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Longing, yearning — a deep, unfulfilled desire.
Sehnsucht is the quintessential Romantic emotion — an ache for something unreachable. When a German composer writes "mit Sehnsucht" or "sehnsüchtig," the music should have that quality of reaching toward something it can never quite grasp.
Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" — the Sehnsucht motif (the famous "Tristan chord") embodies yearning that can never be resolved.
Sehnsucht is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
Browse the full dictionary →