Wagner: 'Träume' from 'Wesendonck Lieder', piano accompaniment

Wagner wrote this lied while composing Tristan und Isolde, calling it a 'study' for the opera. Parts of it reappear, developed, in the love duet from Act II, 'O sink herneider.' It is from a set of five songs for female voice to which he set poems by his muse Mathilde Wesendonck.

This song was also performed on viola by William Primrose, and was recorded by Roberto Diaz and Robert Koenig. I have occasionally taught it to viola students, including one with whom I made a recording five years ago, which is still online. Interpretation is personal though in live performance it might be ideal to take more time in transitions.

I have always loved the music of Wagner in a special way. Even this relatively simple piece shows many things that I appreciate about him as a composer, including his mastery of harmony, especially in the partly deceptive cadence on which the singer concludes gently. Despite the overall brevity, the song is structured along an operatic arc with longer and longer phrases until the highest dramatic point.

This was the first piece I ever performed in public on piano. The year was 2013 or 2014 and the occasion was ear training class at Juilliard, where I accompanied myself singing the vocal part in solfege for an exam. I remember practicing considerably more on piano than viola for that week. Only two measures in, the TA remarked that it already sounded like Wagner, which I found reassuring!

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