The Haunted Palace
for soprano and piano
I have always been impressed with the writings of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), and how his poetry seems to lend itself so well to music. The Haunted Palace is a poem that has a very distinct atmosphere, and I have tried to capture that atmosphere in this composition. The piece begins with relatively tonal, joyful, and warm harmonies and melodies, and then suddenly becomes dark and far less tonal towards the end of the work when the text changes to "but evil things, in robes of sorrow, assailed the monarch's high estate." The Haunted Palace is dedicated to my daughter Kelsey Plog.