OUR HISTORY
AMADEUS LODGE HISTORY
Derbyshire's First Music Lodge - Est. 1994
Music has been a feature of Freemasonry from its earliest days, and has a central part in the business of virtually all Lodges. The Masonic Lodge position of Organist and his jewel are familiar to all Freemasons.
In previous centuries it was common for there to be grand Masonic concerts held to raise money for charitable purposes. Within the year prior to establishment of Amadeus Lodge, there were performances of Mozart's 'Masonic' opera The Magic Flute in the Grand Temple at Freemasons' Hall in London.
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Over the years many eminent musicians have been Freemasons including Sibelius, Sultan, Haydn, Wagner and of course Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from whom our Lodge takes its name.
Mozart was not only a very active Freemason but also wrote many pieces of music for the Craft.
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The genesis of Amadeus Lodge occurred, as do many good ideas, in a pub when two of our Founding Members bemoaned the lack of a Lodge in the Sheffield area for brethren with a musical bent, and decided that the way to fill this void was set in motion the process the founding of a new Lodge.
It was strongly felt that Amadeus Lodge be for lovers of music, not just for playing musicians.
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Originally Amadeus Lodge was due to be homed at Tapton Masonic Hall in Sheffield, however, due to the number of Lodges there, scheduling a new Lodge meetings proved difficult, we then secured a home at Dore Freemasons' Hall, roughly 3 miles away from Tapton Hall, this however meant that we had crossed the border from the Masonic Province of Yorkshire West Riding and into the Masonic Province of Derbyshire, hence, we are uniquely placed as a Sheffield Lodge but under the governance of Derbyshire!
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During the covid-19 pandemic all Masonic meetings were postponed, so we moved our social get-togethers online using Zoom.
The Amadeus Travelling Headset was a game devised by us to encourage visitors to join our Zoom meetings, this proved very popular in Derbyshire and we were regularly welcoming between 80 and 100 people to these online meetings!
Click here for the history of Freemasonry in Derbyshire
Click here for the history of The United Grand Lodge of England
Click here for the information on The Amadeus Travelling Headset
The Founders at the consecration of Amadeus Lodge, 12th February 1994
Amadeus Lodge at Installation, 23rd March 2023
One of the features of our Festive Board, the meal that follows a Lodge Meeting, is a musical presentation or performance.
We have welcomed performances from members of Amadeus Lodge as well as from Freemasons from other Lodges who have visited us on the night, although performances and presentations are not always delivered by Freemasons, we have had the pleasure of being entertained by a variety of performers, male & female, from outside of Freemasonry.
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Amadeus Lodge continues to attract musicians and lovers of music although in the last ten years we have started to diversify by attracting performers and entertainers, amateur & professional, from other areas of the arts.
We are very proud to have as members actors, entertainers, comedians, theatre owners, directors & producers, as well as members from a whole host of other non-performing professions.
Various text taken from 'A History of Craft Freemasonry in Sheffield 1761 - 2017' Edited by Dr John Wade ISBN 978-1-9998019-0-8