Chapter XLIII: "die Zauberflöte" (2)

speaks here--pain without hope of solace; the memory of a vanished happiness has not yet softened into regretful melancholy, nor is it sharpened by the lingering pangs of conflict and torment overcome; it is a pain as yet unconscious of its own force and intensity. All feelings are swallowed up in the one: "He loves me not, and happiness is flown!" When to this open and truthful expression of the anguish endured by an innocent heart is united the charm of budding maidenhood, we feel ourselves in the presence of a beauty which moves our inmost being, and which Mozart alone of all musicians is capable of rendering in song. The form and means of effect employed are of the simplest kind. The music follows the course of the emotions in a continuous flow, without allowing any definite motif to predominate. It is a very delicate touch which makes the same expressive phrase occurring in the major to the words, "nimmer kehrt ihr Wonnestunden meinem Herzen mehr zurück," recur in the minor at the close to the words, "so wird Ruh im Tode sein." The voice part is put very prominently forward, the stringed instruments maintaining the harmonies and the rhythm in the simplest manner, while different wind instruments (flutes, oboes, bassoons) give a sharper accent here and there. The orchestra becomes independent only in the closing symphony, expressing deep sorrow very effectively by means of its syncopated rhythm and chromatic passages. This air forms a decided contrast to the garden air in "Figaro" (Vol. III., p. 91), and yet there is a deep-seated relationship apparent in them. In "Figaro" we have the purest expression of happy love, flowing from a human heart without a disturbing thought. Here it is the unmingled expression of sorrow for departed love. The one has the soft warm glow of a fragrant summer night; the other is like moonlight shining on rippling waters; but in truth, purity, and beauty of musical rendering, the two songs unmistakably betray the mind and hand of one and the same musician.

Before the painful impression has had time to die away there follows the brief interview of the lovers in presence of Sarastro and the Initiated, as represented in the terzet (20).

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Pamina, in her anxiety and doubt as to whether Tamino's love will stand the test imposed upon it, gives the tone to the whole piece. Her concern is not appeased by Sarastro and Tamino's consoling assurances, and not until the time for farewell has really arrived do the two lovers' parts unite and contrast with that of Sarastro. Then the expression of emotion is raised and purified, and indicated by touches of extraordinary delicacy and depth, as when Pamina's passionate outbreak--[See Page Image]

deprives Tamino of self-control, and he too gives vent to the anguish of parting, while she appeals to him in mingled joy and sorrow, and Sarastro remains inexorable; or when at the inimitably beautiful passage at the close the hearts as well as the voices of the lovers seem to mingle and flow into one. Here again we may admire the skill with which the ordinary resources of musical representation are employed to produce extraordinary effects.[53] Instead of feeling her anxiety set at rest by this interview, Pamina is more violently agitated than before. She now no longer doubts that Tamino has ceased to love her, and, deprived of all hope, she seizes the dagger which her mother has given to her to murder Sarastro, and prepares to plunge it in her own bosom. Thus, at the beginning of the second finale, we find her "half-frantic" under the protection of the three boys. Their presence has a moderating effect on her passion of despair, and Mozart has carefully refrained from giving to the thoughts of suicide excited in a maiden's breast by her first disappointment in love the same kind of expression as would belong to one who, exhausted by long strife with the world, had resolved to rid himself of life and his sorrows

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together. Thus, bold and energetic as the musical expression is, it never causes any distortion in the picture of a charming innocent girl, and this has a more tranquillising effect on the minds of the audience than the support of the three boys. In accordance with the situation the movement of the voices is quite free, generally declamatory, the interjections of the three boys holding the whole movement firmly in its groove. Pamina gives ready ear to the reassurance of the three boys, but, instead of breaking into loud exultation, her mind recurs lovingly to Tamino, and the music gains that soft pathetic tone which belongs to modern music. The supernatural element of the scene idealises it, and prepares the way for the solemn ordeal which is immediately to follow. Tamino, who has determined to tread the path of danger, but has believed he was to tread it alone, is agreeably surprised to find Pamina at his side. The reunion of the lovers is deprived, in face of the dangers which they are to overcome together, of every trace of sensual passion. Not until they are initiated into the mysteries for which they are undergoing probation can their love be justified or its enjoyment assured. The tone of the scene therefore is a serious one, rendered even solemn by the participation of the grave guardians of the sanctuary, who have just enunciated its ordinances. But the human emotion which irresistibly breaks forth adds a pathos to the solemnity and a charm to the youthful pair, filling us with renewed admiration for the genius which blends all these diverse elements into a living and harmonious whole.

Such a pair of lovers as this, so ideal, so sentimental (schwarmerisch) in their feelings and mode of expression, betray at once their German origin and character; there is nothing analogous in Mozart's Italian operas; even Belmont and Constanze, though of the same type, display more human passion. To the representatives of noble humanity, Sarastro, Tamino, and Pamina, stands opposed the antagonistic and vindictive principle, in the person of the Queen of Night. The manner of her representation leaves distinct traces visible of the different part she was originally intended to fill. At the beginning, when she appears as the

{THE QUEEN OF NIGHT.}

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deeply injured mother, with all the magnificence of her regal state, there is nothing in the musical characterisation to indicate her gloomy and vindictive nature, which is thus proved to have been an afterthought. A solemn introduction, rising into a powerful crescendo, announces the coming of the Queen, while "the mountains are cleft asunder." It has been pointed out[54] that this ritornello has considerable resemblance to the passage in Benda's "Ariadne," which accompanies the setting of the sun:--[See Page Image]

Mozart knew and admired Benda's "Ariadne," and this passage may have been in his mind; but it is scarcely to be imagined that he consciously imitated it, and in any case he has rendered it far more effectively. A short recitative is followed by an air in two movements (5), the only one so

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elaborate in form of the whole opera, the result doubtless of the traditional conception of the character of the Queen. The first movement expresses a mother's grief simply and pathetically, but without any tinge of the supernatural to characterise her either as the good fairy or as the Queen of Night. The allegro is far weaker, going off after a few energetic bars into long runs and passages quite instrumental in character, with nothing striking in them but the presupposition of an extraordinary soprano voice in the high--[See Page Image] to which they rise. This is apparently another concession made by Mozart to the "voluble throat" of his eldest sister-in-law, Madame Hofer (Vol. II., p. 330). There can be no difficulty in accrediting a sister of Aloysia Weber with the possession of a fabulously high voice; but it is remarkable that Schroder, who saw her in the same year (1791) as Oberon, should have said of her (Meyer, L. Schroder, II., 1, p. 85): "A very unpleasing singer; her voice is not high enough for the part, and she squeaks it, besides which she opens her mouth with a gape like the elder Stephanie." Nevertheless, she set no small store on herself, and must have been admired by a portion of the public; Mozart has made a still greater sacrifice to her in the second air, in which the Queen of Night commands her daughter to wreak vengeance on Sarastro. In design it is free and bold, in passionate expression of resentment very powerful; the two chief parts are both musically and dramatically striking, the close is genuinely pathetic, and the uniformly high position of the voice in conjunction with the forcible and somewhat shrilly toned instrumentation, is of very singular effect. All this notwithstanding, Mozart has allowed himself to be persuaded to ruin an aria which might have been a model of pathetic declamation by two long ornamental passages inserted between the parts of the air, which are not only destructive of proper effect, but also unnatural, and wanting in taste themselves. The Queen is attended by three ladies, who, however, have none of the vindictive qualities which distinguish her. Not

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only do we find unmistakable proofs of their original conception as good fairies, but the way in which they are treated in the opera has a spice of the drollery of Musäus or Wieland, although without their grace and refinement; the merit which they possess is entirely due to Mozart. They show themselves in their true colours from the first introduction. Tamino enters in terrified flight from a serpent,[55] which is well-expressed by the orchestra; at the moment when he is falling into a swoon, the three ladies appear and slay the monster. As they gaze on the beautiful youth, tender promptings fill their breasts; each wishes to remain with him and to send her companions with tidings to the Queen; a dispute arises which ends by their all three going, after a tender farewell to the insensible Tamino. The situation is represented with vivacity and humour in three well worked-out and varying movements, and although the ladies never display any lofty emotions, they move with so much natural grace that the not very refined situation makes an impression of unclouded cheerfulness. A long cadenza for the three voices, with which the movement originally closed, was judiciously struck out by Mozart himself.[56]

The ladies express themselves in similar fashion, though not quite so openly, seeing that they are not alone, in the quintet (6) when they deliver Papageno from his padlock, present him and Tamino with the flute and bells, and promise the companionship of the three boys. Here too, they are benevolent beings, bringing miraculous gifts, but not displaying any higher nature except when they mention the three boys, and even then the mysterious tone adopted belongs rather to the latter and the mysteries connected with them. Indeed, the teasing familiarity of the ladies to Papageno, and their coquettish politeness to Tamino,

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give them quite a _bourgeois_ character, supported by the genial, jovial tone of the music, which is fresh, natural, and full of euphonious charm.

In the second quintet (13) the same ladies appear as opponents of the initiated, but their character has been already so clearly indicated that they cannot consistently turn into vindictive furies. They have the appropriate feminine task of inveigling Tamino and Papageno into breaking the silence which has been imposed on them, and, while easily accomplishing this, as far as Papageno is concerned, they find that Tamino is inflexible himself, and recalls Papageno to his duty. The object of the music, therefore, is not to bring a dismal or gloomy image before the mind, but to emphasise, without exaggerating, the comic element of the situation. The central point of interest is of course Papageno, who displays all the cowardice and loquacity of his nature to the ladies, and is only kept within bounds by his respect for Tamino; the ladies treat the interview almost as a joke, and even Tamino's steadfast determination acquires from its surroundings an involuntarily comic tone. The whole quintet is light and pleasing, destitute of any higher feeling, such as that of the first quartet; all the more striking is the effect of the powerful closing chords, to which the ladies, pursued by the initiated, depart with a cry of terror, while Papageno falls to the ground. The peculiar musical effect of this piece depends mainly upon the skill with which the female voices are employed;[57] where the male voices come in they are made to add to the combinations partly in contrast and partly in union with the female voices. The instrumentation is for the most part easy; in order to afford a firm foundation the two violins frequently go with the third voice instead of the bass, while wind instruments support the upper voices, which produces a clear, light, and yet powerful tone-colouring. The allegretto (6-8) in the introduction, in comparison with the two other movements of the

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same, or the passages in the first quintet, "bekamen doch die Lügner allé," "O so eine Flöte," "Silberglöckchen," and finally the announcement of the three boys may serve as examples of the union of orchestra and voices to produce a climax of novel and melodious effect.

The Moor Monostatos may also be considered as a follower of the Queen of Night, only left in attendance on Sarastro through the inconsistency of the adaptation, and made a renegade in order that the figure of a traitor to the order might not be omitted. He is never brought to the front, neither in the terzet, where he threatens Pamina and then runs away from Papageno, nor in the first finale, where he is made to dance by Papageno, and then bastinadoed by order of Sarastro. But in the second act, when he surprises Pamina asleep, he has a little song to sing (14) which is a miniature masterpiece of psychological dramatic characterisation.[58]

The kingdom of Night is most strikingly characterised when the Queen and her ladies are introduced into the sanctuary by Monostatos to plot their revenge. The motif on which the movement rests--[See Page Image]

is graphically descriptive of the stealthy entry; the summons to the Queen of Night takes an expression of gloomy solemnity which stands in characteristic contrast to the dignified gravity of the priests.

Papageno adds a third element to the temple priests and the kingdom of Night. Even the inevitable character of the comic servant received a novel colouring from the introduction of Masonic relations. The qualities of sensuality, cowardice, and loquacity, on which the comic effect depends, are here made typical of the natural man, who, destitute of the nobler and more refined impulses of the initiated, aspires to nothing beyond mere sensual gratification. This it maybe which causes Papageno to appear far less vulgar and offensive

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than most of his fellows. It is true that his wit is destitute of refinement or humour, but his jokes, though silly, are healthy and natural to one side of the German character, which explains the fact of Papageno having become the favourite of a large part of the public. Although Schikaneder had doubtless a share in this popularity (he made the part to his own liking, and when he built his new theatre with the proceeds of the "Zauberflöte," he had himself painted on the drop-scene as Papageno), all the essential merit of it is Mozart's own. To whatever extent Schikaneder may have helped him to the melodies, that he came to the aid of Mozart's inventive powers will be imagined by none, least of all by those who know that the simplest song requires science for its perfection, and that truth and beauty are made popular, not by debasing, but by simplifying them.

Papageno's songs are genuine specimens of German national music--gay and good-humoured, full of enjoyment of life and its pleasures. The first song (3), "Der Vogel-fänger bin ich ja," is unusually simple, with an extremely happy, sympathetic melody; the addition of horns, with the tones and passages natural to them, gives a freshness to the accompaniment; and the by-play on the reed-pipe (ever since called Papageno's flute)--[See Page Image]

with the answer of the orchestra, has a really funny effect. The second song (21) is in two parts, differing in time and measure, but resembles the first in the tone of merry content which lies at the root of its popularity. Schikaneder may have given just the suggestion to the musical conception (Vol. III., p. 284), but the precise and well-rounded working-out is due to Mozart alone. Papageno's bells give a peculiar tone to the accompaniment, "eine Maschine wie ein holzemes Gelàchter," they are called in the libretto, and "istromento d' acciajo" by Mozart in the score; they were brought in for the ritornellos and interludes with easy variations in the different verses. The celebrated double-bass player Pischl-berger or, according to Treitschke, Kapellmeister

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Henneberg "hammered" the instrument behind the scenes. Mozart wrote to his wife at Baden how he had once played the bells himself behind the scenes:--

I amused myself by playing an arpeggio when Schikaneder came to a pause. He was startled, looked round, and saw me. The second time the pause occurred I did the same; then he stopped and would not go on; I guessed what he was after, and made another chord, upon which he tapped the bells and said: "Hold your tongue!" ("Halts Maul!"), whereupon everybody laughed. I fancy this was the first intimation to many people that he did not play the instrument himself.

The instrument occurs first in the first finale, when Papageno makes the slaves of Monostatos dance and sing to it.

Here it is brought prominently forward, supporting the melody alone, accompanied only _pizzicato_ by the stringed instruments, and in a measure by the chorus; the whole is most innocently simple, and of charming effect.[59] The bells exercise their power a third time (the magic flute is also; played three times) in the last finale, where the magic instrument aids the despairing Papageno to recall his Papagena, and is treated simply as befits its nature.[60]

Papageno's chief scene is in the last finale, when he resolves to die for the love of his lost Papagena, and it forms a counterpart to the pathetic scene of Pamina's despair. An expression of good-humour and of true, if not very elevated, feeling prevents the comic situation from becoming farcical.

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Papageno's grief is like that of a child, expressed in genuine earnest, yet of a nature to raise a smile on the lips of grownup people. This double nature is well expressed, for example, in the violin passage--[See Page Image]nwhich has something comic in its very accents of grief. The form of this lengthy scene is altogether free. Without alteration of time or measure the music follows the various points of the scene, declamatory passages interrupting the long-drawn threads of melody sometimes with great effect, and descriptive phrases repeated at suitable places to keep the whole together. Thus the characteristic passage--occurs three times to the words: "Drum geschieht es mir schon recht!" "Sterben macht der Lieb' ein End," and "Papageno frisch hinauf, en.de deinen Lebenslauf!" At the close, when he seems really on the point of hanging himself, the time becomes slower, and a minor key serves to express the gloom of despair. But the three boys appear and remind him of his bells; at once his courage rises, and as he tinkles the bells he calls upon his sweetheart to appear with all the confidence and joy of a child. At the command of the boys he looks round, sees her, and the two feather-clothed beings contemplate each other with amazement and delight, approaching nearer and nearer, until at last they fall into each other's arms. The comic point of the stammering "Pa-pa-pa-," uttered by them both, slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity until they embrace with the exclamation, Papageno!" and "Papagena!" was due to Schickaneder's

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suggestion.[61] That the happiness they feel at their reunion should find expression in anticipating the advent of numerous little Papagenos and Papagenas is not only intended as a trait of human nature unrestrained and unrefined in thought and word, but serves to point to the parental joys springing from wedlock as "the highest of all emotions." The duet originally ended with the words (which Mozart did not set to music):--

Wenn dann die Kleinen um sie spielen
Die Eltern gleiche Freude fühlen,
Sich ihres Ebenbildes freun
O, welch ein Gluck kann grosser sein?

The words with which the boys lead Papagena to Papageno--

Komm her, du holdes, liebes Weibchen!
Dem Mann sollst du dein Herzchen weihn.
Er wird dich lieben, süsses Weibchen,
Dein Vater, Freund und Brader sein
Sie dieses Mannes Eigenthum!

were also omitted by Mozart, because serious exhortations and moral reflections would have been out of place here. He has instead succeeded in producing so lively and natural an expression of childlike delight, untouched by any taint of sensual desire, that the hearer feels his own heart full of happiness for very sympathy. The companion piece to this duet is that which Papageno sings with Pamina, after informing her that Tamino, fired with love, is hastening to her release (8). There can be no doubt that Mozart's wish has been to express the loftiest conception of the love of man and wife as an image, however faint and imperfect, of heavenly love; but here again Schikaneder has interposed, and insisted on something popular. We cannot blame him, for Papageno's sphere is that of natural, simple sentiment, not of enlightened morality, and Pamina is an inexperienced girl, who follows her own feelings, and is ready enough to fall into Papageno's vein.

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Mozart did not find it easy to satisfy Schikaneder, who called each fresh attempt fine, but too learned; not until the third, or as some say, the fifth version,[62] did Mozart hit on the simple tone of warm feeling which Schikaneder believed would win every ear and every heart. His judgment proved correct; at the first performance this was the first piece applauded, and an angry critic complained in 1793 that the "Mozartites" were passing all bounds, and that "at every concert the ladies' heads went nodding like poppies in the field when the senseless stuff was sung: 'Mann und Weib, und Weib und Mann (which makes four, by the way), reichen an die Gottheit an.'"[63] According to Kapellmeister Trüben-see, of Prague, who was engaged as oboist in Schikaneder's opera, a rejected composition of this duet in the grand style was afterwards made use of alternately with that now known, and indicated on the playbill, "with the old duet" or "with the new duet."[64] At the first performance of the "Zauberflöte" in the new Theater an der Wien in 1802, Schikaneder' made the following announcement on the bill:--

Having been so fortunate as myself to possess the friendship of Mozart, whose affection for me led him to set my work to music, I am in a position to offer the audience on this occasion a gratifying surprise in the form of two pieces of Mozart's composition, of which I am sole possessor.[65]

One of them may have been the duet in question; what the other was we cannot even conjecture.[66] An individuality such as Papageno's is sure to impart some of its naïve good humour and joviality to the other characters with whom he comes in contact, and the impression thus made cannot

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fail to appear in the music; whenever Papageno enters, whether he is merry or whether he is sad, an irresistible tone of good humour takes possession of the stage. Next to him in want of reserve and self-control stands Pamina, who only gradually attains a consciousness of her higher and nobler nature. Neither in the duet nor in the flight does her expression of the feelings they are both experiencing differ in tone from Papageno's; any marked distinction here would have marred the total impression without assisting psychological truth. But on the approach of Sarastro they draw apart; Pamina entrenches herself in proud reserve, while Papageno gives vent to his terror with the same energy as in the first quintet (6) when he is ordered to accompany Tamino to the castle. In the second quintet (13) his fright is kept in check by Tamino's presence, and his disgust at not daring to speak, and not being able to keep silence, gains the upper hand and gives the tone to the whole piece.

Such a consideration as we have given to the principal characters of the "Zauberflöte," to its intellectual and musical conception, and to the prevailing freedom of its form, serves to stamp its character as a genuinely German opera. What was begun in the "Entführung," which undertook to raise German vaudeville to the level of opera proper, is carried further in the "Zauberflöte," which succeeds in gaining recognition for the simplest expression of feeling, and for full freedom of form of dramatic characterisation. The opera contains no airs of the traditional stamp, except the two airs of the Queen of Night; and a comparison of the way in which the aria form is treated in "Cosi fan Tutte" and "Titus" will show an organic change in the airs, now that they are developed from the simple Lied. This freedom of construction is still more apparent in the ensembles, in the beautiful terzet (20), and more especially in the first quintet (6). The second quintet (13) is more precise in form, the ladies tempting Tamino and Papageno to break silence forming the natural middle point of the musical construction. But the freedom of movement strikes us most of all in the finales, which are admirable examples of

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the art, so praised by Goethe, of producing effect by means of contrast. In dramatic design they are inferior to the finales of "Figaro," "Don Giovanni," or "Cosi fan Tutte." Instead of a plot proceeding from one point, and developing as it proceeds, we have a succession of varied scenes, lightly held together by the thread of events, and interesting us more from their variety than their consistent development. In order to follow this rapid movement great freedom of musical construction was necessary; opportunities of carrying out a definite motif till it forms a self-contained movement, which are so frequent in Italian finales, occur here but seldom, one instance being the allegro of the first finale, when Monostatos brings in Tamino, and the movement of the second finale to which the Queen of Night enters. This essential difference of treatment fills us with renewed admiration of Mozart's fertility in the production of new suggestive and characteristic melodies, which seem ready at command for every possible situation. Those who descend to details will be amazed to find how seldom Mozart is satisfied with a mere turn of expression, how lavish he is of original fully formed musical subjects, and how all the details of his work are cemented into a whole by his marvellous union of artistic qualities.

This leads us to the consideration of a second point in which the "Zauberflöte" surpasses the "Entführung." The latter is confined to a narrow circle of characters, situations, and moods, while the former has a large and varied series of phenomena. The story from which the plot is derived opens the realm of fairies and genü, personified in the Queen of the Night and her ladies, and, as regards his outward appearance, in Papageno. In addition to this there is the mystical element which takes the first place both in the dramatic conception and the musical characterisation of the opera. Mozart had no intention of representing a fantastic fairy land, such as was called into existence by Weber and Mendelssohn. The fabulous was not then identified with the fantastic, but was often consciously made a mirror for the reflection of real life, with its actual sentiments and views. Therefore the Queen of Night is depicted as a queen,

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as a sorrowing mother, as a revengeful woman; her ladies have their share of coquetry and gossip, and these feminine qualities predominate over the supernatural. The musical task of combining three soprano voices into a connected whole, while preserving their individuality, calls for great peculiarity of treatment, entailing further a special turning to account of the orchestral forces at command, at the same time that no special forms of expression are made to serve as typical of the fairy element of the piece.

On the other hand the apparition of the three boys is accompanied by every means of musical characterisation. They form the link with the region of mysticism indicated awkwardly enough in the libretto. We recognise something more than individual taste and inclination in Mozart's efforts to invest them with a character of grave solemnity. A universal and deep-rooted sympathy with Freemasonry was a characteristic sign of the times, and the German mind and disposition are well expressed in the efforts that were made to find in Freemasonry that unity which intellectual cultivation and moral enlightenment alone could bestow. Mozart was therefore at one in intention and aim with all that was highest and noblest in the nation, and the more deeply his own feelings were stirred the more sure he was to stamp his music with all that was truly German in character. It was not without design that he selected an old choral melody to mark a point of most solemn gravity, or that he treated it in the way with which his fellow-countrymen were most familiar. This passage is also significant as showing the marvellous element in a symbolic light, and bringing the supernatural within the domain of the human sphere. In this respect the representation of the marvellous in the "Zauberflöte" differs widely from that in "Don Giovanni." There the appearance of the ghost is a veritable miracle, a fact which must be believed to be such, and rendered to the minds of the spectators by means of the musical representation of terror in the actors. In the "Zauberflöte," on the contrary, the marvellous element is suggested only by the mystery hidden beneath it, and the mind is attuned to a mood of awe-struck wonder.

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It cannot be denied that the deeply rooted symbolism of the opera has dulled the edge of individual characterisation. Actions lose their reality and become mere tests of virtue; the choruses of the priests express generalities; neither the three ladies nor the three boys are independent characters, but each group forms an individual, which again represents an idea; even the principal characters, owing to the concentration of all upon one idea, have more of a typical character than is desirable in the interests of dramatic characterisation.[67] In spite of these drawbacks Mozart has depicted both his situations and characters naturally and vividly. No one will attempt to deny that both the subjects and treatment of "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," and in some degree also of "Cosi fan Tutte," present far more occasions for the expression of passion, for delicate detail, and for the emphasising of special features, than is the case with the "Zauberflöte," where the effect depends mainly on the general impression left by the whole work; but that this is the case affords only another proof of Mozart's power of grasping the strong points of every problem that was set before him. "In Lessing's 'Nathan,'" says Strauss,[68] "we are as little disposed to complain of the want of that powerful impression produced by his more pungent pieces, as we are to wish the peaceful echoes of Mozart's 'Zauberflöte' exchanged for the varied characterisation and foaming passion of the music of 'Don Juan.' In the last work of the musician, as in that of the poet, wide apart as they stand in other respects, there is revealed a perfected spirit at peace with itself, which having fought and overcome all opposition from within, has no longer to dread that which comes from without."

The fact that the words of the opera were in German had doubtless an important influence on the musical expression. Wretched as the verses are, so much so that it is difficult sometimes to find the sense necessary for the proper understanding of Mozart's rendering of them, they nevertheless

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form the basis of the musical construction. Italian operatic poetry, long since stereotyped in form, fettered the composer's fancy, while the German verses, from their very want of finish, left him freer scope for independent action. It is worthy of note that instrumental tone-painting, so frequently employed in Italian opera as a means of giving musical expression to the poetry, is but little resorted to in the "Zauberflöte." Apart from the difference of poetical expression in Italian and German, the sensuous sound of the Italian language was far more provocative of musical expression; and the declamatory element of correct accentuation and phrasing was at the root of the correct musical expression of German words. In this respect also the "Zauberflöte" is far superior to the "Entführung." A comparison of the text with the music will show what pains Mozart has taken to declaim expressively and forcibly. Sometimes the effort is too apparent, as in Sarastro's well-known "Doch"; but as a rule Mozart's musical instinct prevents the declamatory element from intruding itself to the detriment of the melodious.

In the treatment of the orchestra also the "Zauberflöte" stands alone among Mozart's operas. It is not, as in "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," employed for delicate details of characterisation, nor is it, as in "Cosi fan Tutte" replete with euphonious charm. It has here a double part: in that portion of the opera which represents purely human emotion the orchestra is free and independent in movement, but easy and simple in construction; while for the mystic element of the story it has quite another character: Unusual means, such as trombones and basset-horns, are employed for the production of unusual and weird effects, while through all the delicate gradations of light and shade, from melancholy gravity to brilliant pomp, the impression of dignity and solemnity is. maintained, and the hearer is transported to a sphere beyond all earthly passion. Not only are the hitherto unsuspected forces of the orchestra here brought into play, but its power of characterisation is for the first time made _fully_ manifest, and the "Zauberflöte" is the point of departure for all that modern music has achieved in this

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direction. It must not, however, be forgotten that instrumental colouring is always to Mozart one means among many of interpreting his artistic idea, and never aspires to be its sole exponent, or to overshadow it altogether.

That which gives the "Zauberflöte" its peculiar position and importance among Mozart's operas is the fact that in it for the first time all the resources of cultivated art were brought to bear with the freedom of genius upon a genuinely German opera.[69] In his Italian operas he had adopted the traditions of a long period of development, and by virtue of his original genius had, as it were, brought them to a climax and a conclusion; in the "Zauberflöte" he stepped across the threshold of the future, and unlocked the sanctuary of national art for his countrymen. And they understood him; the "Zauberflöte" sank directly and deeply into the hearts of the German people, and to this day it holds its place there. The influence which it has exerted in the formation of German music can be disregarded by no one who has an eye for the development of art.

Evidence of the rapid popularity of the "Zauberflöte" is afforded by the imitations of it which were produced at the theatres Auf der Wieden and Leopoldstadt:--

Everything is turned to magic at these theatres; we have the magic flute, the magic ring, the magic arrow, the magic mirror, the magic crown, and many other wretched magic affairs. Words and music are equally contemptible (except the "Zauberflöte"), so that one knows not whether to award the palm of silliness to the poet or the composer. Added to this, these miserable productions are still more miserably performed.[70]

Schikaneder's opera, "Babylons Pyramiden," the first act composed by Gallus, the second by Winter, first produced October 23, 1797, bore a striking resemblance to the

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"Zauberflöte."[71] In the following year appeared "Das Labyrinth, oder der Kampf der Elemente," announced as a continuation of the "Zauberflöte," by Schikaneder and Winter;[72] it was performed in Berlin with great magnificence in 1806.[73] Goethe's design of continuing the "Zauberflöte" has been already mentioned (Vol. III., p. 314, note). It would be superfluous to enumerate the performances of the "Zauberflöte" in Germany. It soon took possession of every stage in Vienna. In 1801 it was given at the Karnthnerthortheater with new scenery by Sacchetti.[74] Schikaneder was not mentioned, which gave rise to some coarse pamphlets in doggerel verse.[75] Schikaneder's answer was a brilliantly appointed performance of the "Zauberflöte" in his new theatre An der Wien, which he recommended to the public in some doggerel lines as Papageno, not failing also to parody the defective machinery of the other theatre.[76] The run was extraordinary,[77] but he had taken so many liberties with the work--omitting the quintet, for instance, and inserting an air for Mdlle. Wittmann--that he did not escape criticism in more doggerel verses.[78]

From Vienna the opera spread rapidly to every theatre in Germany, great and small.[79] In Berlin it was first given on May 12,1794, with a success[80] that testified to the preference for German rather than Italian opera there;[81] the jubilee of this performance was celebrated on May 12, 1844.[82]

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At Hamburg "the long-expected 'Zauberflöte'" was first put on the stage on November 12,1794, and soon usurped the popularity of "Oberon" and "Sonnenfest der Braminen."[83] It may be mentioned as a curiosity that the "Zauberflöte" was played in a French translation[84] at Braunschweig* and in Italian at Dresden,[85] until the year 1818,[86] when C. M. von Weber first produced it in German with great care, and quite to his own satisfaction.[87]

The "Zauberflöte" rapidly gained popularity for Mozart's name, especially in North Germany. How universal was the favour with which it soon came to be regarded may be testified by Goethe, who makes his Hermann, describing a visit to his neighbour in their little country town, say:--

Minchen sass am Klavier; es war der Vater zugegen,
Hörte die Tochterchen singen, und war entzückt und in Laune.
Manches verstand ich nicht, was in den Liedern gesagt war;
Aber ich hörte viel von Pamina, viel von Tamino,
Und ich wollte doch auch nicht stumm sein! Sobald sie geendet,
Fragt' ich dem Texte nach, und nach den beiden Personen.
Aile schwiegen darauf und lächelten; aber der Vater
Sagte: nicht wahr, mein Freund, er kennt nur Adam und Eva?!!!

Even to this day Sarastro and Tamino are regular starring and trial parts; unhappily, so is the Queen of Night for singers who possess the high F; and though the novelty and splendour of the scenery and stage accessories have been long since surpassed, and the interest in Freemasonry has died away, yet the "Zauberflöte" is still popular in the best sense of the word. It has been successfully performed in Dutch,[88] Swedish,[89] Danish,[90] and Polish;[91] but, as might have been expected, the "_musica scelerata_ without any melody" was even less to the taste of the Italians than Mozart's

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other operas.[92] It is not surprising either that it was only moderately successful in London, where it was first performed in Italian[93] in 1811, then in English in 1837,[94] and in German by a German company in 1840;[95] but the songs and other pieces of the opera have always been well known and popular.[96]

The "Zauberflöte" was given in Paris in 1791 curiously transformed by Lachnith under the title of "Jes Mystères d'Isis."[97] The piece was irrecognisable; everything miraculous, including the magic flute itself, and everything comic was omitted, Papageno being turned into the wise shepherd Bochoris; this, of course, involved the parodying of a great part of the music, and much was omitted even without this excuse. The omissions were made good by the insertion of pieces out of other operas by Mozart, e.g., the drinking-song from "Don Giovanni" arranged as a duet, an air from "Titus," also as a duet, and more of the same kind. Great liberties were taken with the music itself. The closing chorus, with Sarastro's recitative, formed the beginning of the opera; then followed the terzet "Seid uns zum zweiten-mal willkommen," sung by six priestesses; then a chorus from "Titus" (15); and then the original introduction. Monostatos' song was given to Papagena (Mona), the first air of the Queen of Night to Pamina, and the duet "Bei Mannern" was turned into a terzet. It can easily be imagined how distorted Mozart's music was by all these additions, erasures, and alterations. The performance called forth lively protests from the critics and connoisseurs,[98] French as well as German;[99] its defence was undertaken, curiously

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enough, by Cramer.[100] The opera was nicknamed "Les Misères d'Ici," and "l'opération" of the "dérangeur" Lachnith was discussed.[101] But all were agreed as to the excellence of the scenery and ballet, of the arrangement of particular scenes, and of the admirable performance of the orchestra and chorus, which may account for the fact that this deformity was one hundred and thirty times performed in Paris up to 1827.[102] On February 23, 1865, the unmutilated "Zauberflöte" was, for the first time, placed on the stage of the Théätre-Lyrique, translated by Nuitter and Beaumont, and had a brilliant success.[103]

FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XLIII.

[Footnote 1: Treitschke, Orpheus, 1841, p. 246. Monatsschr. f. Theat. u. Music, 1857, p. 445.]

[Footnote 2: Al. Fuchs, Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 57. A. M. Z., XLIV., p. 366.]

[Footnote 3: The three Genü were played by Nanette Schikaneder, afterwards Madame Eikof (Südd. Mus. Ztg., 1866, p. 191), Matth. Tuscher and Handlgruber, but Frz. Maurer appeared instead of the second, the same who sang Sarastro four years afterwards. The names in brackets rest on a communication from Treitschke (Orph., p. 246); apparently these parts were sometimes changed.]

[Footnote 4: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 58.]

[Footnote 5: Mus. Wochenbl., p. 79. This must have been the fault of the performance; at least, in 1793, "Mozart's admirable music was so mangled at Schikaneder's theatre, that one would fain have run away." (Berlin, Mus. Ztg., 1793, p. 142).]

[Footnote 6: Treitschke (Orph., p. 248) remarks that, at the time he wrote, the "Zauberflöte" had been performed for the hundred and thirty-fifth time.]

[Footnote 7: I have to thank my friend Dr. L. von Sonnleithner for much information on these points.]

[Footnote 8: The new operas for Schikaneder's theatre were: 1789, "Una Cosa rara," second part, music by B. Schack; "Das unvermuthete Seefest," music by J. Schenck; 1790, "Das Schlaraffenland," music by Schack and Gerl; "Das Singspiel ohne Titel," music by J. Schenck; "Die Wienerzeitung," music by Schack; 1791, "Oberon," music by Paul Wranitzky; "Der Erndtekranz," music by Joh. Schenck; "Die Zauberflöte."]

[Footnote 9: Cf. Riehl, Mus. Charakterköpfe, I., p. 244.]

[Footnote 10: Schroder saw this opera during his tour in the spring of 1791, at Frankfort, Mannheim, and Vienna; and it was given at Hamburg in October (Meyer, L. Schröder, II., pp. 64, 76, 85, 97). In Berlin it was put upon the stage in February, 1792, and was severely criticised (Mus. Wochenbl., p. 157). It was sometimes performed later, and older dilettanti preferred it to Weber's "Oberon" (A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 643).]

[Footnote 11: The third volume of this collection of tales appeared in 1789. The preface declares the author of "Lulu" and the "Palmblatter" to be the same, and consequently (since it cannot be Herder) Liebeskind.]

[Footnote 12: The tale was afterwards turned into a Danish opera, "Lulu," by Güntel-berg, and composed by Kuhlau (A. M. Z., XXX., p. 540).]

[Footnote 13: These three helpful boys, with their aphorisms, are borrowed from another tale in the third part of the Dschinnistan, "Die klugen Knaben."]

[Footnote 14: Devrient, Gesch. der deutschen Schauspielkunst, III., p. 141.]

[Footnote 15: Riehl, Musik. Charakterköpfe, I., p. 3.]

[Footnote 16: Castelli, Memoiren, I., p. 111.]

[Footnote 17: Goethe says of his "Helena" (Gespr. m. Eckermann, I., p. 317): "Granted that the majority of spectators care for nothing but what meets the eye, the initiated will not fail to grasp the higher meaning, as is the case with the 'Zauberflöte' and some other works."]

[Footnote 18: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freimaur. in Oesterreich, p. 40.]

[Footnote 19: Pater Cantes is said to have composed the songs to Schikaneder's operas from friendship (Monatsschr. f. Theat. u. Mus., III., p. 444).]

[Footnote 20: Gieseke himself told Cornet that he had the principal share in the words of the "Zauberflöte" (Die Oper in Deutschl., p. 24. Illust. Familienbuch des öst. Lloyd, II., p. 19); and Neukomm confirmed his statement to me, having known Cornet as an actor at the Theater auf der Wieden.]

[Footnote 21: The most important features of the ceremonial, the tests of secrecy and silence, the wandering through fire and water, &c., are to be found in Apuleius' account of the initiation of Lucius into the mysteries of Isis (Met., IX., 21). It is well known that the origin of Freemasonry has been found in the Egyptian mysteries, and various symbols have thence made their way into some of the lodges (Cf. Born in the Journal fur Freimaurer, 1784, I., 3. Berlioz, Litt. u. Theater-Zeitg., 1783, p. 741).]

[Footnote 22: The Masonic tendencies are visible in the frequent allusions to the opposition between light and darkness, and in the subordinate position of the women, who are "not to pry into mysteries which are incomprehensible to the female mind," and which can only be solved under the guidance of wise men. Cf. a "treatise on the uses of secrecy" read at a lodge held for women, setting forth why the order was, and must remain, closed to them (Teutsch. Mercur, 1786, III., p. 59).]

[Footnote 23: Eckerxnann, Gespräche mit Goethe, III., p. 17.]

[Footnote 24: Goethe made the following announcement on the subject to Wranitzky (January 24, 1796): "The favour with which the 'Zauberflöte' has been received, and the difficulty of writing a piece which could compete with it, have suggested to me the idea of finding in itself the subject of a new work, so as to meet the preference of the public half way, as it were, and to simplify the performance of a new and complicated piece both to the actors and the theatrical management. I believe I shall best attain this object by writing a second part to the 'Zauberflöte' the characters are all familiar, both to the public and to the actors, and it will be possible, having the earlier piece before one, to heighten the climax of the situations and events without exaggerating them, and to give life and interest to the whole piece." He writes to Wranitzky, further, that it will please him to be associated with so talented a man, and that he has endeavoured to "open a wide field to the composer, and to touch upon every department of poetry, from the most elevated emotions to the lightest pleasantry" (Orpheus, 1841, p. 252. Cf. Briefw. zw. Schiller u. Goethe, 468. Briefw. m. Zelter, I., p. 16; II., pp. 93, 166).]

[Footnote 25: Herder lays stress on the predominating idea of the struggle between light and darkness as a main reason for the great success of the "Zauberflöte" (Adrastea, II., p. 284).]

[Footnote 26: Reichardt writes to Tieck (March 17, 1812): "Thus numberless mongrel and prodigious creations have taken form, round which music has been developed and almost perfected. Mozart's highest performances owe their existence to Schikaneder and Co. Without the 'Zauberflöte' and 'Don Juan,' one side of Mozart's genius would have remained unknown to us" (Briefe an L. Tieck, III., p. no).]

[Footnote 27: An interpretation from the Masonic point of view is given by L. v. Batzko (Journ. d. Lux. u. d. Mod., 1794, p. 364). A ludicrous allusion to the Revolution was imputed to the "Zauberflöte" by a pamphlet, Geheime Gesch. d. Verschworungssy stems d. Jacobiner in d. österr. Staaten, 1795.]

[Footnote 28: André has published the score of the overture, so that the alterations and additions can be recognised as such. The autograph of the opera is complete (N. Ztschr. fur Mus., XLV., p. 41).]

[Footnote 29: Cäcilia, XX., p. 132.]

[Footnote 30: Cf. Marx, Lehre v. d. mus. Kompos., IV., p. 181.]

[Footnote 31: Allg. Wiener Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 521. Niederrh. Mus. Ztg., 1856, pp. 68,89. N. Ztschr. f. Mus., XLV., p. 41.]

[Footnote 32: Ulibicheff, who has devoted careful study to this overture, continually, and with justice, recurs to the idea of light and brilliancy, which is irresistibly brought home to the hearer, as Mozart no doubt fully intended.]

[Footnote 33: Koch, Journal der Tonkunst (1795, I., p. 103).]

[Footnote 34: The use made of the old choral melody was first remarked by Rochlitz, but he calls the chorale, "Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir" (A. M. Z., I., p. 148), while Gerber (N. Lex., III., p. 496) calls it, "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam," and Zelter (Briefw., III., p. 415; IV., p. 354), "Wenn wir in hochsten Nöthen"--variations which are capable of explanation, and sometimes of justification (Càcilia, VIII., p. 134. A. M. Z., XLVIII., p. 481).]

[Footnote 35: The antiquated melody treated by Mozart is the song, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein," in use from 1524 (Winterfeld, Evang. Kirchengesang, I., Beil. 14; II., p. 7. Tucher, Schatz des evang. Kirchengesanges Mel., 236).]

[Footnote 36: Kirnberger, Kunst d. reinen Satzes, I., p. 237.]

[Footnote 37: Kirnberger, I., p. 243. Cf. Stadler, Nachr., p. 12.]

[Footnote 38: Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1842, p. 58.]

[Footnote 39: Two choral melodies, "O Gottes Lamm," and "Als aus Egypten," with partially figured bass, are written by Mozart upon one sheet (343 K.), perhaps with a similar object.]

[Footnote 40: Cf. Marx, Lehre v. d. mus. Kompos., II., pp. 536, 568.]

[Footnote 41: Whether any special Masonic wisdom lurks in the choice of this song I cannot say; it is worthy of remark that even in the Masonic funeral music a figured Cantus firmus is made use of (Vol. II., p. 411).]

[Footnote 42: The resemblance traced by C. F. Becker (Hausmusik, p. 37) to a passage from Joh. Kuhnau's "Frisch e Clavierfrüchte".(1696) has been proved illusory by Faiszt (Cäcilia, XXV., p. 150).]

[Footnote 43: This curious combination recalls to mind the piece for trumpets and flutes which Mozart formerly wrote in Salzburg (Vol. I., p. 308).]

[Footnote 44: It is not without purpose that they are made to accompany Tamino's words, "Der Lieb' und Tugend Heiligthum" in the recitative of the first finale where Mozart first selected flutes, but then changed to clarinets, which only recur in this place.]

[Footnote 45: This is pointed out in an article on the characteristics of different keys (A. M. ZM XXVII., p. 228).]

[Footnote 46: The last words which Mozart wrote to his wife at Baden contained an allusion to this terzet: "Die Stunde schlägt--leb wohl--wir sehen uns wieder."]

[Footnote 47: Mozart, as an ear-witness noted (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 571), accented the first quaver of this figure, and took the tempo of the terzet almost as quick as it has since been played, following the direction _andante moderato_. In Mozart, as in other older composers, andante ("going") by no means exclusively implies a slow tempo.]

[Footnote 48: Siebigke gives an elaborate analysis of this terzet (Mozart, p. 38).]

[Footnote 49: Meyer, L. Schroder, II.; I., p. 85.]

[Footnote 50: Lipowsky, Baier. Musik-Lex., p. 297. A. M. Z., XXIX., p. 519. Meyer, L. Schroder, II.; I., p. 85.]

[Footnote 51: Anna Gottlieb, born in Vienna, 1774, sang Barberina in "Figaro" in 1786, and was then engaged by Schikaneder; in 1792 she went as prima donna to the Leopoldstadt Theater. She took part in the Mozart Festival at Salzburg in 1842, and in the Jubilee of 1856, and died there soon afterwards.]

[Footnote 52: G. Weber's remark (A. M. Z., XVII., p. 247) that the tempo of this air is generally taken too slow, is confirmed by the contemporary of Mozart already mentioned, with a reference to his own directions (Ibid., p. 571). Here again the direction andante was misleading.]

[Footnote 53: It is interesting to note how the rhythmic movement of the beginning--[See Page Image] gives the impulse to the whole of the music.]

[Footnote 54: Cäcilia, XX., p. 133.]

[Footnote 55: The original words were: "Dem grimmigen Löwen zum Opfer erkoren--schon nahet er sich." Mozart substituted the poisonous serpent later. In the Fliegende Blatter fur Mus. (I., p. 441), the description of this serpent is compared with that in Weber's "Euryanthe."]

[Footnote 56: The autograph score shows traces of abbreviation, the complete cadenza having been made known by Al. Fuchs from an old copy (Allg. Wien. Mus. Ztg., 1841, p. 244).]

[Footnote 57: The parts of the three boys are treated in similar fashion, only that the working-out is appropriately much simpler.]

[Footnote 58: Marx, Kompositionslehre, IV., p. 541.]