| 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: refined craftsman who in his music has but picked up thousands of
phrases out of other operas, damned or forgotten, and appropriated
them, while extending, modifying, or condensing them. But he has
fallen into the error of all selectors of /centos/,--an abuse of good
things. This clever harvester of notes is lavish of discords, which,
when too often introduced, fatigue the ear till those great effects
pall upon it which a composer should husband with care to make the
more effective use of them when the situation requires it. These
enharmonic passages recur to satiety, and the abuse of the plagal
cadence deprives it of its religious solemnity.
"I know, of course, that every musician has certain forms to which he
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Bispam, an overcordial little lady whom I met at a tea the other
day, told me that her son, he is at Yale, wrote her that all the
boys there wore their summer underwear all during the winter, and
also went about with their heads wet and in low shoes on the
coldest days. Now, Amory, I don't know whether that is a fad at
Princeton too, but I don't want you to be so foolish. It not only
inclines a young man to pneumonia and infantile paralysis, but to
all forms of lung trouble, to which you are particularly
inclined. You cannot experiment with your health. I have found
that out. I will not make myself ridiculous as some mothers no
doubt do, by insisting that you wear overshoes, though I remember
This Side of Paradise |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: separate and insulated event, to occur but once in her lifetime,
and to meet which, therefore, reckless of economy, she might call
up the vital strength that would have sufficed for many quiet
years. The very law that condemned her -- a giant of stem
featured but with vigour to support, as well as to annihilate, in
his iron arm -- had held her up through the terrible ordeal of
her ignominy. But now, with this unattended walk from her prison
door, began the daily
The Scarlet Letter |
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 On Revenues by Xenophon: [11] See "Mem." II. v. 2; Plut. "Nicias," 4; "Athen." vi. 272. See an
important criticism of Boeckh's view by Cornewall Lewis,
translation of "P. E. A." p. 675 foll.
[12] Reading {parekhein}, or if {pareikhen}, transl. "whilst he
himself kept up the number." See H. hagen in "Journ. Philol." x.
19, pp. 34-36; also Zurborg, "Comm." p. 28.
[13] Son of Callias.
[14] = L4:1:3 = 600 ob.
[15] Or, "whose incomes would vary in proportion to their working
capital."
[16] See Jebb, "Theophr." xxvi. 21.
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