The Scrivener: Another look at Mozart's 'The Magic Flute', Part 4
...Light and darkness, day and night, sun and moon, and simply white and black, can all be viewed as pairs of opposites which have their own special relationships. They are all used in 'The Magic Flute' and they all appear in one way of another in Freemasonry...
Continuing his series of articles illuminating what is perhaps the most popular opera ever written, Brian Barratt suggests that what we read into Mozart's "The Magic Flute'' depends on our own particular viewpoint.
Serious business
Although Mozart wrote several musical works for use in Masonic lodges, 'Die Zauberflöte' is not a 'Masonic opera'. It combines pantomime and hints of serious Masonic business in a single engaging but perhaps confusing piece of entertainment.
In his music, Mozart alludes to aspects of Lodge ritual, just as Emmanuel Schikaneder alludes to it in the libretto. There are also veiled, or not so veiled, references to the contemporary dispute between the Roman Catholic Church and the growing Masonic movement.
The number three is used in several ways. This in itself is not unusual in musical works, but its frequency and significance in this opera are worth noting.
— The distinctively strong musical bar which opens the overture is repeated three times, and variations of it are used on other occasions during the opera.
— Prince Tamino is given a choice of three doors for his entry to the Temple of Wisdom.
— Among the characters there are three ladies who represent threat and three boys who represent purity.
— Two sets of three principles are referred to: Nature, Reason, Wisdom and Brotherhood, Tolerance, Silence.
— The three boys warn Tamino, the hero, to be 'standhaft, duldsam, und verschwiegen', resolute, patient, and discreetly silent. These find an echo in the charge after initiation in some actual rituals as Secrecy, Fidelity and Obedience.
>From a Masonic point of view, the symbolism of light and dark is also important. The hero Tamino asks 'When will this darkness be cast aside?' to be told, 'When the hand of friendship has led you into the shrine'. Failure is still possible, implied by the ominous answer, 'Soon, or never!' to his further question, 'When will I see the light?' Although their roles are initially somewhat unclear, we see in the end that Sarastro, the High Priest, represents the light which overcomes the darkness of the Queen of the Night.
Much is made of the three Ordeals of silence, water and fire through which Tamino must pass before he is initiated. Indeed, he is warned that he could die in the process. This process does not accurately represent Masonic ritual but is an imaginative interpretation of the symbolic ordeals which are enacted in a Lodge. The nervous and talkative bird-catcher, Pagageno, is given some leeway when he undergoes similar trials. Both are rewarded — they are united with the ladies they so much desire, Pamino and Papagena.
There is one black-skinned character in the opera, Monostatos. He is Sarastro's Captain of the Guard, usually portrayed as an evil Moor. Along with the Queen of the Night, he is finally vanquished by Sarastro. It has been suggested that, from a Masonic point of view, he represents the black of the black and white Mosaic pavement on the floor of a Masonic lodge. The white counterpart would be Tamino. These seem to be dubious assumptions. Another possibility is that he represents an actual person of the time, seen as an enemy.
Light and darkness, day and night, sun and moon, and simply white and black, can all be viewed as pairs of opposites which have their own special relationships. They are all used in 'The Magic Flute' and they all appear in one way of another in Freemasonry. Exactly how much we read into the opera depends on where we are standing.
© Copyright Brian Barratt 2008, 2011
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