| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: a melancholy drone as if to express the secret sufferings he had
known.
"Do you hear the heavenly lamentations of neglected love?" he said.
"Isabella calls to Robert above the grand chorus of knights riding
forth to the tournament, in which the /motifs/ of the second act
reappear to make it clear that the third act has all taken place in a
supernatural sphere. This is real life again. This chorus dies away at
the approach of the hellish enchantment brought by Robert with the
talisman. The deviltry of the third act is to be carried on. Here we
have the duet with the viol; the rhythm is highly expressive of the
brutal desires of a man who is omnipotent, and the Princess, by
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Street of Seven Stars by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "Bah! What has the child to do with it?"
"We will find some one to take Anna's place."
"I doubt it. And until you do?"
"There is nothing wicked in what we are doing. Don't you see,
Mrs. Boyer, I can't leave the boy."
"Since Peter is so altruistic, let him hire a nurse."
Bad as things were, Harmony smiled.
"A nurse!" she said. "Why, do you realize that he is keeping
three people now on what is starvation for one?"
"Then he's a fool!" Mrs. Boyer rose in majesty. "I'm not going to
leave you here."
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