The atmospheric material of the slow introduction to the Overture comes from the last scene, set at night by Herne’s Oak in Windsor Forest. As Falstaff’s tormentors enter, disguised as fairies, the tempo accelerates to allegro vivace, its lightly articulated main theme eventually being offset by a lovely lilting, waltz-like melody on violins – a melody which, though it is one of the best in the whole score, never appears in the opera itself.