Edgar Alan Poe achieved fame in France before he did in America. He influenced Jules Verne and several composers wrote music on his stories. Claude Debussy started an opera on The Fall Of The House Of Usher but died before completing it. Debussy's assistant André Caplet wrote this about one of Poe's creepiest stories. The 1964 film with Vincent Price scared the bejeebus out of me when I was a kid.
But today is about Caplet, not Price. Caplet was a musical prodigy and beat Maurice Ravel for the 1901 Prix de Rome. Debussy hired him and they collaborated successfully for a decade - even four years when Caplet was conductor for the Boston Opera. He returned to France in 1914 when the War broke out and enlisted in the Army. He was gassed in the trenches and while he survived it wrecked his health. He was only 46 when died in 1925.
He was a prolific composer and you can only imagine what he might have produced had the War not devoured him. You can say that about lots from his generation. Today's work is fittingly creepy for the story and the Halloween season.
Thanks for introducing yet another composer to the long list of "I must listen to more and get some."
ReplyDeleteFor a 'rock' version of EAP, check out Alan Parson Project's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination."
"The Cask of Amontillado" is especially creepy once you listen to the words as the music is very pretty.
Appropriately creepy music -- perhaps playing in the background as you greet trick or treaters?
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