The Tell-Tale Heart

Listen to the work here!
 
The Tell-Tale Heart is a solo work for multiple percussion and narrator, accompanying the 1843 poem of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. The text has been edited here by Trevor Landreth. In the poem, the narrator relays to the audience a story of anguish and torment. Haunted by the “evil eye” of a man who he watches sleep for seven days, the narrator decides on the eighth day, consumed by madness, to take the old man’s life. His guilt over his actions builds until he is overwhelmed by the sound of his victim’s beating heart.
 
This poem has been realized here through the medium of solo multi-percussion using a variety of instruments, creating a bridge between traditional (yet largely unmetered) percussion music and foley, the art of mimicking real-world sounds, an essential component to soundtracks of movies and television shows. Along with sound effects planted throughout the audience, the work captures the intensity and growing unease of Poe’s protagonist, until the music and text crescendo to a fittingly disturbing climax. This work was commissioned by Trevor Landreth for his DMA recital “Eclectic” at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.