Masonic Allusions in The Dedications of Two Canons by J.S. Bach Greer

Masonic Allusions in the Dedications of Two Canons by J.S.
Bach: BWV 1078 and 1075

Author(s): Mary Greer
Source: Bach, Vol. 43, No. 2 (2012), pp. 1-45
Published by: Riemenschneider Bach Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43489865
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Masonic Allusions in the
Dedications of Two Canons by
J. S. Bach: BWV 1078 and 1075
Mary Greer
between compositions by J. S. Bach and the ideals, symbols,

This between and
and rituals of the is rituals the compositions first of the in a Freema
Freemasons.
The compositional virtuosity Bach displays in his canons and the

fact that he wrote so many indicate that he relished the sheer
intellectual challenge of this most rigorous of musical genres. In
addition, however, certain canons almost certainly have a symbolic
component. In the pages that follow, I point out correlations between
the dedication accompanying the seven- voice canon, BWV 1078, and
the guiding principles and secret passwords of Freemasonry that
indicate that Bach was familiar with the ideals and rituals of the order.
I also offer a new interpretation of the puzzling wording of the
dedication to the two-voice canon, BWV 1075, that may, in turn,
provide a new avenue for identifying the dedicatee.
Source Situańon, BWV 1078
The seven-voice canon, BWV 1078, together with its dedication

and solution, survive in a copy made by Johann Philipp Kirnberger
sometime before 1754. It is held at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-
Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Nothing further is known about the
provenance of the manuscript.1
!Mus. ms. Bach P 611. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Staatsbibliothek
zu Berlin- Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn- Archiv.
2 Bach
J. P. Kirnberger's copy of Bach's canon, BWV 1078
Bach and Freemasonry 3
An early print of the canon, without the dedication and the solution,
appears in Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg's Abhandlung von der Fuge ,
published in Berlin in 1754.2
The reinforced letters and unorthodox capitalizations in the

dedication in Kirnberger's copy give every indication that he has
scrupulously reproduced the orthography of Bach's autograph.3
Fa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica

F, A, B, E, Repetatur
Canon super Fa Mi, a 7. post Tempus Musicum4
Domine Possessor
Fidelis Amici Beatum Esse Recordari,
tibi haud ignotum: itaque
Bonae Artis Cultorem Habeas
verum amlcum Tuum.
Lipsiae d. 1. Martdi
1749.
2Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, Abhandlung von der Fuge (Berlin: Haude und Spener,
1754), Teil II, Tab. XXXVII, Figures 6-7.
As Christoph Wolff observes, we cannot be sure if Kirnberger was copying direcdy
from the autograph itself or from an exact copy (Wolff, Neue Bach-Ausgabe [NBA],
8/1 KB, 26-27).
In old terminology, the term "Tempus musicum" means one breve, or two
measures. In the course of his insightful discussion of Bach's Trias harmonica (BWV
1072), a riddle canon for two choirs of four voices each, Christoph Wolff points out
that the breve was a central component of the medieval system of musical
mensuration. Before the clock was invented, large segments of time could be marked
only by the movements of the earth, and smaller units of time could be quantified
only by the human heartbeat. In a treatise entitled Ars cantus mensurabilis dating to
around 1250, Franco of Cologne laid out a system of measured music and called the
principal unit for measuring time tempus musicum , or "breve." The breve, in effect,
served as a link between the heartbeat of an individual human being and the time
scheme of the universe. Wolff also points out that Bach employs the term tempus
musicum in another riddle canon: BWV 1078. See Johann Sebastian Back The Learned
Musician (New York: W. W. Norton, 2000), 337.
4 Bach
Fa Mi, and Mi Fa are the whole of Music

F, A, B, E, Repeat
Canon on Fa Mi for 7 [parts], following one Breve
Sir Owner
Recalling a faithful friend means happiness

as can hardly be unknown to you: therefore
take the Cultivator of the Good Art
as your true friend.
Leipzig, 1 March
1749.5
Previous Hypotheses Regarding the Identity of the Dedicatee
In his monumental study of Bach published in 1873-1880,

Philipp Spitta proposed several candidates as the likely dedicatee of
the canon.6 However, he apparently did not consider the possibility
that the dedicatee might have been named "Faber," and automatically
assumed that Bach must have been addressing someone by the name
of "Schmidt" (in English, "Smith"), as the Latin word "faber" is
usually translated.7 Among the candidates Spitta proposed was
Balthasar Schmidt of Nuremberg who published several works by
Sebastian Bach and his son Emanuel, and who was a skilled musician
himself. However, as there is no evidence of the close relationship
between Sebastian Bach and Balthasar Schmidt that would be
consistent with the two references to "true friend" in the dedication,
Spitta concluded that Johann Schmidt, the organist at St. Blasius
Church in Zella, Thuringia, was a more likely candidate. It may have
5See Werner Neumann and Hans-Joachim Schulze, eds., Bach Dokumente , vol. I
(Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1963), Nr. 177, 246-47 [hereafter, BDok I]; Hans T. David,
Arthur Mendel, and Christoph Wolff, eds., The New Bach Reader. A Ufe of Johann
Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998), 236-37;
Malcolm Boyd, ed., J. S. Bach. Oxford Composer Companions (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999), 167.
6Spitta, Job. S eh. Bach , trans. Clara Bell & J. A. Fuller-Maidand (London: Novello &
Co, 1889), vol. 3, 237-38.
7The Latin word "faber" is generally translated into German as "Schmied"
("blacksmith'*), but it can also denote "Handwerker" (craftsman), "Arbeiter"
(worker), or "Künstler" (artist or artisan).
been his assumption that the dedicatee was from Thuringia that led
him to conjecture that the capitalized letters "I" and "T" in the final
line of the inscription stood for Isenaco-Thuringum , the Latin words for
Bach's birthplace, "Eisenach" in "Thuringia," a reading that has
become entrenched in the literature.8 However, in the absence of a
candidate with close ties to Thuringia as the likely dedicatee of the
canon, Spitta's reading bears closer scrutiny.
In his analysis of the dedication published in 1950, Friedrich

Smend does not challenge Spitta's interpretation of the capitalized
letters "I" and "T," but does point out that this is the sole instance in
which Bach makes reference to his birthplace in a comparable
context.9 Smend proposes that the number alphabet, in which each
letter of the alphabet is assigned a value from 1 to 24, may provide the
key as to why Bach deliberately capitalized the letters "I" and "T."10
He suggests that Bach has capitalized these two letters so that the sum
of the letters of "F A B E R. B A C H. I.T." would equal the value of
the letters in the German name "SCHMID T":
8See Wilfrid Greenhouse Allt, 'Treatment of Ground" in Proceedings of the Royal Musical
Association, 72 (1945), 88; Friedrich Smend, Johann Sebastian Bach : Kirchen-Kantaten vom
8. Sonntag nach Trinitatis bis Michaelis-Fest, Heß III (Berlin: Christlicher
Zeitschriftenverlag, 1950), 11; Stanley Godman, "Bach's Copies of Ammerbach's
'Orgel oder Instrument Tablatur' (1 571)" in Music & Letters, 38/ 1 (1 957), 24-25; Bach
Dokumente , vol. I, 247; Jean-Jacques Duparcq, "De la Conception du Principe de
l'Harmonie selon Jean-Philippe Rameau et Jean-Sébastien Bach" in Jean-Philippe
Rameau , 1764-1964 : Comité national pour la célébration du bi-centenaire de Jean-
Philippe Rameau (Paris: Richard-Masse, 1965), 129; The New Bach Reader, 236; Roland
de Candé, Jean Sébastien Bach (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1984), 309; Wolfgang
Schmieder, Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann
Sebastian Bach : Bach- Werke- Verzeichnis, 2nd ed. (Wiesbaden, 1 990), 789; Malcolm Boyd,
ed., J. S. Bach , 167.
9Smend, 10-11. The copy of Ammerbach's "Orgel oder Instrument Tablatur" of
1571 housed at the British Library bears the inscription "J. Seb. Bach Isen" on the
flyleaf, but the formal signature, which bears no resemblance to Bach's normal
everyday signature, cannot be reliably ascribed to him. See Godman, cited above. See
also: http://purl.org/ rism/BI/ 1 571 / 1 7.
In this system, the letters "I" and "J" equal 9, and "U" and "V" equal 20.
6 Bach
F A B E R. B A C H. I. T.
6+ 1+2 + 5 + 17 + 2 + 1+ 3 + 8 + 9 + 19 = 73
SCHMIDT
18 + 3 + 8 + 12 + 9 + 4+19 = 73
While Smenďs methodology is useful to a point, it brings us no closer

to identifying the dedicatee of the canon.
In a painstakingly-researched article entitled "Johann Sebastian

Bachs Kanonwidmungen" (Johann Sebastian Bach's Canon
Dedications) that appeared in the Bach-Jahrbuch in 1 967, Hans-Joachim
Schulze evaluates every shred of documentary evidence pertaining to
the likely dedicatees of five canons by Bach: BWV 1073, 1074, 1075,
1077, and 1078.11 He concludes his article with the observation that,
while the biographical circumstances surrounding the puzzle canons
BWV 1074 and 1077 can largely be explained, the identity of the
dedicatees of the canons BWV 1073, 1075 and 1078 must rely, as
before, on conjectures.12
In 2011, Michael Maul identified the dedicatee of the four-voice

canon, BWV 1073, as Weimar Town Clerk ("Stadtschreiber") Johann
Christoph Gebhard.13 However, since 1967, no further progress has
been made regarding the circumstances surrounding the composition
of the seven-voice canon, BWV 1078, or the two-voice canon, BWV
1075.
Schulze observes that, of the five canons he discusses in his

article, the seven-voice canon, BWV 1 078, with its numerous encoded
references, provides the most enigmas.14 The dedicatee was apparently
"Schulze, "Johann Sebastian Bachs Kanonwidmungen," Bach-Jabrbuch 53 (1967),

82-92.
12Ibid., 92.
13Maul, "Ein Weimarer Stammbuch und Bachs Kanon BWV 1073" in Übertönte
Geschichten: Muńkkultur in Weimar. Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Jahrbuch 2011, Hellmut
Th. Seemann and Thorsten Valk, eds. (Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2011), 221-33.
I am grateful to Christoph Wolff for bringing this article to my attention.
Schulze, "Johann Sebastian Bachs Kanonwidmungen," 90.
an individual by the name of "Schmidt" ("Schmid," "Schmied," etc.)

or "Faber" who was in touch with Kirnberger between 1751 and
1754.15 Christoph Wolff cites Schulze extensively in the Critical
Report to the NBA volume, writing that, as the lines in the dedication
form an acrostic, "FABER," which is also the soggetto cavato of the
ostinato figure that accompanies the canon, the dedicatee must have
been someone with the surname "Faber" or, conceivably, the German
equivalent, "Schmid (t)."16 According to Schulze and Wolff, if we
construe the references to "FABER" as the Latinized version of
"Schmid(t)," the dedicatee could have been one of three individuals
named Schmid(t): Johann Michael Schmidt (1 728- 1 799), author of the
"Musico-Theologia," which was published in Bayreuth in 1754 and
includes compositions of Bach as examples; Johann Christian Jakob
Schmidt (born ca.1707), a son of the Bach student, Johann Schmidt
(1674-1746); or Johann Balthasar Schmid (1705-1749), a publisher in
Nuremberg who issued the Goldberg Variations, Prints of Parts II
and III of the Klavierübung, and with whom Bach had a longstanding
association.17
However, we cannot be sure that "Faber" is to be interpreted as

"Schmid(t)" rather than as "Faber." As Schulze and Wolff point out,
Bach might have dedicated the canon to Benjamin Gottlieb Faber,
who came from Breslau, enrolled in the University of Leipzig on April
30, 1744, and was awarded a degree in medicine on September 6,
1749. He stood in for Johann Sebastian Bach at the baptism of his
grandson, Johann Sebastian Altnikol on October 6, 1749 in
Naumburg.
Based upon the available information, Johann Michael Schmidt

and Benjamin Gottlieb Faber are both plausible dedicatees but, as
Schulze himself acknowledges, neither one can be regarded as
definitive.18 Benjamin Gottlieb Faber's surname is indeed identical to
the s oggetto cavato - the notes F A B [-flat] 19 and E - as well as the
15Schulze notes that Bach might have kept a copy of the canon at home and that one
of his sons - perhaps Carl Philipp Emanuel - might have made it available to
Kirnberger.
16Wolff, NBA 8/1, KB, 26.
17Wolff, NBA 8/1, KB, 35.
In German musical terminology, the letter "B" signifies the note "B-flat."
8 Bach
acrostic formed by Fidelis Amici Beatum Esse Recordad. In keeping

with the two references to "true friend" in the dedication, he was
presumably a close friend of the family if he was asked to stand in for
Sebastian at his grandson's baptism. However, we know of no special
reason to connect him with Bach as the "Cultivator of the Good
Art" - one of the other cryptic references in the dedication - and
there is no clear link between his two given names, Benjamin Gottlieb,
and the wording of the dedication. In short, there is no compelling
reason to think that either Benjamin Gottlieb Faber or Johann
Michael Schmidt was the dedicatee of the canon. When a scholar of
Schulze's stature states that, "Further investigations on the subject
should proceed from the assumption that the traditional attempts at
explanation have proven to be insufficient," we may take his assertion
at face value.20
The name of another individual named "Faber" appears in a

source that has only recently become available to scholars: the register
("Matrikel") of individuals initiated into the first Freemason lodge in
Leipzig, "Minerva zu den drei Palmen" (Minerva to the three Palm
Trees). Four handwritten registers from the year 1741, the year the
lodge was founded, through 1885 have survived. These registers have
been transcribed by Otto Werner Förster and were published in
2004.21 Before proceeding further, it may be helpful to provide a brief
introduction to the history of Freemasonry in Germany in the
eighteenth century, and in Leipzig in particular.
History of Modern Freemasonry
The era of modern Freemasonry is traditionally dated to June 24,

1717, when members of four or five existing London lodges met over
dinner at the Goose and Gridiron Pub and resolved to form the
Grand Lodge of England. Early on several Germans, including Count
Albrecht Wolfgang von Schaumburg-Lippe, were initiated as Masons
20ťťWeiter Untersuchungen hierüber werden aber von der Voraussetzung ausgehen

müssen, daß die traditionellen Erklärungsversuche sich als unzureichend erweisen."
Förster, Matrikel der Freimaurerloge Minerva %u den drei Palmen ' (Leipzig: Taurus Verlag,
2004).
in England.22 Together with a number of Huguenots who were also

Freemasons, these early German members played a leading role in
introducing Freemasonry onto the continent of Europe. In 1729, the
English Grandmaster, the Duke of Norfolk, appointed Herr Thuanus
("von Thom" or "von Thon"), who was the extraordinary emissary
from Braunschweig-Liineburg, to the position of Provincial
Grandmaster of Lower Saxony with the goal of founding lodges in
Germany; the scope of his activities as Provincial Grandmaster is not
known.
In 1733, eleven German "gentlemen" were initiated as

Freemasons in London and were granted permission to found a lodge
in Hamburg. However, it apparendy wasn't until December 6, 1737,
that a lodge was officially founded there. Initially nameless, in 1743 it
received the name "Absalom." In 1738, Count Friedrich August von
Rutowski founded the lodge "Aux trois aigles blancs" (to the three
white eagles) in Dresden, and it soon attracted so many members that,
within two years, two additional lodges were founded. Crown Prince
Frederick ("Frederick the Great") was initiated into the order on
August 14, 1738 and, upon acceding to the throne in 1740, made
public his membership in the fraternity.23 At his behest, the lodge
"Aux trois Globes" (to the three Globes) was founded in Berlin on
September 13, 1740. It was due in large part to Frederick's tolerance
and tacit support that Freemasonry took hold in Germany beginning
in the 1740s.24
^Beginning in 1725, Albrecht Wolfgang's name appears in the membership lists of

the lodge "Rummer and Grapes" in London, one of the four founding lodges of the
United Grand Lodge of England.
Heinrich Boos, Geschichte derFreimaurerei. Ein Beitrag %ur Kultur- undUteratur-Geschichte
des 1 8. Jahrhunderts, Zweite Auflage (Aarau: H. R. Sauerländer & Co., 1906), 209.
Among the lodges founded in Germany in the 1740s were: January 21, 1741,
Bayreuth, "Eleusis zur Verschwiegenheit"; Jan. 31, 1742, Altenburg, "Aux trois
Planches à tracer" ("Zu den 3 Reissbrettern"); March 13, 1742, Frankfurt am Main,
"zur Einigkeit" ("Union''); May 18, 1741, Breslau, "Zu den drei Todtengerippen";
Dec. 6, 1743, Halle, "Zu den ¿ei Degen"; Feb. 12, 1744, Braunschweig, "Carl zur
gekr. Säule"; July 24, 1744, Jena, "Carl August zu den drei Rosen"; July 8, 1748, Celle,
"Augusta"; July 24, 1748, Göttingen, "Augusta zum goldenen Zirkel"; and July 8,
1749, Naumburg, "Zu den drei Hammern" ("Aux trois Marteaux"). See Ernst-
Günther Geppert, Das Stammbuch der Freimaurer-Logen Deutschlands 1737-1972 , Band
I (Bayreuth: Quatuor Coronati e.V., 1974), 16.
10 Bach
In other parts of Europe, including France, Austria-Hungary, and

Italy, on the other hand, the Society was outlawed as a result of a
Papal Bull issued on April 28, 1738, which denounced Freemasonry
and banned Roman Catholics from becoming members. The first
lodge in Vienna, "Aux trois Canons" ("Zu den drei Regeln"), was
founded on Sept. 17, 1742, but was forcibly disbanded by the
authorities on March 7, 1 743. Its members continued to conduct their
activities in secret.25
Minerva den drei Palmen
The first Freemason lodge in Leipzig was founded on March 20,

1741. At first it had no name, but within a year of its founding was
given the name "Aus trois compas" (To the three compasses).26
Reflecting prevailing taste, French was spoken. The German-speaking
lodge "Minerva" was established in 1746 and, a year later, the two
lodges joined, adopting the name, "Minerva zum Zirkel" (Minerva to
the compass). When the lodge "Zu den drei Palmen" moved from
Dresden to Leipzig and merged with the existing Leipzig lodge in
1772, it was renamed "Minerva zu den drei Palmen."
Another Candidate
Alhough Bach is not listed among those who were initiated at the
Leipzig lodge - a point to which I shall return later on - the early
registers of "Minerva zu den drei Palmen" do contain the names of
several individuals with close ties to Bach and his family. They include
Carl Heinrich von Dieskau,27 the dedicatee of Bach's "Peasant
Cantata" composed in 1742, and Georg Heinrich Bose,28 son of
Georg Heinrich Bose (1 682-1 731), a Leipzig gold and silver merchant
25Helmut Reinalter, Freimaurer und Geheimbünde im 18. Jahrhundert in Mittekuropa

(Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp Verlag, 1983), 180-82.
In German, "Zu den drei Zirkeln."
Carl Heinrich von Dießkau, entry No. 19 in the "Matrikel," was inducted on July
1 7, 1 741 . His secretary, Gottlieb Christoph Ludwig von Schönfelß, was inducted two
months later, on September 15, 1741, and recorded as entry No. 28.
28Georg Heinrich Bose, entry No. 113 in the "Matrikel," was inducted on April 14,
1747.
Bach and Freemasonry 1 1
and close friend of the Bach family. Johann Friedrich Gleditsch,29 a

member of the Gleditsch clan, one of the most prominent publishing
families in Leipzig, was admitted on September 15, 1741. The
Gleditsch family had numerous connections to the Bach family;
Catharina Louisa Gleditsch [née Lange] (1700-1 779), for instance,
stood as godmother to Bach's daughter Christiana Benedicta, attesting
to the close relationship between the two families.30
The register for August 25, 1746 to June 17, 1766 also records
that an individual by the name of Christoph Balthasar Faber was
initiated into the lodge on May 22, 1747. The entry for Faber (No.
114) immediately follows the one for Georg Heinrich Bose who had
been inducted a month earlier. It was Christoph Balthasar Faber who,
I believe, inspired Bach to compose the seven-voice canon, BWV
1078, dated March 1, 1749.
While we don't know much about Faber, the information we do

have is entirely consistent with his being the dedicatee of the canon.31
Faber was born in Bamberg during the 1720s and studied at the
Bamberg Academy.32 Together with J. M. Böllman, he presented a
thesis entided "vires machinarum mech. et aeris atmosph. c. fig. aen.
in 8. [octavo]," and stood for a public examination on September 16,
29Johann Friedrich Gleditsch (entry number 27, age 24) was among the founders of
the Gewandhaus; he died at age twenty-seven on October 30, 1744.
^Christiana Benedicta was baptized on January 1, 1730, but lived only four days.
I am grateful to Fred Burchsted, reference librarian at Harvard University, for his
invaluable assistance in tracking down biographical information about Christoph
Balthasar Faber.
32Registration records of the Bamberg Academy and University show that Faber was
enrolled as a student there in 1739-40. Entries for "Faber, (*Seb.) Chr. Bal., Bg.:
7152" and "Christophorus Balthasarus Faber Bamberg, locuples. P" appear in
Wilhelm Heß, ed., Die Matrikel der Akademie und Universität Bamburg vol. 2
(Aschaffenburg: Dr. Johannes Kirsch, 1924), 66, 253. 1 am grateful to Malla Perry for
bringing this source to my attention. A brief biographical entry for "Faber, Christoph
Balthasar Sebastian, geb. zu Bg d
Pantheon der Uteraten und Künstler Bambergs , vol. 2 (Bamberg: im Comptoir des
fränkischen Merkurs, 1812), col. 261. It reads: "[Er] ließ als Baccalaureus d.
Philosophie am 1 6. September 1 743 in Verbindung mit Johann Michael Böllmann für
eine öffentliche Prüfung zu Bamberg erscheinen ť vires machinarum mech. et aeris atmosph.
c.fig. aen. in 8./ und vertheidigte d. 19. Juli 1744 unter Pr. L[othar] Helling Sätze der
ganzen Philosophie für deren höchste Würde." See also entry for "Boellmann,
Johann Michael" in vol. 1, col. 97.
12 Bach
1743. He defended his thesis under Professor Lothar Helling, a Jesuit,

on July 19, 1744.33 On July 21, Faber was awarded a Master's degree
from Bamberg University. There is a copy of his thesis in the
Bamberg State Library. The records of the Bamberg Academy also
reveal that, in addition to the names "Christoph" and "Balthasar,"
Faber had a third given name, none other than "Sebastian."
Registration records of the University of Leipzig indicate that

Faber matriculated at the University on August 1, 1746.34 As I
mentioned above, Faber was initiated into the Freemason lodge in
Leipzig on May 22, 1747. Following the completion of his studies, he
was appointed Court Archivist in his native Bamberg in 1749. He
served in this capacity until his untimely death in Bamberg on March
20, 1761.35
If Faber was born in the 1 720s, he would have been between the
ages of eighteen and twenty-seven at the time he was initiated into the
lodge in Leipzig.36 As a Freemason, he was undoubtedly familiar with
the traditions, symbols, and language of the order which, I believe,
Bach encoded in the dedication to the canon. If Faber came from
Bamberg, we can be virtually certain that he was a Roman Catholic.
33Wolfgang Seitz reports that, "Eine verkleinerte Version des Blattes [Verehrung des
hl. Ignatius von Loyola] wurde als Frontispiz einer Dissertatio de anima cum thesibus ex
universa philosophia selectis (Bambergae: Georgius Andreas Gertner 1 744) verwendet, die
SEBASTIAN CHRISTOPH BALTHASAR FABER am 19.6. 1744 unter dem Praeses
LOTHAR HELLING, SJ, verteidigte (RB.Diss.ph.o.9). FABER erscheint unter den
Magistři des Thesenblattes an vierter Stelle." Wolfgang Seitz, Die graphischen Thesen-
und Promotions Blätter in Bamberg: Bestandkatalog der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg
(Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001), 92-93.
An entry for "Faber, Christ. Balthas. Bamberg. B. i l.VIII. 1746, dp. Göttingen"
appears in Georg Erler, Die iüngere Matrikel der Universität Leipzig 1 559- 1809, III. Band
(Leipzig: Giesecke & Devrient, 1909. Kraus Reprint, 1976), 82.
Christian Haeude, "Das ehemals fürstbischöfliche Bambergische Archiv," in
Archivalische Zeitschrift herausgegeben durch das Bayerische allgemeine Reichsarchiv in München ,
Neue Folge. Erster Band (Munich: Theodor Ackermann, 1890), 106-146, esp. pp.
133-34. Joachim Heinrich Jack, Pantheon der Literaten und Künstler Bambergs 1812, col.
261, contains a brief biographical entry for Faber. See also Wolfgang Leesch, Die
deutschen Archivare 1500-1 945: Biographisches Lexikon, vol. 2 (Munich, New York: Saur,
1992), 148.
During this era, most of the men who were initiated into the order were in their
twenties or thirties. As a general rule, no one under the age of eighteen was permitted
to join the Freemasons.
The titles of the theses he submitted while studying at the Bamberg

Academy also indicate that he was fluent in Latin, the language Bach
employs in the dedication. Moreover, in contrast to any of the other
candidates who have thus far been proposed as the dedicatee of the
canon, Christoph Balthasar Faber's entire name corresponds to the two
acrostics Bach incorporated into the inscription.
Fa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica
Bach appears to have had several reasons for writing "Fa Mi, et
Mi Fa est tota Musica" over the canon. As Christoph Wolff points
out, this phrase appears in numerous music pedagogy books in the
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, including instruction
manuals by Heinrich Faber.37 The phrase thus constitutes a third
reference to the name "Faber" (in addition to the soggetto cavato in the
accompanimental line of the canon and the "FABER" acrostic in the
dedication).
Eric Chafe has also suggested that another reason Bach may have
included so many references to "Fa" and "Mi" and "Mi" and "Fa" in
the inscription was to bring to mind Martin Luther's contrasting of
the Law with the Gospel using the analogy of music. Chafe writes,
"Luther had described the semitone as analogous to the Gospel in
that it gave the other tones (the Law) their meaning."38 In Table Talk,
37Wolff writes, "The traditional teaching ťFa Mi, and Mi Fa is all of music' ... is
found in numerous music theory works, especially in student instruction manuals"
("Der traditionelle Lehrsatz ťFa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica', [findet] sich in
zahlreichen musiktheoretischen Werken vor allem für den Schulmusik-Unterricht
(vgl. Eberhard Preußner, Solmisationsmethoden im Schulunterricht des 16. und 17.
Jahrhunderts''), Festschrift Frit^S tein %um 60. Geburtstag (Braunschweig, 1 939), 116. ...
'Mi & Fa est tota Musica' findet sich z.B. bei Heinrich Faber, Musicae Compendium
Latino Germanicum (Jena: 1610), S. LXXVI. Wolff, NBA 8/1, KB, 36. It also appears
in an edition published in 1608 in Jena (Melchior Vulpius, ed., Musicae Compendimi
Latino germanicum M. Heinrici Fabrik pro Tyronibus hujus artis, in Schola
VINARIENSI . . . [Jena: Johannes Weidner, Birnstiels, 16081, LXXV-LXXVI).
Eric Chafe, "Allegorical Music: The 'Symbolism' of Tonal Language in the Bach
Canons," The Journal ofMusicology , 3/4 (1984), 358. 1 am grateful to Stephen Crist for
bringing Chafe's article to my attention.
14 Bach
Luther compares the Gospel to music as it is performed and likens

the Law to musical notation:39
The Gospel is like the B fa b mi in music, which are

governed by it; the other [written] pitches are the Law.
And just as the Law obeys the Gospel, so the written
pitches are obedient to the b fa b mi. And just as the
Gospel is a lovely, gracious teaching, so is the Mi and Fa
the loveliest of all the voices. But the other tone [i.e., the
Law] is a poor weak sinner, which allows in B fa b mi
both Mi and Fa to be sung.
Chafe also points out that "there are . . . wider tonal implications to
the Mi/Fa than just solmization and the placement of the semitone.
In fact, Mi and Fa constitute the sharp and flat extremities of any
closed (circular) system of fifths. . . .,,4° In other words, the phrase,
"Fa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica," implies the entire tonal spectrum.
Chafe goes on to suggest that Bach's inscription may also be a
reference to Johann Heinrich Buttstetťs book, Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, tota
musica et harmonia aeterna, oder Neu-eröffnetes, altes, wahres, einiges und
ewiges Fundamentum Musices ... (Ut, mi, sol, re, fa, la, the totality of
music and eternal harmony, or Newly published, old, true, sole, and
eternai Foundation of Music), which was written in response to
Johann Mattheson's Das neu-eröffnete Orchestre .41
The immediate juxtaposition of the two-letter units "Fa Mi" and

"Mi Fa" may also have been intended to serve as a hint to the
39"Das Euangelium ist gleich wie das B fa b mi in der Musica, als die von ihm regiret
wird; die andern Claves sinds Gesetz. Und gleich wie das Gesetz dem Euangelio
gehorchet, also sind auch die andern Claves dem B fa b mi gehorsam. Und gleich wie
das Euangelium eine liebliche, holdselige Lehre ist, also ist das Mi und Fa unter allen
Stimmen die lieblichste. Aber der ander Tonus ist ein armer schwacher Sünder, der
läßt im B fa b mi beide, Mi und Fa, singen" ("In musica b fah mi est euangelium,
ceterae claves sunt lex, et ut lex obtemperai euangelio, ita b fah mi regit ceteras claves,
et ut euangelium est doctrina suavissima, ita mi fa mi est omnium vocum
suavissima'*), D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe: Tischreden. 1. Band. ed.
Karl Drescher (Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1912), 396 (A. 172b; St. 153;
S. 142b). See also Robin A. Leaver, Luther's Liturgical Music: Princip/es and Implications,
Lutheran Quarterly Books (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
2007), 101-102, 388-89.
Chafe, 359.
41(Erffurt, gedruckt bey O. F. Werthern. Leipzig bey Johann Herbord Kloß, 1717).
recipient that he should invert two comparable elements in his own

name. Reversing the order of Faber's given names, Christoph and
Balthasar, yields "Balthasar Christoph." Combining the first two
letters of these two names spells "B A C H," the acrostic formed by
"Bonae Artis Cultorem Habeas." Thus, Christoph Balthasar Faber's
given names as well as his surname correspond to the multiple
references to "FABER" and to the "BACH" acrostic in the
inscription. It has long been assumed that the "BACH" acrostic
alluded to the composer's own name, but surely it is more likely that
Bach would have encoded a dual reference to the dedicatee and to
himself as a kind of word play on the cross-connections between their
names. Thus, even on the basis of his name alone, it is more likely that
Christoph Balthasar Faber was the dedicatee of the canon than any of
the others who have been proposed.42
Under What Circumstances Did Bach and Faber Meet?
If Christoph Balthasar Faber - an individual who, until now, has

been completely unknown to Bach scholars - is to be seriously
considered as the dedicatee of the canon, we must attempt to
ascertain the circumstances under which he and Bach might have met.
It is conceivable that Faber studied privately with Bach after enrolling
at the University of Leipzig in August, 1746, but the lack of any
documentary evidence of a close student-teacher relationship in
keeping with the two references to "true friend" in the dedication
speaks against it.43 As Faber was from the Roman Catholic Bishopric
of Bamberg, and, following his university studies, was employed there,
we may assume that he did not attend one of the Lutheran churches
in Leipzig where Bach was in charge of the music. It is also unlikely
that Bach and Faber would have met at a public performance for,
according to Bach's student Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Sonnenkalb,
a choral scholar at St. Thomas's who was close to the Bach family,
Bach cut back on performing in public during the second half of the
1740s. Sonnenkalb reported in 1759 that "this great artist did not let
42See the previous discussion.

43Faber is not among those named as Bach's students in Leipzig in the list provided
in the New Bach Reader, ; 316-17.
16 Bach
himself commonly be heard outside of his own house; but there

concerts were held quite often."44
As noted above, Faber was initiated into the first Masonic lodge
in Leipzig in May, 1747. Johann Christian Bach, Sebastian's youngest
son, is known to have been a Mason and as Carl Philipp Emanuel
composed a number of Masonic songs, in all likelihood, he too was
a member.45 However, the possibility that Johann Sebastian Bach was
a member of the order does not appear to have received serious
consideration. As I shall show in the following pages,
correspondences between the wording of the dedications to the two
canons, BWV 1078 and 1075, and the ideals and rituals of
Freemasonry, point to the conclusion that Johann Sebastian Bach may
also have been a Mason.
First, however, it may be helpful to provide a brief introduction

to some of the earliest Masonic publications and their dissemination
in Germany in the middle of the eighteenth century.
An Introduction to Freemasonry
According to the historian of Freemasonry, Josef Gabriel Findel,

beginning in the 1730s all official Masonic lodges founded in
Germany followed the rules set forth by the Englishman James
Anderson in the Constitutions of the Free-Masons i46
'"Wolff, Bach : The Learned Musician , 424. See also Hans-Joachim Schulze, ed., Bach-
Dokumente, III. Dokumente ûm Nachwirken Johann Sek Bachs 1750-1800 (Kassel and
Basel: Bärenreiter, 1972), Nr. 703, 148-49.
Johann Christian Bach lived from 1735 to 1782 and was a member of the Lodge of
Nine Muses in London. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach lived from 1714 to 1788.
"Alle deutschen Logen kannten anfangs nur die drei Johannisgrade; das
Constitutionsbuch der Grossloge von England bildete die Grundlage ihrer Arbeiten
und galt als das eigentliche Gesetzbuch, während freilich alsbald örtliche Bedürfnisse
auch zu Lokalgesetzen Veranlassungen gaben, die mitunter einen sehr weiten Umfang
erhielten. Als Norm für das Gebrauchthum galt das Ritual, welches Prichard in seiner
'zergliederten Freimaurerei' bekannt gemacht und das mehren, 1741 und 42 in
Frankfurt a. M. erschienenen Uebersetzung des englischen Constitutionsbuch als
Anhang beigegeben war" (Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei von der Zeit ihres Entstehens
bis auf die Gegenwart , Dritte Auflage [Leipzig; J. G. Findel, 1870], 387.
In the beginning, all German lodges knew only the three

degrees of St. John; the Constitutions of the Grand
Lodge of England formed the foundation of their work
and served as the virtual rule book, though local needs
occasionally arose and gave rise to local rules, which were
sometimes widely recognized. The ritual, which Prichard
made known in his "Masonry Dissected," and the
numerous translations of the English Constitutions which
appeared in 1741 and 1742 in Frankfurt am Main served
as the standard for the Practice.
The first edition of Anderson's Constitutions was published in

London in 1723. It was composed of three sections.47 The first part
is devoted to a "History of Freemasonry" beginning with Adam and
his descendants (48 pages). The second section contains the
"Charges" (i.e., responsibilities or obligations) of Masons and were to
be read when new Brothers were initiated into the order or when the
Master of the Lodge ordered it. These Charges concern I. God and
Religion, II. Civil Magistrates, III. Lodges, IV. Masters, Wardens,
Fellows, and Apprentices, V. the Management of the Craft in working,
and VI. Behaviour in various circumstances (26 pages). The third
section consists of a collection of Masonic Songs, attesting to the
importance of music to the order from the outset of modern
Masonry.
In 1736, Jean Kuenen issued a French translation of the

Constitutions that was printed in The Hague.48 James Anderson issued
a revised and substantially expanded English edition in 1738, 49 and
this edition was translated into German and published in Frankfurt
47 [James Anderson,] THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREE-MASONS. Containing

the History, Charges ; Regulations, <&c. of that most Anäent and Right Worshipful
FRATERNITY. For the Use of the Lodges (London: William Hunter, 1723).
Kuenen, Constitutions, Histoires, Loix, Charges, Reglements, et Usages, de la tres Venerable
Confrairie des Acceptés Franc-Maçons (The Hague: Cornille van Zanten, 1736).
James Anderson, The New Book of Constitutions of the Ancient and Honourable
FRATERNITY of FREE and ACCEPTED A ÍASONS. Containing Their History,
Charges, Regulations, <&c. . . . For the Use of the LODGES (London: Printed for
Brothers Caesar Ward and Richard Chandler, 1738).
18 Bach
am Main under the title, Neues Constitutionen -Buch, in 1741. 50 The

German edition differed from the English one of 1738 in that it
contained (in translation) Samuel Prichard's Masonry Dissected which
reveals the catechisms51 of the three degrees of Masonry: the
[Entered] Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason. Findel
informs us that "the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England
formed the foundation of the work of all German lodges and served
as the virtual rule book" in the 1730s and 1740s: thus, it is very likely
that all German Freemasons would have been familiar with one or
more of these editions.52
The successive editions of Anderson's Constitutions and other

eighteenth-century Masonic writings reveal that belief in one God was
a precondition for membership in the order, and that Masons
especially valued friendship, unity, ethical conduct, cultivating the arts,
and secrecy.
Freemasonry is not a religion and, as the first paragraph of

Anderson's Constitutions (cited below) informs us, the only stipulation
was that members had to believe in the deity. Beyond that, they were
free - even encouraged - to follow their own religion. Within the
lodge, however, the focus was firmly on shared values rather than on
potentially divisive issues and, in the interest of promoting harmony,
discussing politics or religion within the lodge was prohibited.
As noted above, the second section of Anderson's Constitutions

lays out the "Charges" (Responsibilities) of Masons. In the first
edition of 1723, the first charge, "Concerning God and Religion," is
only one paragraph long. Anderson concludes this key paragraph by
articulating the vision that Masonry is the means of promoting true
50Jacob Anderson, Neues Consütutionen-Buch Der Alten und Ehrwürdigen Brüderschaft Der
Frey- Maurer, Worin Die Geschichte, Pflichten, Keguln / u. derselben / Auf Befehl der Grossen
Loge, Aus Ihren alten Urkunden, glaubwürdigen Traditionen und Loge- Büchern, Zum
Gebrauch der Logen . . . Aus dem Englischen übersetzet (Franckfurt am Mayn:
Andreäischen Buchhandlung, 1741).
The catechism consisted of a series of questions and answers between the Master
of the Lodge and the candidate for admission.
Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, 387.
friendship, even among individuals who otherwise would have

remained apart:53
A Mason is oblig'd, by his Tenure, to obey the moral Law;

and if he righdy understands the Art, he will never be a
stupid atheist, nor an irreligious Libertine. But though in
ancient Times Masons were charg'd in every Country to
be of the Religion of that Country or Nation, whatever it
was, 'tis now thought more expedient only to oblige
[Masons] to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving
their particular Opinions to themselves; that is, to be good
Men and true . . . but whatever Denominations or
Persuasions they may be distinguish'd; whereby Masonry
becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating
true Friendship among Persons that must have remain'd
at a perpetual Distance.
This underscores that unity, brotherhood and friendship were core

values of Masonry, and that it was viewed as a means of fostering and
promoting these ideals.
Anderson's Constitutions also contains numerous references to laws

and rules, not only as they pertain to moral conduct, but also as they
relate to the fundamental principles of physics and laws of nature and
various branches of the arts. The fact that the words "Principles,"
"Laws," and "Rule" all appear within the opening paragraph of the
first edition of the Constitutions attests to their importance:54
ADAM, our first Parent, created after the Image of God,

the great Architect of the Universe , must have had the Liberal
Sciences, particularly Geometry , written on his Heart; for
even since the Fall, we find the Principles of it in the
Hearts of his Offspring, and which, in process of time,
have been drawn forth into a convenient Method of
Propositions , by observing the Laws of Proportion taken

from Mechanism-. So that as the Mechanical Arts gave
Occasion to the Learned to reduce the Elements of
Geometry into Method, this noble Science thus reduc'd is
the foundation of all those Arts, (particularly of Masonry
"Anderson, Constitutions , 1723, 50. Emphasis here and following added.

Ibid., 1-2.
20 Bach
and Architecture) and the Rule by which they are conducted

and perform'd.
Another reference to "Rules" appears one page later: "NOAH. . .was

commanded and directed of God to build the great Ark^ which. . .was
certainly fabricated by Geometry , and according to the Rules of
Masonry"55
Secrecy, at least with repect to the order and its rituals, also lies at
the very heart of Freemasonry. The fourth section of the sixth
"Charge" in the Constitutions concerns "Behaviour in Presence of
Strangers not Masons." Here Anderson instructs members that they
are to exercise the utmost discretion when they encounter a stranger:
"You shall be cautious in your Words and Carriage, that the most
penetrating Stranger shall not be able to discover or find out what is
not proper to be intimated . . . ."56 As part of the initiation ritual for
the Apprentice degree, the candidate pledges that he will conceal "All
Secrets and Secrecy of Masons and Masonry, unless to a True and
Lawful Brother after due Examination, or in a just and worshipful
Lodge of Brothers and Fellows well met."57
Freemasonry also valued highly the cultivation of the arts and

sciences. As noted above, the first section of Anderson's Constitutions
is devoted to the history of Masonry and consists almost entirely of
an account of developments in various branches of the arts and
sciences throughout the history of mankind. Anderson identifies
individuals who are regarded as the founders of each discipline and
writes in laudatory terms of nations who excelled in various branches
of the arts throughout the ages. While geometry and the building arts
are featured most prominently, the other arts, including music, are
explicitly mentioned as well.
Surely it is no coincidence that Christoph Balthasar Faber, the

likely dedicatee of Bach's seven- voice canon, was a member of the
first Masonic lodge in Leipzig, and that many of the central concerns
of Freemasonry - friendship, laws of nature and rules of conduct,
55Ibid, 3.
Îbid, 55.
57Prichard, Masonry Dissected ' 3rd ed., 1730, 10.
cultivating the arts and sciences, and secrecy - are either mentioned
directly in the dedication to the canon, or are implicitly present in
either the dedication or the canon.
Masóme Elements in the Dedication to BWV 1078
In the dedication to the canon, Bach explicitly mentions two of

the values that lie at the heart of Freemasonry: friendship and
cultivating the arts. Moreover, the two references to "true friends,"
"Fidelis Amici Beatum Esse Recordari" and "verum amlcum Tuum,"
coincide with the phrases that contain the "FABER" acrostic and the
capitalized letters "I" and "T." Bach also refers to himself as a
"Cultivator of the Good Art" in the line that contains the "BACH"
acrostic: "Bonae Artis Cultorem Habeas."
As I noted above, in the 1723 edition of Anderson's Constitutions ,

promoting friendship is identified as one of the order's very reasons
for being: "Masonry becomes the Center of Union , and the Means of
conciliating true Friendship among Persons that must have remain'd
at a perpetual Distance."58 The French translation of the Constitutions
that appeared in 1736, a revised edition in English that was published
in 1738, and the German translation that appeared in 1741 also
contain numerous references to friendship. In his French edition of
1736, Jean Kuenen employs the phrase, "une étroite & solide amitié"
(close and solid friendship), when translating this passage:59
la Maçonnerie devient le centre de l'Union parmi les

hommes; & l'unique moien d'établir une étroite & solide
amitié parmi des personnes, qui n'auroient jamais pû être
sociables parmi elles, par rapport à la difference, de leurs
sentimens.
Anderson uses the term "conciliating Persons" in place of

"conciliating true Friendship" in his revised and expanded edition of
1738:60
58 [Anderson,] Constitutions , 1723, 50.

Kuenen, Constitutions, 1736, 52.
Anderson, New Book of Constitutions , 1738, 143-44.
22 Bach
Thus Masonry is the Center of their Union and the happy

Means of conciliating Persons that otherwise must have
remain'd at a perpetual Distance.
However, in the German edition that appeared in 1741, the translator

employs the word "Freundschaft" (friendship):61
Es ist also die Maurerey der Mittel=Punct ihrer

Vereinigung, und das glückliche Mittel, zwischen solchen
Personen, die sonst in einer stetigen Entfernung von
einander hätten bleiben müssen, treue Freundschafft zu
stdfften.
In the Histoire, Obligations et Statuts de la tres venerable Confraternité des

Francs-Maçons is sued in 1 742, Louis-François de la Tierce translates the
phrase as "une sincère Amitié" (a true Friendship): "la Maçonnerie est
le Centre de l'Union & le Moyen de concilier une sincère Amitié
parmi des Personnes qui n'auroient jamais pû sans cela se rendre
familières entr'elles."62 Allowing for the fact that "Freundschaft" and
"Amitié" are both substantives, "treue Freundschaft" and "sincère
Amitié" are nearly identical in meaning to two of the Latin phrases
Bach employs in the dedication to the canon: "Fidelis Amici" and
"verum amicum Tuum."63
When Bach refers to himself as a "Cultivator of the Good Art"

("Bonae Artis Cultorem Habeas") in the inscription there is a strong
association with Freemasonry. All of the editions of the Constitutions
published between 1723 and 1741 begin with a lengthy "History of
Freemasonry" which describes notable achievements in the arts and
sciences over the course of human history. In the Constitutions oí 1723,
61 Anderson, Neues Constitutionen- Buck 1741, 233.

62Louis-François de la Tierce, Histoire, Obligations et Statuts de la tres venerable Confraternité
des Francs-Maçons (Frankfurt am Main: Varrentrapp, 1742), 147.
According to Carl Bröcker, a historian of Masonry, in 1768 the name of a lodge in
Dresden that had been founded in the 1740s was changed to "Aux vrais amis," an
epithet that may well have been associated with it for some time. In any event, the
similarity between the name of the lodge and Bach's choice of wording in the
dedication is unmistakable. See Bröcker, Die Freimaurer-Logen Deutschlands von 1737 bis
einschliesslich 1893 (Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mitder und Sohn, 1894), 80.
Anderson extols rulers who fostered the arts and sciences and
describes eras in which they flourished:64
The next King of Egypt , PTOLOMEUS

PHILADELPHUS, that great Improver of the liberal
Arts, and of all useful Knowledge . . . (23)
. . .from Sicily, as well as from Greece, Egypt, and Asia,

the ancient Romans learnt both the SCIENCE and the
ART . . .but as they subdu'd the Nations, they made
mighty discoveries in both; and, like wise Men, led
captive, not the Body of the People, but the Arts and
Sciences, with the most eminent Professors and
Practitioners, to Rome. . . . (24)
While ERATOSTHENES and CONON flourish'd in

Greece, who were succeeded by the excellent
APOLLONIUS of Perga, and many more before the
Birth of Christ, who, though not working Masons, yet
were good Surveyors; or, at least, cultivated Geometry.
which is the solid Basis of true Masonry, and its Rule. (24)
In his French translation of 1736 Kuenen writes:65
Le Roi d'Egypte son Successeur, Ptolomé Philadelphe, ce

grand Promoteur des Arts Libéraux & toutes les Sciences
utiles . . .
. . .car c'est de la Sicile aussi bien que de la Grèce, de

l'Egypte & de l'Asie que les Anciens Romains ont tiré la
Science & l'Art . . .& comme des gens sages ils
n'emmenerent point le gros du Peuple captif Rome, main
bien les Arts & les Sciences, avec les plus éminents
Professeurs & Practiciens, de sorte qu'elle devint le centre
du savoir, aussi bien que du pouvoir Imperial . . .
Ânderson, Constitutions, 1723, 23, 24. In the German edition of 1741 the
corresponding passage reads, "Nunmehr waren die Römer so weise, daß sie auch die
geschicktesten Lehrer der Wissenschafft, und Ausüber der Kunst mit sich nach
Rom führten." (Anderson, Neues Constitutionen- Buch, 1741, 61.)
Kuenen, Constitutions , 1736, 23-25. Emphasis added throughout.
24 Bach
Pendant que Erastone & Conon fleurissoient en Grece,

qui furent succédés par Appollonius de Perga & de
plusieurs autres avant la Naissance de Jesus Christ, qui,
quoi qu'ils ne fussent point des Ouvriers Maçons furet
cependant des bons Surveillants, ou du moins ils
cultivèrent la Geometrie qui est la Base solide & la Règle
de la Maçonnerie. . .
In the New Book of Constituons of 1 738, Anderson greatly expands the

section on the history of Masonry and places a greater emphasis on
Great Britain. In this edition, the seven Liberal Arts - including
Music - are spelled out, and their connection to the term "Free-
Mason" is explained:66
Only by a Law in Greece , no Slave was allowed to learn the

7 liberal Sciences, or those of the Freeborn *; so that in
Greece also They were calTd FREE MASONS. . .
* According to the old Constitutions These are, 1 . Grammar.

2. Rhetoric. 3. ljoģc. 4. Arithmetic. 5. GEOMETRY. 6.
Music. 7. Astronomy. (28)
In the 1738 edition, there are at least four references to "cultivating

the Arts and Sciences," a phrase that bears a striking resemblance to
the phrase, "Bonae Artis Cultorem Habeas," in Bach's inscription.
Anderson notes that Queen ElÌ2abeth I of England admired men who
cultivated the arts and sciences as well as peace and friendship which
were also a core value of Freemasonry:67
Ânderson, New Book of Constitutions (1738). The corresponding passage in the

German edition of 1 741 reads, "Doch war in Griechenland, vermöge eines Gesetzes,
keinem Knecht oder Leibeigenen erlaubt, die sieben freve Künste. (*) oder die
Wissenschafften der Freygebornen, zu erlernen. (*) Nach den alten Constitutionen
sind es diese: 1) Die Grammatic. 2) Die Rhetoric. 3) Die Logic. 4) Die Arithmetic. 5)
Die Geometrie. 6) Die Music. 7) Die Astronomie." Anderson, Neues
Constitutionen=Buch (1741), 47-48.
Anderson, New Book of Constitutions (1738), 33, 80-81, 83, 94. In the German
translation of 1741 the corresponding passages read: "diese alte [die Chinesischen
und andern Ost= Indischen] Völcker lange Zeit die Künste und Wissenschafften.
sonderlich die Geometrie und Maurerev. getrieben haben." "[Elisabeth Tewdor] . . .
Nunmehr lebten alle Arten der Wissenschafften gleichsam wieder auf. . .[sie] selbige
[i.e., die Frey=Maurer] für eine besondere Art Menschen geschätzet, welche Frieden
those antient Nations ["the Chinese and other East

Indians'*] had long cultivated Arts and Sciences, especially
Geometry and Masonry.
ELIZABETH Teivdor. . . esteem'd [Masons] as a peculiar

sort of Men that cultivated Peace and Friendship, Arts
and Sciences, without meddling in the Affairs of Church
or State.
King Malcolm II . . . cultivated Arts and Sciences . . .
After King WILLIAM had setded the Country, Arts and

Sciences were again well cultivated in the Reigns of
Queen ANNE and King GEORGE I.
Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain
Anderson posits that mankind possesses an innate capacity for

cultivating the arts and sciences and, drawing upon the Book of
Genesis, traces their origins back to Adam and the generations that
followed him. He says that we can infer that Adam instructed his sons
in geometry for how else could Cain have been capable of building a
city?68
No doubt Adam taught his Sons Geometry , and the use of

it, in the several Arts and Crafts convenient, at least, for
those early Times; for CAIN, we find, built a City, which
he calTd CONSECRATED, OR dedicated, AFTER THE
Name of his eldest Son ENOCH; and becoming the Prince of the
one Half of Mankind ' his Posterity would imitate his royal
Example in improving both the noble Sdence and the useful Art*
und Freundschafft. Künste und Wissenschafften auszuüben suchten, ohne sich in

Kirchen= oder Staats =Sachen zu mischen." "Malcolm . . . beförderte die Künste und
Wissenschafften . . "Nachdem der König Wilhelm die Ruhe in Irrland wieder
hergestellt, so sind die Künste und Wissenschafften unter der Regierung der Königen
Anna und der Königs Georg I. sehr fleißig getrieben worden." Anderson, Neues
Constitutionen- Buch (1741), 58, 134-35, 138, 154.
Anderson, Constitutions , 1723, 2.
26 Bach
At the end of this paragraph, an asterisk directs the reader to a note

at the bottom of the page that names three brothers, Tubalcain, Jubal,
and Jabal, who were especially proficient in other branches of the arts
and sciences, namely metal-working, music, and herding and tent-
making:
* As other Arts were also improved by them,

viz. working in Metal by TUBAL CAIN,
Music by JUBAL, Pastorage and Tent-
Making by JABAL, which last is good
Architecture.
These references to Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain are taken from

Genesis 4:20-22:
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell

in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of
all such as handle the harp and organ.
Ând Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of
every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of
Tubalcain was Naamah.
Kuenen translates Anderson's account of Cain's building a city as

follows:69
Cain bâtit une Ville, à la quelle il donna le nom de

Consacrée ou bien dediée, selon le nom de son Fils ainé
Enoch, afin que devenant Prinçe de la moitié du Genre
Humain, sa Postérité voulut aussi immiter son Exemple
Royal en perfectionnant cette noble Science & cet Art
utile *.
Here again an asterisk directs the reader to a note at the bottom of the
page:
* De même qu'ils ont perfectionné plusieurs autres Arts,

comme celui de travailler en Metail par Tubal-Cain, celui
de la Musique par Jubal & celui du Paturage & de faire
69Kuenen, Constitutions ; 1736, 4.
des Tentes par Jabal. Le dernier Art contenant les Prin-

cipes d'une bonne Architecture.
The revised edition of the Constitutions issued in 1738 contains a

reference to Tubal Kain, Jubal, and Jabal in the body of the text:70
Thus KAIN, when expell'd ... with his Family and

Adherents from Adam's Altars, built forthwith a strong
City, and call'd it DEDICATE or CONSECRATE, after
the Name of his eldest Son Enoch; whose race follow'd
the Example, improving the Arts and Sciences of their
Patriarch: for TUBAL
KAIN wrought in Metals , JUBAL elevated Musicky and

JABAL extended his Tents.
Tubalcain, Jubal, and Jabal are mentioned on page 4 of the German

translation of 1741:71
. . .Cain . . .bauete alsobald eine feste Stadt, und nennte

sie Hanoch, das ist, eingeweyhet oder gewiedmet,
nach dem Namen seines ältesten Sohns Hanoch. Sein
Geschlecht folgte diesem Exempel, und verbesserte die
Künste und Wissenschafften ihres Patriarchen; denn
Tubalcain arbeitete in Metallen; Jubal brachte die
Music empor, und Jabal breitete sich mit seinen Gezeit-
en aus.
The potential relevance of the seemingly obscure references to

these three brothers in all four editions of Anderson's Constitutions
published between 1723 and 1741 and the cryptic orthography Bach
employs in his canon dedication immediately becomes clear when one
reads Genesis 4:22 in the Vulgate:
22Sella quoque genuit Thubalcain qui fuit malleator et

faber in cuncta opera aeris et ferri soror vero Thubalcain
Noemma.
70Anderson, New Book of Constitutions , 1738, 3.

Anderson, Neues Constitutionen -Buch, 1741, 4.
28 Bach
[22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of

every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-
cain was Naamah.]
Bach was undoubtedly aware that the word "faber" appears just
five words after "Tubalcain" in this passage and could assume that a
Roman Catholic with the surname "Faber" would have been familiar
with this verse as well.72 Moreover, numerous eighteenth-century
sources report that one of the Freemasons' secret passwords was
none other than "Tubalcain."73 Another was "Jakin" (or "Jachin)," the
name of one of the two bronze pillars that stood in front of
Solomon's Temple.74
Jachin and Tubalcain
In 1745, Gabriel Louis Calabre Pérau published two exposés of

Freemasonry entitled L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi et Le Secret des
Mopses Revele (The Order of Freemasons Betrayed and the Secret of
the Mopses Revealed) and Les Secrets de l'Ordre des Francs-Maçons,
Dévoilés et mis au jour (The Secrets of the Order of Freemasons
unveiled and brought to Light). Both books were published in
Amsterdam and are among the first printed sources to reveal that two
of the secret passwords of the Masons were "Jakin" and "Tubalcain."
The words are divulged in two separate sections: a chapter devoted to
the catechism that was a part of Masonic initiation rituals, and a short
chapter entitled, "Signes, Attouchemens et Mots des Francs-Maçons"
(Signs, Grips and Words of the Freemasons).
According to Pérau, the following exchange occurs near the

beginning of the catechism:75
72The word "faber" occurs only ten times in the entire Bible; Genesis 4:22 is the only
verse in the Pentateuch in which it appears.
While most writers indicate that "Tubalcain" was the password for the Apprentice
Degree, in certain regions it was apparently the password for all three degrees.
Í Kings 7:21, 2 Chronicles 3:17.
75"D. Dites-moi le Mot de l'Apprentis.
R Dites-moi la première Lettre, je vous dirai la second.
D.J.
RA.
D.K.
RI.
Q. Tell me the Word of the Apprentice.

A. Tell me the first Letter, I'll tell you the second.
j2J.
A. A.
Q' K.
A. I.
o. N.
A. Ja.
JŠ- Kin.
A. Jakin
D.N.
& Ja.
D. Kin.
K Jakin"
Pérau, L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi et Le Secret des Mopses Revelé (Amsterdam: (Jean
Neaulme], 1745). Pérau, Les Secrets de l'Ordre des Francs-Maçons, Dévoilés et mis au jour '
Seconde Partie (Amsterdam, 1745). Pages 115-240 of these two books appear to be
identical. The exchange cited above appears on pages 149-150 of both books. Pérau
indicates on page 147 that this Catechism was employed for all three degrees of
Masonry.
In the German translation that appears in Pérau's Die offenbarte Freymäurerey und das
entdeckte Geheimniß Der Mopse, this exchange reads:
"F. Saget mir das Wort des Lehrlings.
A. Saget mir den ersten Buchstaben; so will ich euch den andern sagen.
F.J.
A. A.
F. K.
A. I.
F. N.
A. Ja.
F. Kin.
A. Jackin.
Sie sprechen das Wort Jackin entweder einer nach dem andern, oder beyde
zusammen aus. Der wahre Name ist Jachin, aber die Freymäurer sagen gemeiniglich
Jackin.
F. Was will dieses Wort Jackin sagen?
A. Es ist der Name einer von den beyden ehernen Säulen, die an dem Thore des
Salomonischen Tempels stunden, bey welcher sich die Lehrlinge versammleten, ihren
Lohn zu empfangen." Die offenbarte Freymäurerey und das entdeckte Geheimniß Der Mopse,
Aus dem Französischen überset nļ (Leipzig: Franz Christian Mumme, 1745), 1 10-11.
30 Bach
In a note Pérau explains that,76
They pronounce the Word Jakin either one after another,

or together. The real name is Jachin , but the Freemasons
generally say Jakin.
The catechism continues:
Q. What does the word Jakin mean?

A. It's the name of one of the two bronze columns in
front of the gate of Solomon's Temple by which the
Apprentices assembled to receive their wages.
Eighteen pages later, Pérau reveals that a second secret password

of the Apprentice degree is "Tubalcain":77
Q. What is the Password of the Apprentice?

A. Tubalcain.
Q. That of the Fellow-Craft?
A. Shibboleth.
Q. And that of the Master?
A. The Master's. Giblim.
Pérau adds that, "these three passwords aren't used much except
in France and in Frankfurt am Main. They're a sort of watchword that
76Ils prononcent le Mot Jakin , ou l'un après l'autre, ou tous deux ensemble. Le vrai
nom est Jachin , mais les Francs-Maçons disent communément Jakin.
D. Que veut dire le mot Jakin?
K C'est le nom d'une des deux Colonnes d'airain qui étoient à la porte du Temple de
Salomon, auprès de laquelle s'assembloient les Apprentiss pour recevoir leur salaire."
Ibid, 149-50.
D. Quel est le Mot de passe de l'Apprentiss? |R. Tubalcain. | D. Celui du
Compagnon? | R. Schibboleth. | D. Et celui du Maitre? | R. du Maitre. Giblim." Ibid,
168.
In the German translation that appears in Pérau's Die offenbarte Freymäurerey, this
exchange reads:
"F. Welches ist das Losungswort der Lehrlinge?
A. Tubalcain.
F. Welches ist das Losungswort fur die Gesellen?
A. Schiboleth.
F. Und der Meister ihres?
A. der Meister. Giblim."
Pérau, Die offenbarte Freymäurerey (1745), 121-22.
were introduced to be the more sure of Brothers one doesn't know,"

so we cannot be certain whether or not the word "Tubalcain" was
employed as a password in Leipzig during the 1740s.78 Nevertheless,
as the original language of the lodge "Minerva zu den drei Palmen"
was French, it is by no means out of the question. Moreover, even if
the word "Tubalcain" was not used as a password in Leipzig or other
Saxon lodges, thanks to books by Pérau and others, German
Freemasons would have been aware of its use as a password
elsewhere.79
78"Ces trois Mots de passe ne sont guères en usage qu'en France, & à Francfort sur le
Mein. Ce sont des espèces de Mots du guet qu' on a introduits pour s'assurer d'autant
mieux des Frères que l'on ne connoit point." Ibid. Pérau provides the same
information, but not in the form of a catechism, several pages later in a section
entitled, "Signs, Grips and Words of Apprentices" (Signes, Attouchemens & Mots
des Francs-Maçons): "The password of the Apprentice [degree] is Tubalcain. These
passwords - both of the Apprentices as well as the Fellow-Crafts and the
Masters - are not widely used." (Le Mot de passe des Apprentiss est Tubalcain. Ces
Mots de passe, tant des Apprentiss, que des Compagnons & des Maitres, ne sont pas
d'un usage général.) Les Secrets de l'Ordre des Francs-Maçons , Seconde Partie, 1745, 182,
and L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trabt (1745), 182. The German translation of Pérau's
L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi . . . which appeared under the title, " Die offenbarte
Freymäurerey und das entdeckte Geheimniß Der Mopse, Aus dem Fränkischen übersetzt," reads
as follows: "The password of the Apprentice [degree] is Tubalcain. These
passwords - both of the Apprentices as well as the Fellow-Crafts and the
Masters - are not widely used." (Das Losungswort der Lehrlinge ist Tubalcain.'
Diese Losungsworte der Lehrlinge sowol als der Gesellen und Meister sind nicht
durchgängig im Gebrauche.) Die offenbarte Freymäurerey und das entdeckte Geheimniß Der
Mopse, Aus dem Französischen übersetzt (Leipzig: Franz Christian Mumme, 1745), 132.
Very similar wording appears in Pérau's, Der verrathene Orden der Freimaurer, Und das
offenbarte Geheimniß der Mopsgesellschaft, aus dem Französischen mit Kupfern (Leipzig:
Arkstree und Merkus, 1745), 112: "Das Losungswort der Lehr jungen ist Tubalcain.
Diese Losungsworte so wohl der Lehrjungen, als der Gesellen und Meister sind nicht
durchgängig in Gebrauche."
Louis Travenol, writing in the 1 740s under the pseudonymn Leonard Gabanon, also
reveals that "Tubalcain" is the password for the Apprentice degree: "D. Quel est le
mot de passe des Apprentiss? | R TUBALCAIN. | D. Que veut dire Tubalcain? |
K C'est le nom du fils de Lamech, le premier, qui travailla les Métaux." Travenol,
[pseud. Leonard Gabanon], Nouveau Catechisme des Francs-Maçons . . . Dédié au beau
sexe., 3rd ed. (Jérusalem [i.e., Paris]: Pierre Mortier, M.CCCCXL). Depuis le Déluge.
[174-], 56.
32 Bach
In a chapter devoted to the "Signs, Grips and Words of the

Freemasons" in L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi , Pérau again reveals that
the other keyword of the Apprentice degree is "J akin" (or "Jachin"):80
After one has taught the Apprentices the signs of the

order & the word J AKIN, which may be regarded as one
of the sacramental words of the Brotherhood, one also
instructs him in another way of saying it. It is suggested
that he spell it: no further explanation is made for the
moment; any Freemason understands what is meant.
Then one says J, the other responds A, the first says K,
the second I, and the other N; which spells the word
JAKIN. This is the actual way in which Freemasons
recognize each other. It is true, however, that these initial
descriptions indicate only an Apprentice Freemason. . . .
Nine pages later he writes,81
With regard to the words that one says in order to

ascertain the truth of the Maconic signs, there are only
the ones I alluded to earlier, to know JAKIN (which reads
Jachin in the Holy Scriptures) & BOAZ. The former is for
the Apprentices, and they have only that one.
Much later in the book he writes, "After the Sign, they spell the
word 'Jakin' together, in the way it is explained in the Catechism."82
^"Lorsque l'on a enseigné à l'Apprends, les signes de l'Ordre & le mot de JAKIN,
que l'on peut regarder comme un des termes sacramentaux de la Confrérie, on lui
apprend de plus une autre façon de le prononcer - on lui propose Repeler : on ne
s'exprime pas plus au long; tout Franc-Maçon entend d'abord ce que cela veut dire.
Allors l'un dit J, l'autre doit répondre A, le premier dit K, le second I, & l'autre N; ce
qui compose le mot de JAKIN. Voilà la véritable manière, dont les Francs-Maçons
se reconnoissent. Il est vrai cependant, que ces premiers signalemens, ne désignent
encore qu'un Franc-Maçon Apprentis. . . ." Pérau, L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi
(1745), 72-73.
81"A l'égard des mots que l'on prononce, pour constater la vérité des signes de la
Maçonnerie, il n'y a que les deux dont j'ai parlé ci-dessus, savoir JAKIN (il y a Jachin
dans l'Ecriture Sainte) & BOOZ. Le premier est pour les Apprentiss, & ils n'ont que
celui-là," ibid., 81.
Après le Signe, ils épèlent ensemble le mot Jakin, de la façon qu on 1 a explique
dans le Catéchisme," ibid., 182.
He goes on to reveal, once again, that "the Password of the

Apprentices is Tubalcain ,"83
The anonymous author of JL Anti-Maçon y ou Les Mystères de la

Maçonnerie Dévoilés par un Profane which was apparently published in
Paris in 1748 also reveals that the secret passwords of the Apprentice
Degree are "Jakin" and "Tubalcain," writing, "After the sign, they
repeat together the word Jakin according to the Catechism. The
Password is Tubalcain"**
The Catechism for the Apprentice ("Lehrling") Degree that

appears in the System derFreymaurer=Loge Wahrheit und Einigkeit %u drey
gekrönten Säulen in P[ragļ , published in 1794, also reveals that "Jakin"
and "Tubalcain" are the passwords for this degree:85
Q. Why was the word: - chosen as the word for the

Apprentice degree?
A. Because it is the name of the column by which, during
the construction of Solomon's Temple, the Apprentices,
according to tradition, customarily received the wages for
their work.
83"Le Mot de passe des Apprentiss est Tubalcain ." Ibid, 182.
Après le Signe, ils répètent ensemble le mot Jakin suivant le Catéchisme. Le mot
de Passe est Tubalcain ģ" Anon, L Anti-Maçon } ou Les Mystères de la Maçonnerie Dévoilés par
un Profane (Paris, 1748), 63.
Fr. Warum hat man das Wort: - zum Wort des Lehrlingsgrades gewählet? | Ant.
Weil es der Name der Säule ist, an der während des salomonischen Tempelbaus die
Lehrlinge nach der Tradition den Lohn ihrer Arbeit zu empfangen pflegten. | Fr.
Liegt nicht noch ein anderer Grund davon in der Bedeutung des Wortes? | Ant. Ich
dachte mich, da ich das Licht empfieng, neugeschaffen, und das Wort leget man auch
aus: Gott hat mich erschaffen" (214-15); "Fr. Wie heißen sie mein Br.? | Antw.
Tubalkain. Dieser Name öffnet mir alle Lehrlings [Logen]. | Fr. Warum gab man den
Lehrlingen diesen Namen? | Antw. Weil Tubalkain der erste im Eisen arbeitete; und
wir also eigentlich ihm die nöthigsten Werkzeuge zum Bau verdanken," [Anon.]
System der Freymaurer=Loge Wahrheit und Einigkeit drey gekrönten Säulen in P[rag¡
(Philadelphia, 1794), 219. According to Emil Weller, the latter work was actually
published in Leipzig by Wilhelm Rein. See Weller, Die falschen und fingierten Druckorte :
Repertorium der seit Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst unter falscher Firma erschienenen deutschen
Schriften (Leipzig: Verlag von Falcké & Rössler, 1858), 119.
34 Bach
Q. Is there not another reason in the meaning of the

word?
A. As I received the light, I thought that I had been newly
created, and the word can also be interpreted: God
created me.
The following exchange appears four pages later:
Q. What is your name, my Brother?

A. Tubalcain. This name opens all Apprentice Lodges to
me.
Q. Why were Apprentices given this name?

A. Because Tubalcain was the first to work in iron
(metal); and we are indebted to him for the most essential
tools for building.
In his Der Aufgewogene Vorhang der Freymaürerey vermittelst der einzig

wahren Geschichte derselben^ Johann J. Wierz notes that all of the sacred
words and the passwords of Freemasonry, including "Tubalcain," are
taken from the Bible:86
All sacred words and all passwords are, with the

exception of Mac Benac, derived from the Bible. This is
certainly the case with the words of the Apprentice
Degree, in which the sacred word is Jachin, and the
password, Thubalcain.
^"Alle geheiligten und alle Paßworte sind, biß auf das Wort aus Mac Benac, aus der
Bibel endehnt. Von den Worten des Lehrlingsgrades, worinn das geheiligte Wort:
Jachin und das Paßwort: Thubalcain heißt, ist es ohnehin klar." Der Aufgeflogene
Vorhang der Freymaürerey vermittelst der einzig wahren Geschichte derselben (Frankfurt am
Mayn: Bebhard und Körber, 1790), 173. August Siegfried von Goué also notes that
"The passwords of the first two degrees of St. John, namely Tubelkain' and
'Shibbuleth,' are Hebrew" (Die Losungsworte der beyden ersten Johannisgrade,
nämlich Tubelkain und Schibolet sind hebräisch
Verbindungen. Ein Buch %ur Belehrung und Warnung für Nichteingeweihte und %ur Uebersicht
fiir Ordens- Brüder (Leipzig: bey Heinrich Gräff, 1805), 57.
The G. U. V. Freimaurer-Logenbuch. . . . published in Leipzig in

1836, also reports that the secret passwords for the Apprentice
Degree are "Jakin" and "Tubalcain":87
Their word or password is Jakin. The way of saying it will

be described later. This degree acquired it as a reminder
of the left [sic] column which stood in the courtyard of
Solomon's Temple and had the letter J written on it,
because it bore this name and the Apprentices gathered
by it every Friday to receive their weekly wages after they
had completed their work.
In addition, the Apprentices ("Zöglinge") have a word or

watchword ("Losung"), whereby they verify the identity
of those who enter the lodge... . This watchword is
Tubalkain**) and they employ it to commemorate
Tubalkain, who was the first smith and artist in all metal-
working, and the first who created the tools with which
to hew the stones.
**) This name is written in code ("Chiffreschrift") in the
aforementioned manuscript. A. d. H.
In his Deutsches Freimaurerlexikon published in 2011, Reinhold

Dosch notes that "Tubal Kain" is considered to be the Inventor of
Music, because smiths hammer in time. "Tubal Kain," he writes, must
have entered the Masonic Ritual sometime between 1730 and 1745:88
87"Ihr Wort oder Losung ist Jakin, Die Art, es abzugeben, wird Ihnen nachher
beschrieben werden. Unser Grad hat es zur Erinnerung des linken [sie] Pfeilers
bekommen, welcher in dem Vorhause des salomonischen Tempels stand und mit
dem Buchstaben J. bezeichnet war, weil er diesen Namen führte und die Lehrlinge
sich alle Freitage bei demselben versammelten, um ihren Wochenlohn zu empfangen,
nachdem sie ihre Arbeit geschlossen hatten. Ueberdiess haben die Zöglinge ein Wort
oder Losung, wodurch sie sich den Eingang in die Loge versichern, und es jedesmal,
wenn sie das Licht sehen oder die Loge bedecken wollen, an den wachthabenden
Bruder bei der innern Thür abgeben. Diese Losung ist Tubalkain**) und sie haben
sie zur Erinnerung des Tubalkain, der der erste Schmidt und Künsder in allen
Eisenarbeiten war, und der erste, welcher die Werkzeuge zubereitete, die Steine damit
zu behauen." | **) Dieser Name ist im Manuskripte in der vorerwähnten
Chiffreschrift geschrieben. A. d. H." G. U. V. Freimaurer-Logenbuch. Ein Nachtrag %um
Hephata (Leipzig: Karl Andrä, 1836), 38.
Reinhold Dosch, Deutsches Freimaurerlexikon , Edition zum rauhen Stein (Innsbruck:
Studienverlag, 2011), entry for "Tubal Kain," 330.
36 Bach
Tubal Kain: 1. Mose 4,19 und 22: "Lamech aber nahm

zwei Weiber; eine hieß Ada, die andere Zilla . . . Die Zilla
aber gebar auch, nämlich den Tubal Kain (Luther:
Thubalkein), den Meister in allerlei Erz und Eisenwerk."
Er gilt auch als Erfinder der Musik, weil die Schmiede im
Takt hämmern. . . .
Tubal Kain muss zwischen 1730 und 1745 ins

freimaurerische Ritual gekommen sein, wobei eine
Strömung ihn mit dem Meister-, eine andere mit dem
Lehrlings-Ritual in Verbindung brachte. Heute kennt man
dies Wort in einigen Großlogen als - Passwort.
As I mentioned above, we cannot be certain whether or not

"Tubalcain" was a secret password in Masonic lodges in Saxony
during the 1740s. However, the very fact that it was a Masonic
password anywhere during this era is telling. Even if it wasn't employed
in Leipzig at the time Bach composed the canon, the numerous
reports of its use elsewhere that were published at least as early as
1745 make it likely that he and the dedicatee of the canon would have
known that "Tubalcain" was a Masonic password.
The fact that the first letters of the two Masonic passwords,
"Jakin" (or "Iakin") and "Tubalcain," are the very letters that Bach
capitalizes in the final line of the canon inscription, "verum amlcum
Tuum," is surely no coincidence. The probable dedicatee, Christoph
Balthasar Faber, is known to have been a Mason and the two lines
that contain the acrostics "FABER" and "BACH," refer to friendship
and cultivating the arts, both of which were highly valued in
Freemasonry. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that the
capitalized letters "I" and "T" also have a connection to Freemasonry.
As I have shown, the word "Tubalcain" not only has a close

association with the word "faber" - the family name of the
dedicatee - it was also a secret password of the Freemasons during
Bach's lifetime.
In short, all of the acrostics and the capitalized letters in the

inscription appear to have associations with Freemasonry, and may be
interpreted as follows:
FABER
BApthasar] CH[ristoph]
I [akin] T[ubalcain]
The references to Masonic values in the inscription and Bach's

apparent familiarity with passwords of the Freemasons suggest that he
himself may have been a member of the order. The dedication to the
two-voice canon, BWV 1075, provides further evidence of his
familiarity with the rituals and terminology of Freemasonry.
The Two-Voice Canony BWV 1075
Bach's autograph of the two-voice canon, BWV 1075, survives in

an album leaf in private possession but, because the page has become
separated from its original setting, the dedicatee has not been
conclusively identified.89 Bach wrote the following inscription beneath
the canon subject:
Canon a 2. perpetuus
Leipzig, den 10. Januar:
1734
Dieses wolte seinem Herrn Pathen

zum Andencken beyfïigen
Joh: Seb: Bach
It was the wish to include this

as a memento
to his Sir "Pathe"
Joh: Seb: Bach
As Hans-Joachim Schulze has observed, Bach's use of the term

"Pathen" in the dedication defies easy explanation.90 In German, the
word "Pathe" can mean either "godparent" or "godchild," but
89The autograph of BWV 1075 is in a private collection in Switzerland. A facsimile

appears on p. VII of NBA 8/1; a transcription and solution to the canon appear on
p. 3 and p. 7 of the same volume. See also BDok I, Nr. 167; the New Bach Reader, 162,
and Christoph Wolff, NBA 8/1, KB, 19-20 and 32-33.
Schulze, BJ 53, 1967, 82-92. The discussion of BWV 1075 appears on pp. 87-88.
38 Bach
because Bach's own godparents had died in 1685 and 1687, Schulze
reasons, he must have been referring to one of his own godsons.
Furthermore, Bach addresses the dedicatee as "Herr Pathen" ("Sir
Pathen"), so the recipient must have been an adult at the time the
canon was composed (on or shortly before January 10, 1734).
The only godsons of Bach who would have been of adult age in
January, 1734 were ones for whom he had stood as godfather during
his years in Weimar (which he left in 1717) or earlier. Schulze
identifies three individuals who meet these criteria: the son of Bach's
cousin, Johann Gottfried Walther, Johann Gottfried Walther, Jr.
(baptized on Sept. 27, 1712 in Weimar), Johann Gottfried Trebs
(baptized on Nov. 27, 1713 in Weimar), and Johann Friedrich Weidig
(baptized on March 22, 1714 in Weißenfels). As we have no further
biographical details about either Trebs or Weidig, Schulze names
Johann Gottfried Walther, Jr. as the likeliest dedicatee.91
According to Schulze, the younger Walther enrolled in the

University of Jena on May 23, 1732. Schulze hypothesizes that, like
many students during this era, he may have kept a commemorative
album and, when visiting Leipzig, may have brought it along and
asked members of the Bach family to contribute an entry. Schulze
speculates that Bach's somewhat formal tone in the dedication, in
which he addresses the recipient as "Herr Pathen" ("Sir Godson"), is
best explained by assuming that Bach and Walther, Jr. had not seen
each other since Bach's departure from Weimar in 1717, when
Walther was still a young boy. Schulze concludes his discussion of the
canon by acknowledging that this attribution cannot be regarded as
definitive because the entry has been removed from the album.92
The hypothesis that Johann Gottfried Walther, Jr. was the

dedicatee of the canon rests on the assumption that, as Bach's
godparents were deceased, he must have been addressing one of his
own godsons. However, the appearance of the word "Pathe" in
91Schulze, "Bachs Kanonwidmungen," BJ 53 (1967), 88; Wolff cites Schulze in the

Critical Report to NBA 8/ 1 , 32.
Auch dieser Zuweisung muß jedoch . . . letzte Gültigkeit versagt bleiben, da die
Herauslösung des Eintrages aus dem Stammbuch keine absolut sichere Deutung
zuläßt." Schulze, ibid.
numerous eighteenth-century Masonic sources raises the possibility

that Bach may not have been addressing a godson at all.
"HerrPathe"
Numerous eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century

publications reveal that if an individual wished to join the order he
had to first identify someone who was already a Freemason who knew
him well enough to provide an account of his character and lifestyle
and who was willing to recommend him. In German, the proposer
was called either "Vortrager," "Proponent," or "Patron." On the
actual day of the candidate's initiation, however, the sponsor was
called either "Pathe" or "Bürge." The detailed information these
authors provide about the period of a Freemason's candidacy and the
initiation ritual itself and the widespread agreement between them
indicates that the term "Pathe" was in use at least as early as the
1740s.
The German translation of Pérau's L'Ordre de Francs-Maçons Trahi

et Le Secret des Mopses Revelé which appeared in 1 745 in Leipzig under
the tide, Der verrathene Orden der Freymäurer ; describes the protocol a
candidate had to follow if he wished to join the order:93
If one wishes to be initiated as a Freemason, one must

first be known by someone who is a member of this
order, who knows the lifestyle and habits of the potential
candidate so that he can vouch for him. The person who
assumes this role first gives the brothers of his lodge a
report about the fine qualities of the person before the
93"Wenn man dazu gelangen will, als ein Freymäurer aufgenommen zu werden, so
muß man anfanglich einem oder dem andern von diesem Orden bekannt seyn,
welchem das Leben und die Sitten des Aufzunehmenden gnüglich beywohnen, damit
er dafür stehen kann. Derjenige, welcher diesen Dienst über sich nimmt, giebet
anfanglich den Brüdern von seiner Loge von den guten Eigenschaften der Person
Nachricht, welche in die Brüderschaft aufgenommen zu werden verlanget: nach der
Antwort der Brüder, wird der Aufzunehmende sich vorzustellen zugelassen. Der
Bruder, welcher mit der Gesellschaft von dem Aufzunehmenden geredet hat, heißt
der Vor trager, und an dem zur Aufnehmung bestimmten Tage hat er das Amt des
Pathen. Die Aufnehmungsloge muß aus verschiedenen Gemächern bestehen, in
deren einem nicht das geringste Licht seyn darf. In dieses führet der Pathe den
Aufzunehmenden zuerst
40 Bach
candidate is permitted to introduce himself. The brother

who has spoken with the Society about the candidate is
called the Proposer ("Vortrager") and, on the day
appointed for the initiation, he has the responsibility of
the Sponsor ("Pathen").
Pérau goes on to describe how the Initiation Lodge is set up in total

darkness and the various actions the Sponsor ("Pathe") must perform
in the course of the initiation ceremony.
The anonymous author of Der 'Entdeckte und von allen seinen

Geheimnissen Entblößte Freymaurer (The Freemason Discovered and
Divested of all his Secrets), also published in 1745, reports much the
same thing:94
the person who wishes to join the order must have

someone in the society whom he knows well, and that
can give an unbiased account of his lifestyle, habits, etc .
. . The Brother who takes on introducing someone else
and promoting him as a worthy member is called
Proponent and this individual presents himself as a witness
and sponsor ("Pathen"); when the day, hour and place are
determined, and the lodge meets, the person who wishes
to be inducted is led into a room that is completely dark
and that not the slightest bit of daylight can penetrate.
The sponsor ("Pathe") accompanies his friend into the
room. . . .
There follows a series of questions asking if the candidate feels an

inner calling to join the society and a description of the various
94". . . es ist nun Zeit, daß wir auch sagen wie es mit zugehe, wann man iemand in
diese Gesellschafft aufnimmet. . . . muß der in diesen Orden Aufzunehmende
jemanden in der Gesellschafft haben, den er wohl kenne, und der ein unpartheyisches
Zeugniß von seinem Leben, Sitten, u. ablegen könne; . . . Derjenige Bruder, so dieses
auf sich nimmet, einen anderen vorzustellen, und als ein tüchtiges Mitglied
anzupreisen, wird Proponent genannt und dieser stellet sich als einen Zeugen und
Pathen dar; wann nun der Tag, Stund und Ort darzu bestimmet, und die Loge
zusammen kommen, so führet man den, der begehret aufgenommen zu werden, in
ein Zimmer, welches gantz finster ist, und da nicht das wenigste Liecht des Tags
eintringen kan. In dieses begleitet der Pathe seinen Freund
und von allen seinen Geheimnissen Entblößte Freymaurer (Strasburg: Bey Johann Heinrich
BeIcker, 1745), 23-24.
actions the sponsor ("Pathe") is expected to perform during the

initiation ritual.
The word "Pathe" also appears numerous times in Larudan's Die

zerschmetterten Freymäurer of 1746, in which the author describes the
responsibilities of the sponsor during a potential member's candidacy
and on the day of his initiation:95
Whoever proposes a new member must either indicate his

acceptance as an apprentice or the length of time it will
take, and inform him of the date appointed for his
admittance. When that day arrives, the person who, until
now, has been his patron and is now his sponsor
("Pathe"), leads him in the lodge and helps him observe
the ceremony correcdy. When they have both reached the
first outer door, the sponsor ("Pathe") raises his right
hand . . . and knocks . . . Hardly has he finished knocking
when two wardens open the door partway . . . One of
them asks the person who was knocking: Who are you?
He answers according to the rank he has in the society:
the warden then says: Who is the other one? He is a
prospective member; says the sponsor ("Pathe"). What do
you want? says the warden, and what does the other one
want? The sponsor ("Pathe") answers: I have to go to the
lodge and, as for the prospective brother, I have
instructions to bring him in in order to introduce him. Is
95"Derienige, so ein neues Mitglied vorgeschlagen, muß ihn den Entschluß, der
entweder seine Zulassung zum Noviciat, oder die Zeit, wie lange es dauren soll,
betrifft, und den zu seiner Aufnehmung bestimmten Tag andeuten. Wenn selbiger
gekommen, so wird der, so bisher sein Patron gewesen, alsdenn sein Pathe, führet ihn
in die Loge, und hilfft ihm das Ceremoniel recht beobachten. Wenn sie beyde an die
erste äussere Thüre gekommen, so hebt der Pathe die rechte Hand auf . . . und
klopfft . . . Kaum hat er das letzte mal angeklopfft, so machen zwey Wächter die
Thüre halb auf . . . Einer von ihnen fragt den, so angeklopfft: 'wer seyd ihr? Dieser
antwortet nach dem Range, welchen er in der Gesellschafft hat: der Wächter sagt
hierauf: Wer ist der andere? Es ist ein Neuaufzunehmender, spricht der Pathe. Was
wollt ihr also? sagt der Wächter, und was verlangt der andere? Der Pathe antwortet:
Ich muß mich in die Loge begeben, und was den Neuanzunehmenden Bruder
betrifft, so habe ich Befehl ihn hereinzufuhren, um ihn vorzustellen. Ist die Zeit
seines Noviciats geendigt? fragt der Wächter; Ja, spricht der Pathe. Alsdenn gehen sie
beyderseits hinein, der Wächter macht die Thüre zu, der Neuaufzunehmende aber
bleibt stehen, bis sein Pathe Bericht erstattet
Fortsetzung des verrathenen Ordens derFreymäurer [Franckfurt und Leipzig, 1 746] , 1 1 5-1 6) .
42 Bach
the period of his apprenticeship over? asks the warden;

Yes, says the sponsor ("Pathe"). Then both go in, the
warden closes the door, but the prospective member
remains standing until his sponsor ("Pathe") gives his
report . . .
In the entry on "Die Freymäurer" (The Freemasons) in his

Allgemeines Lexicon der Künste und Wissenschaften (General Lexicon of the
Arts and Sciences) of 1748, Johann Theodor Jabłoński also mentions
the role of the Sponsor ("Pathe") in connection with the admission
96
process:
If someone wishes to be inducted into the order, this

takes place through a brother who conveys this desire to
the brotherhood, and therefore is called presenter
("vor träger"), but on the day of the initiation takes on the
role of sponsor f"pathen"i. Together with him, he is led
into the dark room of the initiation-lodge for an hour,
then goes to the Master ("obermeister"), and is admitted
with many curious ceremonies, not all of which we can
touch upon here.
The fact that the terms "Bürge" or "Pathe" are listed in Masonic
lexicons published between 1818 and 1 828 indicate that they were still
in use seventy years after Bach's death. For instance, Gädicke's
Freimaurer-Lexicon, which appeared in 1 81 8, defines the words "Bürge,
Pathe oder Cavent" as follows:97
96"Wenn einer in den orden aufgenommen werden will, geschihet solches durch einen
bruder, welcher der brüderschafft der aufzunehmenden begehren hinterbringt, und
daher vortrager heißt, an dem aufnehmungstage aber die stelle des pathen vertritt. Er
wird sodann nebst diesem in das finstere zimmer der aufnehmung=loge auf eine
stunde gefuhrt, von dannen er zu dem obermeister kommt, und mit vielen seltsamen
ceremonien, die wir hier nicht alle berühren können, aufgenommen wird" (Jabłoński,
Allgemeines Lexicon der Künste und Wissenschaften , rev. ed. [Königsberg und Leipzig:
Johann Heinrich Härtung, 1748], 1271). The section on "Die freymäurer" appears
within the entry for "Secret Societies" ("Versteckte Societäten").
"Bürge, Pathe oder Cavent. Gewöhnlich übernimmt derjenige welcher dem
Orden einen Candidaten vorschlägt, die Bürgschaft für ihn, oder vertritt die Stelle
eines Pathen. darüber: daß derselbe die Receptionsgebühren entrichten und alle
Verpflichtungen, welche der Orden ihm auflegen wird, erfüllen werde. Wird der
Candidat aufgenommen, so ist es des Bürgen Pflicht, ihn fortwährend zu allen Guten
anzufeuern, damit er nicht selbst zur Verantwortung gezogen wird. Thut der Bürge
Bürge, Pathe oder Cavent. Customarily, whoever

recommends a candidate for the order assumes the role
of a Guarantor ("Bürgschaft"), or a Sponsor ("Pathen");
he pays the initiation fees and sees to it that all the
obligations the order places on him are fulfilled. If the
candidate is accepted, it is the duty if the guarantor
("Bürgen") continually to encourage him in everything
good, so that he himself will not be held accountable. If
the guarantor does this, the lodge cannot blame him if the
person who has been introduced lapses. The guarantor
("Bürge") thus has to examine the principles and moral
conduct of a candidate very carefully before proposing
him to avoid causing harm to the order.
In the third volume of his Encylopädie derFreimaurerei which was issued

in 1828, Mossdorf provides the following definition of the words
"Pathe" and "Bürge":98
[THE] SPONSOR or GUARANTOR ["PATHE oder

BÜRGE, DER"] is that member of a lodge who
recommends a candidate for admittance in the Society
and who vouches for his morality and compliance with
his obligations to the lodge.
There can be litde doubt that, at least as early as the 1740s, any
German Freemason would have known that the word "Pathe" could
denote not only a godparent or a godchild, but also the sponsor of a
candidate for membership in the order.
dies, so kann die Loge ihn nicht in Strafe nehmen, wenn der von ihm Eingeführte
sich vergehen sollte. Der Bürge hat also die Grundsätze und den moralischen Wandel
eines Candidaten, vor dem Vorschlage sehr genau zu prüfen, indem er sonst sich um
dem Orden Unheil verursacht." Gädicke, Freimaurer- Lexicon (Berlin: bei den
Buchändlern Gebrüder Gädicke, 1818), 97-98.
98"PATHE oder BÜRGE (DER) ist dasjenige Mitglied einer Loge, welches einen
Candidaten zur Aufnahme in die Gesellschaft vorschlägt und für dessen Moralität
und Erfüllung der Pflichten gegen die Loge einsteht." Mossdorf [pseud. C. Lenning],
Fncyclopädie derFreimaurerei (Leipzig: E A. Brockhaus, 1828), vol. 3, 83. The entry for
the word "BÜRGE" that appears on p. 55 in vol. I which was published in 1822,
reads "siehe PATHE."
44 Bach
Furthermore, the commemorative album that contained J. S.

Bach's two-voice canon and dedication dated January 10, 1734
apparently also originally included the following entry, now lost, by
Bach's son, Carl Philipp Emanuel: "Nil sine fine. Hisce paucis
memorie sui Possessoris se commendare debuit. Carol. Philip. Eman.
Bach. Lipsiae d. 20. Jan. 1734." As I mentioned above, because
Emanuel composed at least a dozen Masonic Songs, it has long been
assumed that he was a Freemason." Perhaps the individual who
served as "Pathe" for Sebastian Bach also sponsored Emanuel for
membership in the order and, in appreciation, father and son
contributed entries to his commemorative album.
The possibility that Sebastian and Emanuel were both initiated as

Masons at around the same time - in late 1733 or in January of
1734 - is by no means out of the question. As I mentioned above,
Freemasonry was just being introduced into Germany in 1733.
Although it was introduced in England and the Netherlands prior to
1 733, because Sebastian never traveled abroad, he would not have had
an opportunity to be initiated prior to this time. Emanuel, who was
born on March 8, 1714, would have been nearly twenty at the time he
wrote his inscription; in general, candidates had to be at least eighteen
to join the Masons.
When Bach employed the phrase "Herr Pathe" in the inscription

to his two-voice canon, he may well have been addressing the
individual who sponsored him for admission to the order. While
1 733-1 7 34 is very early in the documented history of Freemasonry in
Germany, it is known that several German members who had been
initiated abroad held meetings in Hamburg and Leipzig several years
before lodges were formally constituted. In his Geschichte derFreimaurer-
ei von der Zeit ihres Entstehens bis auf die Gegenwart (History of
Freemasonry from the Time of its Origin up to the Present), J. G.
Findel reports that, "as early as 1733, Grandmaster Brother the Earl
of Strathmore granted permission for "eleven German gentlemen and
good Brothers' to constitute a standing lodge in Hamburg, about
"Twelve Masonic Songs (H 764; Wq 202/N/l- 12) were published in Freymaurer-

Ueder mitgan^ neuen Melodien von den Herren CapellmeisterBach (Copenhagen and Leipzig:
Naumann und Schulz, 1788), and in Allgemeines Liederbuch für Freymaurer ; iii,
(Copenhagen, 1788).
which nothing more is known; it wasn't until the year 1737 that a
lodge without a name commenced activity there."100
Conclusion
The possibility that Bach was both a lifelong Lutheran and, for a
significant portion of his adult life, a Freemason has profound
implications for our understanding of his faith, his world view, and his
compositions. At the very least, eighteenth-century Masonic sources
may yield new information on his patrons, dedicatees, and the
circumstances surrounding the composition and performance of
works that have not survived or were substantially revised. Exploring
the prospect that Johann Sebastian Bach was a Freemason may permit
us to reconcile two seemingly incompatible views of him: as the
quintessential Lutheran composer and as the creator of the B-minor
Mass - "the great Catholic Mass" - one of the great ecumenical, all-
embracing musical statements of all time.
100"Schon im J. 1733 ertheilte der Großmeister Bruder Graf Strathmore 'eilf

deutschen Herren und guten Brüdern' die Erlaubniß, in Hamburg eine stehende Loge
zu errichten, über welche indessen weitere Nachrichten fehlen; erst im J. 1737 trat
dort eine Loge ohne Namen in Thätigkeit." (Leipzig: Hermann Luppe, 1861), 263.
William Preston also writes that, in 1733, under the auspices of the Grand Master, the
Earl of Strathmore, "eleven German Masons applied for authority to open a new
Lodge at Hamburgh, under the patronage of the Grand Lodge of England, for which
purpose his lordship was pleased to grant a deputation." Illustrations of Masonry, with
Copious Notes and Additions by George Oliver, D.D. (New York: Masonic Publishing and
Manufacturing Co., 1867), 167-68.

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Masonic Allusions in the Dedications of Two Canons by J.S.

Bach: BWV 1078 and 1075

between compositions by J. S. Bach and the ideals, symbols,

The compositional virtuosity Bach displays in his canons and the

Source Situańon, BWV 1078

The seven-voice canon, BWV 1078, together with its dedication

J. P. Kirnberger's copy of Bach's canon, BWV 1078

The reinforced letters and unorthodox capitalizations in the

Fa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica

Fa Mi, and Mi Fa are the whole of Music

Recalling a faithful friend means happiness

Previous Hypotheses Regarding the Identity of the Dedicatee

In his monumental study of Bach published in 1873-1880,

In his analysis of the dedication published in 1950, Friedrich

While Smenďs methodology is useful to a point, it brings us no closer

In a painstakingly-researched article entitled "Johann Sebastian

In 2011, Michael Maul identified the dedicatee of the four-voice

Schulze observes that, of the five canons he discusses in his

"Schulze, "Johann Sebastian Bachs Kanonwidmungen," Bach-Jabrbuch 53 (1967),

an individual by the name of "Schmidt" ("Schmid," "Schmied," etc.)

However, we cannot be sure that "Faber" is to be interpreted as

Based upon the available information, Johann Michael Schmidt

acrostic formed by Fidelis Amici Beatum Esse Recordad. In keeping

The name of another individual named "Faber" appears in a

History of Modern Freemasonry

The era of modern Freemasonry is traditionally dated to June 24,

20ťťWeiter Untersuchungen hierüber werden aber von der Voraussetzung ausgehen

in England.22 Together with a number of Huguenots who were also

In 1733, eleven German "gentlemen" were initiated as

^Beginning in 1725, Albrecht Wolfgang's name appears in the membership lists of

In other parts of Europe, including France, Austria-Hungary, and

Minerva den drei Palmen

The first Freemason lodge in Leipzig was founded on March 20,

25Helmut Reinalter, Freimaurer und Geheimbünde im 18. Jahrhundert in Mittekuropa

and close friend of the Bach family. Johann Friedrich Gleditsch,29 a

While we don't know much about Faber, the information we do

1743. He defended his thesis under Professor Lothar Helling, a Jesuit,

Registration records of the University of Leipzig indicate that

The titles of the theses he submitted while studying at the Bamberg

Fa Mi, et Mi Fa est tota Musica

Luther compares the Gospel to music as it is performed and likens

The Gospel is like the B fa b mi in music, which are

The immediate juxtaposition of the two-letter units "Fa Mi" and

recipient that he should invert two comparable elements in his own

Under What Circumstances Did Bach and Faber Meet?

If Christoph Balthasar Faber - an individual who, until now, has

42See the previous discussion.

himself commonly be heard outside of his own house; but there

First, however, it may be helpful to provide a brief introduction

According to the historian of Freemasonry, Josef Gabriel Findel,

In the beginning, all German lodges knew only the three

The first edition of Anderson's Constitutions was published in

In 1736, Jean Kuenen issued a French translation of the

47 [James Anderson,] THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREE-MASONS. Containing

am Main under the title, Neues Constitutionen -Buch, in 1741. 50 The

The successive editions of Anderson's Constitutions and other

Freemasonry is not a religion and, as the first paragraph of

As noted above, the second section of Anderson's Constitutions

friendship, even among individuals who otherwise would have

A Mason is oblig'd, by his Tenure, to obey the moral Law;

This underscores that unity, brotherhood and friendship were core

Anderson's Constitutions also contains numerous references to laws

ADAM, our first Parent, created after the Image of God,