Die Zauberflöte

Liping Xia

Compositional Background

The year of 1791 was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last year of life. During that time, his

wife Constanze was pregnant, so Mozart needed money to support his family and his pregnant

wife. Mozart made an agreement with his friend Emmanuel Schikaneder, (who was the new

director of the Wiednertheater in Vienna, and wrote the libretto) to collaborate on Die Zauberflöte.

Mozart started to work on Die Zauberflöte in June and received another commission in July to

work on the Requiem. As a result, he worked on both works simultaneously. Mozart finished the

major parts of the opera in August, but the overture and March of the Priests were completed only

two days before the premier.1 This opera was based on a fairy tale found in Dschinnistan written

by Christoph Martin Wieland,2 a German poet and writer. Wieland wrote the first Bildunsroman,3

and his Oberon formed the basis of Carl Maria von Weber’s opera which has the same name.4

This opera was premiered on September 30th at the Wiednertheater and was well received.

Mozart conducted from the clavier himself, and Schikaneder sang Papageno. Mozart’s close friend,

the composer and wind player Benedict Schack, sang Tamino. Mozart’s sister-in-law Josepha

Hofer sang Queen of the Night, Franz Xaver Gerl (who had the unique ability to sing a low F) sang

Sarastro, and his wife sang Papagena. The 17-year-old Anna Gottlieb sang Pamina, who had

known and sung for Mozart for many years.5 The scenes of magic pleased the public. Mozart

1
Peter Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks: W.A. Mozart Die Zauberflöte (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1991), 111-12.
2
David J. Buch, “Mozart’s German operas,” In The Cambridge Companion to Mozart, ed. Simon P. Keefe (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 163.
3
Martin Swales, The German Bildungsroman from Wieland to Hesse (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978),
38.
4
David E. Wellbery, A New History of German Literature (Harvard University Press, 2004), 382-83.
5
Simon P. Keefe, Mozart in Vienna: the final decade (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 573-74.

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described how acclaimed and successful this opera was in his letter to his wife: “I’ve just come

back from the opera; —it was full as ever. —The Duetto Man and Wife and the Glockenspiel in

the first act had to be repeated as usual—the same true of the boys’ trio in the 2nd act, but what

really makes me happy is the Silent applause! —one can feel how this opera is rising and rising.”

Even though Saturdays at that time were not popular for opera since it was postal day, Mozart’s

opera, Die Zauberflöte, still attracted a full house.6

Structure

Die Zauberflöte was written and designed for a mixed audience, not for the court. There

are multiple ways to define this opera: the playbill called it “Grand Opera,” the published libretto

marked it “Singspiel,” Mozart named it a “German Opera.” It has two acts with a six-minute

overture in Act I and march to open Act II, as well as large episodic finales. The main characters

are Tamino, the Queen of the Night, the Three Ladies, Papageno, the Three Spirits, Pamina,

Monostatos, Sarastro and Papagena. Mozart gives each main character one major aria, however,

the Queen and Sarastro both have two arias. Arias for comic characters are located after the

introduction and shortly before the Act II finale. The scenes include a mixture of solemnity,

comedy, magic, and love.7

Brief Plot

ACT 1

Tamino, a prince, is rescued from a huge serpent by three veiled ladies – servants of the

Queen of the Night. The Queen has a daughter, Pamina, who has been captured by Sarastro. The

Queen promises that Tamino can marry Pamina if he can rescue her.

6
Robert Spaethling, Mozart’s Letters, Mozart’s Life (London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000), 439-40.
7
Buch, “Mozart’s German operas,” 164-66.

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 Papageno joins Tamino on his adventures and they are given a magic flute and bells by the

Three Ladies to aide them on their quest to save Pamina. The Three Spirits guide them to Pamina,

but Papageno cannot help Pamina escape successfully from Sarastro. Tamino becomes convinced

that Sarastro is a good leader, then Tamino and Pagageno are invited to undertake the initiation

trials of Sarastro’s circle.8

ACT 2

Sarastro prepares four trials for Tamino and Papageno. They are sworn to silence in a

darkened room. The first trial makes Sarastro dismiss Monostatos forever from his service. In the

second trial, Papageno professes his love to Papagena before she transforms from an old woman.

Tamino passes through the trials of fire and water with Pamina.

The Three Spirits advise Papageno to use his bells to recover Papagena from the old woman.

Sarastro, the Three Spirits, the lovers and the priests make the Queen, her ladies, and Monostatos

vanish before the sunlight of wisdom and truth.9

Musical Style

Masonic Symbolism

On January 7, 1785, Mozart became a freemason.10 Since then, he had a close relationship

with them and was an active mason. There are scenes in this opera that are thought to reveal rituals

of Freemasonry. There are many “Three’s” found in this opera. For example, in characters, there

are Three Ladies and Three Boys; in scenes, there are Three Temples that represent wisdom, nature,

and reason; and in music, the key of this opera starts and ends in Eb Major which has three flats in

8
John Calder, English National Opera Guide 3: The Magic Flute (New York: Riverrun Press Inc., 1980), 9-10.
9
Ibid.
10
Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks, 41.

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it, some key relationship between scenes are based on triads, and double thirds are everywhere and

easy to locate.

In the eighteenth century, breaking from the thoughts of the Enlightenment period, some

masons insisted hostility to women. Other masons believed equality between men and women is

significant. In masonic circles, a controversy at that time was whether or not they should allow

women to become full members. One example is that the items in Lodges of Adoption for women

were a serpent, veils, and a golden padlock.11 These elements can be found in the beginning of the

first scene. Mozart advocates for the equality of men and women and shows his feminism. In the

opera, the Queen and Sarastro’s fight for control of the Circle of the Sun reflects the conflict in

Masonic lore between dualism. 12 Sarastro wants to solve the problem by pairing Tamino and

Pamina (No. 10 "O Isis und Osiris, welche Wonne!" sung by Sarastro and choir). The opera begins

with darkness and ends with light. Papageno works for the women’s world by selling birds to the

Queen in Act I but ends up joining the men in Sarastro’s circle. However, Monostatos does the

opposite. The ending finale celebrates this progress.13

Simplicity

The score of this opera is easy to read. Mozart did not write a complicated orchestral

accompaniment. Even with some more unusual instruments added in (trombones, basset-horns,

and glockenspiel), the orchestration of this opera is still more plain than Mozart’s others operas.

The major task of the orchestra is to serve as the foundation of the harmony, which makes the

melody easy to follow. The simplicity of the orchestra allows the audience to focus their

attention on the drama and the singers. The texture is clear and luminous, and the opera has a

11
Calder, English National Opera Guide 3, 14-15.
12
Jacques Chailley, The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971), 74-79.
13
Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks, 15-16.

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pure harmony which is easy to identify.14 Judith A. Eckelmeyer used sonata form to separate this

opera to three parts: exposition (Overture to No. 8), development (No. 9 to No. 20), and

recapitulation (No. 21).15

Mixture

Mozart innovated in this opera by adding recitatives in the Finale. This was very special

and has a profound influence on composers after him. Operas composed by Wagner, Berg, and

Britten are good examples. Composers started to try a freer construction for their operas. They

also borrowed the idea of shaping the music by the words alone from Mozart.16

Die Zauberflöte combines various types of music, such as Viennese popular songs,

coloratura arias and buffo ensembles, accompanied recitatives and ariosos, hymns, chorales and

fugues.17 The off-stage involvement interacts with the on-stage performance and creates an

atmosphere of consolidation and mystery. Additionally, the scenes are mixed with magical,

religious, street-wise, spectacular, and comedic elements.

The large episodic finales are impressive and unique. They have a number of separate

scenes which are not necessarily connected with others. However, they will not shock the

audience who have understood the previous scenes.18

Elements related to the late Enlightenment

The story of this opera interprets how an individual gains achievement and integration

into a society.19 The initial purpose of Tamino and Papageno’s adventure is to rescue Pamina and

14
Calder, English National Opera Guide 3, 17-18.
15
Judith A. Eckelmeyer, “Structure as Hermeneutic Guide to ‘The Magic Flute’,” The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72,
No. 1 (1986): 51-67, http://www.jstor.org/stable/948106.
16
Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks, 118-20.
17
Calder, English National Opera Guide 3, 18.
18
Chailley, The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera, 210.
19
Nicholas Till, Mozart and the Enlightenment: truth, virtue and beauty in Mozart’s operas (New York: W.W.
Norton&Company, Inc., 1993), 280.

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marry her to Tamino. In the finale of Act I, however, they start to pursue a higher goal for not

only rescuing Pamina, but also resolving conflict.

Thinkers of the late Enlightenment realized that the mythical stories reveal the eternal

and spiritual wisdoms about human existence.20 They started to be aware of the inner voice and

spirit of humanity. This opera shows a longing and expectation of drawing attention of the

spiritual world. This opera conveys a beautiful vision for future.

Selected Examples

No. 7 Duet (Pamina and Papageno)

Mozart uses the Masonic key (Eb major) without any modulation. The orchestration is B-

clarinet, bassoon, E-horn, strings. The singing melody is very lyrical and not complicated. This is

not simply a superficial love duet, it tells of the comforting power of love.21 The accompaniment

is chordal and plain, and typically serves to provide supportive harmony or double the melody. It

is in a binary form (A-A’) and features free coloraturas.

No. 10 Aria and Choir (Sarastro and Priests)

No. 10 begins in the new key of F major and is the setting of the ritual scene. The

orchestration contains basset-horn, bassoon, trombones, violas and cellos. No violins or other

high register instruments are used in this scene, and the trombones with other low instruments

create and exaggerate the solemn atmosphere. The tessitura is very low (down to F2), which

challenges the singer. The content of this scene is praying and seeking for a strengthened heart.

The slow tempo (Adagio) in a triple meter furthers the sacred atmosphere. Sarastro wants to

solve the problem by pairing Tamino and Pamina.

20
Ibid.
21
Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks, 52-53.

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 No. 14 Aria (The Queen of the Night)

The Queen of the Night aria is completely contrasting from Sarastro’s arias, with a

dramatic tension brought about by speed and coloratura passages. Set in d minor, the

orchestration is flute, oboe, bassoon, F-horn, D-trumpet, D and A-timpani, and all strings. This

aria is in binary form, with only four measures of rest in the vocal part to separate the two

sections. The high tessitura and the orchestration create a dramatic contrast, with impressive

coloratura passages in each section.

Mozart composed music to effectively depict the anger of the Queen of the Night. In the

A section, the translation of the first sentence is “Hell’s vengeance burns in my heart.”22 Mozart

creates the feeling of fury by using the repeated eighth notes in the vocal part, tremolo and

repeated patterns in strings. The Queen threatens that if Pamina does not kill Sarastro, then

Pamina will no longer be her daughter. The coloratura in the vocal part is filled with staccato

repeated and arpeggiated eighth notes. Flute and oboe play the full chords along with the vocal

parts. They contribute to making the music sounds threatening. In the B section, the vocal line

contains challenging broken octaves, dotted rhythms, triplets, and arpeggiated eighth notes. The

sixteenth notes (broken octaves or chords) make up the orchestra part (example 1). Even though

these elements look simple, Mozart created a virtuosic aria by using them appropriately and

wisely.

example 1: mm. 52-54

22
Chailley, The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera, 251.

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 Act I: Finale

The Finale of Die Zauberflöte can be divided into two sections: arrival of Tamino at the

temple of wisdom, and Sarastro’s judgement. It is about 20 minutes in length and based on C

major with some modulations (example 2). The orchestration contains the unusual G-clarinet,

flute, bassoon, C-trumpet, C and G-timpani, trombone, and all strings.23

Example 2: table from article24

The beginning tempo is slow with the Three Spirits sing a trio in a fantastical flying

machine, attracting the attention of the audience. There is a sequence of events with only one

complete break in the middle when Tamino leaves the stage and Pamina and Papageno enter.

However, Mozart links scenes 15 and 16 cleverly. At the end of scene 15, Papageno plays the

“magic flute” offstage while Tamino is singing onstage. In scene 16, Pamina and Papageno sing

the duet onstage while Tamino plays the flute melody offstage.25 Furthermore, Mozart also adds

23
Ibid, 210-11.
24
Eckelmeyer, “Structure as Hermeneutic Guide to ‘The Magic Flute’,” 69.
25
Branscombe, Cambridge opera handbooks, 118-20.

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off-stage choir in this finale. Therefore, the off-stage singing and involvement enriches this opera

and creates more layers of involvement (example 3).

Example 3: off-stage involvement in Act I Finale

The long scene in recitative when Tamino finds the Temple of Wisdom is unique, as

Mozart was the first composer to add recitatives to an operatic finale. Moreover, the

accompanied recitatives in this opera are different from Italian recitatives. Mozart’s recitatives

have melody for the words. In this finale, Tamino sings a very expressive recitative. The

orchestra provides supportive harmony and rhythmic impetus.26 The tempo changes frequently

based on different characters and scenes.

Conclusion

Die Zauberflöte belongs to the category of Singspiel. Mozart’s collaboration with

librettist Emmanuel Schikaneder was important due to their shared beliefs and masonic ideals,

and the way they incorporated them throughout the opera. Mozart’s other successful Singspiel

“Die Entführung” was written for the court, however, Joseph II complained that it had too many

26
Ibid.

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notes. Die Zauberflöte was written for broader public, with easily understandable music and eye-

catching fantasies. Extraordinarily, Mozart used this simplistic music to support a complicated,

pure, mysterious, and impressive cast of characters in this opera. His music expresses the

meaning of the words and the emotion behind the test perfectly and is accompanied by

unprecedented stage effects. Mozart shared his freemasonic standpoint and showed his

anticipation of the future in this opera, bringing it to a spiritual level with layers of symbolism

hidden in plain sight.

Performers and audiences both experience a musical feast through this opera, and the

innovations Mozart utilized throughout Die Zauberflöte inspired composers after him. Those

composers include Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, and others. Michael Evenden evaluated

Mozart in multiple ways: Rococo Mozart, Romantic Mozart, and Contemporary Mozart.27 It is

an appropriate way to evaluate Mozart’s contributions to the musical world. Even though Mozart

died at a young age, he left an invaluable spiritual and musical wealth to the generations after

him.

27
Michael Evenden, Silence and Selfhood: The desire of Order in mozart’s Magic Flute (New York: Peter Lang
Publishing, Inc., 1999), 229-35.

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 Bibliography

Branscombe, Peter. Cambridge opera handbooks: W.A. Mozart Die Zauberflöte. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Buch, David J. “Mozart’s German operas.” In The Cambridge Companion to Mozart, edited by
Simon P. Keefe, 162-67. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Calder, John. English National Opera Guide 3: The Magic Flute. New York: Riverrun Press
Inc., 1980.

Chailley, Jacques. The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971.

Eckelmeyer, Judith A. “Structure as Hermeneutic Guide to ‘The Magic Flute’.” The Musical
Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 1 (1986): 51-73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/948106.

Evenden, Michael. Silence and Selfhood: The desire of Order in mozart’s Magic Flute. New
York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1999.

Keefe, Simon P. Mozart in Vienna: the final decade. New York: Cambridge University Press,
2017.

Spaethling, Robert. Mozart’s Letters, Mozart’s Life. London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.

Swales, Martin. The German Bildungsroman from Wieland to Hesse. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1978.

Till, Nicholas. Mozart and the Enlightenment: truth, virtue and beauty in Mozart’s operas. New
York: W.W. Norton&Company, Inc., 1993.

Wellbery, David E. (2004). A New History of German Literature. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2004.

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