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The magic flute : an alchemical allegory = Die Zauberflöte / M. F. M. van den Berk.

Social Sciences - Book Archive 2000-2006 Available online

Format:: Book
Author/Creator:: Berk, M. F. M. van den (Matheus Franciscus Maria), 1938- author.
Language:: English
Subjects (All):: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791.; Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.; Alchemy in literature.; Music and magic.
Physical Description:: 1 online resource (744 pages)
Edition:: 1st ed.
Place of Publication:: Leiden, The Netherlands ; Boston : Brill, [2004]
Summary:: This book demonstrates for the first time that Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte is an enactment of the alchemical opus magnum, in the form of a chemical wedding, using Paracelsus's tria principia doctrine that was strongly prevalent among Freemasons towards the end of the 18th century.
Contents:: Intro; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; GENERAL INTRODUCTION; 1. On the trail of Hermes; On the trail of Hermes; Hermes is also a buffoon; Hermes-Papageno has a hermetic nature; 2. Die Zauberflöte, an alchemical allegory; The hermetic art; The magnum opus; The Philosophers' Stone; Practical and contemplative alchemy; Hermes Trismegistos; Die Zauberflöte, a hermetic work of art; Die Zauberflöte's contemplative alchemy; Papageno receives the philosophers' stone, the living water and the secret seal as a gift; Tamino receives a portrait of the great work; From four elements man is born; A metallic root full of musical enchantment; The peacock's tail; HISTORICAL BACKGROUND; 3. Hermes in Vienna towards the end of the eighteenth century; Under the guise of Freemasonry; Aufgeklärten and Erleuchteten in Vienna; Requiem for Freemasonry; Renaissance of the Hermetic stream; Two illustrious men: Von Born versus Thun; 4. The Rosicrucians: alchemists in word and deed; Origin an evolution of the Rosy Cross movement; The Rosicrucian doctrine of the three principles; Die Zauberflöte and the Chymische Hochzeit; The 'chemical wedding'; The three temples; The Moor; Ladies, lads, armoured men; Music; Other Rosicrucian symbols in the opera; The Rosy Cross; The number 18; MYTHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND; 5. Black Isis-Hecate; Virgin, mother and widow; Hecate the virgin; Demeter the mother; Isis the widow; Isis the universal; Isis the 'flaming star'; Black Isis; 6. Horus-Orpheus; Orpheus; Parallels between Orpheus and Tamino; Horus in battle with Apophis the snake; Horus-Harpokrates; ALCHEMICAL STRUCTURE.; 7. The major three: Salt-Sulphur-Mercury; Salt in alchemy; The position of salt in the cosmos; Characteristics of salt; Pamina as salt; Sulphur in alchemy; Tamino as sulphur; Mercury in alchemy; Papageno-Papagena as mercury; The fleeing servant (servus fugitivus); Mediator; The hermaphrodite; Mercurius both as process and product of the opus; Quicksilver (Papageno) and the Mercury of the Philosophers (Papageno-Papagena); Papagena; 8. Prima Materia and Anima Mundi; The deceased husband as the prima materia; The diseased, infertile king of metals; The mercurial serpent that had almost been a green lion; Antimony; The Queen of the Night as anima mundi; 9. The sacred marriage and the celebrant; The Sacred Marriage; The 'sacred wedding' in Die Zauberflöte; Papageno and Papagena engage in a hermaphroditic marriage; The position of 'the woman' in Die Zauberflöte; Sarastro; Alchemist and astrologer; Battle between light and darkness; 10. Introduction to the Magnum Opus; Two schemata of the magnum opus; The first scheme; The second scheme; The scheme of the magnum opus in Die Zauberflöte; 11. Nigredo-The first phase of the magnum opus; Nigredo images; The serpent; The stone, the water and the lock; The portrait; The lady of darkness; Regression; Monostatos-portrait of a death's-head; The angry Moor demands love; A black soul; Moor's head, raven's head and devil; 12. Albedo-The second phase of the magnum opus; The Salt (Pamina); Monostatos; The Queen Mother; Tamino; Suicide; The Sulphur (Tamino); The soul abandons body and spirit; Silence; The notorious Terzetto; The Mercury (Papageno-Papagena); The fortunes of a madcap; Destillatio.; The double Mercurius; Trial of fire; Nigredo and albedo; Wine as medicine; The female counterpart appears; 13. Rubedo-the final phase of the magnum opus; The final cooking; Women's work; Prey to the four elements; Fire and water wash the mysterious substance; The glorious and victorious Hermaphrodite; The fall of the Queen of the Night and the inauguration; 14. Alchemy, music and Die Zauberflöte; Mozart combines 'alchemy' and 'music' in Die Zauberflöte; Mozart as a reader; Friedrich Christoph Oetinger; Metaphysics in connection with alchemy; Music in connection with alchemy; No less than five instruments on the stage; Alchemical treatise, source of the Song of the Armoured Men; 15. Etchings laden with alchemical wisdom; The libretto's frontispiece; The vase; The pyramid; The grave; The arch and the star; The building; The courtyard; Six etchings of scenes from Die Zauberflöte; Do these etchings portray scenes from the very first performance in Vienna?; Alchemy in the Schaffer brothers' etchings; Final conclusions; THE MAKERS OF DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE; 16. The librettists: Emanuel Schikaneder and Karl Giesecke; Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812); Life and work of Schikaneder; Schikaneder as a writer; Did Schikaneder write an incomprehensible text?; Karl Giesecke (1761-1831); Life and work of Giesecke; Oberon; Giesecke as mineralogist and alchemist; Der Stein der Weisen, The Philosophers' Stone; Dschinnistan and Die Zauberflöte; Schikaneder is the editor of Die Zauberflöte; The so-called break in the libretto; When did Mozart and Schikaneder begin Die Zauberflöte?; The so-called break; The plan; 17. Mozart Homo Esotericus; Written testimony of his Masonic attitude.; Musical testimonies of his Masonic attitude; Mozart wants to found his own Lodge; The friend: Anton Stadler; 'Two souls, alas ...'; Which Lodge is pictured in the painting in Vienna?; 'Grotta'; Mozart's share in the making of Die Zauberflöte; Mozart visits the Isis temple in Pompeii; Thamos king of Egypt, ode to the sun; 18. A Mason on his way to Berlin; Berlin: an obscure destination; Berlin: a hermetical destination; Did Mozart talk about Osiris and Tito in Dresden?; Osiride; La Clemenza di Tito; A Roman Catholic in Protestant Leipzig; Conclusion; APPENDICES; 1. The contents of Die Zauberflöte; What has taken place before the opera begins; Act one; Act two; 2. Alchemy and Die Zauberflöte-an annotated bibliography; The anonymous Italian author (1816); Klinkhamer and Hofker (1939); Chailley (1968); Rosenberg (1979); Koenigsberger (1975); Hoffmann-Axthelm (1983); Whittaker (1998); 3. The text of the libretto of Die Zauberflöte; Bibliography; Glossary; ILLUSTRATIONS; Sources of illustrations.
Notes:: Description based upon print version of record.; Includes bibliographical references.; Description based on print version record.; Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
Other Format:: Print version: van den Berk, Tjeu The Magic Flute
ISBN:: 9789004496545
OCLC:: 1333084523

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The magic flute : an alchemical allegory = Die Zauberflöte / M. F. M. van den Berk.

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