Orichalk (2004)

The Greek philosopher Plato (427-348) mentions in the dialogues Timaeus and the unfinished Critias the lost Atlantis. According to Plato, the legend of this mighty kingdom has been passed down for generations and was told to the Athenian political philosopher and lawmaker Solon (ca. 640-ca. 560) by an Egyptian priest. During a visit to the city of Sais, the priest deciphers for Solon a papyrus scroll about ancient times. According to the story, Atlantis was said to have been destroyed 9000 years before Plato's time.

The legendary kingdom was an island "outside the Pillars of Hercules [Gibraltar]" as Plato described it. In this rich and fertile land, there were also quarries and mining: they extracted, among other things, "what we now only know by name, Orichalcum - back then Orichalcum was more than a name: it was mined in many places on the island and was then the most valuable metal next to gold." This metal (Orichalcum, lit. 'mountain copper') was used, among other things, to adorn the royal palace and temple. Not only was the inner ring wall clad in Orichalcum, "which gleamed like fire," but also figures and the interior of the temple - walls, columns, and floors - were covered with Orichalcum.

By naming a musical composition after this mysterious, legendary metal, I wish to evoke the notion of something mythologically sublime, something powerful and awe-inspiring: one is both attracted to and recoils from its splendor.

At the same time, more concrete associations are at play: the sound, the blending of many sound components, is conceived as a metaphor for the 'golden-shining' metal, an alloy of many ores - indeed, can one even imagine the sound of this fantastic metal, a bell of Orichalcum, for example? And the movement of music can be a metaphor for the states of the metal: it heats up, transitions from solid to liquid form. Also, the mysterious connection of Orichalcum to special energy states can be reinterpreted in music.

The work is dedicated to Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.

Niels Rosing-Schow