The Magic Flute Unveiled
Subtitle: Esoteric Symbolism in Mozart's Masonic Opera: An Interpretation of the Libretto and the Music
Publisher: Inner Traditions International
Published: 1992
Place of publication: Rochester [Vt.]
Language: eng
Translated from: fre
Translation of: La Flûte Enchantée: Opéra maçonnique
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9780892813582
Other titles: The magic flute, masonic opera.
Description: Solving one of music history's most elusive mysteries, the author sets out to disprove the enduring myth that *The Magic Flute* suffers from an incomprehensible libretto. He establishes the social, historical and religious context of Mozart's brilliant final opera, presenting compelling evidence that the entire libretto, sustained by the music, was fashioned according to Masonic ritual. The author reveals the coherence of the opera and the hidden significance of its characters and situations. He relates each of these elements to the esoteric tradition from which they emanate and to Mozart's own involvement with the Masonic brotherhood.

In addition to its detailed and constructive scholarship, this book is alive with the atmosphere of eighteenth-century Vienna and its sages, royal personages, and scoundrels, who supply many fascinating sidelights on politics, music, literature, religion, and Freemasonry. Under the author's perceptive eye, this book emerges as a rigorously constructed theater piece in which Mozart's superb music and the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder (and others) fulfill and illuminate each other.
Notes: Originally published: Paris: Robert Laffont, 1968.

This translation originally published: New York: Knopf, 1971.

Includes  illustrations, portraits, music, and facsimiles.
Table of contents: label: Part One
title: Preliminary Circumvolutions
pagenum: 1; label: 1
title: What Everyone Knows
pagenum: 3; label: 2
title: Traditions and Misunderstandings
pagenum: 7; label: 3
title: The Libretto: How Many Authors?
pagenum: 11; label: 4
title: The Legend of the Revised Libretto
pagenum: 21; label: 5
title: Sources of the Libretto
pagenum: 29; label: 6
title: History of the Libretto and Its Growth
pagenum: 38; label: 7
title: Mozart and the Singspiel
pagenum: 50; label: 8
title: Freemasonry in Vienna in the Eighteenth Century
pagenum: 56; label: 9
title: Mozart and Freemasonry
pagenum: 66; label: 10
title: Freemasonry and Feminism in Die Zauberflöte
pagenum: 74; label: Part Two
title: In Pursuit of the Hidden Meaning
pagenum: 81; label: 11
title: Exegesis of Five Chords
pagenum: 83; label: 12
title: The Cosmogony of the Libretto
pagenum: 92; label: 13
title: The Principal Characters: Two Heavenly Bodies, Four Elements
pagenum: 98; label: 14
title: The Secondary Characters
pagenum: 108; label: 15
title: Some Other Symbos
pagenum: 119; label: 16
title: The Initiatory Trials
pagenum: 127; label: 17
title: From Libretto to Score
pagenum: 158; label: Part Three
title: Analysis of the Opera
pagenum: 167; label: 18
title: Overall View
pagenum: 169; label: 19
title: The Overture
pagenum: 177; label: 20
title: The First Act
pagenum: 183; label: 21
title: The Second Act
pagenum: 233; label: 22
title: Conclusion
pagenum: 294; label: Appendix 1
title: Letter from Seyfried to Treitschke
pagenum: 301; label: Appendix 2
title: Anonymous Article in the Monatsschrift für Theater und Musik, Vienna, 1857
pagenum: 303; title: Commentaries on the Plates, with Sources
pagenum: 311; title: Notes
pagenum: 319; title: Bibliography
pagenum: 333; title: Index
pagenum: 336