In May of 1791 Mozart's friend Emanuel Schikaneder commisioned him to write The Magic Flute with Schikaneder himself supply ing the libretto. Originally intended to be a Singspiel or singing play filled with traditional comic exotic and fairytal e elements the work greatly transcended those limitations. In the course of developing the story the two men both Freemaso ns transformed Masonic ideals of brotherhood charity and benevolence into a complex moral allegory.