... special leitmotif because instead of portraying an emotion, it portrays a person, Tristan. In this leitmotif the Tristan chord plays a major part because the chord is dissonant and you think it must resolve but it doesn't which makes it feel uncertain. The cello's yawning opening falls, to form part of the Tristan chord. This chord is dissonant, and therefore must resolve. However, unlike a 'normal' chord, where part of the chord stays the same and part of it moves on, all parts move from the Tristan chord in an unorthodox chromatic elision. There is therefore a process associated with this chord, in which the harmonic function of each part is uncertain and therefore there is a constant harmonic ambiguity. This was normal in romantic times because the composers were a lot more adventurous than classical composers. Similarly, Wagner experiments with the orchestration in the piece. Bars 4-7 are a ...

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