Frammento I — Sinfonia
The Orchestra being assembled in the Pit, and the Seven Fires being
lit upon the Stage in the manner of the Ancients, the MAESTRO shall
rise and address the Instruments, not with words but with SILENCE,
until all present understand what is about to begin.
The Silence should last no less than the span of seven breaths.
If any Instrument sounds before the Silence is complete, begin again.
The Audience will know. They always know.
[The overture is not preserved.]
Frammento II — Atto Primo, Scena Terza
Enter L'ALCHIMISTA and LA SOSPETTOSA, she with her arms
cross'd and an expression suggesting she has heard this
particular species of nonsense before.
L'Alchimista
Non è piombo, non è oro—
è la distanza tra i due
che brucia.
It is not lead, it is not gold—
it is the distance between the two
that burns.
La Sospettosa
E chi decide la distanza?
Tu? Il fuoco? O chi
ha scritto il fuoco?
And who decides the distance?
You? The fire? Or the one who
wrote the fire?
[Six bars indicated. Not preserved.]
L'Alchimista
Questo è il segreto che
non posso dire cantando
ma non posso dire
senza cantare.
This is the secret I
cannot tell by singing
but cannot tell
without singing.
LA SOSPETTOSA regards him. A long ———
Frammento III — Atto Secondo, Scena Settima
Here the Seven Voices join in the HARMONICK FIRE, and the Audience
shall feel what the Alchemist describes though they know it not;
and the LEAD upon the Stage shall begin to shine though no Lantern
be near it; and any Person in the Theatre who has wept within the
Fortnight shall find their Grief transform'd to its neighbour,
which is Laughter.
The Seven Voices are as follo ———
[Voices I through VI are not preserved.]
Il Settimo
Tutto nel mondo è burla—
ma la burla è la porta,
e la porta è il fuoco,
e il fuoco è il nome del fuoco
ed il nome ———
All the world is a jest—
but the jest is the door,
and the door is the fire,
and the fire is the name of the fire
and the name ———
[The manuscript is burned from this point.]
Frammento IV — Atto Terzo
——— upon which the LIGHTS of the
Theatre shall go OUT; not by any mechanism of the Stagecraft
but by the nature of what happ ———
——— and the MAESTRO shall
turn to where the Audience should ———
From the archives of The Count of ———
Provenance uncertain. Authenticity: provisional.