In this Eastertide, I began my second set of teaching for the Tri-C Encore series which celebrates senior adults and their continued education. Over the next eight weeks, I am concentrating on the last works of some of the great operatic composer ~ Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. We began with Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) of Mozart exploring what the young Viennese musician was trying to express to his audience at the end of the eighteenth century.
In understanding The Magic Flute, it is important to grasp something about Freemasonry. Mozart became a Mason in 1784 as were many leading citizens of Europe . The origins of Freemasonry lay in the secret societies of earlier generations of stone artists (hence the name “mason”), and subsequent generations of initiates who created a mythology founded on the legend of Hiram, who was said to be the architect of the Temple of Solomon Egypt with him to Greece
The Masons of Vienna saw themselves as a philosophical group which was persecuted by the Hapsburgs and the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, the Pope, himself, had issued two edicts decrying Freemasonry. With the profound divisions of the Reformation, leaving Germans and Austrians divided between Catholics and Protestant states, Freemasonry became an alternative that allowed people to ignore the political strife in religion and focus on a singular message that would be captured by the poet Schiller and the composer Beethoven in the Ode to Joy: “Alle menschen warden bruder” (“All men are brothers.”).
By 1784, Masonic lodges boasted some 70,000 members in Europe, with as many as 67 lodges in Austria
There are many supreme musical moments in this score, but two stand out for me as prime examples of Mozart’s wish to see that his esoteric knowledge learned through Freemasonry would reach the rest of Europe . The first is a duet in the Act One between Papageno and Pamina when they sing of the love of “man and wife.”
Mozart writes this music in the key of E-Flat Major. At the end of the eighteenth century, tonal key associations were of great importance. E-Flat Major was the key of prayer, sacred love and intimacy with God. The three flats in the key signature symbolized the Holy Trinity. The opera begins and ends in this key. The simplicity of the music offered in this duet deflects the deeper hidden meaning of the text.
Papageno: The man who feels love’s sweet emotion will always have a kindly heart.
Pamina: Each maid must share his deep devotion and from this duty never part.
Together: The joys of love shall be our own; we live by love, by love alone.
Papageno: To love’s sweet might yield every creature. It offers everlasting joy.
Pamina: It’s blessings are the gift of nature which no one ever can destroy.
Together: Its noble aim shows clear in life: No greater joy than man and wife.
Together: Wife and man and man and wife reach the height of godly life.
Listen to this clip from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Mozart takes an even greater risk in the Second Act when he presents Enlightenment ideals exemplified in the equality of man and woman and the nobility of humans to act compassionately to one another. Tamino and Pamina complete their initiation together in the opera which could have been seen by the audiences of that time as Masonic blasphemy.
The trials of fire and water which these two persons undergo are presented in the key of C Major, considered the purest of all keys. Since Die Zauberflote is concerned with the triumph of wisdom through self-discipline, it should not surprise us that Mozart uses this key signature for these tests that purify both characters.
Listen and watch as Tamino and Pamina are refined by the fire and cleansed by the water. Are you picking up on all the theological “seeds” I am scattering here! (Nicholai Gedda as Tamino and Edith Mathis as Pamina. Start at 3:50 for the initiation scene)
So here at the end of the Eighteenth century, this brilliant composer with so many of his peers and fellow artists were engaging in presenting a philosophy that railed against the established order and the abuse of power by the monarchy and the church. Following the writings of such thinkers as Baruch Spinoza, for example, was Mozart pushing for “democracy; racial and sexual equality; individual liberty of lifestyle; full freedom of thought, expression, and the press; and the eradication of religious authority from the legislative process and education"? (Jonathan I. Israel, A revolution of the mind, Princeton University Press, 2010).
I find it fascinating and a bit bewildering that the message of the Resurrection of Jesus is just as radical and calls on the members of the Church to live in freedom and unity with one another. In our world today, the power brokers of our culture and society still want to decide who is in and who is out. The Church wants to tell a woman how to control her body. The Government wants to set apart gays and lesbians from receiving the same benefits that my wife and I enjoy. The Church punishes those in its membership who dare to speak out and suggest that current ways of being church are abusive and archaic. The nations of the world continue to oppress persons of race, color or creed by bigotry, prejudice and fear.
In the resurrection, Jesus called us to a new way of living. We are all one with God. There should be no division among us. The Way of Jesus is the way of sacrificial servant love which finds its richest expression in the way men, women and children treat one another. The love of God transcends our racial and sexual divide; goes beyond the prejudice and malice that characterizes so much of our common life; and calls the Church not to engage in power broking but in servanthood that celebrates the dignity of every human being.
The Magic Flute is so much more than the “kid-friendly” musical that is forced on the audiences of today. It is a composition that dares to call into question the status-quo while at the same time celebrates the ideals of liberty, equality and freedom.
Funny, so does the Resurrection of Jesus.
Love One Another - Brian
Matthew 28:1-16
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee ; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee ; there they will see me.’ While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, ‘You must say, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee , to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
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