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Opera and the Rhythms of Nature

You feel us when the sun is hidden in the daytime by the rain falling in drenching sheets. We are in the rocks that tower above your tiny winding road, in the convulsions of the deep earth that raze your cities, in the winds that howl around a lonely coast. I, the Earth provide the fuel that lights your Fire, yet poisons the Air. The Water in the seas is rising with the melting ice. All that we know is slowly disappearing, together with the giant bears that still haunt the ice under the lonely northern skies. A great storm is coming.

And yet….

Ours are the rhythms that end all things, only to begin once more.

You are with us when you meet with the Oneness. We are the five ‘elements’ conceived in ancient Hindu thought – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky. Ours are the rhythms that brought life into being. Ours are the rhythms that pulse through opera, from Julie Taymor’s airy ‘Magic Flute’ to Rusalka’s watery home, to her eyes raised to the sky, singing to a radiant moon. To the fiery reds of Turandot. As for me, the Earth? Tell me which opera reminds you of me.

Air

I am the sweetness of the first breath in your body, and your last, in darkness and in light. I fill the sails of the wanderer and I sweep the desert sands into the roots of the rainforest. And Pamina into Tamino’s arms. Mine are the rhythms of this spinning Earth. I - am Air.

Water

I spewed from the earth, with the scalding lava of its ancient depths and I fell gently as rain on its thirsty surface. I gathered in its hollows as the great oceans, and here in this darkness, I gave birth to life. The light fades quickly in my mysterious depths, where, in the blink of an eye, I bury your plastics and your wastes. And Rusalka’s dreams.

Mine are the rhythms of our glorious moon. I - am Water.

Sky

I am emptiness, the hard vacuum of space. I toss over Earth the soft blanket of matter, through which the sun’s fire dims before it reaches you. And I sent a fairy once to a young girl’s side, so that she could step into the world with stars glittering in her skirts and dance the night away until midnight struck. Mine are the rhythms of day and night. I – am Sky.

Fire

I am the primordial heat buried deep in the Earth’s core. I was born in its distant past, when wandering alien bodies collided frequently, violently, with our infant planet. I am the sunshine dancing in the green of spring. Fling your darkness into my core and I will purify it. Just as two children once did, inside a cottage made of cake, deep in a magical forest.

Mine are the rhythms of creation and destruction, of condemnation and regeneration. I – am Fire.

Earth

In my heart I conceal water and air and fire. Close to my surface lies the thin smear of life, with freezing space above and searing heat below. I hold the key to the mysterious life that lived itself out before your time. I am the wisdom of a billion years and even after you, I will be here. Again I ask, which opera reminds you of me?

Mine are the rhythms of time. I - am Earth.

From ancient Hindu thought to contemporary India, witness the rhythms of Air, Earth, Water and Fire in the video below. Let the meaning of the lyrics fly elusively around your senses like the northern lights on a cloud-kissed night.

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