Of course, it’s not just modern musicians who were masons. Notable classical composers can also be found among the Freemason ranks, including Bach and Mozart. Mozart joined a lodge in Vienna, called “Zur Wohltätigkeit” in 1784, 7 years before his death. He was an apprentice at first, but swiftly became Master, probably in 1785. In the same year, his lodge merged with another and formed the new lodge “Zur Neugekrönten Hoffnung”. To celebrate, Mozart composed two songs and these formed part of a much bigger body of work that had masonic influences, including “Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate” (literally “A Little Freemason-Cantata”) and “The Magic Flute“. Sometime, as with the Cantata, the influence was overt, other times it was incredibly subtle. For instance, the masons give great value to the number 3, so Mozart often used 3-part harmony. And a special dotted figure within the music was supposed to represent the knocking on the door during an initiation ceremony. One of the most famous and public freemasons in history.