In December of 2016, Kurt Gottschalk sent out an invitation to make settings of his poem "Ostriches".
I decided to manipulate the text by rotating the vowels, progressively through the 4 stanzas. In the recording I perform the rotated texts, Kurt's original text is spoken by computer voices. The rotated stanzas are given here; listening to the recording, it is easy to reconstruct the original.
Recorded in Arnhem, March 2017
lyrics
ostriches with rotated vowels
tomi guis by su qaockly on thos lottli huasi et humi
wetchong frum my wonduwsoll o fiil thiri’s lottli hupi
fur thi unis whu wundir whet woll cumi uf brukin hierts
uf thi lest rimeonong fiw whu nivir mient tu herm
enyuni bat fill ontu e huli uf corcamstenci
end on iffurts tu riech uat thiy fond thiy unly steb
luvirs woth e knofi thiy cat un ansaspictong clucks
erms stritchid uat heplissly, gruands fur andirhendid clews.
tumo gaos by sa slawly un thus farost whoro u luvo
whoro u loirn tho vileo af tho prictuco ta boluttlo
tho athor poaplo wha waeld luko ta priy ano list
tumo far ill tho poaplo wha waeld rithor yoll thin liegh,
whoro u cet my pipor dalls ind cirvo thour chircail bods
ind kuss tho ano wha cills ta mo, siys my nimo ind bogs
far in appartenuty ta chingo tho dow ta sloot
bocieso ill ut roilly wints us jest ta ga ta sloop.
kandly my eld, sackly methur modu o shap ef benu
whatunud wath thu wadew’s malk fer bobaus nuvur bern
fer thu enus whe indurnuoth thu premasu ef folsu storts
feind thu lest uxplonotaen ef why tamu nuvur stolls
fer thu enu whe folls ante o rellang ovolonchu,
anfonts whe ruoch eit te birn thuar fangurs en o lomp,
lonturns an o naght se dork thot indutuctud flecks.
ef estrachus hiddlu, foll, thuy floal ond thuy flep.
ontel ina gias sliwly enti tha daap if tha revar
whara et well laurn ti vuloa culcolutad resk.
ull tha ithar istrechas wiold leka ti pruy ina lust
tema fir ull tha temas thay bornt thaer theck tias in u lump,
whan thay let thaer fuvireta dills und bornt thaer churciul hauds
und kessad tha inas whi duydraumad if lauveng ior cild hall
und un ippirtonety ti chunga tha daw ti slaat
bacuosa ull thay raully wunt es jost ti gi ti slaap.
credits
from Ten Chosen Pieces,
released December 4, 2020
Composed by Jaap Blonk, 2017
Text by Kurt Gottschalk
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