Handel’s character of Zoroastro in the Opera “Orlando”

In the London of the XVIII century, Freemasonry was a  predominant and mysterious movement present in society.

Freemasonry was officially born in London in 1717, when the first United Grand Lodge of England was established there.

By the year 1735 there were well over one hundred lodges in the Capital, many of them characterised by a mixed membership of middle-class individuals, clergymen and aristocrats.

Indeed, many Grand Masters came from the nobility and have contributed in no small part to the success of the Order. They played a reassuring role in the mind of the population who assumed that ,with such a distinguished list of names to its record,  Freemasonry could not be a subversive and dangerous sect.

Such awareness in turn made people  wanting to learn more about that secretive society which , for at least a while longer, remained free from persecution.

Freemasonry’s notoriety reached such a peak as to having its meeting advertised both in the London press and in the pamphlets  distributed and read in the London coffee houses.

And with people’s curiosity growing insatiable, Freemasons were happy to be playing into the phenomenon by even appearing in public celebrations.

From 1721 to 1747 a much splendid procession for the Masonic Grand Festival was held yearly in the streets of London. Bands of musicians accompanied the Brethren from the house of the Master Elected to the place (a Hall or most likely a Tavern) where he would be installed in the chair of Solomon. They marched two by two dressed in their aprons and jewels and carrying the emblems and banners of the Craft, followed by the nobility being transported in their rich carriages.

In such a climate it was no surprise that music composers, poets and librettists – many of whom were themselves members of the Craft – choose to incorporate elements from our Society’s symbolism and ideology in their work.

In that respect ,  much has been written about Mozart’s Opera “The Magic Flute”, but  less about the work of another highly successful music composer of the time, the  German George Fridiric Handel [1] who was born in the same town and year as another great composer : Johann Sebastian Bach.

As a child Handel took lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from the organist of Halle’s Marienkirche who also thought him the oboe, violin, harpsichord and the techniques on harmony and counterpoint. In 1702 he went to study law at the University of Halle through which he obtained a short appointment as the Cathedral organist. Dissatisfied with that experience he moved on to play the violin for the Orchestra of the Oper in Hamburg and then started off on the road as a music composer. He travelled to Italy in 1706 where he composed more work and then in 1710 he was appointed  Kapellmeister to George the Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 will have become England’s King George I.

In 1710 Handel came to London and made it his permanent home. After establishing the Royal Academy of Music (1719-1734) and working under the patronage of the first Duke of Chandos , he kept composing.  Then he was commissioned to write some anthems for the coronation of King George II, one of them being “Zadok  the Priest”  now worldly renown and played in every British coronation ceremony ever since. By 1733 the Italian Opera Seria, which had enjoyed a long period  of sustained success in England, found itself being played in ever more empty houses . Handel therefore begun to experiment with a different musical form , one which combined drama with choral music and most importantly of all that was in English. It was called the “Oratorio” and it was essentially a sacred drama.

To these days the most famous of Handel’s oratorios is the “Messiah” , a work that after a period of castigation by the London critics , became greatly successful and  contributed ,without the  shadow of a doubt, to catapult  Handel’s name into the almanac of the greatest music composers of all time.

The first Opera that Handel composed after only ten months of residing in London had the very emblematic title of “The Alchemist” and was the adaptation of a satirical comedy by Ben Jonson in 1610. In the plot an Alchemist manages to  deceive seven individuals by selling them a potion that he claims will protect them against the rampaging plague. In the end , reason prevails and the “quack” is cast away. For some this proves that if Handel was not a Freemason himself he was undoubtedly  very close to the Masonic circles.  In fact Charles Jennens [2], the librettist of his Messiah, was positively a Freemason.

“Orlando , ovvero la gelosa pazzia” [3] was the full title of the Handle’s Opera that has a number of  similarities with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”.

Staged for the first time at the King’s Theatre [4] on 23 January 1733, the Orlando was based on the work of the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto  [5] and on the libretto by another Italian : Nicola Francesco Haym[6].  Except that in the Opera a character was introduced –  Zoroastro –  who was never present in the libretto !  As Handel  always used to make several personal alterations to the texts that he adapted to music, we may  reasonably assume  that it was his choice to include Zoroastro into the plot. The Magus’s many interventions help minimise Orlando’s madness and eventually restore his sanity by means of a magic potion. Perhaps the inclusion of Zoroastro in the Opera might be explained with Handel’s desire to create a vehicle for “magical” theatre stage effects that would draw large audiences.

After its premier in 1733, the “Orlando” was staged another nine time.

The opera begins with the Magus Zoroastro urging the hero Orlando to elude his passion for Angelica and to pursue instead the path of glory. But Orlando refuses. Angelica, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Medoro who returns her affections.  Orlando seeing the two lovers’ initials carved on a tree and realising that Angelica has rejected him, descends into madness and eventually threatens the lives of Angelica, Medoro and the innocent shepherdess Dorinda (who is also in love with Medoro but is not reciprocated). Zoroastro’s intervention at this point saves all those characters from Orlando’s fury and the Magus, after casting the confused hero into a cave, summons an Eagle and uses a magical potion to cure Orlando of his affliction. The magic succeeds, Orlando is returned to his senses and after reconciling with everyone – including Angelica –  he eventually chooses to seek glory over love.

More than one critic has noticed the similarities between the Magus Zoroastro and the character of Sarastro in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (1791), which is an opera acknowledged for containing Masonic references. (9). Both Zoroastro and Sarastro are magicians and both are wise and benevolent patriarchs whose resolve is to lead the protagonist on the path to enlightenment.

Zoroastro was not, however, a totally fabricated personage. A Persian prophet called Zoroastro (aka Zarathrush or Zaratustra) lived in North East Iran around 1400 BC and although details of his life have been lost in time, we know he was nevertheless a recurring subject in the literature of the IIIc BC. Zoroastro was mostly being depicted as the teacher of Pythagoras and a great master and teacher of Magic, Astrology and Alchemy.

Even a Zoroastrian faith feebly emerged in London in the early 1700s after the only ever visit made there by the Parsi family,  who had come to seek redress for the injustices suffered at the hands of the East India Company. After a stay lasting about a year the Parsis returned to their homeland ;  they had failed to spread their religion but had won their legal case.

And so , through the many publications that contained references to the name “Zoroastro”, the character became of public knowledge and gained popular attention particularly as a fictional “magic” entity.

In “The Travels of Cyrus” by Andrew Michael Ramsay[7], for example, Zoroastro is again a prominent character. In the book, published both in Paris and in London in 1727, the Prince Cyrus of Persia undertakes a quest for wisdom. Zoroastro, the leader of the Magi, reveals to him his ancient knowledge and endows  him with an education rich in  moral and spiritual principles, two essential precepts to guide Cyrus to become an enlightened ruler  who focuses  solely on the well being of his subjects.

Ramsay was himself a prominent Freemason, eventually becoming the Grand Orator of French Freemasonry and after the publication in English of the “Travels of Cyrus” his notoriety grew exponentially and remained alive for decades. He was also introduced to the Royal Society in 1729 and awarded a doctorate in 1730 from Oxford.

The “Travels of Cyrus” was also a very popular book with the English aristocracy – who were Handel’s main subscribers – because its contents reinforced the idea that the supreme form of government was an enlightened monarchy.

The similarities with the Magic Flute grow more evident.

In the “Constitution for Freemasonry” written in 1723 by James Anderson[8]  the author alludes to Zoroastro’s wisdom but without mentioning the Magus by name. He  wrote: “(…) upon the Tigris and the Euphrates…flourished many learned Priests and Mathematicians, known by the names of Caldees and Magi, who preserved good Science, Geometry(….)  But it is not desirable to speak more plain of the assumptions, except in a formed Lodge”.

Considering Zoroastro’s prominence in Masonic thinking, his arbitrary use in the “Orlando” seems too much of a coincidence. Furthermore, several of Zoroastro’s scenes in the Opera make reference to the Masonic qualities of character and include Masonic imagery like the presence of Atlas , in the background, supporting the celestial sphere to represent the duality of  heavens and  earth. In Masonic symbolism the celestial and terrestrial globes perch on top of the two columns of Solomon’s Temple, which are amongst the most important symbols in Freemasonry !

Another suggestive Masonic symbol in the “Orlando” is the Eagle that Zoroastro summons in the final act to provide the potion that brings Orlando back from insanity. Handel did not need to include the eagle in that scene because the sight alone of the Genii floating in the air would have proven a great magical spectacle to the audience of the time. Yet Handel had decided that its inclusion was necessary.

The majesty of the eagle has contributed to make its symbol to be adopted in ancient times by many diverse cultures and has often been accepted as a representation of the creator himself.

For the Egyptians the god BA,  spirit or “essence” of  the dead person,  was often portrayed as a human-headed bird whose task was to accompany the departed into the afterlife. In the Greek and Roman mythologies, the eagle was very dear to the god Zeus/Giove who often used it as a vessel to come down to earth and communicate with his mortal subjects.

The Eagle therefore had even been accepted as a representation of the creator himself.

But this feathered winged creature  was also admired for the other faculties with which it is blessed:  constancy, prowess, agility, speed and the ability to fly high and  so getting close to God.

The symbol of the eagle with two heads represents the principle of duality (past and future, day and night, life and death) and it is one of the most important symbols of Freemasonry and other secret societies. In the Scottish rite,  for example, it is used to indicate the highest possible grade in Freemasonry.

The pursuit of enlightenment is, of course, a prominent theme in the Magic Flute with Sarastro standing in for a Masonic Grand Master as the arbiter of reason. Similarly Zoroastro , by returning Orlando to the path of reason, serves the same function. Orlando’s journey therefore becomes equivalent to that of a Masonic initiates who must learn to control his “passions” – a central tenet of Freemasonry – in favour of “reason”.

But why would Handel and his librettist include Masonic elements in an opera in the first place, particularly if none of them might have been Freemasons? The answer is that it served their own financial interest. By the year 1720 – when the libretto of the Orlando was probably written – the Royal Academy of Music, founded by Handel in February 1719 was already struggling to stay financially solvent. Composing an Opera  containing  several allusions to Masonic imagery at a time when  many aristocrats were both Freemasons and members of the Academy and which touched a subject that appealed to the imagination of  people at large , could not be more befitting to the purpose.  Handel knew well which side his bread was buttered!

One of the Royal Academy subscribers of the time was the Duke of Montagu [9] whom in 1721 was elected Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. But that was not all…in  1727 the English King George II of the House of Hanover had appointed as tutor to his son Frederick Prince of Wales [10] none other than a certain John Desaguiliers, one of the Grand Masters of the English Freemasonry.

In the early 1710s Desaguiliers had also been the Chaplain of the Duke of Chandos who was himself not only a subscriber to the Royal Academy but also the principal patron of Handel during his early years in London. Clearly the Masonic influences on the Prince‘s education were quite strong and it was no surprise that he became the first Master Mason of the English Royal household in history.

Writing an Opera with Masonic allusions would therefore work towards enticing the financial support from both the Prince and the people in his circle.

It remains to explain why Handel did not compose other operas with Masonic undertones after the “Orlando”. Perrhaps  the curiosity of the people for Freemasonry was satisfied , perhaps Prince Frederick had chosen to start attending Operas  that  were more akin to his royal status,  perhaps there were no other librettists around to take the place the Orlando’s  Nicola Haym  after his death. What is certain is that the creation of the character of Zoroastro for this Opera and of Sarastro for the Magic Flute, demonstrates  the extent to which music composers and poets of the early XVIIIc were influenced by their cultural surrounding and by the Enlightenment principles that were spreading in  Europe like wild fire ,which were also based on Masonic tenets.

By W.Bro. Leonardo Monno Anglisani – NHL 6557, Prov. of Middlesex, England

The author forbids any reproduction or publication of this article, in full or in part, without his explicit authorisation.

---

[1] George Frideric Handel : born 23Febr1685 in Halle, Saxony, Germany; 14April1759 in London

[2] Born in Leicestershire in 1700 ; died 20 November 1773

[3] It translates in “Orlando, or the jealous madness”

[4] Now called “Her Majesty’s Theatre”; it is still located in Haymarket, in the City of Westminster, London

[5] Born in Reggio Emilia (It) 8Sept1474, Died in Ferrara (It) 6July1533

[6] Born in Rome 6July1678. Died in London on 31July1729 . He re-arranged for Handel the original libretto of the “Orlando” that had been written in 1722 by Carlo Sigismondo Capece (Born in Rome on 21June1652. Died in Polistena (It) 12March1728)

[7] Born in Scotland 9 January 1686, lived and died in France on 6 May 1743

[8] Born in Scotland (?) 1679 and died in London on 28May1739

[9] John Montagu, 2^nd Duke of Montagu (1690 – 5 July 1749)

[10] Born in Hanover on 1Febr1707 and died in London on 31March1751. He was the son of George II and father of George III