The Earth and the Water and the Wind

 

This is not a narrative song, just an elemental description of the feelings and ideas associated with the elements of earth, water and air.  It starts with a simple Renaissance-feeling harmony for the earth in the first verse, then Baroque for the water in the second, a very modern setting for air in the third verse, and a combination in the last where the elements mix.

Composer’s Comment: The third verse is one of the trickiest things I’ve done, since it has a counter melody (in italics) in 4/4 time while the melody continues in 3/4.  Getting the timing right when the singers’ beats are different lengths is a real challenge, but creates a unique, chaotic feel I like for the wind verse.  There is also a wordless descant in 4/4 time which starts during the third verse and then reappears in the fourth.

Lyrics

The shore of soft stone from long ages past
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
withstands any storm through all years it will last
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
So it will remain, always the same
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
And there it resides, through numberless tides
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
The earth and the water and the wind.

The water makes foam as it breaks on the shore
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
The seafoam appears for a moment no more,
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
For a moment it stays as it rides on the waves,
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
but the wave breaks ere long and the sea foam is gone
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind

The sky it continues forever and more (It may seem that this moment is dead)
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind (almost just as soon as it’s begotten.)
It’s breezes will blow o’er ocean and shore (Once its instant of glory is past)
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind (it is gone and soon will be forgotten)
As every breeze blows to the future it goes (But old Time flows along just as the wind blows)
The past and the present and the wind, the wind (and these moments are air in which futures will flow)
And as every breeze rings so the future it brings (so just as long as this old planet keeps spinning)
The past and the present and the wind, the wind (now is both the end and the beginning)
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind (now is both the end and the beginning)

So there is a place at the edge of the land
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
A point where all meet, wind, water, and sand
The earth and the water and the wind, the wind
For a moment its there, a single point where
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
Times here and times done meet times still to come
The past and the present and the wind, the wind
The earth and the water the earth and the water
The earth and the water the future the wind.