MELTING OUT THE METAL

Sonate in fünf Sätzen für Elektroscheit und Sinustöne
Mai/Juni 2024, im Rahmen eines Arbeitsstipendiums des bmkös.

audio: Klaus Haidl
video: Jan Chmel

Der Titel ist dem untenstehenden Gedicht von Alexander Curtis entnommen.


 The Language of the Crucible

As a sculptor I believe

that in truth, the stones and ores

which we find beneath the ground

are not raw materials

of no significance with

no message contained for us

but token and betoken

and whilst worthy of wonder

would also command respect.

Generated in fate’s mill

these ores now point silently

unto that awesome drama

that was this earth’s beginning.

In a crucible, melting

out the metal from nuggets

extracted below the ground

leads this process one stage on.

The slag and dross that thereby

result are not mere products

of waste without import

but in truth are really words

words of a language spoken

by things in times now long gone.

We would understand this tongue

if we were only able

to read the signs and symbols

with which these words are written.

Is it not time then, for us

to try and decipher them?