Tristan and Isolde is a musical drama in three acts written by Richard Wagner between 1857 and 1859, and premiered in 1865. Two years after the debut of the work at the National Theater of Munich, Franz Liszt (who was Wagner's father in law) made a piano transcription of Isolde's final aria. The piece, called "Mild und leise", was referred to as "Verklärung" (Transfiguration) by Wagner. Liszt prefaced his transcription with a four bar excerpt from the Love Duet from Act II, which in the opera is sung to the words "sehnend verlangter Liebestod". Accordingly, he referred to his transcription as 'Liebestod'. Later it was designated with the catalogue number S. 447. Liszt's transcription (which underwent a revision in 1875) became famous in Europe well before Wagner's opera reached most places.
