Liebestod

Liebestod motif

"Liebestod" ([ˈliːbəsˌtoːt] German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera Tristan und Isolde 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.

Partial text

Mild und leise wie er lächelt, wie das Auge hold er öffnet —seht ihr's, Freunde? Seht ihr's nicht? Immer lichter wie er leuchtet, stern-umstrahlet hoch sich hebt? Seht ihr's nicht?       ertrinken, versinken, – unbewusst, – höchste Lust!

Softly and gently how he smiles, how his eyes fondly open —do you see, friends? do you not see? how he shines ever brighter. Star-haloed rising higher Do 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. ISBN 3-518-12229-0

External links

• "Isolde's Liebestod", act 3, score and transcriptions: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Full text and some performances
• "Liebestod" on YouTube, Birgit Nilsson