song text,first verse:Brueder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde,
                               diese schoene Feierstunde fuehr uns hin
                                     zu lichten Hoehn!
                               Lasst,was irdisch ist,entfliehen!
                               Unsrer Freundschaft Harmonien
                               Dauern ewig fest und schoen.
Where does this song come from?Who wrote the text?Who composed the music

Dear schullerx,

1) Those are the lyrics of a German Freemason so-called Bundeslied
(Union Song), also known as Weihelied (Consecration Song).

2) The lyrics were written by Johann Gottfried Hientzsch (1787-1856)
in about 1824 and first published in 1826 in a song book by Hientzsch.

3) The music was allegedly composed by Austrian composer and
Freemaseon Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on 5 December 1791, 19 days before
his death, as an appendix to his last completed work, "Masonic
Cantata". However, according to newer research, this tune was not
written by Mozart, but by Johann Holzer, a Freemason Brother of his,
and composer of many songs. Today, the melody is also used for the
Austrian national anthem (with different lyrics).

Regards,
Scriptor

---

Request for Answer Clarification by schullerx-ga on 05 Jun 2006 14:52 PDT

Hi,
Would you let me know Your search path.
Thanks GJS

---

Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 05 Jun 2006 15:59 PDT

Certainly. I used these search strings:

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" Mozart
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22+Mozart&btnG=Suche&meta=

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" Weihelied
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22+Weihelied&btnG=Suche&meta=

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" Bundeslied
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22+Bundeslied&btnG=Suche&meta=

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" Hientzsch
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22+Hientzsch&btnG=Suche&meta=

"Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde" Hientzsch 1824
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22Br%C3%BCder%2C+reicht+die+Hand+zum+Bunde%22+Hientzsch+1824&btnG=Suche&meta=


In addition,  this German source was especially helpful for bringing
my search in the right direction:

Wikipedia: Land der Berge, Land am Strome (in German)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_der_Berge%2C_Land_am_Strome

Regards,
Scriptor