| 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: and red would be untrue to nature, and fatigue the eye. And thus the
constantly recurring rhythm in the score of /Robert le Diable/ makes
the work, as a whole, appear monotonous. As to the effect of the long
trumpets, of which you speak, it has long been known in Germany; and
what Meyerbeer offers us as a novelty was constantly used by Mozart,
who gives just such a chorus to the devils in /Don Giovanni/."
By plying Gambara, meanwhile, with fresh libations, Andrea thus
strove, by his contradictoriness, to bring the musician back to a true
sense of music, by proving to him that his so-called mission was not
to try to regenerate an art beyond his powers, but to seek to express
himself in another form; namely, that of poetry.
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is
your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a
great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were
going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with
the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.
All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant
to bid him good-bye.
"But where is your little companion?" he said: "the boy I put into
the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.
"We don't know," answered the children; "he has gone away."
"You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow," said the
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Pure glass," answered the cat, proud to have
attracted the Scarecrow's attention. "I am much
more beautiful than the Patchwork Girl. I'm
transparent, and Scraps isn't; I've pink brains--
you can see 'em work; and I've a ruby heart,
finely polished, while Scraps hasn't any heart at
all."
"No more have I," said the Scarecrow, shaking
hands with Scraps, as if to congratulate her on
the fact. "I've a friend, the Tin Woodman, who has
a heart, but I find I get along pretty well
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
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 Master of the World by Jules Verne: great importance in that astonishing country of America.
Naturally the excitement became more intense as one approached the
finishing line near Milwaukee. There were assembled the most curious,
the most interested; and there the passions of the moment were
unchained. By ten o'clock it was evident, that the first prize,
twenty thousand dollars, lay between five machines, two American, two
French, and one English. Imagine, therefore, the fury with which bets
were being made under the influence of national pride. The regular
book makers could scarcely meet the demands of those who wished to
wager. Offers and amounts were hurled from lip to lip with feverish
rapidity. "One to three on the Harvard-Watson!"
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