00100				CHAPTER X
00200	 
00300	 
00400	 
00500	          THE COMPLETE MUSICAL MOVEMENT:  WAGNER
00600	 
00700	 
00800		It is undoubtedly Wagner's intention to leave many things in
00900	the harmony of the Prelude to Tristan und Isolde ambiguous and
01000	unresolved.  In this case ambiguity is a positive value which is
01100	used in a specific manner to convey the particular attitudes of the
01200	opera -- attitudes of mystery and unfulfilled desire.  (These same
01300	attitudes permeate much ntury art.)  On every level, things
01400	are relatively difficult to pin down.  Which are chord notes and 
01500	which are non-chord notes?  When is the ever-present chromaticism
01600	functional and when non-functional?  What tonic is really being
01700	defined at any given time?  Etc., etc.  
01800	
01900		The first three unaccompanied notes give us no immediate clue
02000	to any function.  In the second measure the situation is still
02100	doubtful.  There, the famous "Tristan" chord appears.  Our first hope
02200	of understanding the tonal roles of the sounds thus far heard comes
02300	in measure 3 with the easily recognized, dominant functioning, E7 chord.
02400	As we scan the score ahead, we find very few simple triads in
02500	rhythmically strong positions and virtually no direct dominant-tonic
02600	relationships.  Thus the various temporary tonics tend to be somewhat
02700	obscured.  Although the overall key of a-A generally seems to persist,
02800	there are rather few A chords and the Prelude finally establishes the 
02850	dominant of c at the end.  (Of course, the Prelude is, in the largest
02950	sense, only a part of a vast and continuous work.)  So with this music,
03050	it is best to assume very little beyond the fact that, in consideration
03150	of its historical position, it is ultimately based on the conventions
03250	of functional tonality.  (Thus all the "structural" vertical
03350	occurrences must be based on superimposed thirds, etc.)
03450	
03500		To approach this work leading from the largest to the small
03600	units may give a little more difficulty than was found with the
03700	Mozart Sonata, since there seems here to be such a great emphasis
03800	on detail.  And, to be sure, many of the large units may be hard
03900	to relate to without first grasping the details which form them.
04000	In fact, the same problem was faced in Mozart's development section,
04100	where the harmonic details became so involved that the particular
04200	tonality of the background tended to lose its importance.  However,
04300	from the widest view, a few things in the Prelude can easily be
04400	noted:  the A-B-A, or arch form -- especially the return to the
04500	opening material during and following the climax at bars 82-84, etc.,
04600	and the dominant pedal notes, E at bars 63-70 and G at 100-111.
04700	
04800	Figure 88
04900	
05000	
05100	
05200	
05300		Referring back to details, we have noticed the first clear
05400	function in the piece (in measure 3) to be the dominant of a; and
05500	then looking (and of course, always listening) a little beyond, we
05600	see the dominant of C in measure 7.  At this point it should begin
05700	to be clear that, in this piece, the various tonics of the upper
05800	two levels of our analysis probably will be defined almost entirely
05900	by functions other than tonic on the lowest level.
06000	
06100		For the definition of the middle ground tonics, it is always
06200	well to look for clues in the phrase structure, as it is outlined
06300	by rhythmic and melodic occurrences and their orchestration, in
06400	addition to considering the harmonic end points.  The "A" section
06500	of the form, the first 17 bars, is a sort of introduction made up
06600	of a freely sequential series of utterances leading to a strong
06700	deceptive cadence in a.  These first short phrases will be dealt
06800	with later.  The first division in the "B" section is marked by 
06900	the melodic chromatic scale, rhythmic agitation, and an authentic
07000	feminine cadence on A at measure 24.  At measure 36 the division
07100	is defined by the cadence on d and the following abrupt change of
07200	orchestration, etc.  Again a phrase ends with a deceptive cadence,
07300	this time in c# at bar 44.  The next, somewhat longer, section
07400	elides with the E pedal at bar 63.  Thus far we have:
07500	
07600	Figure 89a
07700	
07800	
07900	
08000	
08100	
08200	
08300		Starting at 63 we have new material which is combined with
08400	a varied form of the introduction material leading again to an a
08500	deceptive cadence at bar 74.  The phrases are elided once more
08600	and the new one extends to the brief recurrence of the dominant
08700	pedal at 84.  The next phrase really begins back at bar 80, but it
08800	does not emerge as independent until bar 84, where the original
08900	character of the "A" section (or introduction) is apparent.  This
09000	material is at first somewhat compressed and leads to the familiar
09100	a deceptive cadence at measure 94.  The next short phrase, using
09200	material from the "B" section, arrives on the dominant G of the
09300	timpani in bar 100.  The rest of the music is an extension of that
09400	arrival.  More detail, or less, might have been considered for
09500	this step of the analysis, but the overall result would be just
09600	about the same.  For the whole Prelude we have at this point:
09700	
09800	Figure 89b
09900	
10000	
10100	
10200	
10300	
10400	
10500		Obviously, the large form of this piece does not depend
10600	strongly on the contrast of basic tonalities.  The preponderance
10700	of a-A, at least as the controlling tonality of the main goals,
10800	is clear. However, the harmony wanders rather far afield between
10900	the various end points, so it would be premature to consider that
11000	these points are directly related.  Let us now concern ourselves
11100	with the harmonic details and the tonic definitions on the 
11200	smallest scale.
11300	
11400		The opening eleven bars consist of a free sequence in three
11500	parts, each ending with a 7th chord -- E7, G7, B7.  There is no
11600	reason to suspect anything other than dominant function for any
11700	of these chords, so we may express them as a/V, C/V, E/V, thus defining
11800	as tonics the parts of the a-minor triad.  This, and the deceptive
11900	cadence at 17, establishes a, perhaps indirectly, but nonetheless
12000	firmly.
12100	
12200	Figure 90
12300	
12400	
12500	
12600	
12700	
12800		In dealing the other harmonies in the section, we must
12900	give primary consideration to the melodic device of the appoggiatura.
13000	The most obvious appoggiaturas occur on each of the above-mentioned
13100	7th chords.  The roles of all the other notes tend to become clear
13200	when we realize that most of the melodic chord tones are preceded
13300	by appoggiaturas, some of which last many times longer than the
13400	note of resolution.  At the beginning, every other note in the main
13500	melodic parts is an appoggiatura.  The opening bars might be
13600	condensed thus:
13700	
13800	Example 91
13900	
14000	
14100	Figure 91
14200	
14300	
14400	
14500	
14600		A similar process occurs in measures 4-7, but here the second
14700	note (G#) should read Ab in order that it be an appoggiatura to Gn.
14800	However, the G# and the preceding B are heard as an incomplete
14900	continuation of the E7 chord.  Looking backward, the G# is a chord note;
15000	looking forward, it is a non-chord note.  Carrying this point of view
15100	even further, it will be noted that if the Ab of bar 6 is considered as
15200	G#, then the first sound of that bar may be heard as the incomplete
15300	extension to the 9th of the E7th chord.  Thus the highest note, B,
15400	also has a double role as both a chord and non-chord note.  One possible
15500	way of showing this sort of thing follows:
15600	
15700	Figure 92
15800	
15900	
16000	
16100		The third phrase of the introduction works a little differently,
16200	since its goal (the B7 chord) is a major third higher than the preceding
16300	goal.  (The first two goals, E7 and G7, were separated by a minor third.)
16400	The second note of the phrase, B, is now a simple chord note which is
16500	followed by two chromatic passing notes.  The shift to the next tonic
16600	is delayed until the end of bar 10.  The sound at the beginning of bar 10
16700	is quite acceptable as C: IIb6-4-2 (G#=Ab).  In terms of what follows,
16800	however, both the D and D# are non-chord tones leading upward to E, and
16900	the F is a long appoggiatura going downward to E.  The resultant chord
17000	notes then are C-E-G#-E, or nVI#5 of the E tonic.  Such action becomes
17100	commonplace in this piece.  When the passage of bars 10-11 is echoed,
17200	it is analyzed only in its latter role.
17300	
17400	Figure 93
17500	
17600	
17700	
17800	
17900	
18000		The next section, now with a continuous melodic line, offers
18100	new problems.  Now all the tonicizations come more rapidly.  The
18200	progress of the music from 17 to 19 seems to be toward G as the 
18300	dominant of C, and then on to d as vi of F at 21.  Then the dominant
18400	of d ascends to the dominant of e at 23, which in turn becomes major
18500	and the dominant of A.
18600	
18700	Figure 94
18800	
18900	
19000	
19100	
19200	
19300	
19400	
19500	
19600		Notice the pattern of the uppermost line of temporary tonics
19700	in the analysis up until bar 24.
19800	
19900	Figure 95
20000	
20100	
20200	
20300	
20400	
20500		In the next phrase, E persists until 31, where the dominant of
20600	D is heard.  Bars 32-36 are highly chromatic in the accompanying
20700	parts, but the melodic line is the same as that found at 17-21.
20800	The key points of the harmony show this passage to be only a slightly
20900	varied form of the earlier material.
21000	
21100	Figure 96
21200	
21300	
21400	
21500	
21600	
21700		On the lowest level, d regains its role as VI of F, since
21800	the next progression is most simply F: F6-V (bars 36-38).  This
21900	echo-like passage is repeated a step higher (g: F6-V).  Then a
22000	variant of it tonicizes the next step, a, by juxtaposing the F6
22100	of a with the dominant of E (40-42).  A diminished subtitute for
22200	the dominant of E takes on a new root in bar 43 and thus becomes the
22300	dominant of c#.  But the phrase ends, as we have come to expect,
22400	deceptively on VI of c# -- which, of course, is an A major chord.
22500	
22600	Figure 97
22700	
22800	
22900	
23000	
23100	
23200	
23300	
23400		This is a remarkable passage in that it does not contain a
23500	single tonic or tonic substitute function on the bottom level until
23600	the very end, and yet the relationships of the middle level tonics
23700	are finally clear.  Its unusual effectiveness is greatly enhanced
23800	by the fact that when the A major chord, which was set up as the
23900	expected ultimate goal by the sequential nature of the passage,
24000	finally appears, it must be -- from the narrowest point of view --
24100	part of a decptive cadence.  That this A chord seems to have a tonic function,
24200	despite the downward-moving D3 appoggiatura, is further made clear
24300	by the following recurrence of the material of bars 25-30 -- material
24400	which there had likewise followed an A: I function.
24500	
24600		This next section, measures 45 to 62, being an expansion  of