"Die alte Weise sehnsuchtsbang"

This is a set of variations on the 'Old Shepherd’s Song', the extended cor anglais solo at the beginning of the third act of Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. This melody – seemingly simple, yet complex in actuality – forms the basis for an orchestral fantasy making use of the potential for variation within the melodic elements. The thematic motifs are reassembled into eight largely polyphonic symphonic movements, periodically interrupted by the original theme. The work dies away in a languishing coda, far from redemption and 'love death'.