Die Frist ist um from Der fliegende Holländer

Although it is headed “Aria” in the score, Die Frist ist um, in which the Dutchman gives voice to the agonies of a curse that denies him even death as a means of escape from it, is actually an early example of the Wagnerian monologue. There seems to be some resemblance to convention at first, where the opening slow section could be taken as a recitative and the quicker “Wie oft in Meeres tiefsten Schlund,” which so effectively recalls the storm music from the overture, as an aria. But, in fact, this second section follows no set pattern and goes its own spontaneously expressive way. The rest of the monologue, “Dich frage ich” connected to the previous passage by a quiet drum roll, and the passionate “Nur eine Hoffnung soll mir bleiben,” is highly dramatic, powerfully eloquent declamatory recitative, ending with a massively orchestrated vision, echoing with the Dutchman’s motif, of “eternal annilhilation” as the ultimate salvation.