etween Dame Quickly and
Falstaff, in which the instrumentation runs the whole gamut of
ironical humor. Then follows the scene between Ford and Falstaff, in
which the very clink of the money, and Falstaff's huge chuckles, are
deliberately set forth in the orchestra with a realism which is the
very height of the ridiculous, the scene closing with an expressive
declamation by Ford ("Do I dream? Or, is it reality?"). The second
scene of the act is mainly devoted to the ludicrous incident of the
buck-basket, which is accompanied by most remarkable instrumentation;
but there are one or more captivating episodes; such as Dame Quickly's
description of her visit ("'Twas at the Garter Inn") and Falstaff's
charming song ("Once I was Page to the Duke of Norfolk").

The third act opens in the Inn of the Garter, and discloses Falstaff
soliloquizing upon his late disagreeable experiences:--

"Ho! landlord!
Ungrateful world, wicked world,
Guilty world!
Landlord! a glass of hot sherry.
Go, go thy way, John Falstaff,
With thee will cease the type
Of honesty, virtue, and might."

As the fat Knight soliloquizes and drinks his sack the orchestra takes
part in a trill given out by piccolo, and gradually taken by one
instrument after the other, until the whole orchestra is in a hearty
laugh and shaking with string, brass, and wood wind glee. Then enters
Dame Quickly, mischief-maker, and sets the trap at Herne's Oak in
Windsor Forest, into which Falstaff readily falls. The closing scene
is rich with humor. It opens with a delightful love-song by Fenton
("From those sweet lips a song of love arises"). The conspirators
enter one after the other, and at last Falstaff, disguised as the
sable hunter. The elves are summoned, and glide about to the delicious
fairy music accompanying Nannetta's beautiful song ("While we dance in
the moonlight"). From this point the action hastens to the happy
denouement, and the work concludes with a fugue which is imbued with
the very spirit of humor and yet is strictly constructed. While the
vocal parts are extraordinary in their declamatory significance, the
strength of the opera lies in the instrumentation, and its charm in
the delicious fun and merriment which pervades it all and is aptly
expressed in the closing lines:--

"All in this world is jesting.
Man is born to be jolly,
E'en from grief some happiness wresting
Sure proof against melancholy."

WAGNER.

Richard Wagner