AN account of the circumstances which affected Mozart's social and
artistic position in Vienna, as well as his moral and intellectual
development, would be incomplete without some notice of his connection
with Freemasonry.[1]
It is well known[2] that a propensity for secret associations and
brotherhoods, having for their object the furtherance of intellectual,
moral, and political ideas, was very prevalent in Germany during the
latter half of the eighteenth century. These associations were all more
or less closely allied to Freemasonry, and the traces of their influence
are most apparent in the impulse which they gave to the national
literature.[3] Be the degree great or small in which Free-masonry has
advanced the cause of humanity, and granting that its good effects have
often been obscured by the follies, crimes, and impostures which
have hidden themselves behind the secrecy of its vows; it is still an
undoubted fact that
{FREEMASONRY IN VIENNA, 1781.}
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princes like Frederick the Great, great and good men like Lessin,
Herder, Wieland, and Gofethe, have looked upon Freemasonry as a means of
attaining their highest endeavours after universal good. It will suffice
for our present purpose to quote a passage from Goethe's funeral oration
upon Wieland:[4]--
If any testimony were desired in favour of an association which has
existed from very ancient days, and has survived many vicissitudes, it
would be found in the spectacle of a man of genius--intelligent, shrewd,
cautious, experienced, and moderate--seeking his equals among the
members of our association, feeling himself at one with us, and,
fastidious as he was, acknowledging our fellowship to be the perfect
satisfaction of his earthly and social desires.
Wieland himself declared that[5] the "intellectual temple-building"
had for its chief and highest object "the earnest, energetic, and
persevering efforts of every true and honest mason to approach nearer
himself, and to lead his brethren nearer, to the ideal of humanity, and
to prove that man is fashioned and appointed to be a living stone in the
eternal temple of the Almighty."[6] It was natural that in Vienna, where
there was more intellectual life than elsewhere, the form of secret
association should have been utilised in the furtherance of these high
aims:[7]--
In the year 1781 was formed a society of the most distinguished leaders
of thought in Vienna, under the presidency of the noble and intellectual
Ignaz von Born. The aim of the society was to give effect to that
freedom of conscience and thought so happily fostered by the government,
and to combat superstition and fanaticism in the persons of the monkish
orders, the main supports of both these evils. Reinhold and the friends
of his youth, Alxinger, Blumauer, Haschka, Leon and Ratschky, were the
most zealous members of this association. They
{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.}
(402)
adopted the forms of Freemasonry as an outward expression of their
mental and spiritual union. Their lodge was entitled "True Harmony,"[8]
and, supported indirectly by the favour of the Emperor Joseph, they
laboured for a considerable time with energy and success to carry out
their preconceived designs. Their weapons were learning and eloquence,
and in their use of these, whether in earnest severity or in jesting
irony, they were more than a match for their opponents.[9]
From this circle, which contained other distinguished men, such as
Sonnenfels, Retzer, and Gemmingen, proceeded the satires of Born and
Blumauer against monasticism, which had so extraordinary an effect
at the time. The scientific organ of the Freemasons was the Vienna
"Real-zeitung," edited by Blumauer, which endeavoured to drive
superstition and prejudice from the domain of science in the same
insidious way in which they had entered it--Blumauer's principle[10]
being that the work of enlightenment is a very gradual one, and that a
far harder task than that of learning is the unlearning of what has been
once hammered into the heads of ordinary mortals. As might have been
expected, Freemasonry became after a time an affair of fashion in
Vienna, and many abuses crept in:--
The order of Freemasonry pursued its course with an amount of publicity
and ostentation almost ludicrous. Freemasons' songs were composed,
published, and sung everywhere. Their symbols were hung as charms upon
watch-chains; ladies were presented with white gloves by novices and
associates, and various articles of fashion were christened _à la
franc-maçon_. Many members joined the order from curiosity, or in order
to enjoy the pleasures of the table. Others had still more interested
views. It might be of material advantage to belong to a brotherhood
which had members in every rank, and had made a special point of gaining
the adhesion of powerful officials, presidents, and members of the
government. One brother was bound to help another; and those who did
not belong to the brotherhood were often at a serious disadvantage; this
fact enticed many to join. Others again, more
{FREEMASONRY IN VIENNA, 1785.}
(403)
sincere or more ignorant, thought they had found a key to higher
mysteries--such as the philosopher's stone, or intercourse with
disembodied spirits. The Freemasons were unquestionably very benevolent;
collections for the poor brethren were often made at their meetings.[11]
The proceedings against the Illuminati in 1785 led to a commencement of
persecution of the Freemasons, but on December 11 of the same year the
Emperor Joseph issued a decree in which, while disclaiming any knowledge
of the secret vows of the order, or any approval of its juggleries, he
gave it his countenance upon condition of certain reforms, and placed it
under the protection of the state.[12] This decree, which was extolled
by some as a proof of the highest wisdom and clemency, and bewailed
by others as the ruin of genuine Freemasonry, gave occasion to violent
disputes, intensified by the carrying out of the Emperor's order for the
reduction of the existing eight lodges to three. Born, who disapproved
of the reform, had, in spite of his previous popularity, to suffer
numerous personal attacks: An unpleasant encounter with Jos. Kratter,
nicknamed the "freemason's auto-da-fé," called forth a multitude
of malignant pamphlets, and in 1786 Bom retired altogether from the
lodge.[13] His loss was a serious one for its intellectual influence,
and his example was followed by others. The imperial recognition of the
lodge did not preserve it from increasing attacks and suspicions, which
afterwards proceeded to publicly expressed disapproval on all sides. But
many steadfast spirits still held out. Loibl, for instance, placed his
dwelling at the disposal of the lodge for their meetings. His daughter
still remembers (1867) how her father spent hours clothed in his robes,
sitting before a crucifix with lighted tapers, reading the Bible in
preparation for the sittings, at which the children, peeping through the
keyhole, wondered to see the gentlemen seated round the table conversing
with earnest mien. Mozart was among these enthusiasts, and maintained
his connection with the
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(404)
lodge until his death; he even conceived the idea of founding a
secret society of his own--"The Grotto"--and drew up rules for its
guidance.[14]
It can scarcely have occurred to Mozart to consider his connection with
Freemasonry as a means of worldly advancement; such calculations were
foreign to his nature, and would have been in no degree realised. His
connection with the order was of no practical advantage to him. The high
standing of the order when Mozart came to Vienna--the fact that the
most distinguished and cultivated men, moving in the best society,
were counted among its members, renders it natural that he should have
desired to attach himself to it. His need for intercourse with earnest
and far-seeing intellects would lead him to the same conclusion. So,
too, in a still greater degree, would his genuine love for mankind, his
warm sympathies both in joy and sorrow, his sincere desire to help
and benefit others, which amounted even to a weakness; and perhaps
the greatest attraction of all would be the satisfaction of his truly
exceptional longing for friendship. Even his boyish years are full of
instances of enthusiastic devotion and attachment--to young Hagenauer
(Vol. I., p. 50), to Father Johannes at Seeon (Vol. I., p. 58), to
Thomas Linley (Vol. I., p. 119), and others; and as a man his loving,
sympathetic friendship was accorded to many, among whom I may remind the
reader of Bullinger (Vol. I., p. 335)> of Barisani (Vol. I., p. 305), of
Gottfried von Jacquin (Vol. II., p. 357), of Count Hatzfeld (Vol. II.,
p. 291). An order which made the brotherhood of its members the chief
reason of its existence was sure to have strong attractions for him,
the more so that the spirit of independence which he possessed in common
with all other gifted natures was gratified by the equality of every
brother within the circle of his
{INFLUENCE OF FREEMASONRY ON MOZART.}
(405)
order. Again, the position which he had at that time assumed in relation
to the priestly and monkish orders gave him a powerful impulse towards
Freemasonry. Notwithstanding his strict religious training, he had
inherited from his father a decided aversion to these institutions. L.
Mozart writes to his daughter (October 14, 1785):--
There is an appalling difference between these sisterhoods and true
Christianity. It would be an undoubted gain if the nunneries were
dissolved. They exist neither by virtue of true vocation, nor
supernatural calling, nor spiritual zeal, nor as the true discipline of
devotion and abnegation of desires, but are the result of compulsion,
hypocrisy, dissimulation, and childish folly, leading in the end to
confirmed wickedness.
The effects of his connection with Freemasonry upon Mozart are as
plainly discernible as his reasons for joining the order. Carefully and
well as his early training laid the foundation of his after-development,
it was impossible but that the narrow circumstances of his Salzburg life
should cramp his intellectual energies; and his visits to great
cities, important as they were in inciting him to fresh efforts for
self-improvement, were too transitory to have much practical effect.
Earnest endeavours after freedom of moral and intellectual development
were at that time the special characteristic of Freemasonry in Vienna,
and the effect must needs have been a salutary one which followed the
entrance of a young man into a circle which busied itself in solving,
both theoretically and practically, the highest problems of the
universe. It would be difficult to say how far the secrecy and mystery
of the order worked on his imagination and attracted him; but some such
influence is quite conceivable in a nature so artistic and excitable as
his.
That Mozart was quite in earnest in his fidelity to his order is proved
by the pains he took to induce his father to become a Freemason. The
letter, already quoted (Vol. II., p. 323), in which, anticipating his
father's speedy death, he speaks of the true meaning of death from a
mason's point of view, bears ample testimony to his earnestness. His
lodge
{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.}
(406)
recognised it in the oration pronounced after his death,[15] of which
the passages immediately relating to him may here be quoted:--
It has pleased the Almighty Architect of the Universe to take from among
us our best-beloved and most estimable member. Who did not know, who
did not respect, who did not love our worthy brother, Mozart? Only a few
weeks ago he was in our midst celebrating the dedication of our masonic
temple with entrancing tones. Who of us that saw him then, my brethren,
would have supposed his days to be numbered? Who would have thought that
in three weeks we should be mourning his loss? How true it is that man's
sad destiny often cuts short his career in the very prime of life! Kings
perish in the midst of their ambitious plans, which go down to posterity
incomplete. Artists die, after devoting all that was granted them of
life to the glorification of their art. The admiration of all mankind
follows them to the grave, nations mourn for them, and yet the universal
fate of these great men is--to be forgotten of their admirers. It shall
not be so with us, my brethren! Mozart's early death is an irreparable
loss to art. His genius, displayed in earliest childhood, rendered him
the wonder of his age--half Europe was at his feet--the great ones of
the earth called him their darling--and we called him--brother. Fitting
as it is, however, to call to our remembrance his abilities in his art,
we must not forget to give our strongest testimony to his excellent
heart. He was a zealous supporter of our order. The main features of his
character were brotherly love, devotion to the good cause, benevolence
and genuine satisfaction in using his talents for the good of his
fellows. He was estimable alike as husband, father, friend of his
friends, brother of his brothers; he wanted only wealth to make hundreds
happy after his own heart.
Mozart owed many of his impulses as a composer to his connection with
Freemasonry. We shall see later that the "Zauberflote" came directly
under its influence; in this place it will be fitting only to mention
those compositions which he composed for particular festivities within
the lodge; they are, of course, exclusively for male voices, and betray
in other ways enforced compliance with certain conditions.
The "Gesellenreise" (468 K.), composed on March 26, 1785, is a social
song, elevated and pleasing in tone; two others are intended for the
opening and closing of a lodge (483, 484,K.):[16]
{MASONIC COMPOSITIONS.}
(407)
all three have organ accompaniments. The two last conclude with a
chorus for two tenors and a bass voice. Similar three-part choruses
are introduced in other Freemason cantatas, and are easy and popular,
suitable to amateurs. The tenor solos, on the other hand, are adapted to
a trained singer, Adamberger, who was a member of the lodge.
An unfinished cantata (429 K.) was probably intended for some masonic
purpose. The first chorus, "Dir Seele des Weltalls, Sonne, sei heute
das erste der festlichen Lieder geweiht," for two tenors and bass, with
accompaniment for the quartet and flute, clarinet, two oboes and two
horns, is written out in full for the voices with a figured bass, and
the accompaniment is sketched in Mozart's usual way. The same is the
case with the long-drawn-out tenor aria which follows, "Dir danken wir
die Freude." Only seventeen bars of a second duet for tenor voices,
intended as a conclusion, are written out. The three-part male chorus,
the solos exclusively for tenor voices, and the limited orchestra, all
suggest masonic influence; I will not attempt to give an opinion on
the symbolism of the words. The first chorus is fine, spirited and
solemn.[17] Two other cantatas certainly fall within this category. The
first of these is the Maurerfreude (471 K.) composed on April 20, 1785,
shortly before the departure of his father, in whose presence it was
first performed. The lodge were giving a banquet in honour of Born, who
had been highly complimented by the Emperor for his invention of a new
kind of amalgam.[18] The cantata, with words by Petran, was afterwards
published in score, with a title-page engraved by Mansfeld, representing
"Wisdom and Virtue," as the text says, "addressing themselves to
their disciple"; it was sold for the benefit of the poor.[19] The main
substance of the work consists of a long
{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.}
(408)
tenor solo worked out in free form for Adamberger, the first and greater
part being after the fashion of the allegro of a concert aria. There
is nothing of the Italian form in it, but deep and genuine feeling is
expressed in Mozart's familiar and purely German manner. The animation
of the expression reaches its climax in a recitative leading to a
serious and rhythmical song of two verses, the concluding lines of which
are repeated by the chorus. In the accompaniment to this cantata, a
clarinet is introduced in addition to the quartet, two oboes and two
horns, and treated with evident partiality, the deeper notes being
employed in Mozart's favourite triplet passages; Stadler had no doubt
something to do with this.[20] The second, "Kleine Freimaurercantate"
(623 K.), with words by Schikaneder,[21] was composed on November 15,
1791, and performed a few days afterwards at the consecration of a new
masonic temple: it is the last work which Mozart completed. There is
somewhat more of variety in its conception; a short chorus interrupted
by solos is followed by a recitative and aria for the tenor, which leads
to another recitative divided between tenor and bass; then follows a
duet, after which the first chorus is repeated. It is very pleasing
and popular in tone, but not equal to the previous cantata in depth
and energy of expression.[22] The cantata, "Die ihr des unermesslichen
Weltalls Schopfer
{ZIEGENHAGEN'S CANTATA, 1791.}
(409)
ehrt" (619 K.), composed in July, 1791, is not certainly the immediate
result of Mozart's connection with Freemasonry, but it is evidently an
expression of the state of mind which it was the object of Freemasonry
to produce.[23] Frz. Hein. Ziegenhagen, a wealthy merchant of Hamburg,
incited by the study of the Encyclopedists, especially of Rousseau, felt
himself called upon to take part in the various attempts which were made
towards the close of the last century to abolish the pedantry of the
schools; and his efforts to bring education back to a state of natural
simplicity were more energetic and daring than those of less ardent
reformers. He published, out of love for humanity and paternal
tenderness, as he said, an elaborate treatise in which he sought to
prove,[24] by a criticism of the biblical tradition, that existing
religions could not satisfy the inquirer into the nature of things,
and then laid down rules for the theoretical and practical education of
human beings. He hoped, in all seriousness, "to induce wise princes
and enlightened universities to introduce the study of the relations
of things to each other, which is so unmistakably superior to ordinary
religious teaching; and he hoped also to make the acquaintance of
such parents as wished to devote their children to husbandry and the
management of a colony which he proposed to found, in accordance with
his views, in the neighbourhood of Strasburg." In order to render
his book attractive from every point of view he adorned it with eight
copperplate engravings by Chodowiecki, and requested Mozart to compose
a song to be sung with orchestral accompaniment in the meeting-houses of
his colony.
Mozart was certainly not acquainted with the entire
{MOZART AND FREEMASONRY.}
(410)
contents of this eccentric, almost crazy work; Ziegenhagen gave him
a few general hints of his Utopian scheme, in which he was doubtless
perfectly sincere, and sent him the words of the hymn. These words
emphatically express the effort after truth, brotherhood, and happiness
which was the final object of Freemasonry, and Mozart could not but
treat them after the same manner that he treated similar poems avowedly
masonic. Ziegenhagen's lines are so deficient in poetic spirit, and even
in poetic metre, that it required a more than ordinary amount of genius
and cultivation to give them the impress of a musical work of art. A
work of art this cantata undoubtedly is; it is more free in conception
than usual, the arie, and especially the recitatives, being allowed
considerable scope, in order to fall in with the unequal and rhetorical
words. The union of such an accentuation as was necessary to the
sense of the words with the full expression of warm emotion and the
subservience of both to appointed musical forms, are the essential
features of this composition, and are the more likely to strike us, who
are so entirely out of sympathy with the ideas suggesting the work.
A style of music specifically belonging to Freemasonry is of course
inconceivable; but in the finest passages of works such as this, and in
the "Zauberflöte," something is expressed of the essence of the masonic
character, of _moral convictions_ (I had almost said of _virtue_, but
fear to be misunderstood), which appears outside the province of
music, but which has sometimes been made very effective, especially by
Beethoven. The "Maurerische Trauermusik bei dem Todesfalle der Br.
Br. Meklenburg und Esterhazy" (477 K.), composed in July, 1785, is
an orchestral composition of wonderful beauty and originality. The
combination of instruments is unusual; besides the stringed instruments
there are two oboes, one clarinet (only one again), three basset-horns,
one horn in E flat, one horn in C, and a double bassoon.[25] The deep
tones of the wind
{MASONIC FUNERAL MUSIC, 1785.}
(411)
instruments give a peculiarly solemn expression to the work. After a
few introductory chords they are joined by the strings, and the first
violins maintain throughout the same character, contrasting with the
wind instruments in free rhapsodic passages, expressive of grief in all
its varied shades. This is most striking when a Cantus firmus, following
the introduction[26]--[See Page Image]
is first delivered _piano_ by the oboes and clarinet, and at the sixth
bar is taken up by the full force of the wind instruments. The violins
in the meantime have graceful passages, expressive of gentle sorrow,
which rise to a gradual climax of passionate regret. As this storm
abates, we are led back to the introductory motif, which prepares the
way in another climax for the conclusion, preceded by a singularly bold
harmonic transition of deeply sorrowful expression:--[See Page Image]
If we compare the contrapuntal treatment of this Cantus firmus with
similar works of earlier date, such as the
{MOZART AS AN ARTIST.}
(412)
"Betulia Liberata,"[27] we are struck with its development of technical
mastery as well as of depth of sentiment and freedom of expression; the
same is the case also with the "Zauberflote" and the "Requiem." Mozart
has written nothing finer than this short adagio in technical treatment,
sound effects, earnest feeling, and psychological truth. It is the
musical expression of that manly calm which gives sorrow its due, and no
more than its due, in the presence of death, and which was expressed by
Mozart in another form in the letter to his father already quoted (Vol.
II., p. 323).
FOOTNOTES OF CHAPTER XXXI.
[Footnote 1: The initiated will see at once that an outsider is speaking, and
that the expressions used are on that account additionally cautious.]
[Footnote 2: A survey of the most important phenomena attendant on this movement
is given by Schlosser (Geschichte des Achtzehnten Jahrh., III.; I., p.
278).]
[Footnote 3: Gervinus, Gesch. d. Deutschen Nationality, V., p. 274.]
[Footnote 4: Goethe, Werke, XXI., p. 329.]
[Footnote 5: Wieland, Werke, LIII., p. 435.]
[Footnote 6: "To do good, to lighten the burden of mankind, to assist in the
enlightenment of his comrades, to cause enmity to decrease among men,
and to do all this with indefatigable zeal, is the duty of the mason
and the true secret of his order. The ceremonies are minor mysteries,
by means of which a man becomes a Freemason outwardly. The part taken by
the order in the spread of toleration, especially among Christian sects,
has been too plainly demonstrated to need mention here" [Kessler von
Sprengseisen] (Anti-Saint-Nicaise, p. 62).]
[Footnote 7: L. Lewis, Gesch. d. Freimaurerei in Oesterreich: Wien, 1861.]
[Footnote 8: There were eight lodges in Vienna in 1785. The oldest of them, "Zur
gekrönten Hoffnung," was the one to which Mozart belonged; it contained
many rich and noble members, and was said to lay great stress on
gorgeous banquets (Briefe eines Biedermanns üb. d. Freimäurer in Wien:
Münch., 1786, p. 40).]
[Footnote 9: K. L. Reinhold's Leben, p. 18.]
[Footnote 10: Blumauer, Pros. Schr., I., p. 69.]
[Footnote 11: Car. Pichler, Denkw., I., p. 105.]
[Footnote 12: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 102.]
[Footnote 13: Cf. Voigt an Hufeland (Aus Weimars Glanzzeit, p. 46. Baggesen'e
Briefw., I., p. 304).]
[Footnote 14: Mozart's widow, who communicated his plan for this order to Härtel
(November 27, 1799; July 21, 1800), stated that Stadler, with whom
Mozart had discussed the whole subject, could give more information,
but hesitated to reveal the circumstances connected with it. Although it
says little for Mozart's knowledge of mankind that he should have chosen
such a man for a confidant, the general interest taken in all matters
relating to secret societies may serve to explain Mozart's partiality
for them.]
[Footnote 15: Maurer rede auf Mozart's Tod. Vorgelesen bei einer Meisteraufnahme
in der sehr ehrw. St. Joh. zur gekrönten Hoffnung im Orient von Wien vom
Bdr. H.... r. Wien, gedruckt beym Br. Ignaz Alberti, 1792, 8.]
[Footnote 16: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freim. in Oesterreich, p. 162.]
[Footnote 17: In the Salzburg Mozarteum there is a complete autograph score of
the first chorus and part of the first air; but the chorus is in four
parts, for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and the wind instruments are
limited to two oboes and two horns; no doubt a subsequent arrangement.]
[Footnote 18: Wien. Ztg., 1785, No. 32.]
[Footnote 19: Lewis, Gesch. d. Freim. in Oesterreich, p. 119.]
[Footnote 20: In the library of the Munich Conservatoire there is a manuscript
score of this cantata, in which the original words, "Sehen, wie dem
starren Forscherauge," are changed into "Sehen jenes Irrthums Nacht
verschwinden," for use in church services; also the final chorus
is arranged in four parts, for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and
strengthened by trumpets and drums.]
[Footnote 21: Lewis, p. 39.]
[Footnote 22: Wien. Ztg., January 25, 1792, No. 7, p. 217: "Reverence and
gratitude for the departed Mozart caused a number of his admirers to
announce the performance of one of his works for the benefit of his
necessitous widow and children; the work may be termed his _swan's
song_, composed in his own inspired manner, and performed by a circle of
his friends under his own direction two days before his last illness. It
is a cantata upon the dedication of a Freemasons' lodge in Vienna,
with words by one of the members." The score, with the original words,
appeared at Vienna, with the title, "Mozarts letztes Meisterstuck eine
Cantata gebeben vor seinem Tode im Kreise vertrauter Freunde." Appended
to the cantata is a song, "Lasst uns mit verschlungnen Händen," which
may also be by Mozart. The cantata was published later, with other
words, and the title, "Das Lob der Freundschaft."]
[Footnote 23: The inducement to this composition was briefly hinted at in the
A. M. Z. I., p. 745, and afterwards given at greater length by G. Weber
(Cäcilia, XVIII., p. 210).]
[Footnote 24: This book of 633 pages bears the title: "Lehre vom richtigen
Verhältnisse zu den Schopfungswerken und die durch öffentliche
Einfurung derselben allein zu bewürkende allgemeine Menschenbeglückung
herausgegeben von F. H. Ziegenhagen. Hamburg, 1792, 8." Mozart's
composition is appended, printed on four pages. Ziegenhagen was born in
1753, at Salzburg; late in life he fell into bad circumstances, and put
an end to his life at Steinthal, near Strasburg, in 1806.]
[Footnote 25: The employment of three basset-horns, as in the vocal terzet (Vol.
II., p. 361) and in an adagio for two clarinets and three basset-horns
(411 K.), is no doubt the result of circumstances. The beginning of an
adagio and allegro for these instruments exists among the fragments (93,
95 Anh., K.).]
[Footnote 26: Mozart has jotted this melody hastily down upon an extra leaf, in
order to make no mistake in the working-out. According to my colleague
Heimsoeth the first six bars render the first psalm-tune with the first
difference (from the Cologne Antiphonary); what follows is very probably
a local compilation of several psalm-tunes for the penitential psalm
"Miserere mei Deus," different tunes being customary in different
places. The melody of the first phrase is from the beginning of the
first psalm-tune, the melody of the second phrase occurs in the seventh
tune.]
[Footnote 27: Vol. I., p. 197; c£. also pp. 272, 277.]