This work confidently embraces the European traditions of symphonic writing, and does not suffer in comparison with the symphonic poems of Richard Strauss; yet it is among Elgar's most distinctly English inspirations. Falstaff works both as a portrait of a larger-than-life character ("not only witty in [him]self, but the cause that wit is in others") and as an evocation of the colorful and confident England of Shakespeare's Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V. Here, Falstaff the man is the "knight, gentleman and soldier"—a high-living, hard-drinking giant of a man, full of braggadocio and ready humor—rather than the pathetic buffoon of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The characters of Sir John and Prince Hal are deftly drawn in music; contrasting themes underline their uneasy relationship. There is also room for placid "interludes" such as "Gloucestershire, Shallow's Orchard," which serve as reminders of Elgar's unerring skill at orchestral landscape-painting.

Falstaff is indeed very pictorial music; in scene after scene, characters and places come to life through evocations of color, rhythm and melodic contour.

The sequence depicting Falstaff's death inevitably recalls the closing section of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote, but it is without Strauss' more extroverted dramatics. Snatches of old songs run through the old knight's head until, to the sound of muffled drums, he breathes his last—a gentleman to the last.

Falstaff is an extremely effective piece of musical storytelling; it is vivid, engaging, and full of gentle humor. However, its purely musical construction would give complete satisfaction without knowing anything about Shakespeare's plays, or the times in which he lived.

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