Liebestod Explained

"" (pronounced as /de/ German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera by Richard Wagner. It is the climactic end of the opera, as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body.

The music is often used in film and television productions of doomed lovers.^[1]

Partial text

Softly and gentlyhow he smiles,how his eyesfondly open—do you see, friends?do you not see?how he shinesever brighter.Star-haloedrising higherDo you not see? [...and ends...] to drown,to founder –unconscious –utmost bliss!

Further reading

• Bronfen, Elisabeth, Liebestod und Femme fatale. Der Austausch sozialer Energien zwischen Oper, Literatur und Film, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2004.

External links

• Act III: Mild und leise wie er lächelt: from Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's autograph manuscript in the Richard Wagner Foundation
  • Full text and some performances
• , Birgit Nilsson

Notes and References

1. https://www.roh.org.uk/news/quoting-tristan-echoes-of-wagner-over-150-years-of-music-and-film "Quoting Tristan: Echoes of Wagner over 150 years of music and film"