tristan chord

English - English

Definition of tristan chord in English English dictionary

A chord in musical composition consisting originally of the notes F, B, D# and G# which can be translated more generally in intervalic terms as: augmented fourth, augmented sixth and augmented ninth above a root. Enharmonically it sounds like a half-diminished seventh chord (e.g. F-A♭-C♭-E♭), though in terms of musical analysis it can be interpreted in several ways

Related Terms

Tristan chords

plural form of Tristan chord

Hyphenation

Tris·tan chord

Turkish pronunciation

trîstän kôrd

Pronunciation

/ˈtrəˌstan ˈkôrd/ /ˈtrɪˌstæn ˈkɔːrd/

Etymology

() It is a reference to the chord used in the opening phrase of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde as part of the leitmotif attributed to the character Tristan.