Liebestod (tr Bainum)

Richard Wagner

Subtitle: From Tristan und Isolde

General Info

Year: 1856 / 1964
Duration: c. 6:15
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Neil A. Kjos Music Company
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $50.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00

For additional availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Condensed Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (3 players), including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

In December 1856, when Wagner was at work on the first act of Siegfried, he became obsessed with a melodic idea he associated with the legend of Tristan and Isolde. He subsequently broke away from his work on the Ring Cycle until his opera based on Tristan and Isolde was completed. The Prelude and Liebestod (or Love-Death) constitutes the very beginning and end of the opera, in an orchestral combination that was sanctioned by the composer as a separate entity for performance in its own right. The Prelude depicts the unvoiced longing of Tristan and Isolde for one another, and with the Liebestod comes the fulfillment of that longing in their death together, their immortal love being voiced by Isolde as she stands over Tristan’s corpse, contemplates his transfigured soul, and joins it by taking her own life. The work is widely considered among the most powerful and emotionally gripping music ever written.

- Program Note by the Saitama Sakae Wind Orchestra

Media

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State Ratings

Alabama: Class A
Florida: V
Georgia: V
Kansas: V
Louisiana: IV
Maryland: V
Michigan: Senior High AA
North Carolina: V
Tennessee: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Bowling Green (Ohio) State University Wind Symphony (Bruce Moss, conductor) - 14 April 2023
Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) Wind Symphony (David Blackinton, conductor) – 6 March 2020
Carmel (Ind.) High School Wind Symphony (Michael Pote, conductor) – 21 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 North Central Division Conference, Chicago, Ill.)
New England Conservatory (Boston) Junior Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (James Markey, conductor) – 20 May 2019
Snow College (Ephraim, Utah) Wind Symphony (David Fullmer, conductor) – 1 March 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Awake (arr. Houseknecht) (1868/1957)
Chor der Junger from "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel" (arr. Pohler)
Die Meistersinger (arr. Milford) (1868/1998)
Die Meistersinger, Excerpts from the Opera (arr. Eric Osterling)
Die Meistersinger Overture (tr. Hindsley) (1868/197-?)
Die Meistersinger, Prelude (arr. Moses-Tobani/H.R. Kent) (1904/1948)
Die Meistersinger Themes (arr. Daehn) (18684/2009)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg (tr. Hindsley) (1868/196-?)
Die Walkure, Act 2, Scene 4 (arr. King)
Elsa's feierlicher Zug zum Münster (tr. Nefs) (1848/2017)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Bourgeois) (1848/1997)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Cailliet) (1848/1938)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (arr. Cherry) (1848/1999/2019)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. See also: Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. Godfrey) (1869/1906)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. O'Neill) (1869/1930)
Evening Star (arr. Barnard) (1845/1927)
Festmusik (arr. Seifert-Kressbronn) (1843-1982)
Fest Marsch from "Tannhäuser" (tr. Rumbelow) (1845/1997)
The Flying Dutchman (tr. Hindsley) (1843/197-?)
The Flying Dutchman Overture (arr. Godfrey) (1843/1955)
Funeral Music from "The Dusk of the Gods" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1919)
Gathering of the Armies (arr. Friedman) (1850/1995)
Homage March (ed. Bourgeois)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Reed) (1864/2002)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Schaefer) (1864/1971)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Whitwell) (1864/2015)
Italian Polka (arr. Leidzen) (1941)
Kaisermarsch (tr. Godfrey) (1871/1912)
King Heinrich’s Call (tr. Bourgeois) (1850/1983)
Invocation of Alberich from "Rheingold" (arr. Cailliet) (1869/1940)
Liebestod (arr. Shishikura) (1856/2014)
Liebestod (arr. Bainum) (1856/1964)
Lohengrin (arr. Patterson) (1850/2016)
Lohengrin (arr. Tamanini) (1850/2005)
Lohengrin: Introduction to Act III (arr. Drumm) (1850/1937)
March from "Tannhäuser" (arr. Lake) (1926)
March on, America
Nibelungen March (arr. Stretton) (c.1874/1909)
Overture to Rienzi (arr. Grabel) (1842/1933)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Geese) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser) (1845/)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser; ed. Rapp) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Reed) (1845/1991)
Prelude to Act I of "Die Meistersinger" (trans. Kreines) (1862/2012)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengren" (tr. Hindsley) (1850)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (tr. Brand) (1850/2001)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (arr. McAlister and Reed) (1850/2006)
Prelude to Parsifal (tr. Bourgeois) (1882/2016)
Procession of the Knights of the Holy Grail from "Parsifal" (arr. Houseknecht) (1964)
Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson) (1846-48/1997)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Patterson)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Laurendeau) (1870/1908)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Longwood) (1870/2000)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Hernandez) (1870)
Rienzi Overture (arr. Meyrelles) (1842/1892)
The Ring (arr. Higgins) (1848-1874/2020)
Selections from Act III of "Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg" (arr. Hanna) (1868/2015)
Seigfried Fantasie (arr. Seidel) (1876/1893)
Siegfried Idyll (1870)
Siegfried's Funeral March (tr. Tanick) (1876/)
Siegfried's Funeral March from "Gotterdammerung" (tr. Bourgeois)
Siegfried's Funeral Music (arr. Whear) (1876/1966)
Tannhäuser (arr. Lake) (1845/1926)
Tannhäuser Grand March (tr. McAlister) (1845/2005)
Tannhäuser March (arr. E. Fall) (1845)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Fall) (1845/1936)
Tannhäuser Overture (tr. Safranek) (1845/1913)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Sousa) (1845/)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Winterbottom) (1845/1903)
Tannhäuser Selection (arr. Lake) (1926)
Trauersinfonie (ed. Votta/Boyd) (1844/1924/1994)
Trauersinfonie (tr. Leidzen) (1844/1924/1949)
Tristan und Isolde (tr. Janssen) (1862/2015)
Vorspiel und Liebestod (arr. Godfrey) (1865/1909)
Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music from "Die Walküre" (arr. Lake) (1874/1937)

Resources

Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble: Volume 2 L-Z. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2004, 326. Print.
Liebestod, Wikipedia Accessed 20 May 2019
Wagner, R.; Bainum, C. (1964). Liebestod : From Tristan and Isolde [score]. N.A. Kjos Music Co.; Park Ridge, Ill.