Programme Aims

1791 was a year of great political change: Louis XVI was beheaded in France; the US Congress adopted the Bill of Rights and the Constitution; and the ideas of Rousseau and the Enlightenment were all pervasive. It was also the year in which Mozart wrote his enigmatic opera 'The Magic Flute' and his renowned Requiem – and then died. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the commissioning of the latter work led to the myth that the composer had been murdered.

The key aims of this programme are to:

• introduce the viewer to the political and social contexts in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was working
• introduce the viewer and listener to the changes in composition taking place in the transition from baroque to classical music, particularly in the move towards sonata form
• explore the importance of Freemasonry in eighteenth century Europe and its influence on the work of Mozart
• examine the musical, social and political importance of Mozart's opera 'Die Zauberflöte' (The Magic Flute)
• listen to some of the music of Mozart from his late period and provide a commentary on his lasting legacy to the history of music