Here - Society for Music Analysis

Narratological duplicity in Strauss' DieFledermausStrauss’ Die Fledermaus has a light-hearted plot based on the Viennese festival, Fasching. Thecelebrations are marked by heavy drinking, masked balls and social levelling, themes inherent in theoperetta leading to intrigue, misdirection and mistaken identity, both accidental and purposeful. Theduplicitous nature of this plot is ostensibly frivolous but a topical analysis of the musical narrativeleads to the recognition of a satirical subplot based on Wiener Schmäh [“Viennese charm”, referringto their often ironic or mocking humour] in which Strauss employs the topical equivalency ofleitmotif to highlight the immoral and artificial natures of the characters. At every majordevelopment of the intrigue, with each new lie, Strauss has used one of the two topoi associatedwith Austrian national identity: the waltz or the polka. The use of these topics in this way redoublestheir significations; not only do they signify to the audience that a duplicitous act has occurred, butthe original high-class associations of the waltz combine with this notion of duplicity to give an ironicview of aristocratic Vienna.Danielle HoodUniversity of Leedsdaniellesutcliffe@yahoo.co.ukA/V Requirements: powerpoint and CD player.