| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: nearly all the popular tunes in the world.
On the other hand, the ring theme, when it begins to hurtle
through the third scene of The Rhine Gold, cannot possibly be
referred to any special feature in the general gloom and turmoil
of the den of the dwarfs. It is not a melody, but merely the
displaced metric accent which musicians call syncopation, rung on
the notes of the familiar chord formed by piling three minor
thirds on top of one another (technically, the chord of the minor
ninth, ci-devant diminished seventh). One soon picks it up and
identifies it; but it does not get introduced in the
unequivocally clear fashion of the themes described above, or of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: of the forest. The crackling of dry twigs brought me to my feet. At the
same moment the mustangs snorted. Something was prowling about just beyond
the light. I thought of a panther. That was the only beast I could think of
which had such an unearthly cry.
Then another bowl, resembling that of a dog, and followed by yelps and
barks, told me that I was being visited by a pack of coyotes. I spent the
good part of an hour listening to their serenade. The wild, mournful notes
sent quivers up my back. By-and-by they went away, and as my fire had
burned down to a red glow and the night wind had grown cold I began to
think of sleep.
But I was not sleepy. When I had stretched out on the soft bed of
The Young Forester |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: at the waves. It was strange that a man should be sewn up in
sailcloth and should soon be flying into the sea. Was it possible
that such a thing might happen to anyone?
The priest strewed earth upon Gusev and bowed down. They sang
"Eternal Memory."
The man on watch duty tilted up the end of the plank, Gusev slid
off and flew head foremost, turned a somersault in the air and
splashed into the sea. He was covered with foam and for a moment
looked as though he were wrapped in lace, but the minute passed
and he disappeared in the waves.
He went rapidly towards the bottom. Did he reach it? It was said
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