Liebestod is the title of the final, dramatic aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 from the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...

by Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

. When used as a literary term, liebestod (from German Liebe

Liebe

Liebe is a surname that may refer to:* Carl Christian Vilhelm Liebe , Danish politician* Christian Liebe , German composer * Heinrich Liebe , German naval officer...

, love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

 and tod, death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

) refers to the theme of erotic death or "love death" meaning the two lovers' consummation

Consummation

Consummation is the initial sexual act made within a marriage.Consummation can also refer to:* Consummation , 1970 recordingSee also:* Consummation of days, event predicted in Daniel Chapter 12, verses 1-4...

 of their love in death or after death. Two-sided examples include Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe are two characters of Roman mythology, whose love story of ill-fated lovers is also a sentimental romance.The tale is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.-Plot:...

, Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...

, Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

, and to some degree Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...

. One-sided examples are Porphyria's Lover

Porphyria's Lover

"Porphyria's Lover" is a poem by Robert Browning and it was first published as "Porphyria" in the January 1836 issue of Monthly Repository. Browning later republished it in Dramatic Lyrics paired with "Johannes Agricola in Meditation" under the title "Madhouse Cells." The poem did not receive its...

and The Sorrows of Young Werther

The Sorrows of Young Werther

The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787...

. The joint suicide of Heinrich von Kleist

Heinrich von Kleist

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...

 and lover Henriette Vogel is often associated with the liebestod theme.

Note: Wagner originally called the Prelude to Tristan und Isolde the Liebestod; he referred to the final aria in a concert version with no singer as the Verklaerung (meaning transfiguration

Transfiguration

Transfiguration may refer to:In religion:* Transfiguration of Jesus, an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus underwent transfiguration with the prophets Moses and Elijah...

). Modern usage is to use Liebestod to refer to the final aria, as in this article.

The aria opens with the line "Mild und Leise", which means "fair and gentle" in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

. It is considered the climactic moment of the opera, ending the opera as Isolde sings over Tristan's body.

Mild und leise wie er lächelt, wie das Auge hold er öffnet --seht ihr's, Freunde? Seht ihr's nicht? Immer lichter wie er leuchtet, stern-umstrahlt hoch sich hebt? Seht ihr's nicht? and ends ertrinken, versinken, - unbewusst, - höchste Lust!	Softly and gently how he smiles, how his eyes fondly open --do you see, friends? do you not see? how he shines ever brighter. Star-haloed rising higher Do you not see? to drown, to founder - unconscious - utmost joy!

Adaptations

Mild und Leise is also the title of an 18-minute synthesized composition by Paul Lansky

Paul Lansky

Paul Lansky is an American electronic-music or computer-music composer who has been producing works from the 1970s up to the present day .-Biography:...

, made in 1973 on an IBM 360 mainframe. Parts of it became the foundation for Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

's song "Idioteque

Idioteque

"Idioteque" is the eighth track from the British rock band Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A. It was seen as a departure for the rock band, as the song is driven by electronic beats. The song has been played at nearly every concert since 2000...

".