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'''''Tristan und Isolde''''' is an [[opera]] in three acts by [[Richard Wagner]]. It was composed between [[1857]] and [[1859]], and received its first production in [[Munich]] on [[June 10]], [[1865]].
{{Infobox_British_Political_Party |
party_name = Labour Party |
party_articletitle = Labour Party (UK) |
party_logo = [[Image:Labour Party.png|200px|"Labour Rose" logo]] |
leader = [[Tony Blair]] |
foundation = [[February 7]], [[1900]] |
ideology = [[Democratic Socialism]] |
international = [[Socialist International]] |
european = [[Party of European Socialists]] |
europarl = [[Party of European Socialists|PES]] |
colours = [[Red]]|
headquarters = 16 Old Queen Street<br>[[London]], SW1H 9HP |
website = [http://www.labour.org.uk/ www.labour.org.uk]
}}
'''The Labour Party''' is bent and the principal [[centre-left]] political party in the [[United Kingdom]] (see [[British politics]]). It is one of the [[United Kingdom]]'s three main [[political party|political parties]] and is currently the party of [[government]] in the United Kingdom. It describes itself as a [[Democratic Socialist]] party and is a member of the [[Socialist International]]. Under the leadership of [[Tony Blair]] it won by a [[landslide victory]] in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 general election]], and formed its first government since the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]]. It retained its position with two further large victories in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]] and the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]] general elections. Under Blair's leadership, the party has adopted a number of liberal policies.
==Structure Sources ==
[[Image:BlairL.jpg|thumb|[[Tony Blair]], Leader of the Labour Party since 1994]]
The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of [[Constituency Labour Parties]], [[affiliated trade unions]] and [[socialist societies]], including the [[Co-operative Party]], with which it has an electoral agreement. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions take part in the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]] (PLP) and European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP). The party's decision-making bodies, on a national level, formally include the [[National Executive Committee]] (NEC), [[Labour Party Conference]], and [[National Policy Forum]] (NPF) - although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say. Questions of internal party democracy have frequently provoked disputes in the party.
In the principal parts of this opera Wagner followed the romance of [[Gottfried von Strassburg]], which in turn is based on the story of [[Tristan]] and [[Isolde]] from [[King Arthur|Arthur]]ian legend.
For many years, Labour had a policy of [[Ireland|Irish]] unity by consent, and did not allow residents of [[Northern Ireland]] to apply for membership, instead supporting the nationalist [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP). The 2003 Labour Party Conference accepted legal advice that the party could not continue to prohibit residents of the province joining, but the National Executive has decided not to organise or contest elections there.
== Critical reception ==
==Early years==
Many Wagnerian critics of the time claimed that the musical portion of the opera attained the highest summit of all music; on the other hand, an equally influential group of critics, centered around [[Eduard Hanslick]], condemned the work as being incomprehensible.
The Labour Party's origins lie in the late 19th century, when it became apparent that there was an increasing need for a third party in Britain to represent the interests and needs of the large [[working-class]] population (for instance, the [[1899]] [[Lyons vs. Wilkins]] judgement that limited certain types of picketing). Some members of the trade union movement were interested in moving into the political field and after the extension of the franchise to working class men in [[1867]] and [[1885]], the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] had endorsed some trade union-sponsored candidates. In addition several small socialist groups had been formed which wanted to link to the movement and give it a wider policy. Among these were the [[Independent Labour Party]], the [[Fabian Society]] (an intellectual group whose members were mainly [[middle-class]]), the [[Social Democratic Federation]] and the [[Scottish Labour Party (1888-1893)|Scottish Labour Party]].
== Significance in the development of classical music ==
British politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was divided between the perceived 'establishment', represented by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] (nicknamed the [[Tory|Tories]]), and a more radical 'non-conformist' tradition, based around for example [[Wales|Welsh]] and North Midlands [[Methodism]]. The non-conformist tradition was embodied by the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under leaders like [[William Ewart Gladstone]] and [[David Lloyd George]]. After the ''Representation of The People Act, 1884'', most adult men had the vote but about 40% were still unenfranchised, mainly among the working class who would be more likely to support parties of the left.
The very first chord in the piece is the so-called ''[[Tristan chord]]'', often taken to be of great significance in the move away from traditional [[tonality|tonal]] [[harmony]]:
[[Image:jameskeirhardie.jpg|thumb|James Keir Hardie, one of Labour's first MPs]]In [[1899]] a [[Doncaster]] member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Thomas R. Steels, proposed in his union branch that the [[Trade Union Congress]] call a special conference to bring together all the left-wing organisations and form them into a single body which would sponsor Parliamentary candidates. The motion was passed at all stages including by the TUC and this special conference was held at the International Hall, Farringdon Street, [[London]] on [[February 27]]-[[February 28|28]], [[1900]]. The meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations; trade unions representing about one-third of the membership of the TUC sent delegates.
[[Image:Wagner Tristan opening.png]]
The Conference created an association called the [[Labour Representation Committee]], and it was to have acted as a body coordinating attempts to elect to Parliament members who had been sponsored by [[trade union]]s as representing the working-class population. It had no single leader. In default of any other candidate, the Independent Labour Party's nominee [[Ramsay MacDonald]] was elected as Secretary. He had the difficult task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October [[1900]] 'Khaki election' came too soon for the new party to effectively campaign. Only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful: [[Keir Hardie]] in [[Merthyr Tydfil]] and [[Richard Bell]] in [[Derby]].
'''Sound samples'''
Two candidates from the Social Democratic Federation were endorsed but the SDF was unhappy with the essentially compromising agenda of the Labour Representation Committee. At the SDF's [[1901]] conference it voted to withdraw. However support for the LRC among the trade unions was boosted by the [[1901]] [[Taff Vale case]], a dispute between strikers and a railway company that ended with the union ordered to pay £23,000 damages for a strike. The judgment effectively made strikes illegal (since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions). The apparent acquiescence of the Conservative government of [[Arthur Balfour]] intensified support for the LRC against a government that appeared uninterested in the problems of working people. In the 1902-03 period the LRC won two by-elections.
* [[Image:Audiobutton.png]] [[Media:Wagner Tristan opening.midi|Sound sample of these bars]] ([[MIDI]] file)
* [[Image:Audiobutton.png]] [[Media:Tristan und Isolde beginning clip.ogg|Recording of these bars]] ([[Ogg Vorbis]] file)
== Characters ==
[[Image: LabourPartyPlaque.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Labour Party Plaque from Caroone House 8 Farringdon Street (demolished 2004)]]
The LRC won 29 seats in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1906|1906 election]], helped by the secret [[1903]] pact between [[Ramsay Macdonald]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Chief Whip [[Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert Gladstone]] which aimed at avoiding Labour/Liberal contests in the interest of removing the Conservatives from office. In their first meeting after the election, the group's Members of Parliament decided to take the name "The Labour Party" ([[February 15]], [[1906]]). [[James Keir Hardie]], who had taken a leading role in getting the party established, was elected as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (in effect, the Leader), although only by one vote over [[David Shackleton]] after several ballots. In the party's early years, the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP) provided much of its activist base as the party did not have an individual membership until [[1918]] and operated as a conglomerate of affiliated bodies until that date. The [[Fabian Society]] provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement.
*Tristan ([[Tenor]])
In [[1909]] the [[Osbourne judgment]] ruled that Trade Unions could not raise funds for political purposes, a move which threatened one of Labour's main funding sources. This was especially detrimental to the Labour party as it supporters were generally poorer than other political parties. The two elections in [[1910]] saw Labour gain 40 seats and 42 seats respectively. In [[1911]] David Lloyd George gave MPs a wage of £400 per annum, which partly helped to alleviate the financial problems and the Osbourne judgment was overturned in [[1913]].
*Isolde ([[Soprano]])
*King Marke ([[Bass (musical term)|Bass]])
*Kurwenal ([[Baritone]])
*Brangaene ([[Mezzo-soprano]])
*Melot (Tenor)
*A shepherd (Tenor)
*Helmsman (Bass)
*Voice of a young sailor (Tenor)
*Male and Female Chorus
== Story ==
Support grew for Labour during the 1910-1914 period as a result of an unprecedented scale of strike action. [[National Union of Seamen|Seamen]], [[National Union of Railwaymen|rail workers]], [[cotton]] workers, [[coal]] [[National Union of Mineworkers|miners]], [[Dockers' Union (UK)|dockers]] and many other groups all organised strikes, with many sympathy strikes also occurring. This increase in action can partly be explained by the recession of 1908-09 and subsequent rise in unemployment, as well as the growing support for radical change among the working-class (such as support for [[syndicalism]]). This was no doubt helped by the sometimes heavy-handed measures of the Liberal government; [[Winston Churchill]] sent in troops to the [[Rhondda valley]] in 1910 to deal with coal miners, resulting in some fatalities.
{{spoiler}}
During the [[First World War]] the Liberal Party split between factions supporting leader David Lloyd George and former leader [[Herbert Asquith]]. At the end of the war universal adult male suffrage was enacted, together with votes for women over the age of 30. The Liberal split, accompanied by this fundamental change in the system, allowed the Labour Party to co-opt some of The Liberals support, and by the [[United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922 general election]] Labour had supplanted the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] as the main opposition to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]]. With the Liberals still in turmoil, Labour formed its first minority government with Liberal support in [[January]] [[1924]], with [[Ramsay MacDonald]] as [[Prime Minister]]; the government collapsed after nine months when the Liberals voted for a Select Committee inquiry which MacDonald had declared an issue of confidence but the Liberal electoral base had vanished. The ensuing [[united Kingdom general election, 1924|general election]] saw the publication four days before polling day of the [[Zinoviev Letter]] implicating Labour in a plot for a Communist revolution, and the Conservatives returned to power. The Zinoviev letter is now generally believed to have been a forgery.
===Act I===
[[Image:Oldlabour2.gif|right|thumb|130px|the original 'liberty' logo, in use until 1983]]
Isolde and her handmaid, Brangaene are quartered aboard Tristan’s ship, being transported to King Marke’s lands in Cornwall where Isolde is to be married to the King. The opera opens with the voice of a young sailor singing of a “wild Irish maid”, which Isolde takes to be a mocking reference to herself. In a furious outburst she wishes the seas to rise up and sink the ship, killing all on board. Her scorn and rage are directed particularly at Tristan, the knight who is taking her to Marke. She sends Brangaene to command Tristan to appear before her, but Tristan refuses Brangaene's request, saying that his place is at the helm. His henchman, Kurwenal, answers more brusqely, saying that Isolde is in no position to command Tristan, and reminding Brangaene that Isolde’s previous husband, Morold was killed by Tristan.
==The split under MacDonald==
The [[United Kingdom general election, 1929|election of May 1929]] saw Labour returned for the first time as the largest party in the House of Commons, and Ramsay MacDonald formed a second Liberal-backed government, though Labour's lack of a parliamentary majority again prevented it from carrying out its desired legislative programme.
Brangaene returns to Isolde to relate these events, and Isolde sadly tells her of how, following the death of Morold, a stranger called Tantris had been brought to her, found mortally wounded in a boat, and that she had used her healing powers to restore him to health. However she discovered that Tantris was actually Tristan, the murderer of her husband, and had tried to kill him with his sword as he lay helpless before her. However Tristan had looked not at the sword that would kill him, but into her eyes, and this had pierced her heart. Tristan had been allowed to leave, but had returned with the intention of marrying Isolde to his uncle, King Marke. Isolde, in her fury at Tristan’s betrayal, insists that he drink atonement to her, and from her medicine-chest produces the vial which will make this drink. Brangaene is shocked to see that it is a lethal poison.
The [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|financial crisis of 1931]] caused a disastrous split in the party, with MacDonald and a few senior ministers going into alliance with the Conservatives and Liberals as the "National Government" ([[August 24]], [[1931]]) while most of the party rank-and-file went into opposition under the leadership of first [[George Lansbury]] and (from [[1935]]) [[Clement Attlee]]. The ILP under [[James Maxton]] disaffiliated from the Labour Party in [[1932]], removing a substantial proportion of the left of the party from membership.
At this point Kurwenal appears in the women’s quarters saying that Tristan has agreed after all to see Isolde. When he arrives, Isolde tells him that she now knows that he was Tantris, and that he owes her his life. Tristan agrees to drink the potion, now prepared by Brangaene, even though he knows it may kill him. As he drinks, Isolde tears the remainder of the potion from him and drinks it herself. At this moment, each believing that their life is about to end, they declare their love for each other. Their rapture is interrupted by Kurwenal, who announces the imminent arrival on board of King Marke. Isolde asks Brangaene which potion she prepared and is told that it was no poison, but a love-potion. Outside, the sailors hail the arrival of King Marke.
While MacDonald's "National Labour" following dwindled to a small parliamentary appendage to the Conservatives, opposition Labour rapidly regained most of the party's former electoral support, and entered the [[World War II|wartime]] coalition government of [[Winston Churchill]] ([[May]] [[1940]]) on terms of near equality with the Conservative majority.
===Act II===
==Post-War victory to the 1960s==
A nocturnal hunting party leaves King Marke’s castle empty except for Isolde and Brangaene, who stand beside a burning brazier. Isolde several times believes that the hunting horns are far enough away to allow her to extinguish the flames, giving the signal for Tristan to join her. Brangaene warns Isolde that one of King Marke’s knights, Melot, has seen the looks exchanged between Tristan and Isolde, and suspects their passion. Isolde, however, believes Melot to be Tristan’s most loyal friend, and in a frenzy of desire extinguishes the flames. Brangaene retires to the ramparts to keep watch as Tristan arrives.
[[Image:Catlee.jpg|frame|right|Labour Prime Minister 1945-1951, [[Clement Attlee]]]]
The lovers, alone at last and freed from the constraints of courtly life, declare their passion for each other. Tristan decries the realm of daylight which is false, unreal, and keeps them apart. It is only in night that they can truly be together, and only in the long night of death that they can be eternally united. Brangaene is heard several times throughout their long tryst calling a warning that the night is ending, but the lovers ignore her. Finally the day breaks in on the lovers, Melot leads Marke and his men to find Tristan and Isolde in each others arms. Marke is heart-broken, not only because of his betrayal by his adopted son, Tristan, but because he, too, has come to love Isolde.
With the end of the war in Europe in [[May]] [[1945]], Labour resolved not to repeat the Liberals' error of [[1918]], and withdrew from the government to contest the [[United Kingdom general election, 1945|subsequent general election]] (July 5) in opposition to Churchill's Conservatives. Surprisingly to many (especially overseas) observers, Labour won a landslide majority, reflecting voters' perception of it as the party to carry through wartime promises of reform. The results were announced on [[July 26]]; Labour won 48% of the vote and a landslide Parliamentary majority of 146 seats.
Tristan now asks Isolde if she will follow him again into the realm of night, and she agrees. Melot and Tristan fight, but at the crucial moment, Tristan throws his sword aside and is mortally wounded by Melot.
Clement Attlee's government was one of the most radical British governments of the 20th century. It presided over a policy of selective [[nationalisation]] (the [[Bank of England]], coal, electricity, gas, the [[railways]] and iron & steel). It developed a "cradle to grave" [[welfare state]] under health minister [[Aneurin Bevan]]. The party still considers the creation in [[1948]] of Britain's tax funded [[National Health Service]] its proudest achievement.
===Act III===
Attlee's government however became split, over, amongst other things, the amount of money Britain was spending on defence (which reached 10% of GDP in 1950 due to the [[Korean War]]). [[Aneurin Bevan]] eventually quit the government over this issue. The government also faced a fuel crisis and a balance of payments crisis. Labour narrowly lost power to the Conservatives in October [[United Kingdom general election, 1951|1951]], despite winning more votes.
Kurwenal has brought Tristan home to his castle at Kareol in Brittany. A shepherd pipes a mournful tune and asks if Tristan is awake. Kurwenal says that only Isolde’s arrival can save Tristan. The shepherd says he will keep watch and pipe a happy tune to mark the arrival of any ship. Tristan now wakes and mourns that he is again in the false realm of daylight, once more driven by unceasing unquenchable yearning, until Kurwenal tells him that Isolde is coming. Tristan is overjoyed and asks if her ship is in sight, but only the shepherd’s sorrowful tune is heard.
Throughout the [[1950s]] and early 1960s the party became split between moderate modernisers led by [[Hugh Gaitskell]] and more traditional [[socialist]] elements within the party. This split, and the fact that the public was broadly content with the Conservative governments of the period, kept the party out of power for thirteen years.
Tristan relapses and recalls that the shepherd’s tune is the one he heard when his father and then his mother died. Once again he rails against his desires and against the fateful love-potion until he collapses in delirium. At this point the shepherd is heard piping the arrival of Isolde’s ship, and as Kurwenal rushes to meet her, Tristan in his excitement tears the bandages from his wounds. As Isolde arrives at his side, Tristan dies with her name on his lips.
However, in the early 1960s, a series of scandals such as the [[Profumo affair]] engulfed the Conservative government, which damaged its popularity. The Conservative party was also seen as being out of touch with the changing country and the economy began to turn down. Due largely to this, the Labour party returned to government under [[Harold Wilson]] in [[United Kingdom general election, 1964|1964]] and remained in power until [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970]].
Isolde collapses beside him as the appearance of another ship is announced. Kurwenal sees Melot, Marke and Brangaene arrive and furiously attacks Melot to avenge Tristan. In the fight both Melot and Kurwenal are killed. Marke and Brangaene finally reach Isolde and Marke, grieving over the body of his “truest friend” explains that he has learnt of the love-potion from Brangaene and had come, not to part the lovers, but to unite them. Isolde appears to wake but, in a final aria describing her vision of Tristan risen again (the “Liebestod”), dies of grief.
[[Image:haroldwilson.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Labour Prime Minister 1964-1970, [[Harold Wilson]]]]
== Influence of Schopenhauer on ''Tristan und Isolde'' ==
The [[1960s]] Labour government, though claiming to be far less radical on economic policy than its [[1940s]] predecessor, introduced several social changes, such as the partial legalisation of [[homosexuality]] and the abolition of the [[death penalty]]. In the [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970 general election]], [[Edward Heath]]'s Conservatives narrowly defeated Harold Wilson's government. Wilson's party won power again in [[United Kingdom general election, 1974 (February)|February 1974]]. After possessing a minority government, they achieved a small majority in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1974 (October)|October 1974]]-- also under Harold Wilson.
Wagner was introduced to the work of the philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] by his friend [[Georg Herwegh]] in late 1854. The composer was immediately struck by the philosophical ideas to be found in “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung” ([[The World as Will and Idea]]), and it is clear that the composer and the philosopher had a very similar world-view. By the end of that year, he had sketched out all three acts of an opera on the theme of Tristan and Isolde, although it was not until 1857 that he began working full-time on the opera, putting aside the composition of [[Der Ring des Nibelungen]] to do so.
==The 1970s==
Wagner said in a letter to [[Liszt]] (December 1854): “Never in my life having enjoyed the true happiness of love I shall erect a memorial to this loveliest of all dreams in which, from the first to the last, love shall, for once, find utter repletion. I have devised in my mind a ''Tristan und Isolde'', the simplest, yet most full-blooded musical conception imaginable, and with the ‘black flag’ that waves at the end I shall cover myself over – to die.”
The [[1970s]] proved to be a disastrous time to be in government, and faced with a world-wide economic downturn and a badly suffering British economy, the Labour Government would be forced to go to the [[IMF]] for a loan to ease them through their financial troubles. However, conditions attached to the loan meant the adoption of a more liberal economic programme by the Labour Government, meaning a move away from the party's traditional policy base.
By 1857 Wagner was living as the guest of the wealthy silk merchant [[Otto von Wesendonck]], and during the composition of ''Tristan und Isolde'' was involved with Wesendonck’s wife, Mathilde, although it remains uncertain as to whether or not this relationship was platonic.
Nevertheless, the twin influences of Schopenhauer and Mathilde inspired Wagner during the composition of ''Tristan und Isolde''. Schopenhauer’s influence is felt most directly in the second and third acts. The first act is relatively straightforward, consisting mostly of an exposition of how Tristan and Isolde come to be in their current state. However the second act, where the lovers meet, and the third act, in which Tristan longs for release from the passions that torment him, have often proved puzzling to opera-goers unfamiliar with Schopenhauer’s work.
The 1970s were also dogged by a host of industrial problems, including widespread [[Strike action|strike]]s and [[trade union]] militancy. The Labour Party's close ties to the increasingly unpopular trade unions caused the party to gradually lose support throughout the decade.
Wagner uses the metaphor of day and night in the second act to designate the realms inhabited by Tristan and Isolde. The world of Day is one where the lovers must deny their love and pretend they do not care for each other, where they are bound by the dictates of King Marke’s court: it is a realm of falsehood and unreality. Tristan declares in Act 2 that under the dictates of the realm of Day he was forced to remove Isolde from Ireland and to marry her to his Uncle Marke. The realm of Night, in contrast, is the representation of intrinsic reality, where the lovers can be together, where their desires reach fulfillment: it is the realm of oneness, truth and reality. Wagner here equates the realm of Day with Schopenhauer’s concept of [[Phenomenon]], and the realm of Night with Schopenhauer’s concept of [[Noumenon]]. This is not explicitly stated in the libretto, however Tristan’s comments on Day and Night in Act 2 and 3 make it very clear that this is Wagner’s intention.
In Schopenhauer’s philosophy, the world as we experience it is a representation of an unknowable reality. Our representation of the world (which is false) is [[Phenomenon]], while the unknowable reality is [[Noumenon]]: these concepts are developments of ideas originally posited by [[Kant]]. Importantly for Tristan and Isolde, Schopenhauer’s concept of Noumenon is one where all things are indivisible and one: and it is this very idea of one-ness that Tristan yearns for in Acts 2 and 3 of Tristan und Isolde. Tristan is also aware that this realm of Night, or Noumenon can only be shared by the lovers in its fullest sense when they die. The realm of Night therefore also becomes the realm of death: the only world in which Tristan and Isolde can be united forever, and it is this realm that Tristan speaks of at the end of Act two (“Dem Land das Tristan meint, der Sonne Lich nicht Scheint”).
In [[1976]], citing his desire to retire on his sixtieth birthday, Wilson stood down as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, and was replaced by [[James Callaghan]]. In the same year as Callaghan became leader, the party in [[Scotland]] suffered the breakaway of two MPs into the [[Scottish Labour Party]] (SLP). This breakaway was prompted by dissatisfaction with the lack of progress being made by the then Labour government on delivering a devolved Scottish Assembly. Whilst ultimately the SLP proved no real threat to the Labour Party's strong Scottish electoral base it did show that people were beginning to think of breaking with the mainstream UK Labour Party,
Tristan rages against the daylight in Act 3 and frequently cries out for release from his desires (Sehnen): it is also part of Schopenhauer’s philosophy that man is driven by continued, unachievable desires, and that the gulf between our desires and the possibility of achieving them leads to misery. The only way for man to achieve inner peace is to renounce his desires: a theme that Wagner explores fully in his last opera, [[Parsifal]].
Ultimately, the economic problems facing the Labour Government of the [[1970s]], and the political difficulties of Scottish and Welsh devolution, proved too great for it to surmount despite an arrangement negotiated in 1977 with the Liberals known as the [[Lib-Lab Pact]]. In [[1979]], they faced the disastrous "[[Winter of Discontent]]", and in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]] they suffered electoral defeat to the [[The Conservative Party|Conservatives]], led by [[Margaret Thatcher]].
== Recordings of Tristan und Isolde ==
==The Thatcher years==
The aftermath of the election defeat in 1979 provoked a period of bitter internal rivalry in Labour. From the mid 1970s, the party had became bitterly divided between left wingers under [[Michael Foot]] and [[Tony Benn]], whose supporters dominated the party organisation at grassroots level, and right wingers under [[Denis Healey]]. After the defeat, the left had the upper hand when it asserted that the government had become unpopular because it had alienated its base by compromising, and needed to regain it by moving to a more left-wing policy.
Tristan und Isolde has always been acknowledged as one of the greatest operas, and has a long recorded history. In the years before the [[Second World War]], [[Kirsten Flagstad]] and [[Lauritz Melchior]] were considered to be the prime interpreters of the lead roles, and mono recordings exist of a number of live performances with this pair directed by conductors such as [[Thomas Beecham]], [[Fritz Reiner]], [[Artur Bodanzky]] and [[Erich Leinsdorf]] . Flagstad recorded the part for EMI near the end of her career under [[Wilhelm Furtwangler]], producing a set which is considered a classic recording. Following the war the performances at [[Bayreuth Festival|Bayreuth]] with [[Martha Modl]] and [[Ramon Vinay]] under [[Herbert von Karajan]] (1952) were highly regarded, and these performances are now available as a live recording. In the 1960s the soprano [[Birgit Nilsson]] was considered the major Isolde interpreter, and she was often partnered by the Tristan of [[Wolfgang Windgassen]]. Their performances at Bayreuth in 1966 were captured by Deutsche Grammophon, although some collectors prefer the pairing of Nilsson with the Canadian tenor [[Jon Vickers]], available in “unofficial” recordings from performances in Vienna or Orange. Karajan did not record the opera commercially until 1971, and his set is still controversial for the use of a lighter soprano voice as Isolde, paired with an extremely intense Vickers, and for the unusual balance between orchestra and singers favoured at that time by Karajan. By the 1980s recorded sets by conductors such as [[Carlos Kleiber]], [[Reginald Goodall]] and [[Leonard Bernstein]] were mostly considered to be important for the interpretation of the conductor, rather than that of the lead performers. The set by Kleiber is notable since Isolde is sung by [[Margaret Price]], who never sang the role on stage.
The election of Foot to the leadership and the change to a system of leadership elections in which party activists and affiliated trade unions had a vote led to the decision by the [[Gang_of_Four_%28disambiguation%29|Gang of Four]] (former Labour cabinet ministers) on [[January 26]], [[1981]] to issue the 'Limehouse Declaration', and then to form the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]]. The Gang of Four were [[Roy Jenkins]], [[David Owen]], [[Shirley Williams]] and [[Bill Rodgers (politician)|William Rodgers]]. The departure of even more right-wingers further swung the party to the left, but not quite enough to allow Tony Benn to be elected as Deputy Leader when he challenged for the job at the September 1981 party conference. In response to the [[Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]], the party committed itself to "campaign actively" for a [[United Ireland]].
There are many recordings of the opera, some of the most popular being listed below:
[[Image:Labour83.GIF|right|thumb|160px|Logo introduced in 1983 after Labour's disastrous election campaign]]
===1983===
Led by Michael Foot, who was increasingly unpopular with the public, the party went into the [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]] with a manifesto dominated by the politics of the party's left-wing, but considered by some socialists to be too watered down by Foot's indecisiveness and pressure from the party's right-wing to be truly convincing. The manifesto contained pledges to unilaterally disarm Britain's nuclear deterrent, withdraw from the [[European Community]] (EC), and pledged a programme of mass [[nationalisation]] of industry. A symptom of the divisions in the party was that the leading members of the right-wing had not resisted the manifesto, because they hoped that what they saw as an impending inevitable landslide defeat would discredit the policies. The 1983 manifesto was famously described by the senior Labour politician [[Gerald Kaufman]] as being 'the longest suicide note in history'.
* [[Karl Elmendorff]] conducting the Bayreuther Festspiele Orchester with Gunnar Graarud as Tristan and Nanny Larsen-Todsen as Isolde, 1928 (Columbia Records, mono, rereleased in 2003 on CD by Naxos)
The right-wing press wasted no time in attacking the party's manifesto, and Labour's chances of electoral success were further damaged by the fact that the Thatcher government's popularity was on the rise after successfully guiding the country to victory in the [[Falklands War]]. This bolstered Thatcher who had been low in the polls due to a severe economic downturn.
* Thomas Beecham/Fritz Reiner conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior, 1936 – 1937 (EMI, mono)
After suffering a landslide defeat at the 1983 election, Michael Foot immediately resigned. He was replaced by [[Neil Kinnock]], who though initially a firebrand left-winger, had generally supported Foot and was seen as a more pragmatic leader. Through his leadership Kinnock progressively moved the party to the centre. He vastly intensified moves to expel left groups such as the [[Militant Tendency]] which represented left-wing views no longer supported by the party leadership, and further changed party policy to support EC membership. From [[1985]], [[Peter Mandelson]] as Director of Communications modernised the party's image.
* Wilhelm Furtwangler conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra with Kirsten Flagstad and Ludwig Suthaus, 1953 (EMI, mono)
===1987===
At the [[United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987 general election]], the party was again defeated in a landslide, but had established itself as the clear challengers to the Conservatives and had fought an effective campaign. Kinnock easily retained the party leadership when challenged from the left in [[1988]] and continued his reform of the party. The Labour Party ceased to be unilateralist in early [[1989]], and embarked on a thorough Policy Review.
* Karl Bohm conducting the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra with Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen, 1966 (Deutsche Grammophon, stereo)
===1992===
By the time of the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 general election]], the party had reformed to such an extent that it was perceived as a credible candidate for government. Most opinion polls during the campaign showed the party with a slight lead over the Conservatives although rarely with a lead sufficient to give a majority. However, the party ended up 8% behind the Conservatives in the popular vote, a result which was considered one of the biggest surprises in British electoral history. In the party's post mortem on why it had lost, it was considered that the 'Shadow Budget' announced by [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] had opened the way for Conservatives to attack the party for wanting to raise taxes. In addition Neil Kinnock's seeming triumphalism at a party rally in [[Sheffield]] eight days before polling day gave the impression that victory had already been achieved.
* Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Helga Dernesch and Jon Vickers, 1972 (EMI, stereo)
Kinnock resigned after the defeat, blaming the overwhelming preponderance of Conservative-supporting newspapers for Labour's failure. [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]], despite his involvement with the Shadow Budget, was easily elected to succeed him over [[Bryan Gould]] who was identified with the soft left. Smith's leadership saw a degree of tension between those who preferred progressive change and others who identified as 'modernisers' and advocated a further wholesale revision of the party's stance. At the [[1993]] conference, Smith successfully changed the party rules so that trade unions had less say in the selection of candidates to stand for Parliament by introducing a [[one member, one vote]] system, but only just carried the day after a barnstorming speech by [[John Prescott]] and compromising on other matters in individual negotiations. However in May 1994, Smith died suddenly from a heart attack.
* Carlos Kleiber conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle with Margaret Price and Rene Kollo, 1982 (Deutsche Grammophon, stereo)
==New Labour==
"New Labour" is an alternative name for Labour Party which originated in 1994. The name is primarily used by the party itself in its literature but is also sometimes used by political commentators and the wider [[mass media|media]]; it was also the basis of a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] poster campaign of 1997, headlined "New Labour, New Danger". The rise of the name coincided with a rightwards shift of the British political spectrum; for Labour, this was a continuation of the trend that had begun under the leadership of [[Neil Kinnock]]. "Old Labour" is sometimes used by commentators to describe the older, more left-wing members of the party, or those with strong Trade Union connections.
The name "New Labour" originates from a conference slogan first used by the Labour Party in [[1994]], which was later seen in a draft [[manifesto]] published by the party in [[1996]], called ''New Labour, New Life For Britain''. However the term was intended to incorporate a wider [[brand|rebranding]] of the party in the eyes of the electorate. The new name coincided with the re-writing of [[Clause IV]] of the party's constitution in [[1995]]. [[Peter Mandelson]] was a senior figure in this process, and exercised a great deal of authority in the party following the death of [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] and the subsequent election of [[Tony Blair]] as party leader.
=== Video ===
[[Tony Blair]], [[Gordon Brown]], [[Peter Mandelson]] and [[Alastair Campbell]] are most commonly cited as the creators and architects of the New Labour ethos. They were among the most prominent advocates of the right-wing shift in European [[social democracy]] during the [[1990s]], known as the "[[Third Way]]". The use of "New" echoes slogans in [[Politics of the United States|American politics]], particularly those of the Democratic Party, such as [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]], [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's]] [[New Frontier]]
* ''Tristan und Isolde'' [[Conductor]]: Karl Bohm. ORTF orchestra. Soloists: Brigitte Nilsson, Jon Vickers; 1973, at the Theatre Antique, Orange, France. Despite some technical problems and limited commercial distribution, it is still the finest video recording for its powerful performance (as of 2005-11-21).
and [[Bill Clinton|Clinton's]] [[New Covenant]].
* ''Tristan und Isolde'' [[Conductor]]: [[Daniel Barenboim]], Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Staged and Directed by: [[Jean-Pierre Ponnelle]], Soloists: René Kollo, Johanna Meier, Matti Salminen, Hermann Becht, Hanna Schwarz, Unitel 1983, [[Laserdisc]] Philips 070-509-1
New Labour (as a series of values) is often characterised as a belief in 'rights and duties', i.e. that a citizen should recognise that s/he possesses responsibilities linked with any legal rights they hold. The concept of a 'stakeholder society' is quite prominent in New Labour thinking. As noted above, New Labour thought also embraces the notion of the "Third Way", although critics pointed to the lack of any concise statement of its meaning, and the term later fell from use. Labour's economic policy sought to balance the laissez-faire capitalism of the Thatcherite era with measures that would lessen or reverse their negative impact on society. One of the most popular policies introduced was Britain's first [[National Minimum Wage Act]].
Tony Blair secured the revision of [[Clause IV]] of the party constitution, which had been adopted in [[1918]], and which committed the party to 'the [[common ownership]] of the means of production'. This was widely interpreted in the past as a policy of [[nationalisation]]:
:"To secure for all the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry of service."
A special conference of the party approved the change in [[March]] [[1995]]. The key phrase of the new clause IV is:
:"The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each one of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect."
An earlier attempt to modify clause IV, by [[Hugh Gaitskell]], had failed, after which most Labour leaders regarded it as a distraction. Tony Blair was, however, determined to signal his mastery of the party and his complete rejection of those policies, such as nationalisation, which were seen to damage Labour.
[[Image:Labour manifesto 97.jpg||thumb|The cover of Labour's [[1997 general election]] [[manifesto]]|right]]
The name change coincided with a dramatic revival of the party's fortunes. The "modernisation" of Labour party policy, and the unpopularity of the Conservative government, greatly increased Labour's appeal to "[[middle England]]". The party was concerned not to put off potential voters who had previously supported the Conservatives, and pledged to keep to the spending plans of the previous government, and not to increase the basic rate of income tax. Unexpectedly defeated for a fourth consecutive time in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 election]], the party won the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 election]] with a majority of 179. Following a period of government and in particular after a second and third election victory in [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]] and [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]], the name has diminished in significance in British political life. The Labour Party is generally referred to in the media as 'the Government' rather than 'New Labour'. However, the name is still used in party literature.
One of the first acts of the Labour government was to give the [[Bank of England]] operational independence in setting interest rates, a move that had not been foreshadowed in the manifesto or during the election campaign. Labour held to its pledges to keep to the spending plans set by the Conservatives, causing strain with those members of the party who had hoped that the landslide would lead to more radical policies. Left-wing MPs rebelled when the government moved to cut benefits paid to lone parents in December [[1997]]. The government also promoted wider use of [[Public Private Partnerships]] and the [[Private Finance Initiative]], which were opposed particularly by trade unions as a form of [[privatisation]].
The party won a further landslide majority (on a very low turnout) in [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]], the first time ever that the Labour Party won two successive full terms of office. The second term saw increases in public spending, especially on the [[National Health Service]], which the government insisted must be linked to the reforms it was proposing. Spending on education was likewise increased, with schools encouraged to adopt "specialisms". The Prime Minister's spokesman [[Alastair Campbell]] was much criticised by education professionals and teachers' trade unions when he stated that this policy meant the end of "the bog-standard [[Comprehensive Schools|comprehensive]]".
Labour's foreign policy kept it close to the [[United States]]. Tony Blair managed to persuade [[Bill Clinton]] to take a more active role in [[Kosovo]] in [[1999]], and UK forces assisted in the international coalition which attacked the [[Taliban]] regime in [[Afghanistan]] in [[2001]]. The UK was one of the allies of the United States that actually participated in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].The decision to engage in the conflict was met with much public disapproval, and many called Tony Blair's credibility into question when doubts emerged as to whether intelligence concerning Iraq's [[Weapons of mass destruction|Weapons of Mass Destruction]] was at all reliable. This loss of support contributed to the substantial reduction of Labour's majority in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 general election]].
The name "New Labour" has been widely satirised. Critics associate the new name with an unprecedented use of '[[spin doctor|spin doctoring]]' in the party's relationship with media. The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] attempted to tarnish the new Labour tag during the 1997 election campaign using the slogan 'New Labour, New Danger'. After [[Gordon Brown]]'s budgets became more and more [[Keynesian]], ''[[Private Eye]]'' began to call the party 'New' Labour. Oddly, it continues to do so even in articles relating an example of privatisation or free-market initiatives by Labour (a frequent theme, especially in Doing the Rounds, the medical column, and In the Back, the investigative section), or other right-wing or [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] policies, in which context the ironic inverted commas would be more appropriate around "Labour" than around "New".
In left-wing circles, the name "New Labour" is used [[pejorative]]ly to refer to the perceived domination of the Labour Party by its right-wing.
==The Labour Party today==
[[Image:LabourCampaignPoster20050115 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg|333px|right|thumb|Labour, the incumbent party displayed campaign posters, even prior to the 2005 election being called. This one is seen in [[Brighton]] in mid-January, [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]].]]
The party's popularity has declined since 2001. Nevertheless, Labour won the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005| 2005 general election]] with a reduced majority of 66. Tony Blair has said he will serve a full third term, which implies that he will retire in 2010 at the very latest.
It is possible that Blair will retire earlier than that to allow time for his successor to settle in before another election campaign. If the pattern of recent elections is followed, the [[United Kingdom general election, 2009/10|next election]] will be held on [[June 11]], [[2009]] to coincide with elections to the [[European Parliament]]. This would suggest the announcement of Blair's resignation by Summer [[2008]] to allow for the leadership election and a "coronation" at the party conference in the autumn. Following the alleged [[Granita (restaurant)|Granita agreement]], [[Gordon Brown]], the long serving [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], is widely expected to succeed Blair and become Labour Leader and Prime Minister.
See also:
* [[Politics of the United Kingdom]]
==Leaders of the Labour Party since 1906==
From [[1906]] until [[1922]] the leader was formally "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party".
* [[Keir Hardie]] [[1906]]–[[1908]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1908]]–[[1910]]
* [[George Nicoll Barnes]] [[1910]]–[[1911]]
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] [[1911]]–[[1914]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1914]]–[[1917]]
* [[William Adamson]] [[1917]]–[[1921]]
* [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1921]]–[[1922]]
From [[1922]] until [[1970]], the leader was formally "Leader of the Labour Party" and "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party". However these two posts were occasionally split, usually when the party was in government or when the leader of the party did not sit in the [[House of Commons]].
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] [[1922]]–[[1931]]
* [[Arthur Henderson]] [[1931]]–[[1932]]
Arthur Henderson lost his seat in the Commons a couple of months after becoming leader. For the remainder of his leadership, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party was [[George Lansbury]].
* [[George Lansbury]] [[1932]]–[[1935]]
* [[Clement Attlee]] [[1935]]–[[1955]]
* [[Hugh Gaitskell]] [[1955]]–[[1963]] (died in office)
* [[Harold Wilson]] [[1963]]–[[1976]]
In [[1970]], the posts of "Leader of the Labour Party" and "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party" were split with the latter having no policy role.
* [[James Callaghan]] [[1976]]–[[1980]]
* [[Michael Foot]] [[1980]]–[[1983]]
* [[Neil Kinnock]] [[1983]]–[[1992]]
* [[John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith]] [[1992]]–[[1994]] (died in office)
* [[Margaret Beckett]] [[1994]]–[[1994]] (acting)
* [[Tony Blair]] [[1994]]–present
==Deputy leaders of the Labour Party since 1922==
* [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1922]]–[[1931]]
* Jointly [[John Robert Clynes]] [[1931]]–[[1932]] and [[William Graham]] [[1931]]–[[1932]] (died in office)
* [[Clement Attlee]] [[1932]]–[[1935]]
* [[Arthur Greenwood]] [[1935]]–[[1945]]
* [[Herbert Morrison (politician)|Herbert Morrison]] [[1945]]–[[1955]]
* [[James Griffiths]] [[1955]]–[[1959]]
* [[Aneurin Bevan]] [[1959]]–[[1960]]
* [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] [[1960]]–[[1970]]
* [[Roy Jenkins]] [[1970]]–[[1972]]
* [[Edward Short]] [[1972]]–[[1976]]
* [[Michael Foot]] [[1976]]–[[1980]]
* [[Denis Healey]] [[1980]]–[[1983]]
* [[Roy Hattersley]] [[1983]]–[[1992]]
* [[Margaret Beckett]] [[1992]]–[[1994]]
* [[John Prescott]] [[1994]]–present.
==See also==
*[[History of British Socialism]]
*[[List of organisations associated with the British Labour Party]]
*[[List of members of the British Labour Party]]
*[[UK topics]]
==Further reading==
* Raymond Plant, Matt Beech and Kevin Hickson (2004), ''The Struggle for Labour's Soul: understanding Labour's political thought since 1945'', Routledge
* [[Roy Hattersley]], ''[[New Statesman]]'', [[May 10]], 2004, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4687_133/ai_n6152909 'We should have made it clear that we too were modernisers']
==External links==
*[http://www.tip.net.au/~jgbrown/Tristan/discography/ Discography of ''Tristan und Isolde]
*[http://www.labour.org.uk Official website]
*[http://www.lambethlabourscarp.plus.com/TristanundIsolde.html The''Tristan Labourund PartyIsolde'' inlibretto] from the LondonWagner BoroughLibretto of Lambeth]Page
* [http://www.richard-wagner-postkarten.de/postkarten/tri.php Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde]. A gallery of historic postcards with motives from Richard Wagner's operas.
*[http://www.labourwandsworth.org.uk The Labour Party in the London Borough of Wandsworth]
*[http://www.labour-lini.org.uk Labour in Northern Ireland Campaign]
*[http://www.labour-party.org.uk/ Unofficial website, with an archive of Labour electoral manifestos from 1900-present and a directory of Labour Party websites, including constituency associations]
*[http://spinwatch.server101.com/modules.php?name=Encyclopedia&op=content&tid=320 SpinWatch profile - Labour Friends of Israel]
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Special Report: Labour Party]
* [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us552286/us526499/us526505/us10234373/us703545/us671216/us671218/ LookSmart - ''Labour Party''] directory category
* [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Parties/Labour/ Open Directory Project - ''Labour Party''] directory category
* [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Government/Politics/Parties/Labour_Party/ Yahoo! - ''Labour Party''] directory category
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