Thursday, May 17, 2018

Strauss, Die Fledermaus n12, Act III, Entre'act & n13, Melodrama

The scene for Act III is the jail. The Entre'act--which functions as the introduction to Act III--helps switch locations for the audience in that it is a reprise of all of the Vogelhaus march, both the 2/4 and 6/8 sections. In the course of that, the powerful (con forza) cadence is repeated:


In n13, Frank has returned to the jail and settles down, all the while recalling pleasant memories (and, of course, several musical fragments) of the evening's party, including the Prince's toast, with its ascending cadence gesture. At the end of the melodrama (that is, a scene of action--or in this case rather less and less action) he falls asleep.