Die Zauberflöte: Some Textual and Interpretative Problems

Author(s): Peter Branscombe

Source: Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 92nd Sess. (1965 - 1966), pp. 45-63
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
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 Die Zauberflote:some textualand
interpretative
problems
PETER BRANSCOMBE

PAPER is basically a study of some of the numerous

THm
textual divergencieswhich exist between the firstprinted
and Mozart's auto-
editionof the librettoof Die Zauberflhte,
graph score. I begin, however,with some remarksabout a
peculiarforgery whichpurportsto be a letterfromSchikaneder
to Mozart, bearinga date which has led scholarsto believe
thatthecomposition ofDie Zauberfltte
was alreadyfaradvanced
by September1790, over a year beforethe opera was first
performed.
I wantto go overfamiliargroundas littleas possible,and it
would be comforting to thinkthat the questionof the author-
shipofthelibrettohad by now been once and forall settledin
Schikaneder'sfavour. However, the reprintof the second
editionof Dent's Mozart'sOperas"as a paperback,inaccurate
entriesin Grove,' and also the programmeforKlemperer's
production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
(4 January1962) have all encouraged Giesecke'sclaims. As
long ago as 1901theViennesescholarEgon von Komorzynski
showedin his studyof Schickaneder*that the account of the
genesisof Die Zauberfldte
as given by Jahn' was substantially
inaccurate.Dent ignoredKomorzynski'sargumentsin thefirst
edition of his Mozart's Operas (1913), and the 1947 edition still
mhaintainsGiesecke'sauthorship.
The mostconvincinganalysisof the vexed questionseems
to me to be that of the Viennese theatre historianOtto
Rommel, whose great book on the old Viennese popular
theatre'was publishedin 1952. Probably because he writes
mainlyabout thepopularspokentheatrehis argumentsdo not
seem to be familiaramong Mozart scholarsin this country.
Rommeldemonstrates
Briefly, thatDie Zauberfl6te
is intimately
bound up withSchikaneder'swhole lifeand artisticdevelop-
ment, whereas Giesecke's style and personalityare not
in thework.Rommel goes to considerablelengthsto
reflected
1 E.J. Dent, Mozart'sOperas,2nd edn., London, 1947.
5thedn., London, 1954, art. 'Mozart'.
* Grove'sDictionary,
3 E. von Komorzynski,EmanuelSchikaneder. des
Ein Beitragzur Geschichte
deutschen Berlin, 1901; 2nd (revised) edn., Vienna, 1951.
Theaters,
4 0. Jahn, W. A. Mozart,Leipzig, 1856-59.
5 O. Rommel, Die Alt-Wiener Volkskomddie,
Vienna, 1952.

45
4

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46 'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE'

show thatJuliusComet's claim that Gieseckehad told him

and othersthathe, Giesecke,had been thereal author,could
not be true.Quite apart fromthefactthatGieseckewas notin
Vienna at the time when he is supposed to have made his
statement,pro-Gieseckepartisansmustconcede that it dates
anywayfromnearlythirtyyearsafterthe compositionof Die
Zauberjtte,and was firstpublished nearly sixtyyears after.
No one else confirms or even mentionsComet's reportapart
from the composer Sigismund von Neukomm, who was
thirteenin I79I and firstcame to Vienna in 1798. The
composerIgnaz Rittervon Seyfried, whoseclaim to have been
intimatelyconnectedwithMozart at the Zauberfltte timemust
in any case be largelydiscountedas he was then only fifteen
yearsold, does not mentionComet's story.'He says onlythat
Gieseckereferred Schikanederto Dschinnistan,the collectionof
fairystoriescollectedand editedby Wieland and publishedin
1786/89,which provided various motifsfor Die Zauberfcit.'
Finally-these are still Rommel's arguments-Giesecke is
never named among Schikaneder'scollaborators.It is also
relevantthatFerdinandRittervon Seyfried,a dramatistand
the composer'sbrother,speaksofComet in hisRiickschau indas
Theaterleben as
Wiens* being vindictiveand evil-tempered.
Although one may disagree with Rommel on points of
detail I findhis thesisoverwhelmingly substantiated.In one
importantrespect,however,the chronologyof the genesisof
Die Zauberfl~te,he is I believemistaken.Mozart's firstmention
ofthe opera occursin theletterof I June 1791writtento his
wifeat Baden ('I todaycomposedan aria forthe opera out of
sheerboredom'),thoughit is perfectly clear fromthe letterhe
senther fourdays earlierthathis lunchingwith Schikaneder
was the mostnaturalthingin the world,and he ended that
letterwith 'Tod und Verzweiflung war sein Lohn!'-the last
line of the thirdnumberofthe opera's secondact. The reason
why Mozart makes no earliermentionof an opera that was
clearlyby thenfaradvanced is thesimpleone thattherewas,
untilhiswife'sabsenceat thespa ofBaden bei Wien,no one to
whomhe feltdrawnto write-apart fromthe beggingletters
to Puchberg.

1
Rommel, op. cit., p. 983.
' Schikaneder'srecognitionof his debt to Wieland is shown by his leaving
him 'Als Verfasserdes TschinnistanDreyhundertGulden' (Will of I7
December cit., 1951, p. 333-
* Vienna, 1803). Komorzynski,op.
1864, p. 41.

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DIE ZAUBERFLOTE'
47'
For Schickaneder'sauthorshipof thelibrettothereseemsto
be just one piece of documentary'evidence',the letterwhich
follows:-
Lieber Wolffgang
Derweilnschickeich dir dein Pa Pa Pa zuriickh,das mir
ziemlichrechtist. Es wirdsschon thun.Abends sehn wir
uns bei den bewupten [Weissen?Krippen?]
Dein
E. Schickanedr
5/IX.790
The possibilityof thisletterbeing a forgery has been mooted
before:Komorzynskiprefacesthe use he makesofit*withthe
reservation thatit maynotbe genuine;and as longago as Igo I
a libraryofficialin the Vienna Stadtbibliothek,where the
letteris preserved,1? cast doubtsupon its authenticity:a note
subjoinedto the letterpointsout that the signaturedoes not
tallywiththat on a letterin the same collection-though as
seventeen years separate one letter from the other, this
evidenceneed not be conclusive.The libraryofficialplausibly
argues that the later signatureshould be genuine, as it is
accompaniedby a seal-a seal, incidentally, whichis also used
on Mme Hofer'sTheateraufder Wiedencontractof9 October
1789.It seemsto me thatmoresuspiciousthanthediscrepancy
betweenthe handwritingis the factthat Schikanedershould
have addressed his friendMozart by Christianname, and
used the 'du' formof address,but have signed himself'E.
Schikanedr'(theellipticalfinal'e' is typicalofall theexamples
of the signaturewhich I have seen, thoughthe formof the
capital 'E' is not characteristic).In no other Schikaneder
signatureI have seendoeshe failto use hisfullChristianname.
The calligraphyof the date on the letteris even odder.The
'5' and the 'IX.' are quite clear,but the year,'7"' has a final
noughtwhich was indubitablyalteredfroma 9 or a I. Since
1799 is chronologicallyabsurd for a letter to Mozart, the
figuremust have been a I. On 5 September I791, the day before
the premidreof La clemenzadi Tito,Mozart was in Prague.
It is possiblethatthe letterwas supposedto referto the comic
miaowing duet 'Nun, liebes Weibchen, zieh mit mir' (K.
592a/625)which Mozart eitherwroteor orchestrated forDer
SteinderWeisen.This Singspielby Schikaneder,withmusicby
Schack,Gerland others,was performed in theTheateraufder
* Op. cit., 1951 edn., p.
10Shelf g92.
mark I.N. 8355-

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48 'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE'

Wiedenon i i September
179o,and Mozartisassumedtohave
theduet(ordonehisshareofit) at theendofAugust."I
written
Thereis, however,
no verbalparallelin thisduetto the
Zauberfl6te'Pa pa pa'. Buttoreturn
tothedateon theletter:
whether
it is doubtful a writerwouldpre-datea letterby a
year; and why-if this letter is indeed a forgery--didthe
writernot startagain, since the alterationis faintlybut still
visible
distinctly ?
The otherproblemis presentedbythelastwordofthetext.
Jahn,who probablynever saw the butwas as faras
original,
I knowthefirst
toreproduce it,givesthewordas 'beweisen'.1
Even if it meant anythingin this contextit would still be,
impossibleto read this word into the letterswritten.Jahn,
incidentally,does not reproducethe date-line.Abert12 prints
the same text,stillwithoutthedate. All editionslikewisestate
that the letterwas formerly in the collectionof Aloys Fuchs.
Rommel" prints the letter complete with the date-so
importantforhis argumentthatDie ZauberfJite was in no way
influencedby the successfulKaspar derFagottist"5 which was
stagedby Schikaneder'srival,Marinelli,on 8 June 179 in his
Theaterin der Leopoldstadt.Rommel is guiltyofsomeminor
misreadings in his transcription oftheletter,and thelastword
ofhis textis the apparentlymeaningless,but orthographically
just possible, 'Krippen'. Komorzynski's'Weissen' would be
entirelysatisfactory but forthe 'ss' afterthe dipthong,especi-
ally afterthe correct 'p' in the previousword. Certainlysense
seemsto demanda propername - 'at our friendstheWeisses'.
There wouldseemto be two obviouscandidatesfortherole of
Weiss,thoughit is less certainthat Mozart and Schikaneder
would each have knownthemboth. Mozart musthave come
acrossthesingerAnna Maria Weiss,who was a memberofthe
Opera in 1779-80 and 1786-87 at least; and the comic actor
Kaspar Weiss,whojoined Schikaneder'scompanyin 1795,sang
First Priest in what Schikaneder advertised as the 2oo00th
performance ofDie Zauberfiite on 22 October
1799-
When,and why,shouldanyonewantto forgea Schikaneder
letter? The libraryofficials in theVienna Stadtbibliothek were
unable to give any indicationas to the date of the paper, but
agreed that it seemed more modern than the letter'sdate
1x Kachel, 6thedn., Wiesbaden, 1964,p. 678.
1 ist
Jahn,op. cit., edn., Leipzig, 1859, iv. 564.
13Jahn's Mozart,5thedn., ed. H, Abert,Leipzig, 19I19-21,ii. 7o8.
x1
Op. cit., p. 513.
x1 Der
Fagottist, singspielby Joachim Perinet,music
oder:Die Zauberzyther,
stories.
by Wenzel Mtiller,likewisebased on the Dschinnistan

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'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE' 49
warranted.As forthe question'why', personalfinancialgain
does not seem to be a satisfactory answer: while Schikaneder
was famousand successfulhe was thereto deny the authen-
ticityof the letter;in his decliningyears and afterhis death
thereweremoreprofitablesubjectsforforgery. There seem to
remaintwopossibilities:that the letterwas theworkofsome-
one who wanted evidence to support his belief that Die
Zauberflte was at an advanced stageofcompositionmorethan
a year beforeits premiere;or that it was writtenby someone
keen to defendSchikanederagainst the rumourswhich seem
to have been familiarin Vienna at the turn of the century
that he was not the authorof his own works.The second of
thesepossibilitiesseems to me the more feasible,since if the
letterwas writtenwith the express intentionof misleading
scholars,it is surprisingthat it has not been used more effec-
tively.I favourthe hypothesisthat the letterwas writtenby a
member of Schikaneder'scircle, and probably during the
latter'slifetime.
Rumourscannotbe satisfactorily siftedaftera lapse ofmore
thana centuryand a half,but thereis no doubtthatSchikane-
der had his enemiesand detractors. The Wiener Theateralmanach
aufdasJahr 80o3says in an article about the new Theateran
der Wien:
Here too a rumourmustbe denied, one that has falsely
become almost universal, and would have it that
Schickanederis not the fatherand actual begetterof his
theatricalchildren.It has been demonstratedthat the
plan and dialogue are his own, and Herr Winter,who is
also superintendent [Inspizient]ofthistheatre,will attest
it; foronlyhe, and perhapshe alone, can read Schickane-
der's deliberatehieroglyphics,which he is always the
firstto receivefor copying.That Schickanederdid not
writeall theversesofhis operas,however,he himselfdoes
not deny."
That passage broadlyspeakingringstrue. It was writtenby
JoachimPerinet,who as one of the house-poetsto Schikane-
der's rival manager,Karl von Marinelli,had writtenKaspar
derFagottist(see footnote16). During the 1790s Perinet enjoyed
a run of successeswith his adaptations of Philipp Hafner's
comedies, with music by Wenzel Muller, in Marinelli's
Theater in der Leopoldstadt.At the end of 1797,followinga
quarrelwithMarinelli,Perinetjoined Schikaneder'scompany,
only to returnto the Leopoldstadt Theatre when his old
16 'Neuerbautes',pp. 66 ff.

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50 CDIE ZAUBERFLOTE2

friendC. F. Hensler became its directorafterMarinelli's

death (28 January1803). Withhim Perinettookan entertain-
ing travesty 1 whichhoweverHenslerdeclined
ofDie Zauberfltte,
to accept forperformance, althoughhe passed it forpublica-
tion (it in fact remained unpublished until 1934). The
travestywas writtenfor performancein Schikaneder'snew
Theater an der Wien, with its unrivalledstage facilities,as
stage directionsmake clear: Sarastro appears 'in a phaeton
drawnby twosplendidEnglishhorses.His friendsaccompany
him on horseback'.Perinethad alreadybeen involvedin the
war whichwas waged betweenthepartisansofBaron Braun's
productionof Die Zauberfliite in the Stadttheater(24 February
I 8o I) and Schikaneder'snew productionat theTheateran der
Wien (12 March iSoz). Perinet'scontribution was a doggerel
broadsheetcontaininga conversationbetween Mozart and
Schikanederabout the unsatisfactory performanceof their
workin the Stadttheater.'1 Even the normallystaidAllgemeine
musikalische Zeitungcommented (8 April I So1) that 'The
disenchantedPapagena had to be helped out of her costume
by tailors'apprentices;the Queen ofNight,insteadofsinking
beneath the stage, had to be called offthroughthe wings.'
The peculiar nature of the Schikaneder-Perinet relationship
is emphasized by the fact that withinmonthsof defending
Schikaneder,Perinetmusthave been at workon thetravesty-
a factwhich,when it became knownto Schikaneder,would
provide a furtherreason for his returnto the Leopoldstadt
Theatre. Be that as it may, when Schikanedertook over the
directionofthetheatrein Brno in thespringof 1807 (by then
he was an almostbrokenman), Perinetjoined his company.
However,afteronlya fewmonthshe returnedto theLeopold-
stadtTheatreand remaineda memberof thatcompanyuntil
his death (4 February i816). I profferthe suggestionthat
Perinetmay be theauthorof thisstrangelittleletter-a kind
of peace-offering to the reputationof a man whose company
he twicejoined and twiceleft,whomhe survivedbymorethan
threeyears(Schikanederdied on 21 SeptemberI812), whose
masterpiecehe travestied, and yetwhomhe defendedin print
several times,both anonymouslyand under his own name.
As a footnoteto thislengthyexaminationofa smallforgery
I want to pointout thesimilarity in toneand contentbetween
the letterof 5 September1790 and a passage in the memoirs
"7 Published in Die Zauberfl6te. Druckeaus
undseltene
Handschriften
Unbekannte
vonMozartsOper,ed. F. Brukner,Vienna [1934], pp.
derFriihzeit
18 MozartundSchikaneder. 145---o03
Ein theatralisches
Gespr&h,ibid., pp. 85-94.

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'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE' 51
ofthepoet Ignaz Castelli.1 Castelli,who admiredSchikaneder
as a 'Naturdichter',and who claimed to have stood in forhis
violin-teacherin performances at the Theaterauf der Wieden,
shareswith Grillparzer'snursethe distinctionofhaving been
a monkeyin Die Zauberftite. He retellsthis anecdote about a
stagerehearsalofthePapageno/Papagenaduet:
Both cried out a few times in amazement: Papageno!
Papagena! But when Schikanederheard this,he shouted
down into the orchestra:'Hey, Mozart! That's no good,
the music must expressmore astonishment,they must
both firstlook at each otherin silence,then Papageno
mustbeginto stammer:Pa-papapa-pa-pa; Papagena
must repeat this until they finallyboth get the whole
name out'. Mozart followedthisadvice, and in thisform
the duet alwayshad to be encored.
This anecdote was told to Castelli by Sebastian Mayer, or
Meyer,a man raised to the peripheryof immortality by the
factsthathe becameMozart'sposthumousbrother-in-law when
he marriedthe widowedJosephaHoferin 1797, and created
the role of Pizarro in Fidelio on 20oNovember 1805. But as for
his storyabout the 'Pa pa pa' duet - I know no record of
Mayer being a member of Schikaneder'scompany before
1793; and anyway,whatwould Schikanederbe doinglistening
to and watchinga stagerehearsalof a duet in his own part?
Castelli also tellsus that the march which opens Act II of
Die Zauberfl6te was only conceived and writtenat the dress
rehearsal:
Further,the-assembly ofthe priestsin thesecondact took
place without musical accompaniment at the dress
rehearsal,but Schikanederasked fora solemnmarch to
be composedforit. Mozart is thensaid to have told the
musicians, 'Give me your music-folders'and to have
writtenthissplendidmarchstraightintothepart-sheets."*
We know fromMozart's MS Catalogueof all myworks... S
that the overtureand the march, the last numbersto be
composed, were entered on 28 September I791; but the
in the libretto,'Ein Marsch mit blasendenInstru-
instruction
mentenbegleitetden Zug.' makes it clear that Schikaneder
had planned to have a march at this place long beforethe
dressrehearsal.
1' I. F. Castelli, Memoiren
meines
Lebens,ed. J. Bindtner(Denkwiirdigkeiten
aus Alt-Osterreich,vol. 9), Munich, no date, i. 236.
20loc. cit.
21
aller meinerWerke..., facsimileedn., ed. O. E. Deutsch,
VerzeichniLss
Vienna - Leipzig - ZiUrich- London, 1938.

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52 'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE'

Thetextual divergencies
I want now to considersome of the 5o-odd textualvariants
which are revealed by a comparisonbetween the text of
Schikaneder'slibrettoas foundin the firsteditionon sale at
the Theaterauf der Wieden at the timeof the premi&e, and
the textas it appears in Mozart's score; thesevariants,along
withsome othertextualpoints,are set out in an appendix at
theend ofthisarticle.Many ofthepointsare so smallas to be
of little or no consequence, yet a pattern emergeswhich
suggestsverystrongly thatMozart tookfromthelibrettomany
suggestions formusico-dramatic effects.It is of courseimpos-
sible to say to what extentMozart influencedthe textin the
firstplace, that is beforethe completeversionwas prepared
fromwhichhe and theprinterworked.Whatwe can sayis that
Mozart probablynever had a betterchance than with Die
Zauberfltteof influencingthe shape and details of a libretto;
certainlyhe neverworkedwitha moreexperiencedman ofthe
theatre.
At an earlystageof the workon thispaper I tabulatedthe
evidenceforand againstthe suppositionthatthe firstedition
of the librettotook into account Mozart's textualalterations.
The evidenceis overwhelmingly againstany such correlation
havingbeen carriedout. Certainlythe pointswhich may be
held to supporttheassumptionthatS"*takescognizanceofM
are few and debatable (Appendix nos. 5a, and perhaps 2b,
9g and 14a). The last of these comes quite early in Act II,
which may lend weight to the possibilitythat the printed
editionof the librettotook at least some accountof Mozart's
work, on somethinglike the firsttwo-thirdsof the opera.
Nothingdefiniteis knownabout the datingor even the order
of compositionof the individual numbersexcept I and Io
(see footnote21,above); we do knowfromMozart's Catalogue
of all myworks..., however,that the opera was sufficiently
substantially completebyJulyforMozart to enterit underthe
imprecisedate-line'im Jullius'. It is likely,then,that there
would have been timeforthe printerofthelibretto,Mozart's
fellowmasonIgnaz Alberti,to incorporatethetextualchanges
whichMozart had made. The factis, though,thatnearly30
pointsspeakagainstthesuppositionthatS was correlatedwith
M, and onlyno. 5a seemsto supportit almostunequivocally.
Textual differences between librettoand score are a by no
means uncommonphenomenon in general, and from the
22 S = Ist editionoflibretto,M = Mozart's autographscore.See Appendix,
pp. 58-63. The numberingused in thispaper is thatof M.

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'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE' 53
Mozart familycorrespondence fromthe Idomeneo period**we
know that Mozart was unlikelyto worryif the printedtext
differedfromthat which his singerswould be performing.
(i) The textual divergenciesbetween score and libretto
can convenientlybe divided into six categories.First, lines
whichoccurin thescorebut not in the libretto.There are two
occurrences:nos. 2c and 22e. In both cases the metricaland
rhymepatternsuggestthat the printeromittedin errorlines
whichwere includedin the manuscriptcopies fromwhichhe
and Mozart wereindependently working.
(2) The second categoryof divergenciesconsistsof three
passages (nos. 9h, 22n and 220) which Mozart did not set to
music.It is clear thatin each ofthesecases the inclusionofthe
fouror fivelines concernedwould have delayed the action
seriously.The firstomissionis probablyless familiarthan the
two fromthe Act II finalebecause it is not includedin either
the old or the moremodernReclam editionof the libretto."
These editionsboth printnos. 22n and 220 as footnotes, and
imply that the passages which Mozart omitted were first
printedin the Berlin 1795 libretto(presumablythe earliest
available to the Reclam editors).**In fact all threeomitted
passages are foundin a 1794 libretto(Frankfurt& Leipzig)
as well as in S.2"It seemslikely,therefore,that9h is notfound
in the 1795Berlinedition(whichI have notseen).
(3) The thirdcategoryof divergenciesbetween score and
librettoincludes thosepassages where Mozart departsfrom
thelibretto'sdivisionofthetextbetweencharacters.The most
strikingexampleis no. i i, Sarastro'saria withchorus'O Isis
und Osiris schenket';in S this number is headed 'Chorus'.
Less obvious but scarcelyless strikingis Mozart's procedure
with the distribution of lines beforeand duringthe testsof
fireand flood (see nos. 22g and 22h). So sure is Mozart's
musical and dramaticinsight,so unforgettably rightthe brief
duet forTamino and Pamina betweenthe two ordeals,that
Schikaneder'sconceptionseemsunthinkable.It is presumably

2s E.g. 8 and especially 30 November 1780.

24Mozart.Die Zauberftlte.
Vollstandiges
Opernbuch,ed. GeorgRichardKruse,
Leipzig,no date; W. A. Mozart.Die Zauberfl6te. Operin zweiAufzaiigen,
ed. WilhelmZentner, Stuttgart,no date.Botheditionsbearthenumber
262o.
25The Reclameditors similarlymisleadwhentheyimplythatthedirection
beforeMonostatos'saria (14a) thatthemusicis tobe performedas ifat a
greatdistance
firstappearedintheBerlin1795edn.
26The majorityofthevariousprinting errors,omissionsand divergencies
fromthescorewhicharefoundin S continue tooccurinthelatereditions
ofthelibretto
whichI haveseen.

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54 'DIE ZAUBERFLOTEt

a sign of haste,incidentally,that Mozart did not alter 'dein'

to 'mein' in Tamino's part (22h). There are five further
examples of this type of alteration-two affectingthe dis-
positionoflinesfortheThree Ladies (6c) and the Three Boys
(22b) respectively,two a singleline each in the trio'Soll ich
dich Theurernichtmehrsehn?' (2oc and 2od). More interest-
ing is Schikaneder'sindication that he intended Sarastro's
recitativein the firstact finale ('Fiihrt diese beydenFremd-
linge.. .') to be repeated by the chorus (9j). Finally, this
categoryalso containsone of the comparativelyfewexamples
of Mozart introducinga strikingdramatic effectfor which
thereis no suggestionin S: Monostatos'sentry(ge) in thefirst
act finalewherehe mockinglytakesup thewordsand melody
of the fleeingPamina and Papageno (see category6, below).
(4) My fourthcategoryofdifferences embracestwointerest-
ing littlepointsof stagingand costume,both fromnear the
beginningoftheopera. The librettopreparesus fora Tamino
'in a splendid Japanese (japonischen) hunting-costume';
Mozart omittedthis and similar stage directionsfromhis
score,and it is not clear wherethe alternativereadingcomes
fromwhich has Tamino dressed in Javanese (javonischen)
dress.It maybe a printer'serror,or it mayperhapsbe due to a
desireto get away fromthe typicaleighteenth-century vogue
forthingsChineseand Japanese. The factthatJava was not
unknownin 179I is attestedby the publicationa few years
beforeof a livelybook about the island.'7 Unfortunately the
earlypicturesofTamino, includingS. Richter'sfinecoloured
engravingpublishedby I. B. Klein ofLeipzigin 1793," failto
throwany decisivelighton the matter.Orientalthe costumes
on the whole indisputablyare, and in Richter'sengraving
Tamino's hair emergesthrougha littleskull-capin a curvy
tail, i la chinoise-butit would be dangerous to be more
precise.
The otherpointwhichaffectsthe stagingoftheopera is the
speciesof creatureby whichTamino is pursued.The various
versionsof the librettoagree with the autographscore that
Tamino is 'der listigenSchlange zum Opfer erkoren'(2b).

27Beschreibung und Geschichte

der Hauptstadtin dem hollUndischen Ostindien,
Batavia nebstgeographischen, undphysikalischen
politischen Nachrichten vonder
InselJava, tr.fromthe Dutch byJ. J. Ebert, Leipzig, 4 vols., 1785-1786.
*2
Reproduced in Glyndebourne Festival Opera programmebook, 1966,
p. 57- Mozart undseine Weltin zeitgendssischen
Bildern,ed. O. E. Deutsch
(Neue Mozart-Ausgabe X/32), Cassel - Basle - Paris- London - New
York, 1961,containsotherearlypicturesofTamino: plates 539, 540, 541,
543 and 545-

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'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE' 55
However, Mozart at firstwrote 'dem grimmigenL6wen',
only later replacingthe lion by the familiarserpent.It is
impossibleto say whetherMozart himselfpreferred the idea
of a lion, only later going back to the snake because it was
easierto stage,or because the lion is connectedwithSarastro,
whosecarriageis drawnby six lionsat his firstentry.And
whileon thesubjectofthesnake,it is perhapsappropriate to
pointout thatthepeculiarmathematics whichallowsthree
silverspearstochopa snakeintothreepieces'9doesnotoccur
inMozart'sscoreorSchikaneder's thereisnomention
libretto:
in eitherofthesnakebeingcut up at all-the ThreeLadies
bidit 'die!',anditpresumably doesso in onepiece,forother-
wise Papageno'sboastfulclaim to have throttled it is too
obviousa lieto deceiveTamino.Anyway, fromwhathissister
and Schachtner sayin theirreminiscences,S0 Mozarthad been
a keenmathematician in childhoodand wouldhave been
unlikelytoletpassa simplearithmetical error.
(5) Category 5 no. is thelargest;it ofthirty
consists examples
ofwordsor phraseswhichundergominoralteration. Someof
themsimplify thesyntax(e.g. 15a,lastline),somemakethe
line moresingable(e.g. 22i and 22j). Otherexamples show
Mozartbuildingout the versesso as to accommodate his
musicaldemands(e.g. 15a)-there is a loss in rhyme,it is
true,but immeasurable gain in musicaleffectiveness.There
aremanyexamples oftherepetition ofwordsandphrases, and
ofthebreaking-up oftheregularmetrical pattern,which one
would expectwithany composersettingwordsto music.
Example13dshowsMozartpreferring a readingbetterfitted
to therapidenunciation necessitated by the quaversof the
vocalline.Mostmodern versionsofthescoreprefer Schikane-
der's original'beym Teufel', though Fischer-Dieskauin the
secondrecordedexcerptsingsMozart'sadmittedly elliptical
version oftheline.Appendixno. 13a showsMozartcorrecting
a slipinthelibretto.
Thisistheonlyplaceindialogueormusic
whereSchikaneder makesPapagenouse the 'Ihr' formof
'O Cf. early picturesof this scene, for instance the Brno Allgemeines
Euro-
pdischesJournalengravingof 1795 (Deutsch, Mozart undseine Welt in
Bildern,
zeitgen6ssischen plate 54o) - thoughthe title-pageofJ.J. Hummel's
vocal score (1792/93) shows the serpent in one piece (Mozart undseine
Welt..., plate 550). The earliest mention of the chopping-upof the
snake seems to be in the vocal score published by the Musikalisches
Magazin, Vienna, 1791-92 (Sie stossendie Schlange auf3. Stfickentzwei);
it recursint. al. in the full score editions of Rietz (Leipzig, 1870) and
Soldan (Leipzig,
1925).
so Mozart. Die DokumnteseinesLebens,ed. O. E. Deutsch (Neue Mozart-
Ausgabe X/34), Cassel, etc., 961I,pp. 405 and 398.

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56 'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE'

address to Tamino. My favouriteexample of these minor

textualchangesis no. 22k. Why has Mozart alteredSchikane-
der's compounds?I can thinkof no betterreason than that
he wantedto introducehis mostcharacteristic formofaddress
forhis lettersto Constanze-from 1789 on there are many
examplesofhis callingherhis 'HerzensWeibchen'(e.g. 3 July
'79').
To thisalreadylargecategoryofminortextualalterationsI
also consignthesimplification (and occasional filling-out,
e.g.
13e) of Not
stage-directions. surprisingly,considerationsof
space seem to have dictated most of the reductionsand
omissionsin stage-directions which Mozart made. For the
same reason I have included in the Appendixonly the most
importantexamples: ones which bear the stamp of Mozart's
own personality(e.g. nos. 6a, 6b), and the seven directions
which appear in M but not in S (nos. 9gc[three occurrences],
9e, 22e, 22m and 22p). In all thereare 91 stage directionsin
M, as comparedwith 143 in S. A break-downinto categories
of the stage directionsin M reveals that none (12 in S)
describessetsor costumes,17 (45 in S) are concernedsolelyor
in part withentrancesand exits,67 (88 in S) affectaspectsof
the staging,and 39 (43 in S) affectsolely or in part the
musical side of the performance.There is a fifthand rather
amorphousgroupof 7 directions(18 in S) ofa mainlymusical
nature(e.g. nos. 5a, I3fand I4a) whichrevealtacitagreement
betweenlibrettist and composer.Mozart is no moreconsistent
in his insertionofstagedirectionsthan one would expectwith
a composerwhose fullscore is the productof severalweeks'
intermittent work.In nos. 6, 7 and 13,and especiallyoverlong
stretchesof the two finales,nos. 9 and 22, he is liberal with
stagedirections;in othernumberstheyare morerare.
(6) My sixthand last categoryof variantsbetweenlibretto
and score includesfourpointsof a musico-dramatic nature.
The firsttwo (nos. 9geand 9g) occur in the firstact finaleat
the point when Papageno's Glockenspiel saves him and
Pamina fromMonostatosand the slaves. As gg shows,there
was agreementbetweenlibrettist and composerthat laughter
fromPamina and Papageno would be effective at the pause
following the music.",
Glockenspiel The 'Ha ha ha! ha ha ha!'
lingerson in librettiin the 1790s,but I have not foundit in

31 It would be of interestto know the originof the readily understandable

stage direction'tanzend' commonlyfoundin modernscoresand libretti
when Monostatosand the slaves exeunt.

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'DIE ZAUBERFLOTE' 57
scoresotherthanthatofMeinhardvon Zallinger.*3It may be
thatMozart faithfully followedSchikaneder'swisheshere,but
thatthelaughterwas foundto be ineffectual in performance.3
It would be an interesting to
experiment obey Mozart's and
Schikaneder'soriginalwishesin a modernstageperformancea.
The thirdmusico-dramatic point (I3f) concernstheend ofthe
quintetin whichtheThreeLadies warnTamino and Papageno
of theirdanger. It seemshere that Schikaneder'sfullinstruc-
tionsmay have givenMozart the idea forthe comic ending,
thoughhis treatment ofit differsin pointsofdetail. Schikane-
der's directionthat Papageno should sing his 'O weh!'s after
the music has ended is preservedonly in Mozart's settingof
Papageno's last 'weh!' as a semibreveagainstthe orchestra's
finalcrotchetb
The onlyotherdifference betweenscore and librettowhich
I have noted as being of sufficient importanceto affecta
performance of the opera is the order of the stanzasof Papa-
geno's 'Ein Midchen oder Weibchen' (21a). Mozart departs
fromthe orderfoundin S and in modem editionsofthescore
by placing 'Wird keine mir Liebe gewTihren'before'Ach,
kann ich denn keinervon allen', perhapsthinkingthat'Sonst
gram ich michwahrlichzu Tod!' was a moreeffective ending
in view of Papageno's forthcoming suicide scene. This grave
note at the end of a gay numberis in keepingwiththe pro-
foundlyseriousmood ofmuch of the opera, as well as---ona
widerplane-with themood ofothersof Mozart'sworksfrom
thelastmonthsofhislife.

3
Leipzig, 1957-
" The readingsin S and M may of course be independentsolutionsto a
problempreviouslydiscussedverbally.

During the course of the Paper the followingrecordedillustrations were

played:
a Act I finalefromPamina/Papageno duet 'Schnelle Flisse,rascherMut',
to the duet 'K6nnte jeder brave Mann' (Eulenberg miniaturescore pp.
162-173).
b The Quintet,no. 13 (Eulenberg and mostmodem editionsno.
I2).

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 APPENDIX
TEXTUALdivergenciesbetween the firstprintededition of the libretto(S) and Moza
inciudes certainotherpoints mentionedin the text of the paper, but only a few o
cluded. The numberingof the musical items is taken fromM (S containsno num
fromI (Introduction)to 2a (Act II Finale). Althoughthe Overtureis marked'N.I
incomprehensible'N.13' having been crossedout), the vocal numbersrun from2 to
No. S
Act x
2 (a) Tamino is describedas being dressed in a splendid
Japanese hunting costume ('in einem prachtigen
japonischenJigdkleide'); the'Zweite Auflage',1796,
has 'javonischen' (Javanese), a reading which also
occurselsewhere.
(b) Tamino. Der listigenSchlange zum Opfererkoren Mozart orig
but crossedi
(c) 'Stirb Unge
in S.
(d) The stage direction 'Sie stopen die Schlange z
Sticken entzwei.'frequently foundin scoresimm
afterthe firstphrase of the Three Ladies does no
in S or M.
3 (a) Papageno. Der Vogelfingerist bekannt Ich
(b) The thirdstanza, 'Wenn alle Madchen waren mein', Vogelfit
does not occur in M or S.
5 (a) M agrees with S in the sequence 'Recitativ'-'A
'Allegro' found in the text with the exception
has 'All0 moderato' in place of 'Allegro'.
6 (a) Papageno (deutettraurigauf sein Schlop am Mund) Papageno/m
darauf/
(b) Erste Dame (giebt ihm eine Maschine wie ein h6lzer- Erste Dame/
nes Gelichter). ter./
(c) Papageno. Ey! Ey! Was mag darinnen seyn? Papageno. E
DritteDame. Darinnen h6rstdu Gl6ckchent6nen. [Die drei Dam
*I wouldliketoexpressmygratitude totheeditors
oftheNeueMorart-Ausgabe fortheir kindh
graph.

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 (d) Tamino, Papageno. Doch, sch6ne Damen, saget an! Tamino. Doch
Wie man die Burg wohl findenkann. Papageno. Wo
Tamino, Papag

7. (a) Monostatos.Nun fort!lapt mich bey ihr allein. Monostatos.Nu

(b) Papageno. Sch6n Maidchen,jung und fein, Papageno. Sch6
(c) Monostatosund Papageno. Hab Mitleid, und ver- Monostatos,Pa
schone mich!

8. (a) Pamina & Papageno. Reichen an die G6tteran. Reichen an die

9. (a) Tamino. Ihr holden Kleinen sagt mir an, Ihr holden Klei
(b) Tamino. Es zeigen die Pforten,es zeigen die Saulen, Doch zeigen di
(c) Mozart empha
the direction
diesen Griinde
Tempel nicht?
the priest's 'Er
(d) Tamino. Wenn ich doch nur im Stande wire O wenn ich do
[notfoundin S] (e) Monostatos/ih
schwinde.
(f) Monostatos,Sklaven/gehenmarschmapigab/ [Wh
the source of the 'tanzend' which is found in m
librettiand scores?]
(g) [Immediatelybefore'K6nntejederbraveMann ..'.
Papageno, Pamina. Ha ha ha! ha ha ha! Mozart has w
staves of the
part in the ba
and Papageno
theirduet 'K6n
(h) Pamina. Die Wahrheit! sey sie auch Verbrechen. Pamina. die W
Beyde. Die Wahrheitist nichtimmergut, Verbrechen!-
Weil sie den Gropen wehe thut;
Doch war sie allezeitverhapt, [Thefollowing f
So war mein Leben mir zur Last.
(i) Monostatos.Nun stolzerJUngling,nur hieher! Na, stolzerJuin

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No. S

(j) IAfler'Sarastro:Sic mUssencrtgcrinrigmscyn.

(Zwey Sic m
bringeneineArtSack,und bedeckendie Hiiuptcrdcr Sarasto.
lSchluPchuorW
be'ydenFrcmden.)':)
diesc beydenFremdlinge
Alic. PFh1rt
IsnunsernProiungstempelein u.s.f.
SchlufchQr.WennTugend, etc.
(k) Den gropen Pad mitRuhm bestreut; Der CGrnpen
Pad

Act U
I r. (a) Chorus.O 1sisund Osirisschenkel,etc. Saraslro,Chor.
S . (a) Papageno. Ihr ihrtja, wirsind beydehin. Du nbrs(ja wir
(b) Tamino. Was der vcrworfne Phbelspricht. Was der gemein
(c) Dic dreyDamen. )Derist venvuiinschtmit Haut und DeL) bhrtzur I
Haar.
(d) Papagcno. Das wir beymTeufeluncrh6rt! Das wSrdcr Tcu
(e) Papageno. Ich mochtegerne--woll-- Papageno./zud
,.. ec.
(f) Afncr'Priestcr.Hinab mitden Weibernzur H611e!'] (After'Die Eing
Accord mnitalien Instrurmentcn,
(Ein schrccklichcT Hbilc!']
LDonner,Blitz und Schlag; zugleich zwey starke
Donner.Dic Danen stijrzenin die Versenkung.)Die (Die drey Dame
dreyDamen. O wel O wch! O wel! die Versenkun
Papageno (flJltvor Schreckcnzu lBJdcn;singt,da Papageno. 0 w
sclhonalle MusikstilleiL) O weh! O weh! O wch!
(Daan f~ngtderdrcimaligeAccordan.)
(Alleswirdso piano gesungenund gespielt,als wtenn
14. (a) die semprepianissi
Musik in weiterEntrnmung wvre.)
(b) Monostatoa.Ich bin auch den Maidchengut? Bin iclhnichtvo
(c) Solltes dichzu seh'nverddetlen" Solit'cs dich zu
15. (a) Koinigin.Verslossen sey auf ewig und vcrlassen, sey a
Verstop3en
Zectrrimtmenr alle Bande der Nalir, sc
Zcrtrilmincrt
Wenn nirht durch (tdich Sarastro wir crhlA.tssent We~rm nirhe dutr
Hort,Rache,-Gotter!- HOrtderMuttr Schwur.
Hart-Racheg6

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 (b) [The dialogue after Sarastro's entrance (scene ii)
reads: Monostatos.So fahrden hin! (Sarastrohilt
ihn schnell ab.) Herr, mein Unternehmenist nicht
strafbar;man hat deinenTod geschworen,etc. What
is thesourceofthephrase'ich bin unschuldig!'which
frequentlyappears between 'strafbar'and 'man hat
deinen Tod ...' ?]

20. (a) Pamina. Mir flustert

Ahndung diesesein!-m Mir fluste
(b) Sarastround Tamino. Ihr Wink sollfihm Gesetze Tamino. Ih
seyn!- mir Sarastro. Ih
(c) Sarastround Tamino. Die Stunde schlagt; wirseh'n Sarastro. D
uns wieder!-
(d) Pamina. Ach, goldne Ruhe, kehrewieder! Tamino, P

21. (a) [The orderof the stanzas is]

Papageno. Dann schmeckte mir Trinken und Dann schm
Essen; ...
Ach kann ich denn keinervon allen ... Wird kein
Wird keine mir Liebe gewAhren,... Ach kann

22. (a) Die drey Knaben. Bald soll der finstreIrrwahn Bald soll d
schwinden:
(b) Zweyterund dritterKnabe. Sie qualt verschmAhter [Die drey K
Liebe Leiden. etc.
(c) Firwahr, ihr Schicksalgeht mir nah! FUrwahrih
[S contains the full text, i.e. including 'Madchen, (d) [Mozart or
willstdu .. lebe wohl!'] Pamina. U
S
D
i.e. omitti
Die Knabe
Pamina.

(e) Tamino. Schliept mir des SchreckensPfortenauf! Schliept m

[nextlinemissing] frohden k
(f) Geharnischte.Dir sey erlaubt, mit ihr zu sprechen. Es ist erlau

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No. S
(g) [After'Pamina. Bey Blitz und Donner, Sturm und Pamina. Bei B
Braus.'] Tamino, Pamina. Nun komm, Nun k
}spiel' Sie lei
undich
die Fl6te an. [Tamino, Pam
Zwey Geharnischte.Sie leitet funs lauf grauser Wir
Bahn. euchf Ihr
Wir wandeln durchdes Tones
Ihr wandelt Macht
Froh durch des Todes dustre
Nacht.
(h) Pamina. Wir wandeltendurch Feuergluthen, Tamino, Pami
BekAmpften muthigdie Gefahr.
(zu Tamino)
Dein Ton sey Schutz in Wasserfluthen,
etc. Dein Ton, et
staves, and m
addressesthe f

(i) Papageno. Darum geschiehtes mir schon recht. Und drum ges
(j) So zwicktes hier,so zwicktes da. So zwicketshie
(k) Papagena! Herzenstaubchen! Papagena Herz
Papagena! liebes Weibchen! Papagena! lieb
[Mozart origi
crossedit out a
stave.]
(1) Bis man zAhlet:Eins, zwey,drey! (pfeift.) Bis man zihlet
Eins! (siehtsich um.) //(pfeift.) eins! [pfeift]
Zwey! (siehtsich um.) zwey! [pfeift]
Zwey ist schon vorbey! (pfeift.) drey!
Drey! (siehtsich um.) Nun wohlan! e
Nun wohlan, es bleibtdabey, etc.
(m) [Stage direction'nimmtsein Instrumentheraus' not [After'Ich Na
foundin S.] Instrumenthe
mein li. . .' b
va3 . . .'1

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(n) Papageno. Bringtmein Weibchen her! Bringt[orig
(Unter diesem Schlagen laufen die drey Knaben zu /Die 3 Knab
ihremFlugwerk,und bringendas Weib heraus.) das Weib he
Drey Knaben. Komm her, du holdes, liebes Weib- Nun Papagen
chen! [i.e. Mozart d
Dem Mann sollst du dein Herzchen
weihn!
Er wird dich lieben,
suies Weibchen,
Dein Vater, Freundund Bruderseyn!
Sey dieses Mannes Eigenthum!
(im Auffahren.)
Nun, Papageno, sich dich um!, etc.
(o) Papageno, Papagena. Der Segen froherAlternseyn; Der ElternSe
Wenn dann die kleinenum [i.e. Mozartd
spielen,
Die
sie.Altern gleiche Freude
fihlen,
Sich ihres Ebenbildes freun.
O welch ein Gluck kann
gr6perseyn?
(beydeab.)
(p) [lacks 'kniend'] [Die Damen,
Dir, grope K
(q) Chor von Priestern. Chor.
Heil seyeuch Geweihten!Ihrdrangtdurchdie Nacht, Heil sey euch
Dank sey dir, Osiris und Isis, gebracht!etc. Dank sey dir

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