In the early beginning of the nineties I
started writing sound poems, but it was not before 2000 I also performed them.
Actually I first performed the sound poetry of others before performing my own
sound poems. Together with Lars-Emil Woetmann & Ole Lillelund I made an
arrangement with sound poems only – in Kulkafén, Copenhagen, and together we
performed Fisches Nachtgesang (from Christian Morgenstern). Then short after I
also got the courage to perform my own sound poems.
The
earliest written poem on rrrr is Emmentaler, which I wrote in 1995 on a journey
through Schweiz – by simply writing down the names on the railway stations we
were passing through.
Before 1999
most of my inspiration came from within my own inner world. But after that time
it has become more usual, that I work with different kind of techniques to
reach the level of inspiration or imagination. And then literature is my
greatest inspiration – and the inspiration from inner and outer nature has come
to play just a smaller role.
The poems
on rrrr is not directly a homage to Kurt Schwitters, though I like his Ursonate
very much. Actually none of the poems on the record is directly inspired by any
of Kurt Schwitters poems. But two poems is inspired by Christian Morgenstern.
One by Velimir Khlebnikov. Two by the Danish poet Johannes Weltzer. Four by the
Danish poet Palle Jessen. And one is inspired by my colleague Lars-Emil Woetmann.
The poem
Molotow f.i. came to my mouth while playing with my children. Cockpit frontale
came to me while I were stuck in the railway in Roskilde, were a suicidal
accident just had happened. And the poem Alberti Lex I made as a cut-up from
the Danish newspaper Information.
The first
part on side A: JEG ÆDER MIT EGET MORDERSIND is written as mixed-cut-ups from
the writing of Gertrude Stein and Olga Ravn.
The part
DORF NE KLASK is homage to the Danish writer Poul Borum, and the poems in the
beginning of this part is made by manipulating some of the poems Borum wrote.
The title DORF NE KLASK is a sentence, he once wrote in a letter to me.
So as you
can see, I have a variation of ways to write sound poems. The whole idea of the
section called DEMOKRATISK ALFABET f.i. is about equality. Here I’ve caught
inspiration from the twelve-tone composers. When using the method under the
rule, that a letter in a row of twelve only happens once, I however have to
difference between consonants and vowels – because there are not twelve vowels
in the Danish alphabet. The vowels is the “soul” of the language, they are the
Dionysian element coming from inside humanity. The consonants is the Apollonian
forming element coming from outside. The consonants are cosmic. So when
Burroughs says “Language is a virus from outer space” he is actually right what
goes for the consonants.
One of the
other ways – is by entering a system I’ve made. It’s about changing the letters
– like when you musically play a tone – and then play the tone a fifth higher.
I put the alphabet like this – the consonants: V-W; R; H; F; T-D; B-P; C-CH;
S-SCH-X-Z; K-G; L; M; N. And the vowels: U-O-A-Ø-E-Y-I-U. Then when I have a
poem, I would like to tune – I take each consonant letter in the poem and
‘play’ them a fifth higher. I now imagine this consonant row as taking actually
place in a fifth circle (kvintcirkel). And I see this circle as an outside
world with the vowels inside – sometimes as a row by its own – and other times
the vowels are under or behind the consonants. U and E behind V; A behind R and
Ch; O behind H, K and N; Ø and Ei behind F; Y behind T and D; I behind B and P;
A behind C and Ch; E behind S, Sch, X and Z; U behind L and M.
Then I do
like the Hebrews – I put vowels in between where they seem missing. And then a
sentence like WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCES WHEN MAKING SOUND POEMS can become:
HADØCH UL
JAFO KOFYCHY SCHÄFALL HODYR WØMURM LAROCH SAYWYL.
Seeing the
vowels uoaøeyiu like a C major scale – I’ve got from my training with eurythmy.
But afterwards I’ve found the method with changing letters already (of course
already) is used in the TALMUD, the holy bible. Many of the sentences (that
actually was sung) is made by changing letters. And in the bible the
prescription is the alphabet above the backward alphabet. Using this method
would make the word MORGUNBLAĐ = KÝHSÉJÞLÖV.
[As you may
mark the letter ‘L’ in the Icelandic language will stay unchanged whole way
through].
When I came
to Denmark four years old, my parents stopped speaking Icelandic to me. In a
month I then learned to speak and so wie so understand Danish. And I more or
less forgot to speak Icelandic. So now my ability to speak Icelandic is like a
four or five year old child. But anyway I have used this in some of my sound
poems.
rrrr Is my
first and until now only record. But I have written some poems, which have been
used by a Danish pop-band called Zenith on the record TORDENSKJOLDS NYE
SOLDATER. The poems were hence just normal lyric.
When I was
asked to make the rrrr-record, the editor of Weltscherz said, he wanted to call
the record ‘R’. But as I remember, there had just been made a Danish film
called ‘R’. And I didn’t want the album to be called so. Then in one
mail I signed just ‘rrrr – som fire pistoler der peger mod gulvet’. So in my mind the album is named
with the under-standing line SOM FIRE PISTOLER DER PEGER MOD GULVET. Which also
is the title of the fourth section on the album. Then, as you see, rrrr is not
directly a handicapped paraphrase on Schwitters rrrrr in Ursonate.
But then
later on I found that there actually is a film called Rrrr – a terrible
slaughter-house-movie about some primitive human beings with grouchy language.
But somehow that reference too fits as well as the Schwitters reference.
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