Fairy-Tale Literature and "Die Zauberflöte"

Author(s): David J. Buch

Source: Acta Musicologica , Jan. - Jun., 1992, Vol. 64, Fasc. 1 (Jan. - Jun., 1992), pp. 30-
49
Published by: International Musicological Society

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/932991

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30

Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfl6te*

DAVID J. BUCH (CEDAR FALLS, IOWA)

...ein altes Marchen - ... -

Wovon ich euch, so gut ich wei1g und kann,
Erzahlen will, was sich in jenen Tagen
Der Einfalt und der Wunder zugetragen.
Erg6tzt es euch, so hat der Dichter halb erreicht,
Was er dem Leser gerne g6nnte;
Denn, glaubet mir, kein Mirchen ist so seicht,
Aus dem ein Mann nicht weiser werden k6nnte.
WIELAND, Sixt und Klirchen, XXI.

Students of Mozart's stage works know that Die Zauberfldte owes something to a
fairy tale entitled Lulu, oder die Zauberfldte and that the opera was a part of a
"vogue for oriental fairy tales in the late eighteenth century." Many of us first
develop a love for this opera based on a response to music that seems ideally
suited to a charming fairy tale, not unlike those stories we encounter in the
collections of Perrault or the Brothers Grimm, and productions of the opera of-
ten prominently emphasize fairy-tale elements. It is surprising then that our
musicological resources do not include a comprehensive treatment of the work
as it relates to the literary and the narrative tradition of mdirchen. While histo-
rians of the theater have situated the opera in the history of popular German
stage productions, including comedies, singspiels, and puppet plays,' few

I would like to thank Dr. Judith L. Schwartz for her help and advice. A version of this paper was read at the Annual
meeting of the American Musicological Society in Austin on October 29, 1989. This study is dedicated to the memory
of Bruno Bettelheim, whose conversations with the author in 1985 inspired this undertaking.

These views of Die Zauberfldte are presented in the most commonly cited studies on the opera, including O.
ROMMEL, Die Alt-Wiener Volkskomddie (Vienna 1952); ID., Die Maschinenkomddie = Deutsche Literatur in
Entwicklungsreihen, Reihe Barock: Barocktradition im 6sterreichisch-bayrischen Volkstheater 1 (Darmstadt 1974;
orig. edn., Leipzig 1935); A. BAUER, 150 Jahre Theater an
der Wien (Zurich 1952); ID., Das Theater in der Josefstadt
(Vienna 1957); E. M. BATLEY, A Preface to the Magic Flute (London 1969); ID., The Work of Emanuel Schikaneder and the
Tradition of the Old Viennese Popular Theatre (Ph.D. diss., Durham University 1965, 3 vols.).
Genre studies that attempt to place the opera within a theatrical tradition include ROMMEL's Maschinenkomidie
and H. GEYER-KIEFL, Die heroisch-komische Oper ca. 1770-1820 (Tutzing 1987). These monographs place little
emphasis on the mirchen tradition. H.-A. KOCH, Das Textbuch der <<Zauberflite>: Zu Entstehung, Form und Gehalt der
Dichtung Emanuel Schikaneders, in: Jb. d. Freien Deutschen Hochstifts (1969), p. 76-120, provides a good review of past
scholarship but does not emphasize the fairy tale as a source.
I am aware of a single work that treats the opera in the context of the genre of Mdrchenoper: L. SCHMIDT, Zur
Geschichte der Mdrchen-Oper (Halle 1896). In this brief doctoral dissertation, Schmidt discusses only a small portion of
fairy-tale operas and much of the information is out of date.
New studies on the Mdrchenoper in the light of more recent research seem to be in order. For example, in D.
CHARLTON, Gritry and the Growth of the opera-comique (Cambridge 1986), the author discusses the fairy-tale operas of
Gretry within the tradition of opdra-comique, and provides the kind of necessary background material on some direct
sources for German fairy-tale librettos, which commonly were based on French livrets.
Recent studies on singspiel also are making contributions to our understanding of fairy-tale librettos. Among
the many putative "sources" of the libretto of Die Zauberfldte advanced by modern commentators, Johann Adam
Hiller's 1764 singspiel, Lisuart und Dariolette, is discussed as a significant predecessor. A fairy-tale libretto by Daniel

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David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte 31

scholars to date have placed mtch significance on the fairy-tale aspects o

Zauberflite.
My presentation here will offer a brief review of fairy-tale literature si
Renaissance and look at the emergence of the genre during the German En
enment, culminating in Christoph Martin Wieland's Dschinnistan (1786-89
collection from which Die Zauberflite was partly drawn. A modern p
ogical view of the function of fairy tales will contribute to a reassessmen
libretto and offer solutions to the literary, aesthetic, and dramatu
problems that have troubled commentators beginning in the eight
century.3 This approach will better inform our understanding of the ba
humanitarian, Masonic, and literary elements in the libretto as well.
some insights will be offered into Mozart's musical animation of the cru
functional) late eighteenth-century fairy tale that is at the center of the libre
While it is difficult to establish dominance among the confluent thea
and literary influences, I believe that the universal elements in this ancien
rative tradition help to clarify the blending of disparate source material i
essential ways and establish a clear importance for the fairy tale. My cla
not intended to deny other influences but to direct our attention to a cru
overlooked aspect of this masterpiece.

Schiebeler, the story is based on a popular folk tale from Chaucer, further developed by Dryden and V
note 25 for information on Voltaire's part in fairy tales and fairy-tale opera). The story includes a que
ladies, her abducted daughter (who first appears in the form of an old woman), a young heroic knigh
charged with her rescue after being given her portrait, and his comic and cowardly companion, who, like P
is a liar. For details, see G. BUSCH, Daniel Schiebeler, Schikaneder und Mozarts Berlin-Besuch 1789, oder: "kein
Quellen des Zauberfldten-Librettos? in: Mozart-Jb. 1991 (in preparation), and TH. BAUMANN, North German O
Age of Goethe (Cambridge 1985), p. 34-36.

C. M. WIELAND, Dschinnistan, oder Auserlesene Feen- und Geistermdrchen, ed. G. Seidel (Berlin 1968;
Winterthur 1786, 1787, 1789). Only the Wieland stories appear in the modern editions.

These problems include the seemingly poor literary quality, one-dimensional characters, and inconsist
confusing and flawed plot. The reviewer in the Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 10 Dec. 1791, notes that the sing
not merited the "gehofften Beifall," because "der Inhalt und die Sprache des Stiicks gar zu schlecht sind" (re
in O. E. DEUTSCH, Mozart: Die Dokumente seines Lebens = NMA X, 34 (Kassel 1961), p. 358. J. B. SCHAUL, in
iiber den Geschmack der Musik 4 (1809), finds fault in librettos of this type: "Eine Zauberflote, Zauberzither
Schwestern von Prag, der Spiegel von Arkadien [another Schikaneder production], und mehrere d
ungeheuern poetischen Auswiichse werden Sie doch nicht, wie ich hoffe, poetische Werke nennen, und den
Namen Dichtkunst so sehr entweihen wollen?" (K. G. FELLERER, Zur Mozart-Kritik im 18./19. Jahrhundert, i
Jb. 1959, p. 87). Mozart's first biography, written by F. X. NIEMETSCHEK, Leben des k.k. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang
Mozart (Prague 1798), p. 106, includes the following: "Daher haben selbst elende Poeten blos dur
Komposition gefallen. Die Zauberfldte und Cosi fan tutte sei Beweis." In G. N. NISSEN, Biographie W. A. Moz
unrev. printing of the Leipzig 1828 edn., New York 1972), p. 112, the author notes that "diese Ope
Kunstrichtern viel zu schaffen gemacht. Einige verwarfen das Gedicht als rein toll und abgeschmackt und s
(sich selbst mit), die sich darin geachtet zum Schauspiel dringten, als Verfiihrte durch Mozart's Musik."
his letter to Eckermann on 13 April 1823, both praised and criticized the work as "voller Unwahrschein
und Spdige" (cited in A. CSAMPAI and D. HOLLAND, eds., W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflite. Texte, Materialien, Ko
[Reinbek 1982], p. 194), and C. A. Vulpius actually wrote a new version of Die Zauberfldte that he believe
the text of its "nonsense" ["vom Nonsens gereinigt"] (W. SCHUH, liber einige friihe Textbiicher zur Zauberfldt
Ber. Wien 1956, p. 571-78).
Other versions of the text have come down to us today that correct awkward language and cle
intended to "improve" the libretto, especially the first printed score (Bonn, N. Simrock 1814). For deta
FREYHAN, Toward the Original Text of Mozart's 'Die Zauberfldte', in: JAMS 34 (1986), p. 355-80. Other version
the above-mentioned Vulpius work, Die Zauberflite (Leipzig 1794), an 1801 arrangement by Peter von
SCHUH, Uber einige friihe Textbiicher, p. 574), and a version in doggerel verse (see F. BRUCKNER, Die Za
Unbekannte Handschriften und seltene Drucke aus der Friihzeit von Mozarts Oper [Vienna 1934], p. 145-203).

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32 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte
II

One might contrast the neglect of the fairy-tale element with an intense literary
interest in allegorical explication of the opera. A long tradition of interpretation,
fully documented in a study by Emil Karl Bliimml (1923),4 began with political
explanations and later ones professed a humanitarian ethos, extolling the
virtues of brotherhood and the love of mankind. In all these exegeses, the child-
like fable is consistently seen as a mere pretext for the intentionally concealed
"deeper" meaning.
While we know that Freemasons felt an immediate affinity with Die Zauber-
flite,s commentators vary in their assessment of the degree of Masonic influence
on the libretto. Many subscribe to the "Masonic-Ritual" interpretation of the
story and its musical setting. This goes far beyond the recognition of Masonic
references and presumes that a masterpiece has at its most profound level of
meaning an arcane and elaborate initiation ritual, complete with numerological
and symbolic hierarchies, whose code is to be deciphered by those initiates who
can then derive pleasure from the recognition of the many hidden clues. For
those of us who believe that great works of art appeal to deeply-felt human
needs and experiences, these artificial and esoteric interpretations of the opera's
underlying meaning are unsatisfactory.
The Masonic Ritual theory is actually one of the more recent allegorical ex-
planations and it was not fully evolved until the twentieth century by Paul
Nettl6 and Jacques Chailley.7 The latter asserts that the source of Die Zauberfldte
is "above all the Masonic ritual considered not only in its literal sense, but also
in the very essence of its symbolism ... the entire libretto, sustained by the mu-
sic, was fashioned upon it." While Professor Chailley's presentation of the

E. K. BLUMML, Ausdeutungen der "Zauberfli'te", in: Mozart-Jb. 1 (1923), p. 111-46.

The first printed libretto (Vienna, Ignaz Alberti 1791) offered a slightly expanded text and included a front plate
with alchemic symbols associated with Masonry (Alberti was a Freemason). For details, see P. BRANSCOMBE, Die
Zauberfldte: Some Textual and Interpretative Problems, in: PRMA 92 (1966), p. 45-63. For the history of the Masonic
interpretations, see BLOMML, Ausdeutungen, and for a discussion of the title page and its symbols, see A.
ROSENBERG, Alchemie und Zauberflite, in: Mozart-Jb. 1971/72, p. 173-81.

P. NETIL, Mozart und die kinigliche Kunst. Die freimaurerischen Grundlagen der "Zauberflite" (Berlin 1932). Nettl's
other discussions of this issue include "Sethos" und die freimaurerische Grundlage der "Zauberflite", in: Ber. iiber die mw.
Tagung der Internat. Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg (Leipzig 1932); Die kinigliche Kunst. Die Freimaurerei und
Freimaurermusik, in: W. A. Mozart (Frankfurt a. M. 1955), p. 145-154; Masonry and the Magic Flute, in: Opera News
20/17 (1956), p. 8-10; and Musik und Freimaurerei (Esslingen 1956), Engl. trans., Mozart and Masonry (New York
1957). Other discussions of Masonry and this opera include the following: K. BORNHAUSEN, Mozart's Zauberfldte.
Eine kiinstlerische Einkleidung seiner Menschheitziele im Geist der Freimaurerei (Jena 1913); E. GROSSEGGER, Freimaurerei
und Theater 1770-1800 (Vienna 1981); D. HEARTZ, La Clemenza di Sarastro: Masonic Benevolence in Mozart's Last Opera,
in: MT 124 (1983), p. 152-57 (now in his Mozart's Operas [Berkeley 1990], p. 255-75); E. ISTEL, Mozart's "Magic Flute"
and Freemasonry, in: MQ 13 (1927), p. 510-527; E. JUNG, Das freimaurerische Werk W. A. Mozarts unter besonderer
Beriicksichtigung der "Zauberfldte" (n. pl. 1968); H. PLARD, Le livret de la "Flate enchantie" et la Franc-Maqonnerie, in:
Revue de l'Univ. de Bruxelles 3 (1950/51), p. 3 ff.; R. PUTTER, Mozarts Zauberfldte, in: Astrda. Taschenbuch fiir Freimaurer
auf das Jahr 1903, N.F. 22 (Leipzig 1903), p. 102 ff.; F. ROTHE, The Masonic Influence of the Magic Flute, in: Opera News
7/10 (1942), p. 24-28; O. SCHUETTE and K. AREND, Die Zauberfldte, das Hohelied der Freimaurerei (Hannover 1925).

J. CHAILLEY's publications on this subject include La Flute enchantee, opera maqonnique. Essai d'explication du livret et
de la musique (Paris 1968, 1983; Engl. trans. 1972: see p. 37 for the quotation in the next line); Die Symbolik in der
Zauberflite, in: Mozart-Jb. 1967, p. 100-110; and La Flate enchantee, opera maqonnique, in: L Avant-scdne Opera 1 (1976),
p. 82-9.

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfld'te 33
theory received strong criticism," the theory has continued to provide a basis
for further suppositions,9 interpretations,,' and musical analyses." In most cases
these admittedly significant contributions are based on speculative assumptions
on the Masonic role and the "Masonic musical style."
I believe the essential question here to be one of emphasis. The evidence
suggests that Masonic influence is certainly felt, especially on the level of detail,
where it reinforces the authenticity of the beliefs and rituals as they would have
been experienced in the contemporary lodges. It also lends a more contem-
porary flavor to the pseudo-Egyptian lore expounded in the course of the fairy
tale. Emanuel Schikaneder was not known to be attracted to politics, lofty
erudition, or cryptic lore. He was keenly aware of his public and the Masonic
aspects were a calculated and obvious appeal to the everyday experiences of
the lower middle class that he cultivated in the Freihaustheater auf der Wieden
and not a recondite subtext. He was a skillful impresario and showman whose
main interest (by his own admission2) was the pleasure of his audience and
successful productions. The circus-like atmosphere of his Maschinenkomddien
was less a venue for hidden Masonic references than an exploitation of the
latest theatrical fads.*3
The notion that the essential level of meaning of Die Zauberfldte is cryptic
and therefore unavailable to the "uninitiated" members of the audience
(certainly the majority) is also belied by the opera's effect on its "uninitiated"

The most detailed accounts include R. WANGERMtE, Quelques mysttres de 'La Flate enchantee', in: RB 34/35
(1980/81), p. 147-63, and P. BRANSCOMBE's review of Chailley's book, in: ML 53 (1972), p. 434-36, which concludes
that Chailley's work is "filled with errors [and includes] bad translation and casual documentation. Chailley's
elaborate symbolic interpretation collapses. Pure supposition ... conceals a lack of dispassionate analysis. Misleading
remarks [and] complicated symbolic interpretations fall entirely flat." A. M. LIND, in her review of Chailley (1972),
in: Opera News 36/3 (Nov. 1971), p. 6, finds the book full of "overinterpretation [and] little understanding of Mozart's
frame of mind during the summer of 1791."

In his extensive research on Mozart's Masonic activities, H. C. ROBBINS LANDON documents Mozart's involvement
with Masonry and believes that Mozart and Schikaneder attempted "to save the Craft by an allegorical opera, The
Magic Flute." For details see this author's 1791 Mozart's Last Year (New York 1988), p. 60; and ID., Mozart: The Golden
Years 1781-1791 (New York 1989). In V. BRAUNBEHRENS, Mozart in Vienna, trans. T. Bell (New York 1986; orig.
German edn., Munich 1980), the author carefully analyzes Mozart's Masonic relations and speculates that the opera
is actually a biting critique of contemporary Masonry. B. BROPHY, Mozart the Dramatist: The Value of His Operas to
Him, His Age and to Us (New York 1968, 1988), p. 131-202, constructs a scenario for an "original form" of the libretto
based on a Masonic interpretation of the Orpheus myth in which the "neutral or nonsensical (the 'fairy-tale') facade
[is] presented to outsiders - to cloak an utterance in code" (p. 143).

See D. KOENIGSBERGER, A New Metaphor for Mozart s Magic Flute, in: European Studies Review 5 (1975), p. 232, who
begins her "new metaphor" on the premise that "critics and scholars generally agree that freemasonry provided the
basic theme for the opera."

These studies include R. DUMESNIL, La Flzlte enchantee et la musique maqonnique de Mozart, in: Musica, Revue
d'informations et d'actualitis musicales 12 (1955), p. 23-28; PH. EICHENWALD, Mozarts Freimaurerische Musik, in:
Beitrdge zur mus. Analyse (Winterthur 1987), p. 81-118; A. SHARP, Mozart's Masonic Music, in: Ars Quatuor
Coronatorum 69/6 (1956), p. 15 ff.; K. THOMAS, Mozart and Freemasonry, in: ML 57 (1976), p. 25-46; ID., The Masonic
Thread in Mozart (London 1977).

See Schikaneder's Vorrede zu "Der Spiegel von Arkadien," 1795, reproduced in: Maske und Kothurn 1 (1955), p. 359-
60.

A German libretto tradition that exploits both fairy-tale elements and Masonic or Egyptian references seems to
have not been restricted to Die Zauberflite. Some examples include Caterino MazzolI's Osiride (Dresden 1781) and
von Spaur's "Mirchen[oper]," Der Schiffbruch (Mainz 1778).

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 34 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die ZauberflZite

auditors. While audience members may not be able to articulate the r

their satisfaction, musicologists should explain important aspects of
faction not in long lost mysterious and recondite rituals but wit
aesthetic vocabulary.
Characters like Monostatos, Papageno, Papagena, and the Quee
Night, and various comic and serious elements (e.g., the magic in
have no convincing connection with politics or Masonry. If these asp
opera, along with some of the pseudo-Egyptian features (as well as th
problems that have persistently disturbed commentators), can be exp
the larger context of the fairy-tale tradition, we would have a more
account of this opera's sources and the power it continues to exert u
ences.

Freemasonry itself has been somewhat misunderst

ments of Masonry are not sui generis but really a late
Hermetic tradition of alchemyl4 combined with comm
views of the Enlightenment. The Hermetica were acces
Masonry and we in fact encounter a direct reference t
found in Dschinnistan. This story, Der Stein der Weise
spiel by Schikaneder with Benedikt Schack (the fut
seems to have provided some elements used in the
including the trials of fire and water (although these
stories and librettos in this period) and the mysterious
Trismegistus - the thrice-blessed Hermes.
Based on Pythagorean thought with some gnostic
were actually Neoplatonic writings from the second
knew the Corpus Hermeticum through a Latin translati
by Marsilio Ficino. Hermes, the putative author of
claims to expound the mysteries of the Egyptians in t
Moses received the sacred revelations, the Egyptians
dians of secular wisdom and divine revelation abou
Hermes's universe is heliocentric and the source of life
secret forces of magic are available to a chosen few wh
world beyond surface phenomena.
Some of the Egyptian symbols in Die Zauberflite ma
Masonic imagery. Some were incorporated into the Cra
power of the number three, the idea of a chosen few
ancient Egyptian lore, and the sun and light as symbol

For details on alchemy and Hermetic writings, see H. KEARNEY, Science and
and A. KOYRE, Mystiques, spirituels, alchemistes (Paris 1955). In her study on
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (Chicago 1964), p. 415-16, cites Die Za
influenced by the Hermetica. See also A. ROSENBERG, Alchemie und Zauberfldte.
15

Der Stein der Weisen oder: die Zauberinsel has no extant score or libretto to my knowledge. A collection of arias and
songs entitled Arien und Gesdnge aus dem Stein der Weisen, oder Die Zauberinsel. Eine heroisch-komische Oper in zwey
Aufziigen (Frankfurt a.M. 1796), is in Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, Schatz 9570.

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfli'te 35

both Masonic and Hermetic lore may have inspired the librettist(s),'6 only the
latter is found in Dschinnistan, which is clearly a direct route of influence by
virtue of its primacy as a source for the libretto."7
Exactly what firsthand evidence do we have of the genesis of the libretto?
Mozart and Schikaneder were both silent on the issue. However, when Schika-
neder created his sequel to Die Zauberfl6te, i.e. Das Labyrinth, he once again took
a title from Dschinnistan and borrowed traits from various stories in the collec-
tion."

Besides Schikaneder there was only one person who we know was aware of
the composer's thoughts during the composition of his opera - Mozart's wife,
Constanze. His letters to her contain his intimate feelings while writing the
music as well as at least two enigmatic, private quotations from the libretto.19
Her statement on the opera has survived in the biography of Mozart that bears
the name of her second husband, Georg Nikolaus Nissen (1828). Constanze's
opinions are in evidence throughout the book and the remarks on Die Zauber-
fldte are especially detailed, demonstrating that the authors were well aware of
the various interpretations of the work and had a strong opinion on the matter
of the creator's objectives:

Was war denn die Absicht des Dichters gewesen? "Eine Parodie, eine Apotheose des
Freymaurer-Ordens". Symbolisch: der Kampf der Weisheit mit der Thorheit - der Tu-
gend mit dem Laster - des Lichts mit der Finsternis. ... Ruft die Kindheit zuriick, wenn
Ihr die Zauberfl6te verstehen wollt ... nur als Unerkliirbares die Kinderseele entziickend
berauscht. Wahrlich, der Gewinn ist nicht erheblich, zu ergriinden, wie und warum die
Fabel in dem Kinde entstanden: das Mirchen nur und der Glaube daran kann das Mir-
chen belohnen. So glaubt zwey kurze Stunden, oder entsagt dem GenuBe des holden
Wahnes. Mozart hat es zuversichtlich nicht anders gemeint. Er hat nicht ... in th6rigter
Weisheit die Tiefe gesucht ... allem Verm6gen des Kindes gebeut er ... H6rt nur die

There have been several claims as to the participation of members of Schikaneder's company in the authorship of
the libretto, most importantly that of Karl Ludwig Giesecke. For details, see BRANSCOMBE, Die Zauberfldte: Some
Textual and Interpretative Problems; O. E. DEUTSCH, Der rditselhafte Giesecke, in: Mf 5 (1952), p. 152-60; G. GRUBER,
Schaffensgeschichte und Urauffiihrung der "Zauberfldte", in: CSAMPAI and HOLLAND, Die Zauberfldte, p. 137-48 (essay
originally published in the NMA edition of Die Zauberfldte, 1970). For the most comprehensive account of the
differing views on authorship, see F. DIECKMANN, Verwirrung um die 'Zauberfldte', in: Musik und Gesellschaft 31
(1981), p. 18-27, 116-120.

Masonry expropriated "Egyptian" symbols from a variety of sources. Chailley's reliance on the fraudulent
"Egyptian" novel Sithos by the Abb6 Jean Terrasson (1731; German trans., 1777) as evidence of the Masonic Ritual
theory is not entirely persuasive, since the novel was not Masonic in origin. It was later used by Masons who
assumed it was an accurate account of Egyptian rituals. For a study on the Egyptian references known to Viennese
society in this period, see S. MORENZ, Die Zauberfldte: Eine Studie zum Lebenszusammenhang Agypten - Antike -
Abendland (Miinster 1952).
18

The text may be found in F. BRUCKNER, <<Die Zauberfldte>>, p. 32-84. We find none of the unusual elements in Das
Labyrinth that the Masonic Ritual advocates found in Die Zauberfl6te to substantiate their case. The composer
Schikaneder selected to write the music, Peter von Winter, was not a Mason. For details, see D. G. HENDERSON, The
'Magic Flute' of Peter Winter, in ML 64 (1983), p. 193-205. Schikaneder in fact never acknowledged any debt to the
Freemasons but he bequeathed 300 Gulden to the "author of Dschinnistan" in a will, thereby recognizing Wieland's
influence upon his work. By the way, Wieland was himself a Freemason.

From Mozart's letter of 11 June 1791: "Ich ... sage in Gedanken mit Dir: Tod und Verzweiflung war sein Lohn,"
from the Priests' Duet, No. 11; and from his letter of 8-9 October 1791: "die Stunde schligt - lebe wohl! - wir sehn
uns wieder," Sarastro's words from the Trio, No. 19.

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 36 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberflite
Ouvertiire, wie ernst es ihm war, wie dem holden Kinde im Glauben an die Zau
die erste Ahnung eines G6ttlichen in feyerlichen und so kindlich stiBe
erwacht!20

Behind the affected prose is an opinion on Die Zauberfldte that empha

fairy tale and the child's mind to which it appeals, and attaches less im
to the various symbolic interpretations.
We might explain the early neglect of the fairy-tale element in Die Za
by noting that fairy tales were highly susceptible to allegorical interpr
this period. In addition, eighteenth-century narrative folk literature s
from the same judgement as did contemporary "folk" or "rustic" mus
Wieland's fine examples of fairy tales were often viewed as "low art,"
priate as material for "high art" but in itself unworthy of serious att
Wieland's use of fairy-tale motifs in epics like Oberon, and Haydn's oc
use of some "rustic" material within a symphony are examples of
principle. Wieland refers precisely to this notion in his prefatory rem
Dschinnistan. The oft-repeated story of Schikaneder's approach to
write an opera appealing to "low and high alike" confirms this com
tinction between high art and an art of the lower sort, perhaps made
brettist himself.21
When political, allegorical, and symbolic explanations dominate a dis
of this opera, attention is deflected from those nagging aesthetic and c
sues that were recognized in the libretto early on. We will soon see th
emerge again when we examine fairy-tale literature, as do some persu
olutions.

III

Fairy tales are an old form of narrative whose earliest sources date back to
ancient Egypt.22 We find them in almost every period and geographic area, and
their legacy survives in today's popular films. Stith Thompson's research23 offers
an impressive account of themes and elements from across a cultural spectrum.
Many motifs are common to fairy tales from widely differing times and places,
in the myths, fables, and stories in every language, in part due to the psycho-
logical function of fairy tales, which I will discuss shortly.
The European fairy tale began to receive the attention of serious writers in

20

NISSEN, Biographie, p. 112-14.

21

The story first appears in F. ROCHLITZ, Verbiirgte Anekdoten aus Wolfgang Mozarts Leben. Ein Beytrag zur richtigern
Kenntnis dieses Mannes, als Mensch und Kiinstler, in: AmZ 6 (1798), p. 81-86, and in numerous accounts later in the
nineteenth century. It probably originated with Constanze, who seems to have had a low opinion of Schikaneder.
22

For up-to-date bibliographical studies of research on the fairy tale, see L. ROHRICH, Sage und Mdrchen:
Erzdhlforschung heute (Freiberg 1976); K. RANKE et al., Enzyklopidie des Mdrchen (Berlin 1977 ff.); M. LUTHI, Das
europaische Volksmdrchen: Form und Wesen (Munich 1981); J. D. ZIPES, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to

the Modern World (New York 1988); and M. GRATZ, Das Ma'rchen in der deutschen Aufkllrung. Vom Feenmdrchen zum
Volksmdrchen (Stuttgart 1988).
23

S. THOMPSON, Motif Index of Folk Literature (Bloomington 1955, 6 vols.); and The Types of Folktale: A Classification
and Bibliography. Antti Aarne's "Verzeichnis der Marchentypen ", trans. and enlarg. by S. Thompson (Helsinki 1961).

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte 37

the late Renaissance24 in numerous prints, almanacs, chronicles, and hist

reached its zenith in the eighteenth century. Most European fairy tales a
French collections - the sources that were so frequently translated into
languages and provided the standard texts and models that later writer
use as a basis for more ambitious literary creation. Voltaire praised conte
counterpart to the more sophistic writings of the Enlightenment, provi
lief and freedom.25 The appeal of fairy tales to literati as well as their a
ity to popular understanding made for a rapid growth in publication an
semination. European nobility dressed a la Turque and narrations of con
came common in the salons. The Orientalist school of painting (e.g., Del
G6r6me, Ingres) was also directly influenced by this literary developm
its fantastic and erotic associations.
The central source of contes for the German writers was the immense collec-
tion, Le Cabinet des Fees (1785-89), which included many earlier French works by
Charles Perrault, the Comtesse de Murat, the Comtesse d'Aulnoy, Antoine
Galland, and Franqois de la Croix, among others.26 By the mid-18th century
much of this material was also available in German translations by Voss and
Raspe. German writers called the French stories Feenmdrchen although nine-
teenth-century terminology made little distinction between orally transmitted
Volksm'rchen (including Kindermairchen and Hausmdirchen), and Kunstmdrchen
(artistic or more literary fairy tales by known authors).
While fairy tales had been a source of inspiration well before the late
eighteenth-century, this period found German writers beginning to acknowl-
edge the singular value of Volksiiberlieferungen in verse and prose. After mid-
century, influential writers like Herder27 and Wieland28 pointed out the intrinsic

Gianfrancesco Straparola's Le piacevoli notti (Venice 1550-53) is the first large Renaissance collection of fairy tales.
The Neapolitan collection Lo cunto de li cunti (Naples 1634-36) by Giambattista Basile provided an early model for
later German writers like Johann Karl August Musius and Wieland (e.g., the latter's narrative verse setting of
Pervonte oder Die Wiinsche, 1778-79). The famous Venetian playwright, Carlo Gozzi, wrote ten Fiabe teatrali (among
them "Princess Turandot") supporting his preference for the older improvised Italian comedies in his quarrel with
Goldoni. These were translated into German (1777) by F. A. Werthes. See C. GOZZI, Opere (Venice 1772-74).

Voltaire's poem, La Bigudle was the basis of a fairy-tale opera by P.-A. Monsigny, La Belle Arsene (Paris 1773; text by
Favart). For a discussion of some possible influences of Voltaire's work on Die Zauberflite, see A. BETTELHEIM,
Voltaires Anteil am Text der Zauberflite: Eine Frage, in: Deutsche Rundschau 47 (Sept. 1921), p. 363-64.

Le Cabinet des Fies includes collections by: Henriette-Julie de CASTELNAU, Comtesse de Murat, Nouveaux contes des
fies (Paris 1698; German trans. by J. H. Voss, Nuremberg 1761-66); Marie-Catharine-Jumelle de BERNEVILLE,
Comtesse d'Aulnoy, Les Contes des fres et les fies la mode (Amsterdam 1698; German trans. by H. Raspe, 1765, which
was reviewed in: Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek 6 [1768], p. 309-10); CH. PERRAULT, Histoires ou contes du temps passi
(Paris 1697); F. Petis de LA CROIX, Les Mille et un jours (Paris 1710-12); A. GALLAND, Les Mille et une nuits, contes
arabes (Paris 1704; German trans. Leipzig 1710, and by J. H. Voss, Bremen 1781-85), among others. The translations
of Galland's work by Voss were admired by Wieland. Some contes, notably those of Jean de Prdchac and the
Countess Louise d'Auneuil (both 1698), contain numerous allusions to persons and situations in the contemporary
French court. The contes of Antoine [Anthony] d'Hamilton and Claude Crdbillon integrated satire and irony. These
and other French models for Wieland's works are discussed in K. O. MAYER, Das Feenmdrchen bei Wieland, in: Vjs. f.
Litteraturgeschichte 5 (1892), p. 374-408, 497-533 - still the best study on the subject, although it is somewhat
outdated. For a more recent discussion of Wieland's sources, see CH. M. CRAIG, Themes and Style in Christoph Martin
Wieland's "Fairy Tales ": A Comparison of Sources (Ph.D. diss., Brunswick, N. J. 1964).

R. ANDRAE,
1897), p. 4-5. Studien zu den Volksma'rchen der Deutschen von J. K. A. Musadus (Ph.D. diss., University of Marburg

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 38 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberflote

value of common "Volkssage, Mirchen und Mythologie." This was bot

action against the restraints of contemporary German literature in its he
liance on the models of classical antiquity, and a fascination with the "n
unsophisticated spirit of folk literature.
The contes provided both French and Oriental elements to the Germa
ers. However, a specifically German narrative tradition, more difficult to
also figures in mirchen. Goethe recalled that in his early youth a great
of the simplest kind of German folk literature was commonly circu
cheap, mass-produced little books. Although they were disdained b
educated, Goethe considered these "schitzbare Uberreste der Mittelzeit."
land, as the editor of the Teutscher Merkur, wrote that he was hearing d
from all directions for more fairy tales and reviews of their publ
Unfortunately, he had to question the literary value of the German produ
Before Wieland tried his own hand at creating a collection of fairy tale
he considered worthy of modern German literary standards, Johan
August Musius published his Volksmdrchen der Deutschen (Gotha 1782-8
first truly modern German fairy tales transformed into a genre of the A
rung. Musius's stories employ contemporary literary allusions and al
combining recent history, topical events, and biting humor with the olde
tale material, thereby "improving" the literary quality, as a few earlier
writers had done.,3 Musius felt free to select motifs from various sourc
tie them together in a single story - exactly what the librettist(s) of Die
fldte would do. Similar collections of German fairy tales appeared later
decade, e.g., Christiane Benedicte Naubert, Neue Volksmdirchen der Deu
(Leipzig 1789-93), and Chr. Wilhelm Giinther, Kindermdrchen, aus miindli
zdhlungen gesammelt (Erfurt 1787).

Christoph Martin Wieland's Dschinnistan, oder auserlesene Feen- und Geis

chen appeared in three volumes in 1786, 1787, and 1789. The title Dschin
refers to a mythical land commonly mentioned in "oriental" fairy ta
collection consists of nineteen stories, a preface to the first volume, and
editorial remarks at the beginning of the third volume. Wieland include
stories by the Weimar chamberlain, Friedrich Hildebrand von Einsie
two by August Jacob Liebeskind, Wieland's son-in-law (see Table 1). Lieb
is in fact the author of the story, Lulu, oder die Zauberflite, from which the
took its name and a few of its features.

28

MAYER, Das Feenmdrchen, p. 386.

29

Cited in ANDRAE, Studien, p. 3.

30

WIELAND, Dschinnistan (1968), p. 475: "Von allen Orten und Enden wird mir's zugerufen: mehr Miirchen und
mehr Rezensionen! Das Publikum will nichts anders, sagt man: wenigstens liest der grotge Haufe, an dem uns leider!
am meisten gelegen sein muSB, nichts liebers."
31

For details on Musius and his work, see ANDRAE, Studien zu den Volksmlirchen; E. BLEICH, Die Ma'rchen des Musa'us
vornehmlich nach Stoffen und Motiven = Archiv fiir deutsche Literatur 108-109 (1902); and J. K. A. MUSAUS,
Volksmdrchen der Deutschen, ed. Miller (n.d.). Musius's Volksma'rchen had a decisive influence on Wieland and he
later produced his own edition of the collection (Vienna 1815-16). For the best study on the development of fairy
tales into Enlightenment allegories, see GRATZ, Das Ma'rchen.

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberflite 39
Table 1: The Contents of Dschinnistan

Volume 1 (1786): [10] Alboflede

[1] Vorrede [11] Pertharit und Ferrandine
[2] Nadir und Nadine [12] Der Zweikampf (Einsiedel)
[3] Adis und Dahy [13] Das Labyrinth (Einsiedel)
[4] Neangir und seine Briider,
Argentine und ihre Schwestern Volume III (1789):
[5] Der Stein der Weisen, [14] Der Herausgeber an die Leser
oder Sylvester und Rosine [15] Der eiserne Armleuchter
[6] Timander und Melissa [16] Der Greif vom Gebiirge Kaf
[17] Die klugen Knaben (Einsiedel)
Volume II (1787): [18] Die Prinzessin mit der langen Nase
[7] Himmelblau und Lupine (Einsiedel)
[8] Der goldene Zweig [19] Der Korb (Liebeskind)
[9] Der Druide, oder [20] Der Palast der Wahrheit
die Salamandrin und die Bildsdule [21] Lulu, oder die Zauberfldte (Liebeskind)

Wieland scholars believe that Dschinnistan occupies only a minor place in

the output of the creator of Oberon, Rosamunde, and Agathon, perhaps owing in
part to the view of fairy tales as second-class literature.32 Fairy tales are meant
to be narrated to children (although Musius and Wieland recommended their
own stories for adults as well) and as such may have seemed of less value than
other literary genres. Perhaps another factor in the critical judgment of this
collection is the uneven quality of the stories owing to the markedly inferior
contributions by Einsiedel and Liebeskind. Crude language and less cohesion in
the story line distinguish the contributions of these two authors. In fact,
Liebeskind's Lulu, oder die Zauberfldte is one of the more artless stories in lan-
guage and plot - not unlike the libretto of the opera.
In his prefatory remarks, Wieland introduces his fairy tales and discusses
his methods of translation, adaptation, and creation. He cites sources including
Le Cabinet des Fies, and the translations of Galland and Perrault. He admits
handling the original stories very freely, not merely translating but taking a
more active role as editor, following much the same pattern as Musius in
supplementing, deleting, and rearranging the preexisting material, as well as
highlighting allegorical elements related to the Enlightenment, e.g., reason
versus superstition, freedom from oppressive authoritarian rulers, etc. He
observes that unlike other literature, fairy tales have a special appeal to all ages,
races, and ranks. He expresses his notion of the elevation of "low" or "folk" art
into "high art" through the agency of the artist33 and its consequent appeal to
readers at both levels.

Fairy tales profoundly influenced many of Wieland's earlier works as well as Dschinnistan. For details see MAYER,
Das Feenmdrchen. For a more up-to-date review of research on Wieland, see G. GONTHER and H. ZEILINGER, Wieland-
Bibliographie (Berlin and Weimar 1983).
33

WIELAND, Dschinnistan (1968), p. 8-9: "Produkte dieser Art miissen Werke des Geschmackes sein, oder sie sind
nichts. Ammenmirchen im Ammenton erzihlt m6gen sich durch miindliche Oberlieferung fortpflanzen, aber
gedruckt miissen sie nicht werden."

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 40 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte

Wieland has insight into the function of fairy tales in the "improveme
both adult and child behavior, recognizing the basic psychological aspect
he notes that they instruct and amuse in order to improve us and cure us
"bad habits." He acknowledges the tension between the desire for truth
element of the fantastic in this literature - a seeming contradiction. Wi
finds this interweaving of the fantastic and the "natural" to be the uniq
ture of fairy tales. He notes that other unusual elements can be intr
including "Philosophie von der esoterischen Art" (perhaps an allusion
Hermetic references in Der Stein der Weisen), humor, and intellectual, a
cal, naive, and satirical features - all are found in Die Zauberflhte.
When Wieland states that the genre's appeal to childhood memories he
suspend expectations of "natural" poetic conventions such as realism
need not adhere to the conventions of plot and character necessary for m
"natural" literature (and theater), he offers us an explanation for the cont
appeal of Die Zauberflite. When viewed from a lofty literary perspective,
bretto is clearly flawed. Yet the opera remains one of the most popular
types of audiences. The almost universal power of the fairy tale (alon
Mozart's musical evocation, of course) helps to explain this seeming cont
tion.

The influence of fairy-tale literature on late eighteenth-century German

was profound.34 Marchen, Geisterromane, and Ritterromane provid
material that delighted audiences of the singspiel as well as non-m
theater. The freedom in adapting fairy-tale material on the part of librett
trait that was shared by German fairy-tale writers, including Musius an
land, when they revamped their sources to create their own stories. Sch
der was no exception.
We noted above that Die Zauberflite was not the only work that Schik
based on modified Wieland sources. Besides the earlier production of Der
der Weisen, Schikaneder produced an adaptation of Oberon (set by Gi
and Das Labyrinth. In the Oberon setting, we find a scene where the hero
magic horn that causes the attacking Mussulmen to dance, renderin
harmless - the direct model for the similar scene with Papageno's magic
Act 1 of Die ZauberflBte.35 Das Labyrinth, also drawn from Dschinnistan, w

The contributions of Musius and Wieland bore fruit in literary and popular circles and fairy tales a
considerable interest in the nineteenth century. These later editions were often attempts to establish
Volksiiberlieferungen rather than to create "high art" from "low art," although all of these editions were hig

(See R. KOHLER, Aufsa'tze zum deutschen Mdrchen [Berlin 1894], and ZIPES, The Brothers Grimm, for d
tradition was subsumed as a part of the Romantic penchant for the bizarre, the exotic, and of course, natio
middle-class sentiment. G. C. Lichtenberg, L. Bechstein, J. L. K. and W. K. Grimm, A. L. Grimm, G. A. B
Hauff, E. T. Kristensen, and E. T. A. Hoffmann either wrote material based on orally-transmitted fair
devoted their efforts to collecting somewhat more "authentic" sources. For details, see F. M. IvY, The Develo
Pre-Romantic Elements in Wieland's Work as Illustrated in his Fairy Tales (Ph.D. diss., New Orleans 1966).
35

This is discussed in E. KOMORZYNSKI, "Zauberfldte" und "Oberon", in: Mozart-Jb. 1953, p. 150-61. For a detailed
comparison of music and text in these two operas, see M. KIELBASA, Paul Wranitzky's Oberon, Kdnig der Elfen: The
Historical Background of the Opera and its Composer, and its Influence on Mozart's Die Zauberfldte (M.A. Thesis,
University of Southern California 1975).

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte 41

duced as a sequel to the successful Zauberfldte production. Like its pred

it drew upon motifs from the entire collection rather than simply the st
bears the same title.

A passing remark by Ignaz von Seyfried, in his letter on the origin of Die
Zauberfldte, deserves scrutiny.36 Although he was only fifteen at the time of the
opera's creation, he recalls that Schikaneder's associate, Karl Giesecke, was the
source of Schikaneder's acquaintance with Wieland's Dschinnistan. The collec-
tion is cited as a whole, rather than the Lulu story, and only Wieland is men-
tioned, not the author of the story, Liebeskind.37 Whether or not it was his inten-
tion, Seyfried implies that these librettists drew on the collection as a whole in
setting the individual operas, Der Stein der Weisen, Die Zauberfldte, and Das La-
byrinth.
Only one author, Egon Komorzynski,"8 has demonstrated the close relation-
ship of Die Zauberfl'te to Wieland's collection as a whole, identifying motifs bor-
rowed from other stories in the collection, as well as from Wieland's Oberon.39
Yet Komorzynski only identified some of these motifs and neglected many of
the more important ones. He mentions small details of language, plot, and
locale, and concentrates on the use of characters from other stories (e.g., the drei
Knaben, the repulsive Moorish slave, the Queen, the prince who wins his wife
by enduring initiation trials, and the wise, older mentor).
Komorzynski may have had some specific aims in mind in selectively listing
certain traits from the collection. His long career was devoted to documenting
the life and work of Schikaneder and to redeeming his tarnished reputation.
This led to some well-known inaccuracies in Komorzynski's work.40 He wanted
to show that the "great" librettist of Die Zauberflite surpassed the "mere" fairy
tale in his quest to create a true "artwork" that was spiritual and broad in scope
and depth. He believed that the fairy-tale material was used "mit der GrogB-
ziigigkeit des echten Kiinstlers, der immer selbstindig bleibt."41
Before examinig some significant elements from Dschinnistan that Komor-
zynski does not cite in his study, we should note that he does not discuss the
fairy tale as a literary genre, or evaluate the Wieland collection in its literary
context. No mention is made of a tradition of folk literature or the Enlighten-
ment allegories highlighted by Wieland. The psychological elements in fairy
tales are not discussed, nor is there any reference to the dynamics of drama. He

DEUTSCH, Mozart: Die Dokumente, p. 471-72.

37

Various individual stories from Dschinnistan appeared in print in the late eighteenth century. One edition of Lulu,
oder die Zauberfldte (Vienna, Mathias Ludwig 1791), erroneously gives Wieland as the author rather than Liebeskind.
This suggests that Seyfried's mistake was a common one and that this story had a special favor with the Viennese
public. Another singspiel, Joachim Perinet's Kaspar, der Fagottist oder die Zauberzither, also based on this story,
achieved some popularity and had aroused Mozart's curiosity. In his letter of 12 June 1791, Mozart relates to his wife
that "there is nothing to it."

E. KOMORZYNSKI, "Zauberfl'te" und "Dschinnistan ", in: Mozart-Jb. 1954, p. 177-94.

KOMORZYNSKI, "Zauberfldte" und "Oberon".
40

0. E. DEUTSCH, Phantasiestiicke aus der Mozart-Biographie, in: Mozart-Jb. 1956, p. 48-50.

41

KOMORZYNSKI, "Zauberfl'te" und "Dschinnistan ", p. 193.

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 42 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberflfte
also never evaluates the pseudo-Egyptian elements in the story.
The first story in Dschinnistan, Nadir und Nadine, employs the same plot re-
versal found in Die Zauberfld'te. A seemingly evil magician steals away a young
woman, while an apparently good magician comes to the aid of the young hero
in pursuit. At a decisive point in the story it is revealed that the magicians are
not as they seem - the evil abductor turns out to be benevolent and the magi-
cian who seemed helpful is actually the villain. Finding the source of the fa-
mous "plot reversal" in Die Zauberflh'te is significant because much has been
made of its awkward effect. In Seyfried's letter, cited above, we first encounter
the oft-repeated account of how Schikaneder and Mozart had to suddenly re-
construct the plot after discovering that a rival theater was staging a similar
version of the Lulu story, turning the villain Sarastro into the benevolent wise
man and the good Queen into the source of evil. Much evidence speaks against
this assertion,42 and whatever the reason for this element, the librettist(s) had a
most convenient model for their unusual twist of plot - the model from the first
story in Dschinnistan.
In this story we also read of a magic ring that is used at the conclusion to
bring Nadine back to Nadir. This may have been the inspiration for Papagena's
return to Papageno at the end of Die Zauberfldte, through the use of the magic
bells.

While Komorzynski acknowledged the Monostatos character in Adis und

Dahy, he does not mention the remarkable similarity in plot - the hateful Moor
falls in love with the forbidden white maiden he serves, only to be rejected. He
then forms a vengeful plan that eventually will be thwarted.
Some elements commonly thought to be Masonic in Die ZauberflBte appear in
these mirchen without any such meaning. Komorzynski mentions the similar
trial scene in Der Stein der Weisen, as well as the Egyptian references. Also
depicted here is an exclusively male ritual. Although writers today often be-
lieve this is derived from Masonry, it is in fact present in fairy tales without
Masonic meaning. In Der Druide, an enlightened group of older males instruct a
headstrong youth (Egyptian symbols also appear in this story). In Der Palast der
Wahrheit, the hero is warned against "women's falsehoods," and in Der Zwei-
kampf, the hero accepts a required vow to renounce associating with women.
Note that this is the same misogynistic tone that we find in Die Zauberfldte,
clearly without a Masonic reference.
In addition to the example mentioned by Komorzynski, we encounter wise,
magic Knaben in two other stories. In Timander und Melissa there is a small ve-
hicle with silver-plated oars, rowed on each side by "drei Knaben, sch6n wie
Liebesg6tter." This may very well account for the presence of a similar vehicle
in Die Zauberflite. In Das Labyrinth four Knaben serve as guardian spirits to a
young prince who pursues the daughter of a queen, similar to that in Die Zau-
berflite (she has even been promised to him by the queen in a parallel scene).

42

For a general review of this evidence, see the essays by ROMMEL, GRUBER, and KOMORZYNSKI in CSAMPAI and
HOLLAND, Die Zauberfldte.

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberflte 43

In Das Labyrinth there is an awesome midnight scene, announced by t

strikes of the bells, similar to the one in Die Zauberfldte, as well as a m
riously appearing table set with food and drink (as it is for Tamino and
geno in Die Zauberfldte). Another of these scenes of terror appears in Der
Armleuchter, when a weak-willed young man finds himself alone and te
in a dark underground cavern, exactly as Papageno does in the opera. Res
from suicide attempts (most often by knife or sword) in Das Labyrinth
klugen Knaben recall both Pamina's and Papageno's suicide attempts in Di
berflite.
When Schikaneder created a sequel to Die Zauberfldte he looked at another
fairy tale in Dschinnistan - Das Labyrinth. He treated it with similar freedom by
adding elements from other stories in the collection and making radical changes
in every dimension.43 He even altered the title, as he had done with the Zauber-
fldte. In other singspiels like Der wohltfitige Derwisch (the year of the first per-
formance is either 1791 or 1793), and Der Spiegel von Arkadien (1794) Schikane-
der seems to have used some common elements from other stories in Dschinni-
stan, e.g., Die Prinzessin mit der langen Nase, and Der eiserne Armleuchter.44 T
seems to have been the established method in Schikaneder's company -
method Mozart apparently found advantageous.

Die Zauberflite contains some of the motifs we frequently find in fairy tales, e
magic instruments and objects that have the power to change the hero's life,
sagacious magicians, severe tests and trials, secret orders of initiates, temples
pair of contrasting comrades on a mutual quest, and young couples, generally
prince and a princess.45 The use of matching male and female forms of
characters' names is typical, e.g., Nadir and Nadine, Papageno and Papagen
Tamino and Pamina. Humor is a common element, as are admonishing tales of
drunkeness, lying, and exaggeration - Papageno's vices. Cowardice a
talkativeness are punished by the loss of speech - Papageno's punishmen
Plots often have heros captured and then liberated.
Some of the more characteristic fairy tales reveal similarities to the libretto
In the story "The Raven," a queen's daughter is held captive and turned into a
raven. Her young rescuer is warned that he must remain awake and not eat o
drink anything that an old woman will bring to him.46 He promises but fails
like Papageno with his "old woman," the disguised Papagena. As mentione
before, the dangers and wiles of women are frequently found in these stories.
In the myth of Psyche and Eros, Psyche sets out on a journey, only to be-
come prey to a serpent. Eros saves her and keeps her hidden in his castle. Her

43

See A. BAUER, Der "Zauberfldte" zweiter Teil, in: Osterr. Musikz. 4 (1949), p. 180-89, and KOMORZYNS
"Zauberfldte" und "Dschinnistan".
44

E. KOMORZYNSKI, Emanuel Schikaneder (Berlin 1901; rev. edn., Vienna 1951); ID., "Zauberfldte" und "Dschinnistan
and BATLEY, A Preface, p. 97-9, 107.
45

For details, see THOMPSON, Motif Index of Folk Literature; and ID., The Types of Folktale.

This is discussed in the most widely read monograph on fairy tales, B. BETTELHEIM, The Uses of Enchantment: The
Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (New York 1976), p. 187.

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 44 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die ZauberflBte
sisters talk her into killing her captor Eros with a knife they give her. She can-
not kill him, so she tries to kill herself instead. She is saved when Zeus comes
down to make Psyche and Eros immortal. They are married on Mount Olym-
pus and give birth to "pleasure." Note the similarities in plot to Die Zauberfldte.
Fairy tales have figured in the development of modern psychological theory
through works by Freud, Jung, and Reik.47 In his analysis of the effects of fairy
tales on the child and the adult, Bruno Bettelheim demonstrates that characters
are divided into clear opposites, reflecting the capacity of children (the in-
tended audience) to understand moral and ethical issues only in simple, un-
ambiguous relationships. A recurrent fairy-tale motif has two youths starting
out together on a quest. They separate, having different fates according to their
opposite natures - one noble and the other controlled by his animal desires
(like Tamino and Papageno). Strivings for independence and self-assertion,
along with their opposites, the need for dependence and fear of the separation
implied in assertion, are prevalent themes, and in this regard Tamino and
Papageno are stereotypical. We can discern other motifs in the libretto as well.
The evil queen who is jealous of a virtuous young princess represents a
common mother and daughter conflict. A mother wants to arrest her daught-
er's development and increasing independence - the typical suspicion of young
daughters. A queen is often jealous or fearful of a daughter she suspects of
desiring to surpass her. This is usually represented symbolically, through
acquiring the queen's realm, like Snow White, or Pamina (this motif is also used
in Wieland's Pertharit und Ferrandine). The typical fate of an evil queen is to be
"eaten up by the earth" - the fate of the Queen of the Night.
In many fairy tales (including those in the Wieland collection) an older
man's realm must be given over to a youthful successor who proves his worth
through meriting a virtuous spouse. In the famous story "The Goose Girl" a
widowed queen (like the Queen in Die Zauberfldte) has a beautiful daughter
who finds herself in an alien land. A headstrong young man suspects his older
mentor (or his father) of cheating him out of his rightful partner - exactly Tami-
no's situation in Act 1.48

Bettelheim points out that for a small child, fairy tales approximate reality
much more faithfully than so-called "realistic stories." Giants do exist for the in-
fant - they are adults, and they behave in utterly mysterious and powerful
ways, seeming to be magicians. Magic is the only apparently operative means
of action to an infant. His needs are satisfied merely through the magic mate-
rializations of his wishes and desires, e.g., when he is hungry he cries and his
food appears, along with the smiling "giant." No "greys" exist in this world
where ambiguity cannot be tolerated and people or forces are either purely

See M. SIMONSEN, Le Conte populaire franqais (Paris 1981), p. 68-104, and ZIPES, The Brothers Grimm, p. 110-134, for
reviews of the psychological theories on the significance of fairy tales. In Fr. WALLA, The Magic Flute, in: Proceedings
and Papers of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association 16 (Canberrra n.d.), p. 213, the author
attempts to link some basic characters and ideas in Die Zauberflite to classical Freudian psychology and briefly
mentions fairy tales.
48

BETTELHEIM, The Uses of Enchantment, p. 136-43.

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfldte 45

good or bad.
Fairy tales give the child hope for resolutions to his dilemmas and anx
such as separation, loss, helplessness, and abandonment. While logical
sion is often useless in communication with a three-year-old child, the fai
directs itself to his most intimate experiences and anxieties in the w
giants and magic - his "internal" world. The fairy tale, narrated by a pare
source of the child's security and often his anxiety), safely externalizes
conflicts, promises resolutions symbolically, and relieves unconscious pre
in fantasy.
While we know little about the psychology of eighteenth-century aud
it is likely that there was a greater prevalence of superstition in everyday
the demons, spirits, sprites, and a host of evil-minded forces believed to
ence one's existence.49 The fairy tale reassures that such forces can be ove
Its popularity for the German-speaking middle classes in this period mad
suitable source for plays and libretti.,o Its effectiveness for today's audi
partly based on the continuing presence of the source of those fears in
conscious and our recollection of the fairy tale's comforting effect upon
children. This also helps us explain the one-dimensional characters, convo
plot, and black and white portrayal of morality in Die Zauberfldte. Thes

49

For some illuminating accounts of the narration of fairy tales in late eighteenth-century German hom
NITSCHKE, The Importance of Fairy Tales in German Families before the Grimms, in: The Brothers Grimm and Fol
by J. M. McGlathery with L. W. Danielson, R. E. Lorbe, and S. K. Richardson (Urbana and Chicago 1988), p. 1
50

A discussion of the psychological element should also take into account the middle-class values prese
popular German fairy tales. This has yet to be fully examined in regard to Die Zauberfldte. Values of hard w
renunciation of impulses, delayed gratification, and success through discipline and obedience are preva
librettos used in singspiels. (It is not surprising to find these virtues also admired in the Masonic lod
members of the middle classes freely mixed with the more "progressive" aristocracy.) Failure in life is
with acting upon base (and basic) impulses - lust, hunger, sexual desire, addiction to alcohol, idle chat
laziness, etc. Such themes appeal to German bourgeois sensibilities and myths, as do some of the racial a
stereotypes also prevalent in these classes.
These values contrast with the themes presented in earlier opera seria, opera buffa, and French opera-feer
fairy-tale operas (sometimes called "legendary dramas") evince more of these ideas since they also were
appeal to a middle-class audience. The heros of these plots are solid citizens and faithful spouses, h
necessary virtues found in reliable family providers. The "noble" prince Tamino develops these innate qualit
progresses through the opera. Sarastro teaches him the self-control of impulses and the discipline nece
middle-class success as well as the notion of the male as the "natural" leader in marriage (Sarastro has
renounced his own physical desires for apparent celibacy). Pamina, a virtuous young princess, must be captu
taken away from the "evil" influence of her mother, the Queen of the Night, so that she can be instructed
The Queen is a subversive force that threatens this "natural" order of things by her "unnatural" ambitions. In
with Tamino, Papageno, the more "common" man, has clear problems with self-control, renunciation o
impulses, and delay of gratification. His struggle with his impulses is continuous and he easily gets disco
is a child in this regard and his lack of obedience and self-discipline gets him into trouble when he tries to
his speech, hunger, thirst, and lust. While Papageno recognizes the proper values, he cannot always liv
The more extreme example of vice is found in Monostatos, a primitive, non-Caucasian character whose
conform to racial stereotypes. He must be punished like an animal (with lashes on the soles of his feet), and
control is even less developed than Papageno's. His motivation is strictly the sensual gratification of his imp
is the most repugnant character in the opera and he represents those dangerous inner forces that the m
believed most threatening for its tenuous position on the social ladder. These forces were what European
themselves and thus projected on to the "foreign" race. For details, see J. L. SCHWARTZ, Cultural Stereotypes
in the 18th Century, in: Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 151-155 (1976), p. 1989-2013. Fo
discussion of these aspects as they influenced the Grimm stories, see ZIPES, The Brothers Grimm, esp.
Dreams of a Better Bourgeois Life: The Psycho-Social Origins of the Tales, p. 28-42, and The German Obsession
Tales, p. 75-95.

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46 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die ZauberflBte
ments actually enhance a unique dramatic power rather than detract from it.
In summary, the prevailing view of this opera presents the fairy tale as a
mere pretext for deeper meanings that were taken from sources unrelated to
mirchen. However, the fairy-tale element itself offers many of the basic allegor-
ies in the opera and facilitates a double-edged purpose that was well-known at
the time: to instruct and amuse simultaneously, "improving" the listener while
entertaining him.,' The modern psychological view of the fairy tale clarifies this
process and gives us a compelling explanation for the emotional power that
many experience during the performance of the opera. The dramatic effect oc-
curs not in spite of one-dimensional characters, simple, rustic language, and
unusual plot, but because of them. An understanding of the fairy-tale elements
provides a necessary perspective of the coordination of the various aspects as
well, whether allegorical, Masonic, or popular. All this is accomplished through
goals that were central to the German Enlightenment as it was experienced by
the middle classes through its popular literature, music, and art.

IV

Finally, I want to offer a few thoughts on the implications for Mozart's musical
setting. As his letters attest, musical composition was for Mozart a kind of es-
cape to a world where he had precise control over the results of his efforts,
forming a contrast to the disorder and perilous aspect of his own life. The pow-
erful need to escape from this disorder and his formidable gifts inspired the
most remarkable identification of a composer with his own operatic characters,
yielding musical representations of uncanny veracity and depth, unequalled in
his time. His depictions of the characters in the Da Ponte operas are among our
finest portrayals of the vibrant contradictions in the human spirit. While the
complex nature of character is lacking in Die Zauberfldte (with the possible ex-
ception of Pamina), Mozart seems no less involved with this libretto than his
others. He probably threw himself into his task as he did elsewhere, providing
what he considered appropriate musical representations. We might point out a
few features in the style and expression of Die Zauberfldte that may owe their in-
spiration to Mozart's responses to the fairy-tale material in the libretto.
As usual, Mozart sets the tone of the opera with his overture. The somber
slow introduction, with its five premiers coups d'archet, yields to an allegro
movement in what we today often call "sonata form," although the style is
somewhat analogous to the old French overture with its serious, ceremonious,
and dignified expression. This is the only example of an opera overture in
which Mozart employs a set of quasi-fugal entries, and it must be considered
something special. The fugue literally suggests a flight and this rapid sixteenth-
note set of entries conveys flight in gesture and contour. Perhaps it is the flight

Perhaps Mozart is alluding to this double purpose in his letter to Constanze of 8-9 Oct. 1791, when he relates an
incident in his box at the theater. A man sitting with him could only laugh at the opera. Mozart patiently tried to
draw his attention "auf einige Reden," but the man failed to recognize these more serious aspects of the work and
frustrated Mozart so much that he stormed out of the box calling the man a "Papageno" because of his lack of
"understanding."

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 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfl6te 47
from the conventions of reality and "natural" drama (an essential characteristic
of fairy tales) that Mozart evokes. Or perhaps it is the flight from reality
inherent in theatrical production.
Mozart's music for Papageno's magic bells and Tamino's magic flute is
simple and direct. Made up mostly of primary chords (often with simple ar
peggiation), always in the major mode, the style suggests a toy-like, innocent
quality for the bells and more noble and stately expression for the flute. This is
consistent with Mozart's characterization of the contrasting nature of Tamino
and Papageno.
Mozart conveys the rustic innocence of the fairy tale by using a strophic
volkslied style (common in contemporary singspiels) in the arias of Papageno
and the duet of Pamina and Papageno. (This simplicity was attributed in the
nineteenth century to Schikaneder's limited vocal abilities.) For the somber
Egyptian rituals Mozart employs an "exotic" orchestration and low tessitura
sometimes considered his "Masonic compositional style".52 A similar tessitura
and instrumentation (paired basset horns and bassoons, with alto, tenor, and
bass trombones doubling voice parts) were employed for the first two sections
of the Requiem. Moreover, this orchestration is commonly used in contemporary
Austrian Requiem Mass settings."s Commentators often note similarities in the
opera and the Requiem.54 In fact, references to church styles abound in Die Zau-
berflite, e.g., the quotation of the chorale tune "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh'
darein," the use of a motive from the third Kyrie from the Mass of Saint Henry by
the Salzburg Composer, Heinrich Biber, and strict contrapuntal writing." A
hymn-like strophic style is apparent in Sarastro's arias, and the choral numbers.
The music for the Priests' marches and choruses has a direct precedent in his
opera seria (specifically, Idomeneo), as well as his Masonic music. Mozart himself
contrasted the "lofty" style of opera seria with the "low" style of singspiels6 and
here the composer employs both styles for appropriate scenes in the fairy tale.
Mozart offers some of his most passionate yet controlled melodic writing for
the love duets in the opera. The noble duets of Pamina and Tamino, as well as
the famous volkslied duet for Papageno and Pamina, seem to celebrate the uni-
ting through love in a particularly compelling way. It is the promise of a future
ideal union that comforts the child in his anxieties about the permanence of his
parental ties and the seeming losses he experiences. A musical emphasis on the

52

See fn. 11. The "exotic" aspects of Mozart's music and the portrayals of irrational characters and forces like
Monostatos, the Queen of the Night, and Don Giovanni struck some contemporary listeners as bizarre (see K. G.
FELLERER, Zur Mozart-Kritik, p. 80-94). Fairy-tale literature often appeals to the darker side of the psyche and this
interest augurs the 19th-century fascination for the supernatural, the dream, the nightmare, folk tales, and folk
music.
53

See Fr. BLUME, Requiem und kein Ende, in: ID., Syntagma musicologicum (Kassel 1963), p. 725-29.
54

E. J. DENT, Mozart's Operas: A Critical Study (2nd ed., London 1947), p. 253-54.
55

Mozart seems to have relied heavily on his knowledge of church music for other works in the supposed "Masonic"
style, e.g., the Maurerische Trauermusik, K. 477/479a, where in the middle section a cantus firmus is used that is a
literal quotation of the "Te decet " from Michael Haydn's Missa pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo. For details, see
M. E. BONDS, Gregorian Chant in the Works of Mozart, in: Mozart-Jb. 1980-83, p. 308-9.
See Mozart's letter to his father of 16 June 1781.

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 48 David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfl'te
prediction of an eventual union through love is especially convincing here.
Mozart's own affinity with fairy tales dates back at least to 1770, when he
wrote enthustiastically to his sister about an Italian print of A Thousand and On
Nights.'7 Both Leopold Mozart and his son owned and admired works by th
"incomparable" Wieland, who had met the young Mozart in 1777.58 Among the
books in both Mozart's estates was Wieland's epic fairy-tale poem Oberon.
It may be that Die Zauberflite was not the only mairchen that Mozart consid
ered as a libretto. Among Mozart's undated papers is an incomplete draft of a
magic "Lust-Spiel" in three acts called Die Liebes-Probe. The characters are thos
of the standard Viennese Hanswurst comedy including a Hausknecht name
Kasperl and a witch called Slinzkicotinzki.59 The plot involves the usual
contrasting pairs of lovers - Leander and Rosaura are the main love intere
while their servants, Wurstl and Trautel, provide both comedic and amorou
moments. The libretto begins with Rosaura and Trautel having been transform
ed into a dwarf and a giant, respectively. Since Mozart devoted his effort
mainly to practical projects, we can assume that he was considering settin
music to this text.

At the time that Mozart was composing Die Zauberflite his son Karl Thomas
was almost seven, an ideal age for his parents to have read aloud the popular
Wieland stories - a common "family" recreational activity in this period. Al-
though we know very little about Mozart's relationship with his children, his
letters suggest that he was an affectionate, if too often absent father who had at
least some concern for his son's good behavior - a concern to which the fairy
tale directs its message. In any event, the powerful identification evoked by a
fairy tale to Mozart as an adult reader and composer would have facilitated
Mozart's recollection of his own youth - a potent force for Mozart's creative
spirit.
One of Mozart's letters attests to his overwhelming emotional response to
one of the opera's arias during the time of its composition.60 He had been the
wunderkind who as an adult had never equalled his childhood fame. His early
successes and pleasures provided him with strong feelings about his past and,
in contrast, his present condition.6' More than one commentator has observed

57

In his letter of 21 July 1770, Mozart w

Sprache von unserer Hausfrau zu Rom
literary tastes, see E. VALENTIN, Mozart u
58

For details, see E. VALENTIN, "... er kennt mich aber noch nicht so": Mozart-Spuren bei Wieland, in: Acta Mozartiana.
Mitt. der Deutschen Mozart-Ges. 8 (1961), p. 30; and ID., Mozart und die Dichtung seiner Zeit, p. 79-113.

See Mozart. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen 4, ed. W. A. Bauer and 0. E. Deutsch (Kassel 1963), p. 168-73. The alloying of
mirchen elements into the Hanswurst theatrical tradition is in fact one of the first instances of fairy-tale elements
being substantially incorporated into German libretti. This parallels the earlier French adoption of contes into Parisian
stage productions based on Italian commedia dell'arte characters.
60

See Mozart's letter of 7 July 1791: "... gehe ich ans Klavier und singe etwas aus der Oper, so mugB ich gleich
aufh6ren - es macht mir zuviel Empfindung."

This libretto certainly would have recalled to Mozart his encounter with Wieland some fourteen years earlier in
Mannheim - by all accounts one of the happiest periods of his life. He provided a painfully accurate description of
the poet ("ein vortrefflicher Kopf") in a letter of 27 December 1777 to his father. See VALENTIN, "... er kennt mich aber

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David J. Buch: Fairy-Tale Literature and Die Zauberfl'te 49
Mozart's uncanny ability to evoke youthful innocence, e.g., in the ensembles of
the drei Knaben or in the arias of Cherubino. Perhaps with Die Zauberfldte Mozar
returned to the world of childhood one last time, bringing forth a powerful re-
source of spirit with that disturbing abandon and beguiling simplicity.
Thus we are reminded of the old picture of Mozart as the pre-parental,
"eternal child," despite our aversion to that hackneyed nineteenth-century view
Yet if we think of this less as dated and sentimental wish-fulfillment and more
as psychological insight, we might want to speak again of the spirit of child-
hood in Mozart's work.

noch nicht so", p. 30-32.

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