Topics in 19th Century Music (354-0-2)

Topic

Tristan and Isolde

Instructors

Andrew J. Talle
847/491-7228
RCMA 4-133
Office Hours: by appointment
Coordinator, musicology program. Andrew Talle '95 studied at Northwestern from 1990-1995, earning a bachelor’s degree in cello performance as a student of Hans Jørgen Jensen, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in linguistics. From 1995-2003, he was a PhD student at Harvard University, earning master’s and doctoral degrees in musicology. Dr. Talle spent one year lecturing at Harvard before moving to Baltimore in 2004 to join the musicology faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. In 2011, he was named a Gilman Scholar of the Johns Hopkins University, a distinction reserved for fewer than 20 faculty members across all nine divisions. He joined the Northwestern faculty in 2017.

Meeting Info

RCMA Lower Level 111: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1865) is among the most influential works in operatic history. After situating this music drama in the context of Wagner's career, we will explore its contents, focusing in particular on the composer's use of 'leading motives' (Leitmotiven) and the influence of Schopenhauer's philosophy. In the final weeks of the course we will address the work's reception history.