The Composer

and
The Craft
Freemasonry
Expressed in
Music
 The Composer
& the Craft
Jim Tresner, Ph.D., 33° Grand Cross
Grand Orator, Member The Blue Friars

he Masonic Fraternity—the Freemasons—the Craft—is the oldest

T association for men in the world. The first records have long since been lost
to fire, decay, and neglect, but the best information we have suggests that the
Fraternity developed from the guilds of stonemasons who built the castles and
cathedrals of the Middle Ages. The oldest document discovered so far has been
dated at around the year 1380. It is a didactic poem, written to instruct Masons as
to how to act in Lodge and giving a code of ethical conduct. In 1425, a document
makes reference to “annual congregations and confederacies made by the masons
in their general chapters and assemblies.” T h e r e a r e a f e w r e f e r e n c e s t o
Freemasons during the reign of Elizabeth I, and in 1598, five years before her death,
W illiam Schaw, the master of building and construction for James VI of Scotland
(James I of England), published a set of regulations for the governance of Scottish
Lodges and, for the first time, assigned Lodges numbers as well as names. From
about 1650 onward, many more documents and references survive, and from 1717
(when the first Grand Lodge was formed in England) to the present, the history of the
Fraternity is well documented.

t was during the Great Enlightenment in Europe,

I roughly the 1600's and the 1700's, that

Freemasonry completed its transition from a
builder’s guild to a Gentlemen’s Fraternity. W e are
not certain exactly when or how it happened, but a
large amount of philosophy was added to the teachings
of Freemasonry, and almost all of it came directly from
the Enlightenment. Such values as human rights and
dignity, the value of the individual, the supremacy of
individuals over institutions, self-determination, the
brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God, the
right of each person to his or her own opinion and the
responsibility of others to defend each person’s right to
opinion were embraced as central truths of
Elias Ashmole, one of the first
Freemasonry. Also, symbols were added which taught non-operative Freemasons and
the importance of reason, and that the world was a founder of the Royal Society
understandable by the use of the intellect. W hen the
world’s first organization for scientific experimentation
and diffusion of knowledge, The Royal Society, was formed in 1660, 14 of the
 3

Founding Members were Freemasons. Such primary Enlightenment thinkers as

Voltaire were also members of the Fraternity.
Historian Margaret Jacob has demonstrated in her book,
Living the Enlightenment, that the Enlightenment ideas of
self-determination and freedom were spread through
Europe by the Masonic Lodges. Among other reasons,
Lodges were the only organizations in Europe which elected
their own leaders and established and changed at will their
own by-laws. For these crimes, Lodges, especially in
France, were regularly raided by the police.
In the New W orld, Freemasons such as Benjamin
Franklin, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, John Hancock and George W ashington, among
many others, codified the Enlightenment principles taught
Professor Margaret in Lodge into the Constitution of the United States.
Jacob Speaking of Masonry’s role in the founding of America,
The historian Gordon W ood writes, in The Radicalism of the
American Revolution:
“The institution that best embodied these ideals of sociability and
cosmopolitanism was Freemasonry. It would be difficult to exaggerate the
importance of Masonry for the American Revolution. It not only created national
icons that are still with us, it brought people together in new ways and helped
fulfill the republican dream of reorganizing social relationships. For thousands
of Americans, it was a major means by which they participated directly in the
Enlightenment.”

The Fraternity had always been concerned with the ethical and spiritual
development of its members, providing a path and a forum in which men could
discover their own inner nature in a supportive atmosphere (still its primary function
today). In the late 1800's and 1900's, a heavy emphasis on philanthropy was added
to the mutual assistance which had been part of the organization since the Middle
Ages. The Masonic charities which developed during those years, and which are a
major part of Freemasonry today, were designed to benefit non-members as well as
members. Such organizations as the Shriners Hospitals for Children and Burn
Centers are well known. Other branches of the Fraternity provide research into
diabetes, emergency eye care, funding for research into mental illness, centers for
children with learning disabilities, language clinics, and literally thousands of other
projects. Last year, the Masons gave $2.3 million per day to help others.

he structure of Freemasonry was somewhat more simple in Mozart’s time.

T The basic “unit” of Freemasonry is the “Blue Lodge” or “Symbolic Lodge.” All
4

Masons belong to a Blue Lodge. (Today, they may join additional organizations such
as the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, or the Shrine, which did not exist in Mozart’s
time.) The Blue Lodge is composed of three Degrees or levels of membership—the
Entered Apprentice Degree, the Fellowcraft Degree, and the Master Mason Degree.
The Master Mason Degree had been created only some thirty years before Mozart’s
birth and was not yet a “required” part of the system,
but it spread rapidly and was practiced in the Vienna of
Mozart’s day.

oannes Chrysostom us Wolfgangus

J Theophilus Mozart (whose commonly-used

middle name Amadeus is just a Latin
translation of Theophilus, which means
“God-loving) and who was known to his friends as
“W olfie”) lived at one of the most exciting and
dangerous times in Masonic history. Both the
excitement and the danger came from the same
cause. The ideas and ideals being taught in the
Lodges were, literally, revolutionary. They had a great
appeal to the intellectual leaders of the day, and they
were also seen as dangerous. Frederick the Great,

Mozart’s Lodge - Mozart is in the lower right hand corner

 5

King of Prussia, was himself a Mason. A painting recently discovered walled into a
building in Vienna, probably to protect it during later anti-Masonic raids, has been
identified as showing both Mozart and the king sitting in Lodge. But even Frederick
limited the number of Lodges he was willing to allow, and while many members of
the clergy were also members of the Fraternity, the Church was becoming
increasingly more uncomfortable with the Masonic teaching that the world could be
understood by the use of reason. An article published in 1786 stated that
Freemasons “had in the beginning and still have no other goal than self-perfection
and the dissemination of useful knowledge to our fellowmen.” But some elements
in the Vatican thought it heretical even to suggest self-perfection.
Perhaps understandably, not all the crowned heads of Europe were comfortable
with an organization teaching the equality of all people. In 1743, the Empress Maria
Theresa ordered a raid on a Lodge in Vienna, forcing the W orshipful Master of the
Lodge (her husband, Francis I) to escape by a secret staircase. It was an interesting
time to be a Freemason.
Sponsored into the Lodge by the Baron Otto Fretherr von Gemmingen-Hornberg,
Mozart joined the Fraternity, taking the Entered Apprentice Degree at Zur
Woltatigkeit Lodge on December 14, 1784 at age 28. He received the Fellowcraft
Degree at Zur Wahren Eintracht Lodge on January 7, 1785, and the Master Mason
Degree on April 22. The W orshipful Master or
leader of the Lodge was Prince Nikolaus
Esterhazy. Mozart seems to have embraced the
Fraternity wholeheartedly. He wrote of it in
several letters which survive, and it is believed
that his wife, Konstanze, burned as many letters
with reference to Masonry as she could after his
death, in order to prevent the Church from
denouncing him He encouraged both the
composer Franz Josef Haydn and his own father,
Leopold Mozart, to join the Fraternity, and wrote
special music (Gesellenreise to be performed for
his father’s initiation. Music was an especially
Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart important part of Masonry in Mozart’s time, and
there are several recorded instances of his
improvising music during the ceremonies. It is
most unfortunate that the music was not written down. He also gave special
concerts, sponsored by the Lodge, for the relief of various Brethren. Paul Nettl, in his
book Mozart and Masonry lists many of the composers and performing musicians
who were a part of the Masonic Lodges at the time. It was possible for Mozart to
draw upon the best instrumentalists in Vienna for both the Lodge concerts and the
improvised music for the ritual.
6

ozart’s Masonic music generally falls into two categories: that which he

M wrote for specific use in Lodge or in Masonic ceremony, or which he wrote

for other purposes but was used in Lodge during his lifetime; and that
which he wrote for other audiences but which have Masonic themes.
Some was written long before he became a Mason himself. Jacques Chailley
points out that at age 11, Mozart set the Masonic poem An die Freude to music and
gave it to Dr. Joseph W olf who had treated him for smallpox. At the age of 16, he
composed an aria on the ritual hymn O heiliges Band, and at the age of 17 he was
selected by Gebler to compose the incidental music for the Masonic drama Thamos.
The following list is taken from ”Mozart: Masonry and Madness in Vienna.”

Music written for Lodge Use

or Adapted for Lodge Use by Mozart

Song: An die Freude K.53 (setting of a Masonic text)

Psalm 129: De Profundis Clamavi for mixed choir and orchestra K. 93 (composed
in Salzburg in 1771 and adapted by Mozart to Freemasonic work)
Song: O heiliges Band der Freudschaft for tenor and piano K. 148 (composed by
Mozart in 1772 and adopted for Masonry)
Graduale ad Festum B.M.V.: Sancta Maria, mater Diefor mixed choir and
orchestra K. 273 (composed 1777, it was immediately added to the canon of
the Lodge
Incidental Music: Thamos, Konig in Agypten K. 345 (incidental music for a play
with heavily Masonic themes; considered a forerunner of The Magic Flute)
Canonic Adagio for 2 Bassett Horns and Bassoon K. 410 (ritual procession
music)
Adagio for 2 Clarinets and 3 Bassett Horns K. 411 (processional entrance music
for a Lodge)
Cantata: Dir, Seele des Weltalls K. 429 (composed for a public Masonic
celebration)
Gessellenreise: Dia ihr einem neuen Grade K. 468 (composed for his father’s
Fellowcraft Degree)
Cantata: Die Maurerfreude - Sehen wie dem starren Forscherauge K. 471
(composed to honor the scientist Ignaz von Born, Grand Master of the United
Lodges)
Maureriasche Trauermusik (The Masonic Funeral Music) K. 477 (written for the
memorial services of Mozart’s Masonic brothers Duke George August of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Count Franz Veith Elder von Galantha in November,
1785)
Piano Concerto in E= Major K. 482 (written for and performed at a concert given
by Lodge Zur gekronten Hoffnung, December, 1785)
 7

Song: Zerfliesset Heut, Geliebte Bruder K. 483 (written to welcome newly-formed

Lodges)
Song: Hir unsre neuen Leiter K. 484 (written to welcome the new Grand Master of
the Lodge)
Symphony #39 in E=, K. 543 (written as a celebration of the Craft)
Adagio and Fugue in C Minor K. 546 (nor originally written for the Lodge, it was
adapted by Mozart for Lodge work)
Adagio and Rondo for Flute, Oboe, Viola, Cello, and Celesta, K. 617 (written
while Mozart was working on The Magic Flute and performed at refreshment in
Lodge)
Motet: Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618 (originally written for Anton Stoll’s choir school
at Baden, the work was quickly adapted for Lodge work)
Cantata: Die ihr des unermesslichen Weitalls Schopfer ehrt K. 619 (Mozart
composed this at the request of his Lodge while writing The Magic Flute, La
Clemenza di Tito, and the Requiem)
Cantata: Kleine Freimaurerkantate (The Little Masonic Cantata) K. 623 (written
for the dedication of the Lodge Zur neugekronten Hoffnung)
Chorus: Lasst uns mit gesehlungen Handen K. 623b (written as part of the same
dedication service)

The Masonic Operas

t comes as a surprise to many people

I to hear Mozart’s Masonic operas spoken

of in the plural. Everyone knows that
The Magic Flute has Freemasonry as its
theme, even those who know nothing of the
Craft can identify the Masonic symbols
which decorate the cover sheet of the first
publication of the score. There has been
much written about the meaning of the
opera. Perhaps the best and most
comprehensive work, as far as tracing the
Masonic symbols in the structure, musical
themes, and key signatures of the music is
The Magic Flute Unveiled: Esoteric
Symbolism in Mozart’s Masonic Opera by
Jacques Chailley.
Most of the confusion about the work
8

comes from the fact that the majority of the commentators are not Freemasons.
There is a general feeling, for example, that the work is strongly anti-feminist. The
Queen of Night is seen as a profound villainess and the line that Pamina needs a
man’s mind to guide her is the final “proof.” Add in the fact that the Queen may
represent Maria Theresa, and it seems complete.
That ignores the Masonic symbolism, however. Two general rules are: 1) almost
everything is symbolic of something else; and 2) “the symbol conceals, it does not
reveal.”
The moon is symbolic of lunar consciousness—the feminine, creative, nurturing,
sustaining, emotional, cyclical, and primitive (in the sense that the basic life-force is
primitive). Carried to excess, it is devious, crafty, cruel, and emotionally unstable.
The sun is symbolic of solar consciousness—the masculine, strong, protective,
aggressive, linear, forceful, logical, and civilized. Carried to excess, it is cold,
uncaring, paranoid, and goal-driven regardless of consequence. It is a basic
teaching of the Fraternity that both must be present, and must be in balance, for the
individual to find his true identity and to be a true person. In Masonry, the sun, the
moon, and the Master of the Lodge form a triangle. The Master is symbolic of
mankind. And the lesson is one of balance and equilibrium. The Queen of the Night
is not negative because she is female, she is negative because she is not balanced.
And Sorostro’s goal, at the end of the opera, is to have Tamino and Pamina rule his
kingdom jointly—the male and female, sun and moon, solar and lunar
consciousness in balance.
During the first act, Prince Tamino does not see things as they are, he sees the
Queen as victim and Sorostro as villain. In the second act, he gains understanding
by trial and experience. Many commentators see the first act as representing the
Entered Apprentice Degree and the second act as representing the Fellowcraft
Degree.
But what, then, of the Master Mason Degree? That is
where the “other Masonic opera” comes in.

The Abduction from the Seraglio can be seen as a

retelling of the Master Mason Degree in much the same
sense that The Magic Flute is a retelling of the Entered
Apprentice and Fellowcraft Degrees. And like Flute,
things are not as they first appear.
The plot, briefly, is that a Spanish noblewoman,
Constanze, her English maid, Blonda, and her valet
Pedrillo have been shipwrecked on the coast of Turkey
and taken to the palace of Pasha Selim. The Pasha
desires to make her his wife, and while he has offered
marriage, and refuses to allow the three to leave, he is
 9

not forcing himself upon her.

Constanze’s betrothed, Belmonte, arrives to rescue her, and plots with Pedrillo to
be admitted to the palace as an architect. W hen he has his first chance to speak with
Constanze, however, he spends most of the time in demanding to know if she has
proven faithful to him, rather than expressing any real concern for her.
They plot an escape, but are captured. In an attempt to bribe the Pasha, Belmonte
boasts of his parentage to the Pasha, only to discover that Belmonte’s father is the
Pasha’s most deadly enemy. “Know, wretch, that your father and his forces drove
me from my native land, robbed me of my beloved, and cost me my fortune. O happy
day, that has placed the son of my greatest enemy in my hands!”
But then, the Pasha surprises everyone. He tells Belmonte, “I hate your father too
much to act as he did.” He tells the men to take the women and leave, the ship is in
the harbor. He thus teaches to Belmonte the lessons of the Master Mason Degree,
compassion, placing the spiritual above the physical, benevolence, generosity, and
forgiveness. He brings them to the Light.

Masonic Composers

Over the centuries, Masonry has produced many composers. The following list is
extracted from The Craft’s Noyse: Composers who were Freemasons, published
by the Masonic Service Association

Franz Abt 1819ÿ1885. Irving Berlin 1888ÿ1989.

Roy Acuff 1903ÿ1992.
Monroe Althouse 1853ÿ1924.
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong 1901?ÿ1971.
Harry W. Armstrong 1879ÿ1951.
Thomas Augustine Arne 1710ÿ1778.
Eddy Arnold Born 1918.
Samuel Arnold 1740ÿ1802.
Thomas Attwood 1765ÿ1838.
Daniel François Esprit Auber 1782ÿ1871.
Gene Austin [Eugene Lucas] 1900!1972.
Gene Autry 1907ÿ1998.
William Ayrton 1777ÿ1858.
Johann Christian Bach 1735ÿ1782.
Edward E. Bagley 1857ÿ1922.
B. F. Baker ?
Michael William Balfe 1808ÿ1870.
Charles L. Barnhouse 1865ÿ1929.
William Basie “Count Basie” 1904ÿ1984.
Ludwig von Beethoven 1770ÿ1827.
Charles Ray Belknap 1955.
Georg Benda 1744ÿ1795.
Pierre L. L. Benoit 1834ÿ1901.
William T. Best 1826ÿ1897.
Marshall S. Bidwell 1893ÿ?
Matthew Birkhead ?ÿ1733.
Sir Henry Rowley Bishop 1786ÿ1855.
Joseph Blaschek ?
Michel Blavet 1700ÿ1768.
Archie Bleyer 1909ÿ1989..
Johann J. Christoph Bode 1730ÿ1806.
François-A. Boildieu 1775ÿ1834.
Arrigo Boito 1842ÿ1918.
Giovanni Bottesini 1821ÿ1889.
William Boyce 1710ÿ1779.
Barnee Breeskin
Nicholas Brown 1870ÿ1935.
J. Lewis Browne 1866ÿ1933.
Ole Bornemann Bull 1810ÿ1880.
John Byrom 1692ÿ1763.
Charles Wakefield Cadman 1881ÿ1946.
John Wall Callcott 1766ÿ1821.
Carl Carlton
Benjamin Carr 1769ÿ1831.
Thomas M. Carter 1841ÿ1934.
10
Henri Casadesus 1879ÿ1947. Charles Godfrey ?
William Paris Chambers 1854ÿ1913. Maurice H. Goldblatt 1883ÿ?
Edward Stephen Chenette 1895ÿ? Johann Gottlieb Görner 1702ÿ1762.
Luigi Cherubini 1760ÿ1842. Charles François Gounod 1818ÿ1893.
Rufus William Chetwood ? Claudio S. Grafulla 1810ÿ1880.
Herbert L. Clark 1867ÿ1945. Frede Grofé 1891ÿ1972.
Roy Linwood Clark Born 1933.
Frederick Clement 1865ÿ1951. R. B. Hall 1858ÿ1907.
Louis Nicola Clerambault 1676ÿ1749. George E. Hamilton.
George Cobb 1886ÿ1942. William C. Handy 1878ÿ1958.
George M. Cohan 1878ÿ1942. Charles K. Harris 1865ÿ1930.
Nat’ ‘King’ Cole” 1919ÿ1965. Lorenz Leopold Haschka 1749ÿ1827.
Gilbert R. Combs 1863ÿ1934. Franz Josef Haydn 1732ÿ1809.
Benjamin Cooke 1734ÿ1793. Johann Michael Haydn 1734!1806.
Matthew Cooke ? Philip Hayes 1738ÿ1797.
Doris H. Cooley ? William Hayes 1708ÿ1777.
Kay Corbett ? John Hazel 1865ÿ1948.
Sir Michael Agnus Costa 1808ÿ1884. W. Hemmingway ?
Raphael Courteville 1687?ÿ1735? Ferdinand Hérold 1781ÿ1833.
Edouard Gregory Hesselberg
Walter Johannes Damrosch 1862ÿ1950. Friedrich Heinrich Himmel 1779ÿ1825.
Ambrose Davenport ? Albert J. Holden 1841ÿ1916.
Reginald De Koven 1859ÿ1920. Oliver Holden 1765ÿ1844.
Joseph DeLuca 1890ÿ1935. Samuel Holden fl. 1797
Marc Antoine Desauglers 1772ÿ1827. Smollet Holden ?
Charles Dibdin 1745ÿ1814. Johann Holzer 1753ÿ1818.
Thomas John Dibdin 1771ÿ1841. Charles Edward Horsley 1822ÿ1876.
Roland Diggle 1885ÿ1954. Fred K. Huffer ?
Ossian E. Dodge ? Johan Nepomuk Hummell 1778ÿ1837.
Howard M. Dow 1837ÿ1912.
Samuel M. Downs ? Burl Ives 1909ÿ1995.
Louis E. C. M. Duparty ?
Thomas Saunders Dupuis 1733-1796. G. K. Jackson ?
Carlo d’Ordonez 1734ÿ1786. Fred Jewel 1875ÿ1936.
Bengt Viktor Johansson 1919ÿ1989.
Henry P. Eames 1872ÿ1950. John Jolly ?
Carl Friedrich Ebers 1770÷1836. Al Jolson [Asa Yoelson] 1886ÿ1950.
Gus Edwards 1879ÿ1945. “Grandpa” [Lewis Marshall] Jones 1913ÿ1998.
Julius Eichberg 1824ÿ1893.
Edward K. “Duke” Ellington 1899ÿ1974. Jerome Kern 1885ÿ1945.
Joseph Elsner 1769ÿ1854. Gerhard von Keussler 1874ÿ1949.
Everette Evans 1868ÿ1951. Donald William King fl. 1800
Merle Evans 1892ÿ1987. Karl L. King 1891ÿ1971.
“Pee Wee” King [Julius F. A. Kuczynski] 1914ÿ2000.
Orrin R. Farrer 1866ÿ? John Klohr 1869ÿ1955.
Henry Fillmore 1881ÿ1956. Jaroslav Kociàn 1883ÿ1950.
Roger M. Firestone Borrn 1945. Pekka Olavi Kostiainen Born 1944.
“Jim Fish” [C. L. Barnhouse] 1865ÿ1929. Leopold Kozeluch 1747ÿ1818.
John Abraham Fisher 1744ÿ1806.
Benjamin Franklin 1706ÿ1790. Mayhew L. Lake 1879ÿ1955.
Frederick The Great 1712ÿ1786. Sir Harry Lauder 1870ÿ1950.
James Fulton 1873ÿ1930. Johan Nicolaas Lenz 1717?ÿ1782.
Hirtram Lesne ?
Henry John Gauntlett 1805ÿ1876. Francesco Geminiani William Lester 1889ÿ1956.
1679ÿ1762. Richard Leveridge 1670?ÿ1758.
Felice di Giardini 1716ÿ1796. Harry J. Lincoln 1878ÿ1937.
François Giroust 1738ÿ1799. Peter Josef von Lindpainter 1791ÿ1856.
 11
Ernst Linko 1889ÿ1960. Guiseppe Sarti 1729ÿ1802.
Franz von Liszt 1811ÿ1886. Paolo Scalabrini 1713ÿ1805.
Henry Charles Litolff 1818ÿ1891. Johann Adolf Scheibe 1708ÿ1776.
Albert Lortzing 1801ÿ1851. Sperontes [Johann Sigismund Scholze] 1705ÿ1750.
Frank Losey 1872ÿ1931. Roland Seitz 1867ÿ1946.
Charlie Louvin [Charles Loudermilk] Karl Gottfried William Shield 1748ÿ1829.
Löwe 1796ÿ1869. John Shore 1661ÿ1752.
Meyer Lutz ? Anthony J. Showalter 1858ÿ1924.
Jean Sibelius 1865ÿ1957.
Carl Mader 1885ÿ1952. William Smallwood Fl. 1880,
Albert Hay Malotte 1895ÿ1964. Carl Smart contemporary
John B. Marsh ? Sir George Thomas Smart 1777ÿ1867.
Robert G. McCutchan 1877ÿ? Henry Thomas Smart 1813ÿ1879.
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy 1809ÿ1847. Leonard B. Smith Born 1915,
Giacomo Meyerbeer 1791ÿ1864. John Stafford Smith 1750ÿ1836.
Pietro Mingotti ? John Philip Sousa 1854ÿ1932.
Stevan Mocranjac 1856ÿ1914. L. H. Southard ?
Lionel Monckton 1861ÿ1924. Wilhelm Speyer 1790ÿ1878.
Garrett, 1st Earl of Mornington 1735ÿ1781. Louis [Ludwig] Spohr 1784ÿ1859.
Leopold Mozart 1719ÿ1787. Floyd St. Clair 1871ÿ1942.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756ÿ1791. G. F. Suck ?
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan 1842ÿ1900.
Jacques-Christophe Naudot 1690?ÿ1762.
J. Gottleib Naumann 1741ÿ1801. Henri-Joseph Taskin 1779ÿ1852.
Oskar Nedbal 1874ÿ1930. C. G. Telonius ?
Christian Gottlob Neefe 1748ÿ1798. Whitney Eugene Thayer 1838ÿ1889.
Vincent Novello 1781ÿ1869. John R. Thomas 1839ÿ1896.
Mel Tillis Born 1932.
Sir Frederick Arthur Ouseley 1825ÿ1889. Forrest Tubbs 1845ÿ1926,
Geoffrey O’Hara 1882ÿ1966.
Henry Upson Fl. 1800
Joseph Peckham 1849ÿ1904.
Johann Christoph Pepusch 1667ÿ1752. Theodor Veidl ?
Jean Armand Petit ? Ignatz Vitzthum ?
William Pettee 1839ÿ1891. Count Pericles Voultsos Born 1910
Willem Pijper 1896ÿ1947.
Albert Pike 1809ÿ1891. William Vincent Wallace 1812ÿ1865.
Ciro Pinsuti 1829ÿ1888. Charlie [Charles Levi] Walker, Jr. .
William S. Pitts 1830ÿ1918. T. S. Webb ?
Samuel Webbe 1740ÿ1816.
Ignaz Joseph Pleyel 1757ÿ1831, Alfred Weldon 1862ÿ1914.
Billy Gale Poplin Born 1950. C. C. Wentworth ?
Prudent Pruvost ? Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1766ÿ1837.
Arthur Pryor 1879ÿ1942. Paul Whiteman 1890ÿ1967.
Giacomo Puccini 1858ÿ1924. Burt Williams 1876ÿ1922.
Meredith Willson 1902ÿ1984.
Paul Wranitzky (Vranicky) 1756ÿ1808.
Jean Philippe Rameau 1683ÿ1764.
Carl Gottlob Reissiger 1798ÿ1859. Rudolph Zabel ?
T. J. Rensert ? Alexander von Zemlinsky 1871ÿ1942.
Homer A. Rodeheaver 1880ÿ1955.
Roy Rogers [Leonard F. Slye] 1911ÿ1998.
Thomas H. Rollinson 1844ÿ1925. From Mozart and Masonry by Paul Nettl
Sigmund Romberg 1887ÿ1951.
George Rosenkrans 1881ÿ1955. “. . . there is a Masonic secret, a mystery, an
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini 1792ÿ1868.
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle 1760ÿ1836.
experience that cannot be taught or explained
Louis A. Russell 1854ÿ1925. because it lies, like every mystic experience,
beyond the realm of controlled consciousness.
12

At its deepest level it is identical with intense

feeling and empathy. The secret of
Freemasonry is the secret of experiencing true
love for all mankind, a positive attitude towards
man and life, and broad affirmation of God. It is
the realization that beyond the dark and
material world there is a realm of light towards
which all men must strive.”