Cultural Context of Mozart's Magic Flute Social, Aesthetic, Philosophical Vol. 1

Addresses problems of symbols and references in The Magic Flute by considering a broad cultural heritage, including the early 17th-century movement of the Rosicrucians, 17th and 18th-century educational, scientific, philosophical and religious developments, and late 18th-century social and political circumstances. The appendices that appear in Volume Two provide sources for further study not only for scholars but also opera companies and the Masonic communities.
Appendix I is a 3-part representation of the text of The Magic Flute: a photocopy of the original German libretto; a side-by-side English translation; and the German text that appears in Mozart's handwritten score of the opera which shows differences in words from the printed libretto and sometimes reveals a slightly different thinking of the characters' personalities and stage action.
Appendix II is a photo reproduction and translation of the complete article "Ueber die Mysterien der Aegyptier", written by the Master of one of the most important and active Masonic lodges in Vienna in the 1780's, Ignaz von Born. It is said to have inspired some of the plot and detail in The Magic Flute.