The Wimshurst's Machine: Music

• MP3 short clip, hi-fi play (broadband)
• MP3 short clip, lo-fi play (modem)

This is the 2nd chapter of our suite "The Alchemist", destinated to our new album. Ambient music, a tip of experimentation, some dissonances and electro-acoustics are ideally melting together to underline the story's flow.
The story will be published in the inlay card of the CD (if I can make a good translation in time) and maybe also published here in the "Lyrics" section of each of the songs of the suite.

THE ALCHEMIST
modern suite in 8 parts
1-Intro: the call of adventure
2-Philosopher's stone
3-Intermezzo: captured
4-Prisoner
5-Meditations
6-Intermezzo: the torture machine
7-Torquemada
8-The Escape (Finale)


THE ALCHEMIST
original story by Duilio Chiarle
translation by Fabrizio B. Maracich
(Italiano in coda all'inglese)

II) – THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE
VITRIOLUM, the alchemist motto: “Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicina”.
That means “visit the greatest depths of the Earth, look at yourself to know intimately the true nature of the human being, closing ourselves in the secret laboratory of our soul, within our Philosophic Egg hermetically shut, rectifying, distilling, separating the thin from the thick, to find out the hidden stone that encompass the true medicine”.
It has been said that very few reached that result: the Philosopher’s Stone… The mysterious product that according to the legend was able to transmute every metal into gold, able to posses all the colors, to render the owner invisible, to cure illnesses, to extend the life beyond the natural limits, able to confer the absolute knowledge. Able to bring humans closer to God…
Someone says that the Philosopher’s Stone is a extremely rare and precious stone, practically impossible to find. Others says that is a very common stone. You can find it everywhere, even among the stones that we usually step on while walking. Another legend says that only the youngest children have the gift to find the stone in this lucky way, but this is a different story.
The alchemist was aware of the work of Albertus Magnus, Raimundus Lullo and other famous scientists and theologians. He spent years looking for the philosopher’s stone. The Stone. He was not looking after immortality or gold, actually. Nor he was looking for power. He was looking for knowledge and for God. During the experiments, while chemicals were boiling, while his instruments were working, he prayed, he studied, he concentrate to solve overwhelming problems, and prayed again and again.
One day he was able to sum all his knowledge, the extreme limit of his research. From the still smoking cradle something that should be compared with the philosopher’s stone finally emerged: but its powers were unknown. Certainly it was unable to transmute other metals into gold. “Some catalytic procedure is still missing” he thought, “doesn’t matter”. He took the stone from the cradle and asked God to forgive his excessive confidence.
He prayed for a very long time.
He prayed in a state of full concentration, almost in trance, for such a long time that the stone, once hot like melting metal was now ice cold. He was absolutely not aware of what was happening just around the corner, very close to his home.
His studies had taken so much time that he didn’t notice the changes, nor was he aware of the inquisition. Or he was not interested at all. He spent so may years closed in his home that some rumors about activity spread through the city. They spoke about strange rituals, fire idols and wizardry, mysterious noises and lights. The soldiers, working for the inquisition, were on his traces. When he heard all the excited voices coming from the adjacent square he knew instantly that they were there to arrest him.


II) - LA PIETRA FILOSOFALE
VITRIOLUM, era il motto dell’alchimista: “Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicina”. Cioè, “visita le viscere dela terra, calati in te stesso per conoscere ed approfondire la vera natura umana, rinchiusi nel segreto laboratorio della nostra anima, nel nostro Uovo Filosofico ermeticamente chiuso, rettificando, distillando, separando il sottile dallo spesso, per trovare la Pietra nascosta che racchiude la vera medicina.” Si dice che pochissimi abbiamo raggiunto questo risultato: la Pietra Filosofale... Il misterioso prodotto che secondo la leggenda poteva trasmutare i metalli in oro, possedere in se tutti i colori, concedere l’invisibilità, curare tutte le malattie, prolungare la vita oltre i limiti naturali, che dava somma conoscenza della natura umana, che avvicinava a Dio... Dicono alcuni che la "Pietra Filosofale" sia una pietra rarissima e preziosa, praticamente introvabile. Dicono altri invece che si tratti di una pietra assai comune, che è possibile reperire ovunque persino tra le pietre in strada che calpestiamo sovrappensiero. Si dice che soltanto i bambini più piccoli abbiano il dono di trovarla così, ma questa è un’altra storia.
L’alchimista conosceva l’opera di Alberto Magno, di Raimondo Lullo, di tanti illustri uomini di scienza e teologi. Egli lavorava da anni alla ricerca della pietra filosofale. La pietra. Egli non cercava l’immortalità. Non cercava di trasmutare il ferro in oro. Non cercava potere. Egli cercava soltanto la conoscenza e Dio. E mentre conduceva i suoi esperimenti, mentre il crogiolo ribolliva, mentre le sue ampolle trasformavano, egli pregava e si concentrava e studiava e poi pregava ancora...
Quando un giorno giunse alla somma estrema delle proprie conoscenza, dal crogiolo uscì qualcosa che poteva essere una pietra filosofale: ma pareva non avere alcuna proprietà. Certo non trasmutava il ferro in oro. “Pazienza” pensò l’alchimista “evidentemente manca ancora qualche procedimento catalizzatore”. Estrasse la pietra dal crogiolo e pregò Dio per farsi perdonare della sua eccessiva presunzione.
Pregò a lungo.
Pregò come in estasi sino a che il composto rovente non fu freddo come il ghiaccio e così non si avvide di ciò che stava accadendo a due passi dalla sua casa.
Tanto a lungo era durata la sua opera, che egli non aveva saputo dell’inquisizione. O forse non gli era importato nulla. Era rimasto in casa tanto a lungo che la gente aveva preso a mormorare di strani riti e si diceva che adorasse strani idoli che ribollivano al fuoco e qualcuno diceva che compiva stregonerie misteriose... Tento si era concentrato sulla sua opera che i soldati dell’inquisizione si misero sulle sue tracce. Quando udì il frastuono sulla piazza, l’alchimista capì che qualcuno stava venendo a prenderlo.