Finally, upon their unwilling ears is borne the piercing cry of Brangaene, as King Marke, Melot and the courtiers in hunting dress enter swiftly and surprise the lovers in their embraces. More in sorrow and shame than in anger does the king reproach his nephew for his perfidy, while the guilty Isolde sits motionless. Tristan offers no explana tion but calls upon Isolde to follow him to death. She makes unfaltering agreement, which is sealed with a kiss. At this Melot rushes upon Tristan with drawn sword and stabs him.
In the third act, Tristan is found at his castle in Brittany, hovering near death and nursed by his devoted squire, Kurvenal. His couch is placed in the garden which commands a view of the sea. From beyond the wall is heard a shepherd's pipe playing a mournful tune which is to change to a sprightly melody if a sail becomes visible, for Kurvenal hopes for the coming of Isolde. Sometimes the wounded man rouses to make faint inquiry and some times he sinks into a stupor so deep that the faithful hench man has to listen for the heart-beat to be sure that his master still lives.
At last the shepherd's notes change to gladness and Isolde rushes in. Tristan staggers toward her uttering her name in delirious joy, only to fall dying into her arms. She does not realize that he is dead and tries to woo him to sensibility but, when the truth comes to her, she reproaches him gently for leaving her alone and falls unconscious beside him. Now the shepherd announces that a second ship is coming. It bears King Marke and Melot. Kurvenal, thinking the approach means enmity towards his master, attacks them and falls mortally wounded. But it is only to forgive that the King has come, for Brangaene has told him the story of the love-potion. Isolde is restored to consciousness, but scarcely listens to his words of pardon and chants her own death-song over the body of her fallen hero.
" Tristan and Isolde " marks the final and complete breaking away of Wagner from all conventions. It is the first opera given to the world which fully represents his theories that the music, verse and action should be homo geneous; that the orchestra should be the tonal illustrator of the drama and the commenter on the emotions and situ ations it contained; that the drama should be esteemed as of paramount importance and that ensembles should be abolished as unnatural. As this was the first opera of the new order to see the light of day, the wildest of controver sies was waged about it. Battles royal were fought but today " Tristan and Isolde " is generally esteemed one of the masterpieces of the musical world and is regarded by many enlightened critics as holding the first place among Wag ner's works.
The Wagnerian plan of "endless melody" in the or chestral score practically precludes having any clearly and definitely defined numbers in the work.
The first act is prefaced by an orchestral number con taining the all pervading theme of love, which we soon feel is the central idea of the drama, the theme of The Glance, of Desire, of the Love Philter, the Death Potion, the Magic Casket, the Deliverance by Death.
After the curtain rises, the first motive we hear is that of The Sea, and which appears in one line of the song sung by the young sailor from the mast. It appears again, first given by the 'cello, again as the sailor repeats his verse which tells that the wind is carrying them home, and later the winds, both wood and brass, voice the theme and are accompanied by the strings illustrating the action aboard ship. The sailor's son incenses Isolde, and we hear
another theme, that of Anger, from 'cello and double bass.
Other motives heard in this act and not in the pre lude are those found in the song Kurwenal sings about a Sir Morold, known as the Glory to Tristan theme ; Tristan Wounded, which appears in the song Isolde sings in describing how she cared for Tristan when he was ill; and Tristan the Hero; these, and those already heard in the Vorspiel, appear again and again. Before the open ing of the second act the orchestra foretells the nature of the scene by giving us the motiv of the Day, which later we find to be the enemy of Tristan and Isolde, of Im patience, of Ardour and Desire, and as the curtain rises sounds of distant hunting horns are heard. Passionate Transport, heard when Tristan and Isolde meet in the garden, is a new theme, and in contrast to that of Day, we hear the Invocation to Night, an enchanting, myste rious passage. Death the Liberator, heard in the first prelude, appears in this act in the duet of Tristan and Isolde. Consternation is heard when King Mark discovers the lovers, and then Anger, a motiv from the first act, and Confession of Love, first heard in the Vorspiel. These, with the theme of Day and Night, of Felicity and the Death song, complete this second act.
The Shepherd's melody furnishes the theme of Sad ness, and the orchestra wails out its story of Solitude; the scene is lightened for a moment by a new theme, Kur wenal's Joy, heard first in his song when he tells Tris tan how he brought him to his ancestral home from Corn wall, and again is heard Glory to Tristan. Ardour appears again as Tristan tells of his love for Isolde, and naturally that of Impatience mingles with it. His speech is rather rambling and incoherent, and the orchestra tells us all that is passing through his mind by repeating the themes of Night, Day, Desire, Death, and Death the Liberator. Tristan Wounded is again heard, and gives us hope, for did not Isolde once cure her lover of his wounds? Then that thought brings with it a change in Tristan, and an other theme is heard, Joy, as he cries "Isolde comes!" But we feel the hopelessness of the situation, for all through this part, where Tristan raves and Kurwenal at tempts to comfort him, the orchestra murmurs Tristan's Distress.
After the arrival of Isolde, we again hear the themes of Desire and The Glance; this time it is Tristan's last glance, for as he softly calls her name he dies. After Isol de's last song, and as she falls upon the body of the dead lover, the orchestra tells again the story of Passionate Transport, and as the opera closes we hear the theme of Desire, though now slightly changed.
The great love duet in the second act, the wonder fully beautiful "Night Music" which precedes it, the long and intensely difficult scene for Tristan when he lies suf fering and partially delirious during the greater portion of the third act, and the magnificent " Love Death," Isolde's greeting and farewell to her lover, are supreme moments in this "most passionate of love operas."