Imagination

One star exists, higher than all the rest.
This is the apocalyptic star.
The second star is that of the ascendant.
The third star is that of the elements,
Of which there are four;
So that six stars are established.
Besides these there is still another star,
Imagination,
Which gives
birth to new stars,
And a new heaven.

From the mystic astronomical writings of the alchemist Paracelsus (1493–1541). These words preface the score of Arcana by Edgar Varèse, who is seen above. Read about the connection between another of Varèse's works and the atomic bomb here.

See a video of Ionisation performed by Pierre Boulez and L'Ensemble Contemporain here. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk