Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour

[6] Carl Dahlhaus cites the piece as an example of the duplicity of musical banality: in the period of Wagner, when serious opera was marked by chromaticism, Offenbach used the Barcarolle's very consonance to give a sinister feel to the act throughout which it recurs.

Dahlhaus attributes this effect to the contrast between the "physical" presence of the vocal line and the ethereal feel of the instrumental introduction, creating a "mirage."

"[7] The Barcarolle does not originate in The Tales of Hoffmann; it was written in 1864 for Offenbach's Die Rheinnixen, where it is sung as "Komm' zu uns" by the chorus of elves in the third act.

[3][4] The Barcarolle inspired English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji to write his Passeggiata veneziana sopra la Barcarola di Offenbach (1955–56).

Blues (1960), where a jazzed-up version becomes the tune for Elvis Presley's "Tonight is so Right for Love",[11] Dad's Army ("Time on my Hands", 1972), where it is identified as a "German" classical song with a swing rhythm,[12] Margaret (2011),[13] and Midnight in Paris (2011).

[14] It is also the tune of "Adrift on a Star" from the musical The Happiest Girl in the World,[15] of Ophelia's song in the Gilligan's Island episode "The Producer",[16] and is used by Sherlock Holmes to set a trap for the criminals in The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone.

[17] Bob Dylan's song "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You", from his album Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), quotes from the Barcarolle in the guitar accompaniment.

[21] Barcarolle, Tales of Hoffmann has been recounted by many first class passengers on the RMS Titanic as the final piece of music played on April 14th 1912 at the after dinner concert.

As the countess would relate to historian Walter Lord, she was with friends at a London restaurant in the spring of the following year when she was suddenly overcome with emotion.