L'albero è radicato nel cielo

Simone Weil,,
The person and the sacred

“It is only from the light which streams constantly from heaven that a tree can derive the energy to strike its roots deep into the soil. The tree is in fact rooted in the sky.”

Alexander Pushkin,
Ruslan and Ludmila

“By the seashore stands a green oak;
A chain of gold is on that oak:
And day and night a learned cat
Walks round and round upon that chain.
When going right he sings a song,
When going left he tells a tale.
There wonders are: leshij
Is roaming there; a mermaid sits
Upon the branches of the oak;
There on unknown and hidden paths
Are tracks of beasts unseen before.”

Anna Ganzha,
Quasi

§ 1
Those fruits of musical improvisation are heard best when they are played on good instruments. Yet we would not call good an instrument whose sound drowns out that of others, or one that is too quiet; we call that instrument good which was made by a skilled master and produces a clear sound. But what are we to do in the case of an instrument that sounds clear, is made by a master, yet does not find the musician to draw beautiful sounds from it?

§ 2
And what would we say about the sounds of an instrument to which no one has yet given any worthy name, though it was made by a master? Are there not many such places on earth in which things exist, though they are not yet called by any names? And what would then be the case if we were to gather some of them in a single place? If the instrument were made of wood rooted in the skies, if on each of its branches God’s creatures sang and bows and keys were hidden?

§ 3
Which music is better: that which emanates from the centre to the outskirts, or that which flows from the outskirts inward? What voice calls out more strongly: that which abides, or that which comes from afar? We shall call upon the composers and say to them: what have you composed? And to the singers of the plains and the ploughs: what is the sound of emptiness? Then to the musicians: from where does rhythm come? And to the artists we will say: let them all come! Then we will say: hush, hush! And then we will say: why have you gone silent? Do you think anyone will hear you like that?

§ 4
Those thoughts and deeds formed in quiet enter most easily into eternity. That quiet sounds loudest which is formed in silence. That silence is most articulate which expresses presence. That presence reveals itself through being and takes shape as a musical situation: this is what has come about. Listen, then, to what has come about, and you will hear light through the branches of a tree, and you will see the hum of a crowd flowing together.

§ 5
That place is most even which spreads itself out under the sun or snow; that sound carries most evenly which sounds in open space. That land is bleakest whose core seethes with plasma; those songs are sadder which no longer remember what their song is about. The sadness that never ends shall pass; the song that does not sound to its end will be taken up. The song that did not carry will be heard; the word of the song will sprout leaves whose mouths are barely heard.