E.A. POE: THE TELL-TALE HEART AND OTHER STORIES

The Curiosity Cabinet (est. 2009, conducted by Whitney George) celebrates the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe this Halloween season at the Morgan Library Museum. 

The evening features two striking rescorings of experimental American silent films from 1928—THE TELL-TALE HEART (Charles F. Klein) and THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Melville Webber and J.S. Watson Jr.)—performed live by an instrumental ensemble. The score for THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER highlights the film’s surreal visual landscape, which is achieved through stark color contrasts, intricate layering, optical distortion, and prism-shot footage. Reflecting Poe’s hallmark sense of foreboding, the score emphasizes richly varied timbres, extremes of register, and innovative percussive textures, creating a vivid auditory parallel to the film’s dreamlike imagery.

Complementing these cinematic works, the program also presents an intimate musical setting of Poe’s lesser-known poem, EVENING STAR, and a semi-theatrical presentation of his iconic poem THE RAVEN, featuring chamber ensemble, and narrator. The Curiosity Cabinet’s performances offer immersive experiences that blur the boundaries between spectacle and satire, inviting audiences into a compelling drama of sound, imagery, and gesture, encouraging both attentive listening and active viewing.