Paul Sakoilsky reads, 'Elegy for Hermann Nitsch, 1938-2022, in the form of a short letter'
A video, shot in the Chapel of Schloss Prinzendorf, on 16th June 2022, of my 'Elegy for Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022, in the form of a short letter' written 19th April, the sad day I heard of his passing.
Below you'll find Lajos Adamik's Germann Trans, of the elegy. Followed by a few more personal notes....
Paul Sakoilsky
Elegie für Hermann Nitsch (1938 – 2022)
in Form eines kurzen Briefes.
Lieber Hermann, Du absolute Schönheit! (ein Ausdruck der Londoner Umgangssprache, der dir sicher gefallen wird). Du durchquerst jetzt das Land der Schatten, des Lichts und der Dunkelheit, den nächsten Bardo - aber ich weiß, alter Freund, du wirst von deinem Kurs nicht abkommen, denn selbst die minderen Dämonen und die Engel werden dich dort freundlich empfangen, wie könnte das anders sein.
Ich sitze hier, trinke Whiskey, sehe dein Foto mit Tränen in den Augen an.
Man sagt, jede Elegie trauert auch um das Leben ihres Autors, und das ist zweifellos wahr, aber hier trauere ich um dich und feiere dich in deiner schönen, schrecklichen, abwesenden Gegenwart.
Alter Mann, alter Lehrer, alter Freund, alter Meister, jung wie eh und je.
Das Funkeln in deinen Augen, wenn du lachtest. Ich grüße dich und erhebe noch einmal mein Glas - auf dich, mein lieber Freund, wird es für immer erhoben sein. Bis in alle Ewigkeit.
In Liebe und Dankbarkeit
Paul Sakoilsky
Fremont Street, London,
19. April 2022
German Translation from the English Original by Lajos Adamik
it was strange, after leaving the Nitsch Museum, with just RIta Nitsch and I returning to the Palace. [In fact the great experimental Austrian filmaker and experimental/experiential cook, Peter Kubelka was also there, but didn't see him, and on;y briefly, till the following day. So, no large wonderful drunken gathering this time at a local Heurigen - where I have been known to end up standing on a table reciting Li PO's ancient Chinese drinking poems in English! etc.. No late night early morning drinks and philosophical chats with Nitsch, interspersed with 'Glocken!' The ringing of the glasses in intermittent cheers. It was also the anniversary of my dear Father's death/murder (17th June 1973) which is always a strange time for me - on the 17th my elder brother Mark and I have had this habit going back years of always speaking .... But, it was all still, totally necessary, this trip - and it made me think of how I wish, if only I could always listen to my better angels and act accordingly ...
I greatly look forward to returning on the 22nd of July to help realise the first '2-days ' of the '6-tages spiel' - Nitsch's immense gesamtkunstwerk, the first full version of which, took forty years to realise (1998). My (adult) 'children' are accompanying me and coming to take part in the aktion for the first time - which is a kind of wonderful thing, and something I said would happen, to Nitsch's pleasure the last time I saw him at Pfinsgfest in 2019. An incredible artist and human(e) being, he will be terribly missed, but it just seems so important that we make the aktion for Nitsch, as also for ourselves, to live intensely and celebrate at the very basis of Be-ing with what, over the decades have become my OMT family. ....
One love ..... PS