| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: She was endowed with considerable beauty of form and great
tenderness of heart, as many gallants acknowledged with
gratitude. Now when the Duke of York made advances to her, she
received them with all the satisfaction he could desire; an
intimacy therefore followed, which she was the better able to
entertain on account of her husband's absence in Scotland.
Whilst my Lord Carnegy was in that country, his father, the Earl
of Southesk, died, and he succeeded to the title and estates. In
due time the new earl returned to London and his wife, and was
greeted by rumours of the friendship which in his absence had
sprung up between my lady and the duke. These, as became a good
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: conception might be found in the psalms of the great Marcello, a noble
Venetian, who was to music what Giotto was to painting. The majesty of
the phrase, unfolding itself with episodes of inexhaustible melody, is
comparable with the finest things ever invented by religious writers.
"How simple is the structure! Moses opens the attack in G minor,
ending in a cadenza in B flat which allows the chorus to come in,
/pianissimo/ at first, in B flat, returning by modulations to G minor.
This splendid treatment of the voices, recurring three times, ends in
the last strophe with a /stretto/ in G major of absolutely
overpowering effect. We feel as though this hymn of a nation released
from slavery, as it mounts to heaven, were met by kindred strains
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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 This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: desire to crush people under his heel. He consumed three club
sandwiches, devouring each as though it were no larger than a
chocolate-drop. Then Rosalind began popping into his mind again,
and he found his lips forming her name over and over. Next he was
sleepy, and he had a hazy, listless sense of people in dress
suits, probably waiters, gathering around the table....
...He was in a room and Carling was saying something about a knot
in his shoe-lace.
"Nemmine," he managed to articulate drowsily. "Sleep in 'em...."
STILL ALCOHOLIC
He awoke laughing and his eyes lazily roamed his surroundings,
This Side of Paradise |
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 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Unmask and receive my blessing."
But neither bent the knee, for the young bridegroom
replied in a tone that startled all listeners
as the mask fell, disclosing the noble face of Ferdinand
Devereux, the artist lover, and leaning on the
breast where now flashed the star of an English earl
was the lovely Viola, radiant with joy and beauty.
"My lord, you scornfully bade me claim your
daughter when I could boast as high a name and vast a
fortune as the Count antonio. I can do more, for even
your ambitious soul cannot refuse the Earl of Devereux
Little Women |
