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The Magic Flute

Les Verts

Registered User
Can't claim to know much about opera but I'm starting to listen and learn. Enjoyed "The Magic Flute" for some time and I understand that there is some Masonic connection. How strong is this connection?
 

Mike Martin

Eternal Apprentice
Premium Member
Same old same old.

It's that same old proposition, it MUST be masonic as the composer was a Freemason however all the masonic stuff that he composed was clearly labelled as such so I'd say much salt needed while swallowing this one.
 

TheThumbPuppy

Registered User
I'm not sure about the other suggestions on that video, but I thought that the explanation why Mozart chose E-flat Major was rather unsatisfactory.

In music we have 24 keys. If all keys were used equally, then we would have a probability of 1/24 = 4.2% that a classical composer would choose that key.

When you consider that more compositions are written in keys with fewer accidentals than keys with 6 or 7 flats or sharps, then the probability that a classical composer would choose E-flat major (that contains only 3 flats) goes up to perhaps 5 or 6%.

imslp.org – a well-known repository of public domain compositions – lists 741 compositions by Mozart, 47 of which are in E-flat major, which is 6.3% – well within the expected range.

In my opinion, it is more likely that Mozart chose E-flat major because the traditional character of that key is love, devotion, intimacy, and conversation with God.

Another point was made on the hidden meaning of transposing the middle C one octave up in the 3rd chord, which also sounded like a bit of malarky to me. That technique is called position change and has been used extensively in music compositions for centuries. It can evoke an emotional response, but it is just as often used to open up a register for what's coming next.
 
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