In his analysis of Tristan und Isolde, Roger North has drawn attention to the
similarity between a motif in Parsifal and one of the basic motives in
Tristan und Isolde in its inverted form. The last four notes of the example above
appear to be associated, in Parsifal, with Remorse. The
example is taken from the scene between Gurnemanz and Parsifal in act I, where the old knight
induces feelings of shame in the youth. The same motif appears in the vocal line during the
first Grail scene, in Amfortas' Ach, Erbarmen!
.
Interestingly, the identical motif in Tristan und Isolde represents Tristan's Dishonour, as the inversion of the basic motif representing his Honour.
Remorse