| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: he approached Father Sergius, and suddenly falling on his knees
loudly exclaimed:
'Holy Father! Bless my afflicted offspring that she may be
healed of her malady. I venture to prostrate myself at your holy
feet.'
And he placed one hand on the other, cup-wise. He said and did
all this as if he were doing something clearly and firmly
appointed by law and usage--as if one must and should ask for a
daughter to be cured in just this way and no other. He did it
with such conviction that it seemed even to Father Sergius that
it should be said and done in just that way, but nevertheless he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: dispose and arrange itself in such a way as to present the appearance of
heavens; how in the meantime some of its parts must compose an earth and
some planets and comets, and others a sun and fixed stars. And, making a
digression at this stage on the subject of light, I expounded at
considerable length what the nature of that light must be which is found
in the sun and the stars, and how thence in an instant of time it
traverses the immense spaces of the heavens, and how from the planets and
comets it is reflected towards the earth. To this I likewise added much
respecting the substance, the situation, the motions, and all the
different qualities of these heavens and stars; so that I thought I had
said enough respecting them to show that there is nothing observable in
Reason Discourse |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: could fancy that we hear the tramp of the great Egyptian army,
surrounding the sacred phalanx of the true God, curling round it, like
a long African serpent enveloping its prey. But how beautiful is the
lament of the duped and disappointed Hebrews! Though, in truth, it is
more Italian than Hebrew. What a superb passage introduces Pharaoh's
arrival, when his presence brings the two leaders face to face, and
all the moving passions of the drama. The conflict of sentiments in
that sublime /ottetto/, where the wrath of Moses meets that of the two
Pharaohs, is admirable. What a medley of voices and of unchained
furies!
"No grander subject was ever wrought out by a composer. The famous
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: Lord Byron's many loves, I should be at this moment in a cloister.
You have touched me to the quick. You do not know me, but you
shall know me. I feel within me something that is sublime, of
which I dare speak without vanity. God has put into my soul the
roots of that Alpine flower born on the summits of which I speak,
and I cannot plant it in an earthen pot upon my window-sill and
see it die. No, that glorious flower-cup, single in its beauty,
intoxicating in its fragrance, shall not be dragged through the
vulgarities of life! it is yours--yours, before any eye has
blighted it, yours forever! Yes, my poet, to you belong my
thoughts,--all, those that are secret, those that are gayest; my
Modeste Mignon |
