The Complete Opera Book / The Stories of the Operas, together with 400 of the Leading Airs and Motives in Musical Notation

by Gustav Kobbé

The search for Falstaff by Ford and his followers is most humorously treated in the score.

In Act III, in the opening scene, in which Falstaff soliloquizes over his misadventures, the humour, so far as the music is concerned, is conveyed by the orchestra.

From Fenton's song of love, which opens the scene at Herne's oak in Windsor forest, I quote this expressive passage:

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(Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)

Another delightful solo in this scene is Anne's "Erriam sotto la luna" (We'll dance in the moonlight).

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