of innocence and joy," wrote L.F. Lenz in a contemporary edition of Masonic songs. Music should "inculcate feelings of humanity, wisdom and patience, virtue and honesty, loyalty to friends, and finally an understanding of freedom." These views suggest a musical style quite unlike the style of the Galant, which was dominant at the time. Galant style music was typically melodic with harmonic accompaniment, rather than polyphonic; and the melodic line was often richly ornamented with trills, runs and other virtuosic effects. The style promoted by the Masonic view was much less virtuosic and unornamented. Mozart's style of composition is often referred to as "humanist" and is in accord with this Masonic view of music. The music of the Freemasons contained musical phrases and forms that held specific semiotic meanings. For example, the Masonic initiation ceremony began with the candidate knocking three times at the door to ask admittance. This is expressed musically as a dotted figure: This figure appears in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute in the overture, suggesting the opening of the Masonic Master Mason's degree. According to Katherine Thomson, there are many other examples of specific musical symbols taken from the Masonic rites that appear throughout Mozart's compositions. These include the use of suspensions to indicate friendship and brotherhood, the use of three-part harmony to emphasize the special significance of the number three in Freemasonry, and special rhythms and harmonies to signify fortitude and other attributes. Notwithstanding these manifestations of Freemasonry in Mozart's music and activities, some scholars question Mozart's personal commitment to Masonic ideology. Peter Paul Fuchs notes that Mozart was a devout Catholic, a religion that threatened Freemasons with excommunication. "Mozart was pulled in various directions stylistically and probably personally. There is little evidence that he found these tensions troubling... " he writes. However, in his book Mozart and the Enlightenment Nicholas Till demonstrates that Mozart's original lodge "Zur Wohltätigkeit" (At Beneficence) was a reform-Catholic lodge following the tenets of the Italian liberal theologian Ludovico Muratori and was committed in particular to the Catholic ideal of charity. And musicologist David J. Buch notes that many of Mozart's musical devices identified with Masonry have precedents in non-Masonic music as well. For example, the three notes, which originate from the French genre of "le merveilleux", already appear in the musical theater of the early 18th century. The three chords in the overture can be found in many other