Constructing Chivalry: The Symbolism of King Mark in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde by Julie Anne Heikel Bachelor of Music, McGill University, 2007 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTERS OF ARTS in the School of Music  Julie Anne Heikel, 2010 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Constructing Chivalry: The Symbolism of King Mark in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde by Julie Anne Heikel Bachelor of Music, McGill University, 2007 Supervisory Committee Dr. Susan Lewis Hammond, School of Music Supervisor Kurt Kellan, School of Music Co-Supervisor Dr. Michelle Fillion, School of Music Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Susan Lewis Hammond Supervisor Kurt Kellan Co-Supervisor Dr. Michelle Fillion Departmental Member Despite Tristan’s place as a cornerstone of the operatic repertory, there has been surprisingly little scholarship on King Mark, whom scholars often overlook in favour of the title characters. This study examines Wagner’s adaptation of his source, the Tristan of Gottfried von Strassburg, to construct a character that represents the courtly chivalric society of the opera in opposition to the new order represented in Tristan’s passionate pursuit of love and, ultimately, of death. Building on literary scholarship of the Tristan tradition, this study explores issues of duality and decline in Mark’s character and the elements of his chivalric friendship with Tristan within the homosocial constructs of the courts. Through his use of traditional operatic lament form, associative orchestration, and text expression, Wagner constructs a king who is more nuanced that any of his predecessors: one cleansed by tragedy and capable of forgiveness. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee......................................................................................................ii   Abstract..............................................................................................................................iii   Table of Contents...............................................................................................................iv   List of Tables......................................................................................................................v   List of Figures....................................................................................................................vi   List of Musical Examples.................................................................................................vii   Acknowledgments............................................................................................................viii   Dedication..........................................................................................................................ix   Preface.................................................................................................................................1   Chapter One: Gottfried’s Tristan........................................................................................8   History of the Tristan Legend.........................................................................................8   The Eternal Triangle: The Characters and the Relationships Within...........................14   Issue of the Potion and the Dual Nature of King Mark................................................22   Duality of Mark’s Character.........................................................................................24   Chapter Two: Wagner’s Literary Tristan.........................................................................31   Genesis of Wagner’s Libretto.......................................................................................31   Comparison of Wagner’s Narrative to Gottfried’s.......................................................33   Wagner’s Eternal Triangle: The Characters and the Relationships Within..................40   Wagner’s Treatment of the Potion and King Mark’s Character...................................42   Chapter Three: Il Lamento: the Lament Tradition in Greek Tragedy and Early Opera..46   Wagner’s Theories: Society & the Volk, Greek Drama, & Gesamtkunstwerk.............48   Mark’s Lament as the Literary Lament in Greek Tragedy...........................................52   Mark’s Lament as a Wagnerian Narrative....................................................................57   Mark’s Lament as an Early Operatic Lament...............................................................60   Tonality.....................................................................................................................62   Texture......................................................................................................................64   Motives.....................................................................................................................67   Chapter Four: The Bass Clarinet as a Unifying Symbol of Honour and Betrayal............73   Chapter Five: Text Expression and Melodic Analysis of Mark’s Music........................114   Melodic Analysis of Act Two, Scene Three: Lamenting the treulos treuster Freund118   Analysis of Act Three, Scene Three: Forgiving the treulos treuster Freund.............125   Conclusion......................................................................................................................135   Bibliography...................................................................................................................138   Primary Sources..........................................................................................................138   Scores......................................................................................................................139   Audio/Video Recordings........................................................................................139   Additional Libretto Source to musical scores.........................................................139   Secondary Sources......................................................................................................140   Appendix One: Summary of the Tristan Prototype........................................................144   Appendix Two: Summary of Wagner’s Tristan Drama.................................................147 v List of Tables Table 1: Formal Analysis of Mark’s Act Two, Scene Three Lament...............................61   Table 2: Ascending Leaps ≥ P5......................................................................................119   Table 3: Descending Perfect Intervals (P5, P8)..............................................................120   Table 4: Descending Minor 6th.......................................................................................121   Table 5: Descending Minor 7th.......................................................................................122   Table 6: Descending Diminished 7th...............................................................................123   Table 7: Mark’s Act Two utterances “Tristan”.............................................................124   Table 8: Consecutive, opposite leaps (ascending then descending as in Theme #2)......124   Table 9: Mark: Ascending Diminished 5ths.....................................................................127   Table 10: Supporting Characters: Descending Perfect Intervals (P4, P5, P8)................128   Table 11: Mark’s Descending Perfect Intervals (P5, P8)...............................................129   Table 12: Supporting Characters: Descending Major and Minor 6ths.............................129   Table 13: Mark’s Descending Major 6ths........................................................................129   Table 14: Supporting Characters: Descending Minor 7ths..............................................130   Table 15: Supporting Characters: Descending Diminished 5ths......................................131   Table 16: Supporting Characters: Descending Diminished 7ths......................................131   Table 17: Mark’s Descending Diminished 5ths and 7ths...................................................132   Table 18: Mark’s Descending Minor 7ths........................................................................132   Table 19: Mark: Reoccurrence of Theme Three (from Act Two, Scene Three)............133   Table 20: Mark: Ascending/Descending Cell (related to Theme #2 from Act Two, Scene Three)..............................................................................................................................133 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Sources of the Tristan legend............................................................................10   Figure 2: Epic Love Triangle Prototype...........................................................................15   Figure 3: The 'Tristan' Eternal Triangle...........................................................................17   Figure 4: Plot Summary Comparison: Gottfried vs. Wagner...........................................36 vii List of Musical Examples Example 1: Descending Tetrachord skeleton based on mm. 59-62 of Tristan 2:III.........64   Example 2: Bass Clarinet Head Motive mm. 201-207 of 2:III.........................................66   Example 3: The Matrix.....................................................................................................67   Example 4: Theme #1: mm. 59-67...................................................................................68   Example 5: Theme #2: mm. 84-85 and 86-87..................................................................68   Example 6: Theme #3: mm. 120-125...............................................................................68   Example 7: Chromatic extension of Theme #3 mm. 124-126.........................................68   Example 8: Tristan 2:III mm. 59-62.................................................................................70   Example 9: Tristan 2:III mm. 63-65a...............................................................................71   Example 10: Tristan 2:III mm. 69-71...............................................................................71   Example 11: Tristan 2:III mm. 201-207...........................................................................72   Example 12: Tristan 1:III mm. 194-200...........................................................................77   Example 13: Tristan 1:III mm. 394-406...........................................................................79   Example 14: Tristan 1:III mm. 455-467...........................................................................82   Example 15: Tristan 1:V mm. 62-70................................................................................86   Example 16: Tristan 1:V mm. 232-244............................................................................89   Example 17: Tristan 1:V mm. 312-317............................................................................93   Example 18: Tristan 1:V mm. 451-463............................................................................95   Example 19: Tristan 3: I mm. 223-230.............................................................................97   Example 20: Tristan 3:I mm. 107-116............................................................................101   Example 21: Tristan 3:I mm.612-616.............................................................................104   Example 22: Tristan 3:I mm.621-625.............................................................................106   Example 23: Tristan 3:I mm. 676-682............................................................................108   Example 24: Tristan 3:I mm.915-920.............................................................................110   Example 25: Tristan 3:III mm. 194-197.........................................................................112   Example 26: Tristan 3:III mm. 194-197.........................................................................117 viii Acknowledgments Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (ESV) The journey to this point in my studies, though deliberate, has not been a direct one. I am indebted to many people for their support in this journey and for my arrival thus far. To Dr. Steven Huebner and Dr. Julie E. Cumming: My time with you at McGill inspired my love of and initial move to musicology. To Dr. Susan Lewis Hammond for her astute comment that led me back to my pursuit of musicology and to Dr. Michelle Fillion whose seminar showed me the Wagner beyond the tricky horn excerpts. Your patience and wisdom as my committee have been invaluable. To the colleagues-become-friends and friends-become colleagues whose careful eyes and generous spirit have typed, edited, and translated when I simply could no longer: Aaron, Hilary, Iain, Libby, Linnea, Nick, Rachel, Tegan, and Twila. To all those who kept my research sharp and honest: my sounding board, Annalise Smith for arguing opera aesthetics; my brother, John RE Heikel for arguing politics, and Alisabeth (Libby) Concord for our Wagner pub chats. To all those who kept me grounded, centred, and fed: the 270 students at UVic; the piano students at Con Brio Music; the Body of Christ at Faith Lutheran, Impact, and Hope Lutheran churches; and innumerable other friends and family who toiled, laughed, and cried with me. You lift me up. To my daddy, Melvin J. Heikel, who assured me that “more school is never bad” and my mom, Sherri Heikel, who somehow always understands. Everywhere I am, there you'll be. I love you. Thank you. ix Dedication For Johann and for Holberg. You were my summer. Preface Richard Wagner was the first composer to successfully set the Tristan legend to opera in his famous Tristan und Isolde. Despite Tristan’s place as a cornerstone of the operatic repertory since its premiere in Munich in June of 1865, there has been surprisingly little scholarship on King Mark, whom scholars often overlook in favour of the title characters. The pervading view among scholars is that Mark is a minor figure in the drama: he is merely the unwanted husband in the eternal triangle and unworthy of Isolde’s love. However, the significance of the king in Wagner’s construction of the Tristan drama is far greater than such a meagre role: Mark represents both the courtly society of the opera and of the class-based Germany of Wagner’s time. On one level Wagner not only challenges his audience to choose which man is Isolde’s worthy lover, but also compels them to make a similar decision between the chivalric code represented by the king and the personal liberation pursued by the title characters. When considered in conjunction with Wagner’s political views, an even deeper narrative emerges: Mark encompasses the aspects of hierarchical society that Wagner held in such disdain. This study examines Wagner’s adaptation of his source, the Tristan of Gottfried von Strassburg, to construct a character that represents the courtly chivalric society of the opera in opposition to the new order represented in Tristan’s passionate pursuit of love and, ultimately, of death. Building on literary scholarship of the Tristan tradition, this study explores issues of duality and decline in Mark’s character and the elements of his chivalric friendship with Tristan within the homosocial constructs of the courts. Through his use of traditional operatic lament form, associative orchestration, and text expression,