History of the work
The starting date of Mozart’s composition is unknown. Work on Die Zauberflöte was interrupted by his Requiem and La Clemenza di Tito. The libretto was originally attributed solely to Emanuel Schikaneder, who with his wife managed the suburban Theatre auf der Wieden in Vienna where Die Zauberflöte debuted. Later it was discovered that the libretto was co-written by Carl Ludwig Giesecke (he claimed to have penned all but the Papageno scenes), a minor member of Schikaneder’s company who stage managed and played First Slave in the premier. Zauberoper, Magic Opera, was a popular genre in Vienna at the time. Papageno’s aria was a popular Viennese tune.
Mozart and Schikaneder were both Viennese masons, though the latter was expelled from his lodge in 1789 having reached only the second degree, Companion. Mozart was initiated in March 1784 and progressed rapidly to the third degree, Master Mason. Giesecke also became a freemason in his lifetime. After leaving the theatre, he was a professor of mineralogy at the University of Dublin.
Mozart conducted the first performance of Die Zauberflöte on September 30, 1791. Schikaneder sang Papageno, and Constanze Mozart’s sister sang the Queen of the Night. The opera was an immediate success. The playbill for the premier bore a symbolic engraving of the Masonic Cabinet of Reflection.
Historical Context
The Ancient and Venerable Order of Freemasons was established in London on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, 1717. These Johannislogen, or St. John’s Lodges, spread throughout Europe and into North America. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was an enemy of Masons. Her successor Joseph II supported but limited Masonic activity in his realm, condensing the number of Viennese lodges from eight to three, limiting total membership to 360 and requiring lists of members to be provided to the police. Bickering within the Lodges ensued, with some prominent resignations. Leopold II succeeded Joseph in 1790, and while he was strict in his exclusion of Masonic imagery in Burgtheater works, he was more lenient with Singspiels. When Die Zauberflöte was written, Freemasonry had come to be suspected of anti-monarchic tendencies, and to be associated with the French Revolution and a 1791 conspiracy to overthrow the Emperor in Austria.
Die Zauberflöte has been described as several different historical allegories. In one, the Queen of the Night is said to be Empress Maria Theresa, with Sarastro as her successor, Joseph II. In another, the Queen and the Empress are still one, but with Joseph II as Tamino and Pamina as the Austrian people. Another interpretation sees the piece in context of the French Revolution, with the Queen as Louis XIV, Tamino as the French people, and Pamina as “liberty.”
Sources of the Libretto
Dchinnistan, an anthology of oriental tales published in 1786. Includes a story called Oberon in which a magic horn disables enemies by making them dance (like Monostatos and the Slaves) and a story entitled Lulu, oder Die Zauberflöte by Lieberkind complete with a magic flute, a fairy queen, and her beautiful kidnapped daughter.
Kaspar der Fagottist, oder Die Zauberzither was a contemporary work and based on similar sources, but the storyline and particularly the morals diverged.
Thamos, König in Ägypten. This earlier work, with music composed by Mozart, included Light vs. Night themes, a symbolic kidnapping by priests of the Sun, and a marriage of the initiated.
Zaide an unfinished Singspiel by Mozart begun in 1779, contains the scene in which Tamino sings of Pamina’s portrait almost verbatim. Falling in love with a portrait was a stage convention of the period, appearing also in Gluck’s Die fruhen Graber in 1770.
Sethos, histoire ou vie tirée des monuments, anecdotes de l’ancienne Egypte…traduit d’un manuscript grec. This novel was published anonymously in 1731, and passed as a historical authority on Egyptian mysteries into the 19th century. It was eventually found to be a well-researched hoax attributed to Abbé Jean Terrasson. Sethos is an Egyptian prince in the century before the Trojan War. The first part of the story treats on his education and initiation. The second part describes his travels as a universal lawgiver to savage African tribes. In the third part Sethos retires to a college of initiates in Egypt. The story includes Three Ladies and a Queen of the Night character in the form of Sethos’ mother-in-law Daluca. A serpent attack similar to the opening scene of Die Zauberflöte also appears. Before it was revealed as a hoax, the novel was considered a “holy” text by many Masons. Parts of its text are produced verbatim in the libretto.
Baron Ignaz von Born was a prominent champion of the Enlightenment (the core ideas of which heavily influenced the Freemasons) and Masonic theoretician in Vienna. He published a study on the Egyptian mysteries which is referenced and even quoted directly in Die Zauberflöte. He was general secretary of the Grand Lodge of Austria, but resigned following the consolidation of Viennese Lodges order by Joseph II. He is frequently referred to as the inspiration for the character of Sarastro. He was also a master mineralogist/alchemist.
Alternative Interpretations
There are several theories explaining the text, though none as lengthily researched as the Masonic interpretation. In particular, many scholars before Chailley sought a historical explanation for what they considered the “shift” in the libretto from sympathy for the Queen to sympathy for Sarastro and his cohorts, including Tamino’s decision to become initiated in an order about which he knows so little. Some thought that it coincided with Schikaneder’s seeing a production of Kaspar der Fagottist, oder Die Zauberzither at a competing theatre, and fearing that his story was following too similar a line.
Mozart scholars Jean and Brigitte Massin theorize that the story unfolds through Tamino’s eyes: he believes the Queen in the beginning, and then sees the light when he becomes an initiate. Chailley points out that this interpretation is anachronistic for a suburban 18th century theatre.
Dorothy Koenigsberger suggests that the story is heavily influenced by alchemy: alchemical love, rites of purification, and the quest for self-perfection (turning the self into gold, so to speak). Alchemy and mineralogy were inextricably linked at this time. Giesecke, who co-wrote the libretto, went on to become a Professor of Mineralogy in Dublin. Born, the inspiration for Sarastro, was also a mineralogist/alchemist. Chailley points out that the Queen’s dialogue with Pamina in Act II (cut from Schirmer’s page 98, but photocopied from Chailley page 93) could have close affinities with the world of alchemy.
In her 1979 article “Layers of Meaning in The Magic Flute” Jocelyn Godwin applied the concept of Jungian animus and anima to Pamina and Tamino. She also explored the opera’s psychological relationship to esoteric cults.
Freemasonry
Central Ideas. Freemasonry was heavily influenced by Enlightenment ideals. In particular, the virtues of Strength, Beauty and Wisdom were emphasized. Forgiveness, Truth, Brotherhood/Friendship, and Discretion, especially concerning anything seen or heard in the Lodge, were also important principles.
Degrees of Membership. There are three degrees of membership in Masonic Lodges: “Entered Apprentice”, “Fellow Craft” (or “Companion”), and “Master Mason”.
Rites of Initiation. Before trials, the Lodge members vote on their willingness to consider a candidate for initiation. This first vote, if affirmative, is followed by an inquiry, carried out by three brothers, who report their findings to the Lodge members. A second vote ensues, and if affirmative is followed by an interview of the blindfolded candidate in the Temple. This motivates a third vote. If it is favorable the candidate proceeds to the trials.
The ritual dress of initiation included uncovered knees and chest, with feet bare or nearly bare.
As part of the initiation rite, the initiate would lie down perfectly still as if in death. This symbolized death in his former life that he might be reborn into his new life.
Rites begin with the processional entrance of the Brothers into the Temple, accompanied by music. Wind instruments, symbolic of the masculine element of Air, were frequently used in Masonic music. There follows an invocation to Isis and Osiris (in the Egyptian rite), and then a prayer to the Great Architect.
The Rite of Initiation continues with the Expert knocking at the Temple door, and vouching for the initiate to the Venerable within. The Brothers simulate deliberation before giving their final approval. The initiate is introduced blindfolded into the Temple. The Venerable addresses the initiate, and then hands him back to the Expert, who brings him to the trial.
Earth Trial The initiate is stripped of all metal objects (they are symbols of impurities), and led to the Cabinet of Reflection. It is a room painted black with macabre decorations: skulls, skeletons, teardrops, inscriptions in white lettering inviting the profane man to renounce his purpose if his intention is sordid or selfish. One inscription is “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” which stands for “Visita Interiorem Terrae, Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem” (Visit the Interior of the Earth by Following the Right Road and You Will Find the Hidden Stone). There is also a rooster represented in the room, invoking the impending “sunrise” of the initiate’s wisdom. The blindfold is removed and the initiate is left alone for a long time to fill out a “philosophic Testament” questionnaire. Finally he is re-blindfolded and led into the Temple, where the Brothers comment on the Testament and then burn it. The initiate is taken away, and the Brothers cast one more vote.
Air Trial is representative of the difficulties, obstacles, threats that must be faced in human life.
Trial by Fire is accompanied by the clanking of Armor, to symbolize the battles men go through.
Upon completion of the Trials, the blindfolded initiate enters the Temple. His blindfold is removed and the brilliant lights dazzle him. This is representative of the “illumination of Knowledge, coming immediately after the night of Ignorance”.
“Conjugal Avowal” or “Masonic Marriage” was a ceremony intended to introduce a wife to the Lodge without initiating her. During the proceedings the brothers form a human chain with a break at the husband’s place. Then Venerable then expresses a wish to see the man in his fraternal place, and encourages the wife to lead him to his position in the chain of Brothers.
Lodges of Adoption. Lodges of Adoption were officially recognized in France in 1774. They remained in constant conflict with, and were never fully accepted by, the male Lodges they were designed to imitate. Lodges of Adoption admitted female initiates, and were devoted to charitable works. The officers of such lodges were male, however. Their three levels of initiation mirrored the Masonic, but with different ceremonies. To attain Apprenticeship status, a female initiate was required to symbolically hold a serpent in her hands. To reach the second level, Companion, she was to taste an apple without biting into its core; the apple, then cut in half, revealed a pentagram (5 is a feminine number) at its center. She then received the “seal of discretion” on her mouth. These rites reference the Garden of Eden and the fall of Man as caused by Eve. Women covet access to the Tree of Knowledge (Masonic male initiate knowledge), but must resist its temptation, as only men are capable of understanding it. Roses played a prominent role in female initiation rites. A golden padlock also appeared in Adoption ceremonies, representing the importance of silence; live birds were similarly used as a warning against female curiosity. The bird was a symbol of woman’s ineffectiveness.
Cagliostro’s Masonry. Around 1784 a famous adventurer named Cagliostro founded his own form of Masonry, which admitted women to separate standard Lodges and elevated the male Lodges to a superior status. The seal of Cagliostro included a serpent pierced by an arrow with an apple in its mouth.
Freemason Images
The number 5 in traditional numerology refers to the woman within a couple; it also has connotations of fertility, love, union. It is the sum of the number 2 (solitary female, as it is the first even number) and the number 3 (solitary male, as it is the first odd, asymmetrical number). Sisters of the Lodges of Adoption would put five dots in a quincunx after their signatures.
The number 3 represents the solitary “male” principle. Masons would put three dots in a triangle after their signatures.
Night vs. Day
Moon vs. Sun
Female vs. Male These conflicting images are embodied in the Queen of the Night and Sarastro.
Earth, Air, Water, Fire The four elements feature in the Masonic initiation trials. Earth and Water are feminine, while Air and Fire are masculine.
Chailley’s Arc of the Piece
Chailley assigns an element to each of four characters: Pamina is Water, Tamino is Fire, Papageno is Air, and Monostatos is Earth. Under this, Papageno truly belongs to the world of Men, and Monostatos to the world of Women. That they are employed by the opposite kingdoms in the beginning is a sign of the disorder of the world. It is resolved at the end when Papageno is accepted (though not initiated) by Sarastro, and Monostatos joins the Queen in her final assault on the Temple.
Chailley mines the Queen’s dialogue with Pamina in Act II to reveal the back story of the opera. The reign of Pamina’s father represented the unformed state of matter before its division into male and female. Upon his death, the “treasures that were my private property” were left to the domain of Women; these do not include Wisdom, symbolized by Sun and Fire and left to the Initiates. “These matters are not accessible to your woman’s spirit. Your duty is to submit yourself completely, and your daughter also, to the direction of these Wise Men.” The Queen refuses to accept the domination of men, and uses her daughter to attempt to establish the supremacy of women, first by charming Tamino with her portrait and then by the attempted murder of Sarastro. Upon completion of their Trials, Tamino and Pamina will be united in the Perfect Couple, beginning the Golden Age after the resolution of the disorder of the Male-Female conflict.
Act I is divided into three parts: Tamino’s preparation for the trials (pages 1-46), Pamina’s preparation for the trials (pages 46a through 53), and admission to the trials (No. 8 Finale, pages 53 through 81).
Act II follows the Trials of four characters: Tamino, Pamina, Papageno, and Papagena. The former two will eventually succeed as the exalted Perfect Couple, each embodying all four elements. The latter two are doomed to fail; they represent the common people, who while good, cannot aspire to the wisdom of initiates. Papageno embodies only masculine Air and Fire, while Papagena is purely feminine Water and Earth.
Overture
Key of piece is E flat, frequently used in Masonic music because of the signature of 3 flats (3 the number of male significance).
Page 1: Opening chords: 5 total, in 1-2-2 pattern. 5 refers to the female in a couple, 2 to the solitary female. These chords are orchestrated for tutti, suggesting that women cannot attain the specialized initiate knowledge of men. The ensuing section (through page 5) evokes the chaotic female world.
Page 6: The second section of the Overture is opened with 9 chords in a 3-3-3 (short-long-long) pattern. This represents the knock of the Master Mason. They are orchestrated for wind instruments, which frequently took part in Masonic ceremony and were featured in Masonic music, and which evoke the secondary male element of Air. The ensuing section is a structured fugue that evokes the male world of order.
Page 9: The Overture concludes with 3 chords, possibly evoking the knock of the Apprentice Mason.
Act I
No. 1 Introduction
Page 10: Tamino originally appeared in “Japanese” or “Javanese” costume: Eastern, where the sun’s activity originates. He carries a bow, as a sign of his potential strength, but no arrows.
The serpent is a reference to Eden, a symbol of feminine weakness.
Page 11: Tamino faints, dying in his old life that he may be reborn in the new. This signifies the beginning of his initiation.
The Three Ladies were originally meant to be five (feminine number). They represent initiates into the Lodge of Adoption, constantly in conflict with the male Lodges. Their contact with the Serpent recalls Adoption initiation rite into Apprenticeship.
They enter with silver javelins. Silver is a feminine color, associated with the feminine moon.
Page 12: In engravings based on the original production, the serpent was cut into three pieces (masculine triumph over feminine evil).
Page 13: Unconscious Tamino is faced with the degraded love of feminine flirtatiousness.
No. 2 Song (Papageno)
Page 22: Papageno is a bird-catcher, clothed in feathers. In Lodge of Adoption rites, birds symbolize women’s frivolity. Papageno catches the futilities of women and sells them to the Queen and her Ladies for his subsistence. Papageno is an ordinary man, well-meaning but unworthy of initiation. He wants nothing loftier than a little wife, food and drink. He plays the panpipe, a wind instrument, symbolizing that he truly belongs to the world of men (Air is a masculine element), even though he is currently serving the world of women. However the panpipe has five (feminine) notes.
Page 23 (3rd verse): Papageno speaks of rocking his wife to sleep “like a child.” Women are like children, needing to be cared for by men and incomplete without them.
Dialogue
Page 24: The “star-flaming Queen”, “Goddess of the Night,” establishes that women rule the darkness.
The Ladies’ faces are veiled, recalling blindfold used in initiation rites.
Page 25: The padlock placed on Papageno is golden (a masculine color, as Silence is a masculine virtue). It also recalls the Ladies’ Adoption initiation rites into the second level, Companion.
The Three Ladies offer Tamino “happiness, honor, and glory” from the Queen. These rewards are external and shallow compared with the “strength, beauty, and wisdom” which will be offered by the Priests.
No. 3 Aria (Tamino)
Page 26: Tamino sings of Fire burning. Fire is a masculine element. Tamino can only know his beloved through her portrait until he has undergone trials, been purified by the Fire, become a complete man.
Dialogue
Page 28: Thunder and parting mountains, both evoking the female element of Earth, announces the Queen’s arrival.
No. 4 Recitative and Aria (Queen of the Night)
Page 31: The inhuman coloratura of the Queen’s aria sets up the hysteria of women criticized throughout the piece.
Dialogue
No. 5 Quintet
Page 36: “Love and Brotherhood”: two important principles for Freemasons.
Page 37: The Magic Flute is a wind (masculine Air) instrument.
Page 42: A Glockenspiel is made of metal or wood, both associated with the feminine element of Earth, and Papageno’s is silver in color, which associates it with the feminine world of Night and moon.
Page 44: “Three young boys” (masculine number), “handsome, sweet, and wise”: these qualities highlighted by the Three Ladies are the Masonic virtues Strength, Beauty, and Wisdom, except that they are young and so “sweet” instead of “strong”.
The Three Spirits replace the Three Ladies as guides at the threshold of Sarastro’s kingdom: they are male and capable of growing in knowledge, and so fit to trespass there.
Dialogue
Page 46a: Pamina attempted escape via a Canal (water). The slaves refer to her as a “shy deer”, an animal associated with moonlight and the Kingdom of the Night.
No. 6 Trio (Monostatos, Pamina, Papageno)
Page 47: Monostatos (from the Greek for “the isolated one”) despises women except as sexual objects: He says “My hate will you destroy” to Pamina.
Page 48: While unconscious, Pamina is faced with the degraded love of male lust, as part of her preparation for the trials.
Dialogue
No. 7 Duet (Pamina, Papageno)
Page 52: “Aspire to the godliness, Man and Woman” conjoined: this foreshadows the elevation of the perfect couple (Tamino and Pamina) at the end of the piece.
No. 8 Finale
Page 54: The Three Spirits: “In manly fashion…Be steadfast, tolerant and discreet.” These are principles of Masonry, discretion in particular. This scene corresponds to the initial inquiry conducted by three Brothers prior to a real Masonic initiation.
Chailley references original production engravings in which the Three Spirits carried silver palms as they guided Tamino to the Temple. Palms associated with the Sun, but Silver in color like the Moon, represent the transition from the Female to the Male realm.
Page 55: Tamino: “The wise counsel of these boys, be forever in me in the Heart engraved.” In his aria Tamino spoke of burning in his heart, associating this organ with the male element of Fire, and now speaks of engraving the wise Masonic counsel upon it.
Page 57: This scene with Tamino and the Priest corresponds to the real-life interview in the Temple with the blindfolded initiate. (Though Tamino is not blindfolded, he is refused admission to the Temple, and so is as effectively barred from seeing it). No vote of the Brothers occurs onstage, but as Tamino proceeds to the trials the outcome is affirmative.
Page 60: Priest: “A woman did then you beguile? A woman does little, chatters a lot, you, Youth, believe the Tongue’s game?” This recurring theme of discretion regarding women was also preached in Masonic temples.
Page 61: Speaker: “As soon as you are led by Friendship’s Hand into the Sanctuary to the eternal Assembly.” Tamino: “When will the Light my eyes find?” This passage seems a reference to the initiation trials.
Page 62: Tamino again references his heart, seat of Fire (manliness).
Page 66: The man, Papageno, must entreat the woman Pamina to be quiet.
Page 69: Monostatos, the Earth character, is charmed by the Glockenspiel, an earth instrument.
Page 71: “Only (the) Friendship’s Harmony relieves (the) Troubles, without this liking is no Happiness on Earth.”
Page 72: Pamina instructs Papageno to speak only “the Truth! Even if it be a Crime.” This sets her apart from the other women in the piece, who primarily lie. This quality makes her worthy of her eventual initiation.
Page 75: Sarastro: “A man must your Heart guide, for without him seeks each woman out of her usual domain to step.” Once again, he is referencing the Heart as an organ within the masculine domain. This could also be a dig at the Lodges of Adoption, which had male officers to keep the members focused on charitable works and not attaining to their male counterparts’ wisdom. The husbandless Queen of the Night steps out of bounds by trying to overthrow Sarastro.
Page 79: Sarastro: “Lead these two strangers into our Proving-temple, cover their heads then, they must first purified be.” This line of Sarastro’s sounds like a reference to the blindfold and early stages of a Masonic initiation.
ACT II
No. 9 March of the Priests
Page 82: Masonic rites began with the processional entrance of the Brothers, set to the music of wind instruments.
Page 82, repeat: The chords from the overture are repeated, representing the 3 by 3 knock of a Master Mason.
Dialogue
Page 83: Sarastro states that Tamino “waits at the northern portal of our temple;” the entrances to real Masonic temples were always East. The “Northern portal” is symbolic of where the sun’s light (Wisdom) neither originates nor concludes.
There are 3 priests.
This passage corresponds to the portion of a Masonic initiation in which the initiate is brought to the door of the Temple, the Expert vouches for him to the Venerable within, and the Brothers simulate debate before giving their final approval (the three horn blasts).
The Speaker expresses doubt that Tamino is capable of withstanding the trials, because he is a Prince. This reflects the Masons’ distrust of royalty.
No. 10 Aria and Chorus of the Priests
Page 83a: This invocation of Isis and Osiris reflects the Egyptian Mysteries aspect of Masonic ritual, heavily influenced by Sethos, and the prayer to the Great Architect.
Dialogue
Page 85: The Speaker (replacing the Expert of real Masonic ritual) leads Tamino and Papageno to the dark court of the Temple. This corresponds to the real-life Cabinet of Reflection, in which an initiate undergoes his Earth Trial. The thunder evokes Earth. The questioning by the Speaker and Priests corresponds to the “philosophic Testament” questionnaire that real initiates fill out while in the Cabinet.
No. 11 Duet (Two Priests)
Page 86: Again the Priests are emphasizing the importance of Discretion against women.
Dialogue
Page 86a: Papageno points out how the light (symbolizing Wisdom) disappears when the Priests leave.
No. 12 Quintet (Three Ladies, Papageno, Tamino)
Page 87: This scene corresponds to the real-life Examination of the Testament. It is the first part of the Test of Silence, against woman in her social frivolousness.
Page 88: “A wise man considers and pays no attention, to what the common Rabble says.” This scene is also a rebuttal of the accusations leveled at Freemasonry in contemporary Vienna, specifically that they were anti-monarch (“these Priests’ treacherous mind”) and sponsored the French Revolution that deposed Joseph II’s sister Marie Antoinette.
Page 95: “Desecrated is the holy Threshold, down with the Women to Hell!” Again, the Priests are emphasizing women’s incapability of Enlightenment.
Page 96: Papageno falls to the ground in a faint: this is the beginning of his Trials.
Dialogue
Page 96a: Tamino has survived his Earth Trial and Examination of the Testament. His head is veiled (blindfolded) and he is escorted by the Speaker (Expert) to his next Trial.
Change of Scene
Pamina is asleep under the rosebushes. Roses are a symbol of female initiation into the Lodges of Adoption. Pamina is unconscious, signaling the beginning of her Trials. Her trial by Earth occurs in the assault of Monostatos, the Earth character.
No. 13 Aria (Monostatos)
Page 98 second verse: Monostatos entreats the Moon to look away from his assault on Pamina. Though a slave to Sarastro, he is truly a creature belonging to the female world of the Night.
Dialogue
Page 98a: This scene with the Queen, and the next Dialogue with Sarastro, are Pamina’s Examination of the Testament, following her Trial by Earth. She succeeds by refusing to carry out the Queen’s plot.
No. 14 Aria (Queen of the Night)
Page 99: The Queen refuses to accept the domination of men, and uses her daughter to attempt to establish the domination of women by the attempted murder of Sarastro.
Dialogue
Page 103: The disorder of the world is beginning to be resolved: Monostatos, rejected by the world of Men, creeps off to create an alliance with the Queen of the Night, his rightful master.
No. 15 Aria (Sarastro)
Page 103a: Sarastro describes the Christian-humanist philosophy, with themes of Forgiveness, which heavily influenced Masonic thought.
Dialogue
Page 105b: This scene is Papageno’s Trial by Water; he complains of thirst, and then grumbles that it is only water the woman offers him. He is rejecting the feminine element.
No. 16 Trio (Three Spirits)
Page 106: Chailley references original production engravings in which the Three Spirits enter in a flying chariot. This and Tamino’s playing of the flute indicate that this is his Air Trial. The chariot is decorated with Roses, a sign of female initiation, indicating that Pamina is also undergoing her Air Trial.
Dialogue
Page 108a: Pamina’s entrance indicates the continuation of the Test of Silence, this time emphasizing discretion against woman in her emotional amorous state. She shares in this test as well, for though she may speak, she must come to understand that sometimes Tamino must be silent with her.
No. 17 Aria (Pamina)
Page 108b: Pamina’s Air Trial, as it represents the troubles and obstacles of human life, is continued through this aria.
Dialogue
No. 18 Chorus of the Priests
Page 111: Once again invoking Isis and Osiris, the Priests speak of the impending sunrise of Wisdom that will banish the gloomy unenlightened Night.
Dialogue
Page 112a: Pamina is now veiled as an Initiate; her Air Trial continues.
No. 19 Trio (Pamina, Tamino, Sarastro)
Page 113: Pamina appears here as the woman attempting to stand between man and his glory. Sarastro seems to be dictating Tamino’s responses to her in a cult-like fashion.
Page 116: “Ah golden calm” once again indicates that the world of the Sun is preferable.
Dialogue
Page 117a: Papageno’s Trial by Fire occurs with the flames barring his way, which causes him to burst into tears.
Chailley references production engravings in which the glass of wine comes out of the Earth. This commences Papageno’s Earth Trial. Wine has chthonic connotations which also signify that this is an Earth Trial.
No. 20 Aria (Papageno)
Page 118: Papageno plays the glockenspiel, an instrument of Earth.
Page 122: “Will none me Love grant, then must me the Flame consume.” In contrast to the Perfect Couple which will integrate all four elements in each, Papageno will reject all feminine elements and remain purely masculine. For this reason he is incomplete without his little Wife, who embodies purely feminine characteristics. Hence, if he does not find this wife, he will be consumed by the masculine element of Fire.
Dialogue
Page 123a: The earthly glockenspiel summons the old Woman, who strikes the earth with her stick as she enters. Papageno is then swallowed by the Earth for having failed this Trial.
No. 21 Finale
Page 124: This is the third entrance of the Three Spirits. They sing of the triumph of day over night, “sun on golden pathway” perhaps referring to the correct path that Tamino has taken thus far, “soon will the superstition disappear, soon will triumph the wise man” signifying the victory of enlightenment.
Page 126: Pamina’s Air Trial continues; she suffers from the difficulties of human life.
Page 134: The melody of this chorale is from Luther’s adaptation of Psalm XI, which proclaims the purification of silver by fire. If silver is feminine, it seems that the reference is to Pamina’s enhancement by her association with Tamino (Fire).
The real Trial by Fire was accompanied by the clanking or armor, brought in here by Two Men in Armor who sing the chorale. Chailley suggests that they are reading to Tamino an inscription on the pyramid.
Page 137: “A Woman, who Night and Death not shrink from, is worthy and will be initiated.” Why would woman shrink from Night that is her kingdom?
Page 138: Pamina tells Tamino “I will myself lead you,” perhaps a reference to the Conjugal Avowal ritual?
She sings of Roses, symbol of feminine initiation.
Page 139: The Magic Flute was carved by Pamina’s father, meaning its ultimate source is male, not female, and it is appropriate for use in the initiation. The Flute is the embodiment of the four elements, being an instrument of Air carved during a downpour of Water amid thunder (Earth) and lightning (Fire).
Page 141: The Fire Trial precedes the Water Trial, though this is the opposite of real Masonic Ritual, because Tamino must become a complete man before Pamina can be joined to him.
Page 145: This is Papageno’s Air Trial. He laments the troubles of human life, and whistles to summon Papagena. He threatens death by hanging in the Air. The Three Spirits, those patrons of Air Trials, appear to stop him.
Page 151: Papagena cannot be summoned by whistling (masculine Air), but by the glockenspiel (feminine Earth).
Page 159: Change of scene to a “Rocky landscape,” invoking feminine Earth. This final assault group is a feminine Five.
The Queen has promised Pamina to Monostatos if the Kingdom of Night triumphs: a final indication that the Queen is uncaring and power-hungry, as opposed to misguided, since Monostatos has proved himself a lustful traitor.
Page 160: “Thunder and sound of water” further invokes feminine elements.
Page 163: They sink into the feminine Earth.
Sarastro describes the triumph of Day over Night, and Truth over Hypocrisy, and the Chorus hails the everlasting ascendance of Strength, Beauty, and Wisdom: all important tenets of Masonry.
Description of Painting: “Lodge of New Crowned Hope”
There are three (masculine number) steps to the dais in the Eastern part of the Temple. There are two pedestals, the left one for the Master (Meister vom Stuhl) and the right one for the Master’s Deputy (Depurtierter Meister). Behind the dais hangs an allegorical painting depicting a body of water, a six-pointed Blazing Star (symbol of the Sun), and a rainbow (Biblical and Masonic symbol of hope, like after the Flood; hence this is the Lodge of New Crowned Hope). Bible, skull, sword, and Field-level appear on the dais for use in ceremonies. There are three (masculine number) officers: the Speaker holds a document. The heavy curtains in the foreground close off the Temple. There are 35 (multiple of three) Brothers pictured. The Initiate in the foreground is blindfolded. Masonic squares on ribbon (Blue, for St. John lodge, or Red) hang around the Brothers’ necks. Mozart appears chattering on the right-side bench at the very bottom.
Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Mozart: A Critical Guide (New York: Atheneum, 1978) 314.
