Then to the elements

At the end of Shakespeare’s Tempest, Prospero dismisses Ariel, the spirit of the air, with the words “Then to the Elements, Be free, and fare thou well.” He, his daughter Miranda, and the stranded people now leave the lonely island far from any civilization to return to Italy to their principalities.

Ariel’s power over the elements was at Prospero’s disposal, he caused the storm that enabled Prospero to subject the princes from Prospero’s homeland to the game, Prospero was stagging on the island. The end of the play is also the end of this game, the spell under which the stranded were, is solved and with Ariel’s dismissal Prospero renounces the almost unrestricted power over the elements gained through Ariel’s services.

But in this sentence lies also a great turning point: in Prospero’s words also include a request to Ariel that he may faithfully use his powers for the crossing - and perhaps beyond - in Prospero’s favor, no longer as a duty of service, but as a gift.

Live Recording of the

First Performance 2024 at the Grassi Museum in Leipzig

Ensemble Mosaik (Berlin), Enno Poppe (cond.)

forma Leipzig e.V.