Wednesday 13 March 2013

Rehearsal (Ein Deutsches Requiem)

  Blue slatted   green    blue-green    eking

all tucked in        see through pieces

Imagine the trees outside
by looking at them

     "...die Blumen abgefallen."

        ageing
        new
        pages
        turning
        noise

  Years ago, the tenors held
     hairpins gaping

           grass flesh
               blades in lungs
             long breaths

     "Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt."

God being
here in place
with burning copper chest

Mary and fat book baby
with groaned open wood
A glass box    tidied up

   heaped    dull    clay    stone    shapes

slipped off fingers    altaring

Unlit flowers are candles
Put hands together
Close eyes child tight

     grey flaky biscuit stations
             a stick engraver

        Simon with a hair hat

        Veronica printing

        He's fallen and then fallen
        and falling again






The choir in which I sing tenor meets in the Chapel of Newman University for rehearsals.

You can find a translation from the German here.

7 comments:

  1. I was hoping to find some images of the chapel interior but none such luck. The German phrases are from the German Requiem and have been running through my head for the last few weeks.

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  2. I found myself guided by angelic voices while following the trail of tasty crumbs to the grey flaky biscuit station, where I believe I achieved something as near to a state of grace as a nonbeliever can.

    "altaring" a useful neologism. To altar, to elevate unto a blessed station, one stacked high with those tasty grey flaky biscuits. A pleasant thought indeed.

    Lord, begged the bald man, let my Requiem be sung in a hair hat!

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  3. (Also appreciate the image of the Divinity's invigorating presence -- a very historically conscious Brum deity this, as if just escaped from the dark depths of the Works, boilerplate lungs aflame with spiritual luminosity -- "here in place", as where on earth else would be quite so likely?)

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  4. Thank you, TC.

    With the hair departing from the top of the bonce, a hair hatted Requiem will be wanted here too.

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  5. beautiful...!

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  6. Thank you very much, Sandra. Always good to hear from you.

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