Robert Gauldin, Tragic Love and Musical Memory

Example 8. Motifs and passages which accompany Tristan and Isolde's initial "glance" (after drinking the "love potion" near the end of Act I) and their subsequent illicit "night of love" (in Act II). These motifs form the basis for "musical memories" that the lovers will subsequently recall later in the music drama. Except for a handful of tonally associative themes (see below), most recurrences are freely transposed.

POTION / GLANCE   DEATH / BLISS   TRÄUME / DAY   SUN CONCEALED / HOLY NIGHT   REPOSE / DEATH SONG 

c.    Parody of TRÄUME material (= first Ab major Love Duet in Act II), especially outline of the TRISTAN CHORD (using same pitches) and the ensuing TRÄUME HARMONIES. The DAY motif (already developed earlier in Act II); note relation to Tc2.