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 Yearning(Martha Mödl; ogg format) |
The motif of Yearning, like that of Suffering (#4) is so simple that it easily might be overlooked (as it was by Wolzogen) in the quest for leading motives. Together with the Suffering and Question (#31) motives, it is one of the basic motives of the work. Like Suffering too, it is a fragment of chromatic scale, but this time rising. The characteristic rhythm is long-short- long-short.
This motif is almost identical to one of first musical ideas
to appear in Tristan und Isolde, where it is usually
called Desire motif (Sehnsuchtsmotiv
). In Parsifal, the motif is
associated with the Yearning for
release in death, common to both Kundry and Amfortas. In the case
of Kundry, she is unable to find rest because of her curse, which
has somehow caused her to become dominated by the sorcerer
Klingsor. So it is hardly surprising that her principal theme,
the motif of Kundry's Laughter (#8)
ends with the first three notes of the Yearning motif; nor that her other theme, the
motif of Klingsor's Magic (#10) begins
with the four note version.