The Curiosity Cabinet (est. 2009, conducted by Whitney George) celebrates the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe this Halloween season at the Morgan Library Museum.
Program Includes:
THE TELL TALE HEART | 1928 silent film with live score
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER | 1928 silent film with live score
QUOTH THE RAVEN | for narrator & chamber ensemble
EVENING STAR | for tenor & piano
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.
ENSEMBLE:
Alice Jones | flute
Karen Birch Blundell | oboe & eng horn
Mara Mayer | clarinet
Adam von Housen | violin
Mark Serkin | cello
Christie Echols | double bass
Chris Graham | percussion
Tamika Gorski | percussion
Julian Chobot | electric guitar
Izzy O'Connell | piano
Shane Brown | tenor
Alivia Quattrocki | narrator
Whitney George | conductor
Eliza Ivanova | original art