Keywords
Mozart, Emanuel Schikaneder, Egypt, magic
Abstract
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Emanuel Schikaneder lived and created during the height of eighteenth-century interest in and fascination with Egypt. The Magic Flute's Egyptian setting would therefore evoke in their contemporaneous audience notions of a distant land with an exotic and magical culture. The numerous Egyptian elements of the work are representative of its era and are situated near the end of a continuum of European thought about ancient Egypt before the solid foundation of modern day Egyptology had been laid.
Original Publication Citation
European Views of Egyptian Magic and Mystery: a Cultural Context for the Magic Flute,†BYU Studies 43/3 (24), 137-148.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Muhlestein, Kerry M., "European Views of Egyptian Magic and Mystery: a Cultural Context for the Magic Flute" (2004). Faculty Publications. 1017.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/1017
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2004-01-01
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/2080
Publisher
BYU Studies
Language
English
College
Religious Education
Department
Ancient Scripture
Copyright Status
© 2004 BYU Studies
Copyright Use Information
http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
