Stephen Downes places Henze's Tristan in its wider context and in the context of Henze's compositional output and writings. He considers Henze's description of the genesis of the work by examining row tables and sketches, draft and annotated parts, and a full score with corrections and conductor's annotations. Key concepts in the critical legacy of Tristan are discussed and the book concludes by considering Henze's later works. The book is accompanied by a CD containing the 1975 DG recording of Tristan conducted by Henze.