funeral, which I care not how soon it come." In Zweig's libretto, the charade has served a benign purpose: Morosus realizes his folly and states "You did the right thing, rag a fool and thrash his stupidity". Morosus now has all he wants: a loving nephew as his heir, an admiring "daughter in law" and most of all the peace and quiet he has been seeking. Thus the comedy is more about the transformation of the old man rather as in Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol where the fantastical events transform Scrooge. Sir Morosus has the final word in an aria which has become the best known part of the opera "Wie schön ist doch die Musik". Instrumentation The opera uses an orchestra with the following instrumentation: 3 flutes (piccolo), 2 oboes, Cor Anglais, D-clarinet, 2 clarinets in B-flat and A, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (contrabassoon) 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba Timpani Percussion (3–4 players) glockenspiel, xylophone, 4 large bells, small bells, side drum, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, tambourine, rattle, castanets Harp, celesta, harpsichord Strings 14, 12, 8, 8, 6 Stage band: Trumpets, organ, Bagpipes, Drums Recordings All the recordings are of cut versions of the opera except for the 1977 one led by Marek Janowski. In staged performances cuts of 25–30% of the music are not uncommon. The full running time is about 3 hours. The closing monologue "Wie schön ist doch die Musik" has been recorded by many basses and bass baritones, including Hans Hotter, Kurt Moll, Thomas Quasthoff, and Matti Salminen. The last three notes of this aria are three sustained B flats (B♭2). When this aria is performed in recital, basses who have the note sometimes sing the last of the three down an octave, which is B♭1 (e.g., Matti Salminen). However, this is not indicated as an option in the score . References Notes Sources Kennedy, Michael, in Holden, Amanda (ed.) (2001), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. . Trenner, Franz. Richard Strauss Chronik, Verlag Dr Richard Strauss Gmbh, Wien, 2003. . Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, English Libretto Operas by Richard Strauss 20th-century classical music German-language operas Operas 1935 operas Stefan Zweig Collection Operas based on plays Operas set in England Works by Stefan Zweig