Strauss, Die Fledermaus, introduction

With this post I begin a series on the classic Viennese operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, jr. The series will continue the basic task of this blog—to document rising figures and especially cadence gestures in European and European-influenced music from roughly 1600 to 1950, with somewhat greater attention naturally falling on the 19th century. Now, however, I intend to put more emphasis on the expressive and dramatic functions of ascending cadence gestures in texted works. My method is quite simple: for each song or number I will ask the question, Why does an ascending melodic figure dominate the cadence(s) and not the clichéd falling version inherited from 18th century practice?

First, however, the overture, justly as famous as any of the vocal numbers. The design is one that was well known in the 19th century as the potpourri, but which has more recently been dubbed the "medley overture." That is to say, it doesn't follow the clichéd sonata or sonata-like design inherited from the 18th century and that was still present in many early to even mid-19th century opera overtures, but instead consists of a lively preview of important melodies to be encountered later. This early auditing of the show's tunes makes eminent dramatic sense, and it is hardly a surprise that the "medley overture" had almost completely replaced the old-fashioned sonata overture by 1874, the year that Die Fledermaus premiered.

The sections and their themes:

Allegro vivace 2/2
  --from Act 3, in no. 15, “Ja, ich bins, den Ihr betrogen”
Allegretto  4/4
  --same
. . . .
Allegretto 2/4
  --from Act 3, also in no. 15, “Was sollen diese Fragen hier?”
  --from Act 3, in no.16, “So erklärt mir doch”
Tempo di valse   3/4
  --from Act 2, the final section of no. 11, “Diese Tänzer mögen ruh’n”/"Stellt Euch zum Tanz"  First
    & second strain are recalled in Act 3, no. 13 (melodrama)
. . . .
Andante  3/4
  --from Act 1, no. 4, beginning, “So muß allein ich bleiben”
Allegro moderato  2/4
  --from Act 1, no. 4, “O je, O je, wie rührt mich dies”
Tempo ritenuto   2/4
  --reprise of “So erklärt mir doch”
Tempo di valse   3/4
  --reprise of “Diese Tänzer mögen ruh’n” / "Stellt Euch zum Tanz"
[Allegro moderato  2/4]
Più vivo
  --reprise of “O je, O je, wie rührt mich dies” and “Ja, ich bins, den Ihr betrogen”

Here is the list again, with musical excerpts:

--from Act 3, in no. 15, “Ja, ich bins, den Ihr betrogen”

--from Act 3, also in no. 15, “Was sollen diese Fragen hier?”

--from Act 3, in no.16, “So erklärt mir doch”

 --from Act 2, the final section of no. 11, “Diese Tänzer mögen ruh’n”/"Stellt Euch zum Tanz"

--from Act 1, no. 4, beginning, “So muß allein ich bleiben”

--from Act 1, no. 4, “O je, O je, wie rührt mich dies”

--reprise of “So erklärt mir doch”
--reprise of “Diese Tänzer mögen ruh’n” / "Stellt Euch zum Tanz"
--reprise of “O je, O je, wie rührt mich dies” and “Ja, ich bins, den Ihr betrogen”

There's little point in investigating  ascending cadences in the overture, since all the significant ones will show up again in the vocal numbers, where they are relevant to my concern in this series on gestures and text.

Adam, Le Châlet, part 2 (overture)

The overture to Le Châlet surprises in its length (greater than one would expect for the introduction to a one-act opera) and in the fact that only one of its melodies (the Allegro, below) appears later on.

The design has the elements of both potpourri and sonata that are typical of French opera overtures throughout this period. A pastoral opening in the tonic key (D major), then the dominant, leads to an Andantino section based on this melody:

An Allegro follows, with this principal theme

. . . and this secondary theme:

An extended and agitated coda to the secondary theme, largely in the dominant key, acts in a manner similar to the symphony development section, and then the principal theme returns in the tonic key. Following from that, another energetic and extended coda brings the overture to a conclusion.

The Allegro theme is a clearly articulated16-measure sentence with an expansion in the final phrase.

The four-measure basic idea sits squarely on ^1; its enlargement of the initial neighbor note (^1-^7-^1) over the entire phrase is memorable, while ^5 establishes itself as an obvious cover tone.

In the expansion of the continuation unit, this pairing of lower scale degree with an upper ^5 suddenly becomes relevant in the cadence, when ^5 sweeps up to ^8 at the last moment.

The structural cadence of the overture (that is, the strongly defined cadence to the tonic that initiates the coda) uses this same ascending figure (circled).

In the piano reduction, the registers are not as clear as they might be. The ottava marking at the beginning of the example reflects the addition of flute and piccolo; the first violins remain in the fifth octave—see the box in the parts extracted from the score below.

Note especially that the first violins do move upward from A5 to D6 in the cadential moment (see the box in the example below). The score, incidentally, was published within a month or two of the premiere, an engraved publication of 260 pages that is another sign of the opera's commercial success. The facsimile, on IMSLP, is a scan made through a collaboration between the libraries of the Royal Conservatory Antwerp and Brigham Young University. More information can be found in the entry on the Internet Archive: link.