Four Vignettes of Lovecraftian Horror for Bassoon and Piano
Commissioned by Erin Gehlbach. Premiered on March 19th, 2023.
Performed by Erin Gehlbach at the International Double Reeds Society Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona. July 24th, 2024
Program Notes
H.P. Lovecraft was an American writer who revolutionized the horror genre. Full of dark cults, ancient deities, and otherworldly phenomena, his stories conjure images of helplessness and despair which has since been termed as the “Cosmic Horror” or “Lovecraftian Horror” genres.
Rather than focusing on specific stories, each of these four Vignettes focuses on a single scene featuring one of Lovecraft’s beings:
I: This Vignette depicts an accidental recitation of a spell, awakening this deity, followed by a scene of insurmountable horror. This Vignette comes from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
II: This Vignette depicts a scene in which anthropologist Francis Wayland Thurston and his team are encountering an island city with “non-Euclidean” geometry and are struggling to comprehend it. Rather than featuring the deity himself, this Vignette takes place just before the appearance of Cthulhu. This Vignette comes from The Call of Cthulhu.
III: This Vignette depicts the deity Nyarlathotep as he takes over a town and its inhabitants using a sort of hypnosis to drive them to their demise. The narrator is then haunted with visions of an ancient, dying universe ruled by mindless gods. This Vignette comes from the short story “Nyarlathotep.”
IV: This Vignette depicts the “daemon sultan,” Azothoth, as he lies dormant in chamber beyond time and space. This Vignette comes from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Commissioned by Erin Gehlbach. Premiered on March 19th, 2023.
Performed by Erin Gehlbach at the International Double Reeds Society Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona. July 24th, 2024
Program Notes
H.P. Lovecraft was an American writer who revolutionized the horror genre. Full of dark cults, ancient deities, and otherworldly phenomena, his stories conjure images of helplessness and despair which has since been termed as the “Cosmic Horror” or “Lovecraftian Horror” genres.
Rather than focusing on specific stories, each of these four Vignettes focuses on a single scene featuring one of Lovecraft’s beings:
I: This Vignette depicts an accidental recitation of a spell, awakening this deity, followed by a scene of insurmountable horror. This Vignette comes from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
II: This Vignette depicts a scene in which anthropologist Francis Wayland Thurston and his team are encountering an island city with “non-Euclidean” geometry and are struggling to comprehend it. Rather than featuring the deity himself, this Vignette takes place just before the appearance of Cthulhu. This Vignette comes from The Call of Cthulhu.
III: This Vignette depicts the deity Nyarlathotep as he takes over a town and its inhabitants using a sort of hypnosis to drive them to their demise. The narrator is then haunted with visions of an ancient, dying universe ruled by mindless gods. This Vignette comes from the short story “Nyarlathotep.”
IV: This Vignette depicts the “daemon sultan,” Azothoth, as he lies dormant in chamber beyond time and space. This Vignette comes from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Commissioned by Erin Gehlbach. Premiered on March 19th, 2023.
Performed by Erin Gehlbach at the International Double Reeds Society Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona. July 24th, 2024
Program Notes
H.P. Lovecraft was an American writer who revolutionized the horror genre. Full of dark cults, ancient deities, and otherworldly phenomena, his stories conjure images of helplessness and despair which has since been termed as the “Cosmic Horror” or “Lovecraftian Horror” genres.
Rather than focusing on specific stories, each of these four Vignettes focuses on a single scene featuring one of Lovecraft’s beings:
I: This Vignette depicts an accidental recitation of a spell, awakening this deity, followed by a scene of insurmountable horror. This Vignette comes from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
II: This Vignette depicts a scene in which anthropologist Francis Wayland Thurston and his team are encountering an island city with “non-Euclidean” geometry and are struggling to comprehend it. Rather than featuring the deity himself, this Vignette takes place just before the appearance of Cthulhu. This Vignette comes from The Call of Cthulhu.
III: This Vignette depicts the deity Nyarlathotep as he takes over a town and its inhabitants using a sort of hypnosis to drive them to their demise. The narrator is then haunted with visions of an ancient, dying universe ruled by mindless gods. This Vignette comes from the short story “Nyarlathotep.”
IV: This Vignette depicts the “daemon sultan,” Azothoth, as he lies dormant in chamber beyond time and space. This Vignette comes from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.