan, Anglo-Norman poems identified as the Oxford and the Bern versions, which relate Tristan's return to Marc's court under the guise of a madman. Besides their own importance as episodic additions to the Tristan story and masterpieces of narrative structure, these relatively short poems significantly contributed to restoring the missing parts of Béroul's and Thomas' incomplete texts.[10]
The great trouvère Chrétien de Troyes claims to have written a Tristan story, though no part of it has ever been found. He mentions this in the introduction to Cligès, a romance that many see as a kind of anti-Tristan with a happy ending. Some scholars speculate his Tristan was ill-received, prompting Chretien to write Cligès - a story with no Celtic antecedent - to make amends.[11]
After Béroul and Thomas, the most important development in French Tristaniana is a complex grouping of texts known broadly as the Prose Tristan. Extremely popular in the 13th and 14th Century, the narratives of these lengthy versions vary in detail from manuscript to manuscript. Modern editions run twelve volumes for the long version, which includes Tristan's participation in the Quest for the Holy Grail, or five volumes for a shorter version without the Grail Quest.[12] The Roman de Tristan en prose is a great work of art with fits of lyrical beauty. It also had a great influence on later medieval literature, and inspired parts of the Post-Vulgate Cycle, the Roman de Palamedes, and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
English[edit]
The earliest complete source of the Tristan material in English was Sir Tristrem, a romance of some 3344 lines written circa 1300. It is preserved in the famous Auchinleck manuscript at the National Library of Scotland. The narrative largely follows the courtly tradition. As is true with many medieval English adaptations of French Arthuriana, the poem's artistic achievement can only be described as average, though some critics have tried to rehabilitate it, claiming it is a parody. Its first editor, Sir Walter Scott, provided a sixty line ending to the story, which has been printed with the romance in every subsequent edition.[13]
The only other medieval handling of the Tristan legend in English is Sir Thomas Malory's The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, a shortened "translation" of the French Prose Tristan in Le Morte d'Arthur. Since the Winchester Manuscript surfaced in 1934, there has been much scholarly debate whether the Tristan narrative, like all the episodes in Le Morte d'Arthur, was originally intended to be an independent piece or part of a larger work.
Nordic[edit]
The popularity of Brother Robert's version spawned a unique parody, Saga Af Tristram ok Ísodd, as well as the poem Tristrams kvæði. In the collection of Old Norse prose-translations of Marie de France's lais – called Strengleikar (Stringed Instruments) – two lais with Arthurian content have been preserved, one of them being the "Chevrefoil", translated as "Geitarlauf".
By the 19th century, scholars had found Tristan legends spread across the Nordic world, from Denmark to the Faroe Islands. These stories, however, diverged greatly from their medieval precursors. In one Danish ballad, for instance, Tristan and Iseult are made brother and sister. Other unlikely innovations occur in two popular Danish chapbooks of the late 18th century Tristans saga ok Inionu and En tragoedisk Historie om den ædle og tappre Tistrand, in which Iseult is made the princess of India. The popularity of these chapbooks inspired Icelandic novelists Gunnar Leifsson and Niels Johnson to write novels inspired by the Tristan legend.[14]
Dutch[edit]
A 158 line fragment of a Dutch version (ca. 1250) of Thomas of Britain's Tristan exists. It is being kept in Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Series nova 3968.
Welsh[edit]
A short Tristan narrative, perhaps related to the Béroul text, exists in six Welsh manuscripts dating from the late 16th to the mid 17th century.[15]
Spanish[edit]
In the first third of the 14th century the famous Arcipreste de Hita wrote a version of the Tristan story. Carta enviada por Hiseo la Brunda a Tristán; Respuesta de Tristán was a unique 15th century romance written in the form of imaginary letters between the two lovers. Then there was a famous Spanish reworking of the French Prose Tristan, Libro del muy esforzado caballero Don Tristán de Leonís y de sus grandes hechos en armas first published in Valladolid in 1501, then republised in Seville in 1511, 1520, 1525, 1528, 1533 and 1534; additionally a second part, Tristan el Joven, was created which dealt with Tristan's son, Tristan of Leonis.[16]
Czech[edit]
A 13th-century verse romance exists in Czech, based on the German Tristan poems by Gottfried von Strassburg, Heinrich von Freiberg and Eilhart von Oberg. It is the only known verse representative of the Tristan story in a Slavic language.[17]
Italian[edit]
The Tristan legend proved very popular in Italy; there were many cantari, or oral poems performed in the public square, either about him, or frequently referencing him:
Cantari di Tristano
Due Tristani
Quando Tristano e Lancielotto combattiero al petrone di Merlino
Ultime imprese e morte Tristano
Vendetta che fe Messer Lanzelloto de la Morte di Messer Tristano
There are also four differing versions of the Prose Tristan in medieval Italy, most named after their place of composition or library in which they are currently to be found:[18]
Tavola Ritonda
Tristano Panciaticchiano
Tristano Riccardiano
Tristano Veneto
Belarusian[edit]
The Belarusian prose Povest Trychane represents the furthest eastern advance of the legend, and, composed in the 1560s, is considered by some critics to be the last "medieval" Tristan or Arthurian text period.
Its lineage goes back to the Tristano Veneto. Venice, at that time, controlled large parts of the Serbo-Croatian language area, engendering a more active literary and cultural life there than in most of the Balkans during this period. The manuscript of the Povest states that it was translated from a (lost) Serbian intermediary. Scholars assume that the legend must have journeyed from Venice, through its Balkan colonies, finally reaching a last outpost in this Slavic language.[19]
Art[edit]
The Tristan story was very popular in several art media, from ivory mirror-cases to the 13th century Sicilian Tristan Quilt. Many of the manuscripts with literary versions are illuminated with miniatures.
Modern works[edit]
Literature[edit]



Aubrey Beardsley: Isolde, Jugendstil illustration in Pan, Berlin, 1899-1900
In English, the Tristan story suffered the same fate as the Matter of Britain generally. After being mostly ignored for about three centuries, there was a renaissance of original Arthurian literature, mostly narrative verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tristan material in this revival included Alfred Tennyson's The Last Tournament, one of his Idylls of the King; Matthew Arnold's Tristram and Iseult; and Algernon Charles Swinburne's epic poem Tristram of Lyonesse. After World War II most Tristan texts were in the form of prose novels or short stories, although Bernard Cornwell includes a "historical" interpretation of the legend as a side story in The Warlord Chronicles. Novelist Thomas Berger retold the story of Tristan and Isolde in his 1978 interpretation of Arthurian legend, Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel. The story is also referenced in James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake".
The Cornish writer Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch ("Q") started Castle Dor, a retelling of the Tristan and Iseult myth in modern circumstances with an innkeeper in the role of King Mark, his wife as Iseult and a Breton onion-seller as Tristan, the plot set in "Troy", his name for his home town of Fowey. The book was left unfinished at Quiller-Couch's death and was completed many years later, in 1962, by Daphne du Maurier.
Rosalind Miles also wrote a trilogy about Tristan and Isolde. The first book is called The Queen of the Western Isle, second The Maid of the White Hands and third The Lady of the Sea, and Nancy McKenzie wrote a book Prince of Dreams: a tale of Tristan and Essylte as part of her Arthurian series.
Diana L. Paxson's 1988 novel The White Raven tells the tale of Tristan and Iseult, called in her book "Drustan" and "Esseilte," from the perspective of Iseult's handmaiden Brangien ("Branwen"), who was mentioned in various of the medieval stories.
In Bengali literature the story has been depicted by author Sunil Gangopadhyay in the novel Sonali Dukkho.
Joseph Bédier’s Romance of Tristan and Iseult is quoted as a source by John Updike in the afterword to his novel Brazil about the lovers Tristão and Isabel.
Music[edit]
In the 19th century, Richard Wagner composed the opera Tristan und Isolde, now considered one of the most influential pieces of music of all time. In his work, Tristan is portrayed as a doomed romantic figure, while Isolde fulfils Wagner's quintessential feminine rôle as the redeeming woman.
Twentieth-century composers also used the legend (often with Wagnerian overtones) in their compositions. Olivier Messiaen built his Turangalila Symphony around the story. Hans Werner Henze's Tristan borrowed freely from the Wagnerian version as well as retellings of the legend.
Blind Guardian, a power metal band from Germany, also has a song inspired by Tristan and Iseult's story, "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight", from their A Night at the Opera album.
Colin Meloy's former band Tarkio have a song entitled "Tristan and Iseult" from their Sea Songs for Landlocked Sailers ep.
Patrick Wolf, English singer and songwriter, has a song about the Tristan and Iseult legend: "Tristan" from his second album Wind in the Wires.
Heather Dale also has a song called 'Tristan and Isolt'.
Inspired by Thomas Hardy's play 'The Famous Tragedy of The Queen of Cornwall' the English composer Rutland Boughton, ( 1878-1960), composed the music-drama 'The Queen of Cornwall' in 1923/24. The first performance took place at the Glastonbury Festival on August 21, 1924. Already famous for 'The Immortal Hour' and 'Bethlehem', Boughton's growth as a unique and powerful operatic composer is evident in this treatment of the Tristram and Isolde legend. Feeling that Hardy's play offered too much unrelieved grimness he received the playwright's permission to import a handful of lyrics from his earlier published poetical works. The result is an altogether impressive and effective work, thought by many to be Boughton's masterpiece in this genre. It certainly has been well-served by its 2010 recording on the Dutton Epoch label, in which Ronald Corp conducts the New London Orchestra, members of the London Chorus and with soloists Neal Davies ( King Mark), Heather Shipp ( Queen Iseult), Jacques Imbrailo ( Sir Tristam) and Joan Rodgers ( Iseult of Brittany ).
Films[edit]
See also: List of films based on Arthurian legend
The story has also been adapted into film many times.[20] The earliest is probably the 1909 French film Tristan et Yseult, an early, silent version of the story.[21] This was followed by another French film of the same name two years later, which offered a unique addition to the story. Here, it is Tristan's jealous slave Rosen who tricks the lovers into drinking the love potion, then denounces them to Mark. Mark has pity on the two lovers, but they commit double suicide anyway.[21] A third silent French version appeared in 1920, and follows the legend fairly closely.[21]
One of the most celebrated and controversial Tristan films was 1943's L'Éternel Retour (The Eternal Return), directed by Jean Delannoy (screenplay by Jean Cocteau). It is a contemporary retelling of the story with a man named Patrice in the Tristan role fetching a wife for his friend Marke. However, an evil dwarf tricks them into drinking a love potion, and the familiar plot ensues.[21] The film was made in France during the Vichy regime, and elements in the movie reflect Nazi ideology, with the beautiful, blonde hero and heroine and the ugly, Semitic dwarf. Not only are the dwarfs visually different, they are given a larger role than in most interpretations of the legend; their conniving rains havoc on the lovers, much like the Jews of Nazi stereotypes.
The 1970 Spanish film Tristana is only tangentially related to the Tristan story. The Tristan role is assumed by the female character Tristana, who is forced to care for her aging uncle, Don Lope, though she wishes to marry Horacio.[21] This was followed by the avant-garde French film Tristan et Iseult in 1972 and the Irish Lovespell, featuring Nicholas Clay as Tristan and Kate Mulgrew as Iseult; coincidentally, Clay went on to play Lancelot in John Boorman's epic Excalibur.[21] The popular German film Fire and Sword premiered in 1981; it was very accurate to the story, though it cut the Iseult of Brittany subplot.[21]
Legendary French director François Truffaut adapted the subject to modern times for his 1981 film La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door), while 1988's In the Shadow of the Raven transported the characters to medieval Iceland. Here, Trausti and Isolde are warriors from rival tribes who come into conflict when Trausti kills the leader of Isolde's tribe, but a local bishop makes peace and arranges their marriage.[21] Bollywood director Subhash Ghai transfers the story to modern India and the United States in his 1997 musical Pardes. The Indian American Kishorilal (Amrish Puri) raises his orphaned nephew Arjun (Shahrukh Khan). Eventually, Pardes sends Arjun back to India to lure the beautiful Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary) as a bride for his selfish, shallow son Rajiv (Apoorva Agnihotri). Arjun falls for Ganga, and struggles to remain loyal to his cousin and beloved uncle. The film features the Bollywood hit "I Love My India". The 2002 French animated film Tristan et Iseut is a bowdlerized version of the traditional tale aimed at a family audience.
The most recent Tristan film is 2006's Tristan & Isolde, produced by Tony Scott and Ridley Scott, written by Dean Georgaris, directed by Kevin Reynolds, and starring James Franco and Sophia Myles. In this version, Tristan is a Cornish warrior who was raised by Lord Marke after his parents were killed at a young age. In a fight with the Irish, Tristan defeats Morholt, the Irish King's second, but is poisoned in the process. The poison dulls all his senses and his companions believe him dead. He is sent off in a boat meant to cremate a dead body. Isolde, dismayed over her unwilling betrothal to Morholt, leaves her home and finds Tristan on the Irish coast. She tells Tristan that she is called Bragnae, which is the name of her maidservant. Isolde takes care of him and hides him from her father. They spend long days together and come to care for each other. Eventually they confess their feelings for one another and consummate their love. Tristan's boat is discovered and Isolde's father begins a search for a Cornish warrior in Ireland. Isolde helps Tristan escape but cannot leave with him. Tristan returns to England and learns of a tournament between the Cornish tribes for the hand of the Irish princess named Isolde. He agrees to participate to win the princess as Marke's wife. After winning the tournament and discovering that the princess is the woman who had rescued him, Tristan is devastated but decides to bury his feelings because her marriage to Marke would end decades of bloodshed. Eventually Tristan cannot stand to be apart from Isolde any longer and they start their adulterous relationship. Later they are found out but Marke frees them after hearing their story. Tristan, however, returns to defend Marke against a rebellion. He dies a hero with Isolde at his side.
See also[edit]
Canoel
Medieval hunting (Terminology)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Craig Weatherhill, Cornovia: Ancient sites of Cornwall and Scilly 4000 BC - 1000 AD
2.Jump up ^ Jeffrey Gantz (translator), Culhwch and Olwen, from The Mabinogion, Penguin, November 18, 1976. ISBN 0-14-044322-3
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Stewart Gregory (translator), Thomas of Britain, Roman de Tristan, New York: Garland Publishers, 1991. ISBN 0-8240-4034-1
4.^ Jump up to: a b Fakhr al-Dīn Gurgānī, and Dick Davis. 2008. Vis & Ramin. Washington, DC: Mage publishers.
5.Jump up ^ Grimbert, Joan T. 1995. Tristan and Isolde: a casebook. New York: Garland Pub.
6.Jump up ^ Grimbert, Joan T. 1995. Tristan and Isolde: a casebook. p.21.
7.Jump up ^ P. Schach, The Saga of Tristram and Isond, University of Nebraska Press, 1973
8.^ Jump up to: a b Norris J. Lacy et al. Gottfried von Strassburg from The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, 1991.
9.Jump up ^ "Early French Tristan Poems", from Norris J. Lacy (editor), Arthurian Archives, Cambridge, England; Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer, 1998. ISBN 0-8240-4034-1
10.Jump up ^ Norris J. Lacy (editor) Arthurian Archives: Early French Tristan Poems. Cambridge (England); Rochester, NY : D.S. Brewer, 1998. ISBN 0-8240-4034-1
11.Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy (et al.). Cliges from The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Publishing, 1991.
12.Jump up ^ Before any editions of the Prose Tristan were attempted, scholars were dependent on an extended summary and analysis of all the manuscripts by Eilert Löseth in 1890 (republished in 1974). Of the modern editions, the long version is made up of two editions: Renée L. Curtis, ed. Le Roman de Tristan en prose, vols. 1-3 (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1963-1985) and Philippe Ménard, exec. ed. Le Roman de Tristan en Prose, vols. 1-9 (Geneva: Droz, 1987-1997). Curtis' edition of a simple manuscript (Carpentras 404) covers Tristan's ancestry and the traditional legend up to Tristan's madness. However, the massive amount of manuscripts in existence dissuaded other scholars from attempting what Curtis had done until Ménard hit upon the idea of using multiple teams of scholars to tackle the infamous Vienna 2542 manuscript. His edition follows from Curtis' and ends with Tristan's death and the first signs of Arthur's fall. Richard Trachsler is currently preparing an edition of the "continuation" of the Prose Tristan. The shorter version, which contains no Grail Quest, is published by Joël Blanchard in five volumes.
13.Jump up ^ Alan Lupak Kalamazoo (editor). Lancelot of the Laik and Sir Tristrem. Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications. 1994.
14.Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy (et al.). Tristan from The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Publishing, 1991.
15.Jump up ^ The Tristan Legend Hill. Leeds England: Leeds Medieval Studies. 1973.
16.Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy (et al.). Carta enviada por Hiseo la Brunda Tristan; Repuesta de Tristan from The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Publishing, 1991.
17.Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy (et al.). Czech Arthurian Literature from The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York : Garland Publishing, 1991.
18.Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy (et al.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing.
19.Jump up ^ Kipel, Z (c. 1988). The Byelorussian Tristan. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8240-7598-6.
20.Jump up ^ "Films named Tristan and Isolde". Internet Movie Database.
21.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Harty, Kevin J. "Arthurian Film from the Camelot Project at the University of Rochester".
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tristan and Isolde.
Overview of the story
"Romance of Tristan and Isolde" Free PDF eBook
Béroul: Le Roman de Tristan
Thomas d'Angleterre : Tristan
Transcription and page images of the Auchinleck manuscript
The libretto for Wagner's opera, bilingual English and German
Tristan page from the Camelot Project
Bibliography of Modern Tristaniana in English
(French) Tristan and Iseult, audio version Speaker Icon.svg


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Culture of Cornwall













Cornwall




























































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
King Arthur and the Matter of Britain






















































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Tristan and Iseult



























































 


Categories: Arthurian literature
Breton mythology and folklore
Medieval legends
Welsh mythology
Celtic mythology
Articles about multiple people










Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk










Read

Edit

View history









 Search 






Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools










Print/export





Languages
Български
བོད་ཡིག
Brezhoneg
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
한국어
Italiano
עברית
Magyar
Македонски
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Српски / srpski
Svenska
Türkçe
Українська
Edit links
This page was last modified on 8 February 2014 at 00:15.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
 Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki