H. P. Lovecraft - The Music of Erich Zann

8/6/2019 H. P. Lovecraft - The Music of Erich Zann

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The Music of Erich Zann

Howard P. Lovecraft

(1922)



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have examined maps of the city with the greatest

care, yet have never again found the ue d!"usei#.

$hese maps have not %een modern maps a#one,

for & 'now that names change. & have, on the

contrary, de#ved deep#y into a## the antiuities of the p#ace,

and have persona##y exp#ored every region, of whatever name,

which cou#d possi%#y answer to the street & 'new as the ue

d!"usei#. ut despite a## & have done, it remains an

humi#iating fact that & cannot find the house, the street, or

even the #oca#ity, where, during the #ast months of my

impoverished #ife as a student of metaphysics at the

university, & heard the music of *rich +ann. $hat my memory is %ro'en, & do not wonder for my hea#th,

physica# and menta#, was grave#y distur%ed throughout the

period of my residence in the ue d!"usei#, and & reca## that &

too' none of my few acuaintances there. ut that & cannot

find the p#ace again is %oth singu#ar and perp#exing for it was

within a ha#f-hour!s wa#' of the university and was

distinguished %y pecu#iarities which cou#d hard#y %e forgotten

%y any one who had %een there. & have never met a person

who has seen the ue d!"usei#.

$he ue d!"usei# #ay across a dar' river %ordered %y

precipitous %ric' %#ear-windowed warehouses and spanned

%y a ponderous %ridge of dar' stone. &t was a#ways shadowy

a#ong that river, as if the smo'e of neigh%oring factories shut

out the sun perpetua##y. $he river was a#so odorous with evi#

stenches which & have never sme##ed e#sewhere, and which

may some day he#p me to find it, since & shou#d recognie

them at once. eyond the %ridge were narrow co%%#ed streets

with rai#s and then came the ascent, at first gradua#, %ut

incredi%#y steep as the ue d!"usei# was reached.

& have never seen another street as narrow and steep as the

ue d!"usei#. &t was a#most a c#iff, c#osed to a## vehic#es,





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nowing #itt#e of the art myse#f, & was yet certain that none of

his harmonies had any re#ation to music & had heard %efore

and conc#uded that he was a composer of high#y origina#

genius. $he #onger & #istened, the more & was fascinated, unti#

after a wee' & reso#ved to ma'e the o#d man!s acuaintance.

/ne night as he was returning from his wor', & intercepted

+ann in the ha##way and to#d him that & wou#d #i'e to 'now

him and %e with him when he p#ayed. He was a sma##, #ean,

%ent person, with sha%%y c#othes, %#ue eyes, grotesue,

satyr#i'e face, and near#y %a#d head and at my first words

seemed %oth angered and frightened. 0y o%vious

friend#iness, however, fina##y me#ted him and he grudging#y

motioned to me to fo##ow him up the dar', crea'ing and

ric'ety attic stairs. His room, one of on#y two in the steep#y

pitched garret, was on the west side, toward the high wa## that

formed the upper end of the street. &ts sie was very great, and

seemed the greater %ecause of its extraordinary %arrenness

and neg#ect. /f furniture there was on#y a narrow iron

%edstead, a dingy wash-stand, a sma## ta%#e, a #arge %oo'case,

an iron music-rac', and three o#d-fashioned chairs. 3heets of

music were pi#ed in disorder a%out the f#oor. $he wa##s were

of %are %oards, and had pro%a%#y never 'nown p#aster whi#st

the a%undance of dust and co%we%s made the p#ace seem

more deserted than inha%ited. *vident#y *rich +ann!s wor#d

of %eauty #ay in some far cosmos of the imagination.

0otioning me to sit down, the dum% man c#osed the door,

turned the #arge wooden %o#t, and #ighted a cand#e to augment

the one he had %rought with him. He now removed his vio#

from its motheaten covering, and ta'ing it, seated himse#f in

the #east uncomforta%#e of the chairs. He did not emp#oy the

music-rac', %ut, offering no choice and p#aying from memory,

enchanted me for over an hour with strains & had never heard

%efore strains which must have %een of his own devising. $o



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descri%e their exact nature is impossi%#e for one unversed in

music. $hey were a 'ind of fugue, with recurrent passages of

the most captivating ua#ity, %ut to me were nota%#e for the

a%sence of any of the weird notes & had overheard from my

room %e#ow on other occasions.

$hose haunting notes & had remem%ered, and had often

hummed and whist#ed inaccurate#y to myse#f, so when the

p#ayer at #ength #aid down his %ow & as'ed him if he wou#d

render some of them. "s & %egan my reuest the wrin'#ed

satyr#i'e face #ost the %ored p#acidity it had possessed during

the p#aying, and seemed to show the same curious mixture of

anger and fright which & had noticed when first & accosted the

o#d man. 4or a moment & was inc#ined to use persuasion,

regarding rather #ight#y the whims of seni#ity and even tried

to awa'en my host!s weirder mood %y whist#ing a few of the

strains to which & had #istened the night %efore. ut & did not

pursue this course for more than a moment for when the

dum% musician recognied the whist#ed air his face grew

sudden#y distorted with an expression who##y %eyond

ana#ysis, and his #ong, co#d, %ony right hand reached out to

stop my mouth and si#ence the crude imitation. "s he did this

he further demonstrated his eccentricity %y casting a start#ed

g#ance toward the #one curtained window, as if fearfu# of some

intruder5a g#ance dou%#y a%surd, since the garret stood high

and inaccessi%#e a%ove a## the ad6acent roofs, this window

%eing the on#y point on the steep street, as the concierge had

to#d me, from which one cou#d see over the wa## at the

summit.

$he o#d man!s g#ance %rought #andot!s remar' to my

mind, and with a certain capriciousness & fe#t a wish to #oo'

out over the wide and diying panorama of moon#it roofs and

city #ights %eyond the hi##top, which of a## the dwe##ers in the

ue d!"usei# on#y this cra%%ed musician cou#d see. & moved



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toward the window and wou#d have drawn aside the

nondescript curtains, when with a frightened rage even

greater than %efore, the dum% #odger was upon me again this

time motioning with his head toward the door as he nervous#y

strove to drag me thither with %oth hands. 7ow thorough#y

disgusted with my host, & ordered him to re#ease me, and to#d

him & wou#d go at once. His c#utch re#axed, and as he saw my

disgust and offense, his own anger seemed to su%side. He

tightened his re#axing grip, %ut this time in a friend#y manner,

forcing me into a chair then with an appearance of

wistfu#ness crossing to the #ittered ta%#e, where he wrote

many words with a penci#, in the #a%ored 4rench of a

foreigner.

$he note which he fina##y handed me was an appea# for

to#erance and forgiveness. +ann said that he was o#d, #one#y,

and aff#icted with strange fears and nervous disorders

connected with his music and with other things. He had

en6oyed my #istening to his music, and wished & wou#d come

again and not mind his eccentricities. ut he cou#d not p#ay to

another his weird harmonies, and cou#d not %ear hearing

them from another nor cou#d he %ear having anything in his

room touched %y an-other. He had not 'nown unti# our

ha##way conversation that & cou#d overhear his p#aying in my

room, and now as'ed me if & wou#d arrange with #andot to

ta'e a #ower room where & cou#d not hear him in the night. He

wou#d, he wrote, defray the difference in rent.

"s & sat deciphering the execra%#e 4rench, & fe#t more

#enient toward the o#d man. He was a victim of physica# and

nervous suffering, as was & and my metaphysica# studies had

taught me 'indness. &n the si#ence there came a s#ight sound

from the window5the shutter must have ratt#ed in the night

wind, and for some reason & started a#most as vio#ent#y as did

*rich +ann. 3o when & had finished reading, & shoo' my host



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%y the hand, and departed as a friend.

$he next day #andot gave me a more expensive room on

the third f#oor, %etween the apartments of an aged money-

#ender and the room of a respecta%#e upho#sterer. $here was

no one on the fourth f#oor.

&t was not #ong %efore & found that +ann!s eagerness for my

company was not as great as it had seemed whi#e he was

persuading me to move down from the fifth story. He did not

as' me to ca## on him, and when & did ca## he appeared uneasy

and p#ayed #ist#ess#y. $his was a#ways at night5in the day he

s#ept and wou#d admit no one. 0y #i'ing for him did not grow,

though the attic room and the weird music seemed to ho#d an

odd fascination for me. & had a curious desire to #oo' out of

that window, over the wa## and down the unseen s#ope at the

g#ittering roofs and spires which must #ie outspread there.

/nce & went up to the garret during theater hours, when +ann

was away, %ut the door was #oc'ed.

8hat & did succeed in doing was to overhear the nocturna#

p#aying of the dum% o#d man. "t first & wou#d tip-toe up to my

o#d fifth f#oor, then & grew %o#d enough to c#im% the #ast

crea'ing staircase to the pea'ed garret. $here in the narrow

ha##, outside the %o#ted door with the covered 'eyho#e, & often

heard sounds which fi##ed me with an indefina%#e dread5the

dread of vague wonder and %rooding mystery. &t was not that

the sounds were hideous, for they were not %ut that they he#d

vi%rations suggesting nothing on this g#o%e of earth, and that

at certain interva#s they assumed a symphonic ua#ity which &

cou#d hard#y conceive as produced %y one p#ayer. ertain#y,

*rich +ann was a genius of wi#d power. "s the wee's passed,

the p#aying grew wi#der, whi#st the o#d musician acuired an

increasing haggardness and furtiveness pitifu# to %eho#d. He

now refused to admit me at any time, and shunned me

whenever we met on the stairs.



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$hen one night as & #istened at the door, & heard the

shrie'ing vio# swe## into a chaotic %a%e# of sound a

pandemonium which wou#d have #ed me to dou%t my own

sha'ing sanity had there not come from %ehind that %arred

porta# a piteous proof that the horror was rea#5the awfu#,

inarticu#ate cry which on#y a mute can utter, and which rises

on#y in moments of the most terri%#e fear or anguish. &

'noc'ed repeated#y at the door, %ut received no response.

"fterward & waited in the %#ac' ha##way, shivering with co#d

and fear, ti## & heard the poor musician!s fee%#e effort to rise

from the f#oor %y the aid of a chair. e#ieving him 6ust

conscious after a fainting fit, & renewed my rapping, at the

same time ca##ing out my name reassuring#y. & heard +ann

stum%#e to the window and c#ose %oth shutter and sash, then

stum%#e to the door, which he fa#tering#y unfastened to admit

me. $his time his de#ight at having me present was rea# for

his distorted face g#eamed with re#ief whi#e he c#utched at my

coat as a chi#d c#utches at its mother!s s'irts.

3ha'ing pathetica##y, the o#d man forced me into a chair

whi#st he san' into another, %eside which his vio# and %ow #ay

care#ess#y on the f#oor. He sat for some time inactive, nodding

odd#y, %ut having a paradoxica# suggestion of intense and

frightened #istening. 3u%seuent#y he seemed to %e satisfied,

and crossing to a chair %y the ta%#e wrote a %rief note, handed

it to me, and returned to the ta%#e, where he %egan to write

rapid#y and incessant#y. $he note imp#ored me in the name of

mercy, and for the sa'e of my own curiosity, to wait where &

was whi#e he prepared a fu## account in erman of a## the

marve#s and terrors which %eset him. & waited, and the dum%

man!s penci# f#ew.

&t was perhaps an hour #ater, whi#e & sti## waited and whi#e

the o#d musician!s feverish#y written sheets sti## continued to

pi#e up, that & saw +ann start as from the hint of a horri%#e



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shoc'. :nmista'a%#y he was #oo'ing at the curtained window

and #istening shuddering#y. $hen & ha#f fancied & heard a

sound myse#f though it was not a horri%#e sound, %ut rather

an exuisite#y #ow and infinite#y distant musica# note,

suggesting a p#ayer in one of the neigh%oring houses, or in

some a%ode %eyond the #ofty wa## over which & had never %een

a%#e to #oo'. :pon +ann the effect was terri%#e, for, dropping

his penci#, sudden#y he rose, seied his vio#, and commenced

to rend the night with the wi#dest p#aying & had ever heard

from his %ow save when #istening at the %arred door.

&t wou#d %e use#ess to descri%e the p#aying of *rich +ann on

that dreadfu# night. &t was more horri%#e than anything & had

ever overheard, %ecause & cou#d now see the expression of his

face, and cou#d rea#ie that this time the motive was star'

fear. He was trying to ma'e a noise to ward something off or

drown something out5what, & cou#d not imagine, awesome

though & fe#t it must %e. $he p#aying grew fantastic, de#irious,

and hysterica#, yet 'ept to the #ast the ua#ities of supreme

genius which & 'new this strange o#d man possessed. &

recognied the air5it was a wi#d Hungarian dance popu#ar in

the theaters, and & ref#ected for a moment that this was the

first time & had ever heard +ann p#ay the wor' of another

composer.

Louder and #ouder, wi#der and wi#der, mounted the

shrie'ing and whining of that desperate vio#. $he p#ayer was

dripping with an uncanny perspiration and twisted #i'e a

mon'ey, a#ways #oo'ing frantica##y at the curtained window.

&n his frenied strains & cou#d a#most see shadowy satyrs and

%acchana#s dancing and whir#ing insane#y through seething

a%ysses of c#ouds and smo'e and #ightning. "nd then &

thought & heard a shri##er, steadier note that was not from the

vio# a ca#m, de#i%erate, purposefu#, moc'ing note from far

away in the 8est.



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"t this 6uncture the shutter %egan to ratt#e in a how#ing

night wind which had sprung up outside as if in answer to the

mad p#aying within. +ann!s screaming vio# now outdid itse#f

emitting sounds & had never thought a vio# cou#d emit. $he

shutter ratt#ed more #oud#y, unfastened, and commenced

s#amming against the window. $hen the g#ass %ro'e

shivering#y under the persistent impacts, and the chi## wind

rushed in, ma'ing the cand#es sputter and rust#ing the sheets

of paper on the ta%#e where +ann had %egun to write out his

horri%#e secret. & #oo'ed at +ann, and saw that he was past

conscious o%servation. His %#ue eyes were %u#ging, g#assy and

sight#ess, and the frantic p#aying had %ecome a %#ind,

mechanica#, unrecognia%#e orgy that no pen cou#d even

suggest.

" sudden gust, stronger than the others, caught up the

manuscript and %ore it toward the window. & fo##owed the

f#ying sheets in desperation, %ut they were gone %efore &

reached the demo#ished panes. $hen & remem%ered my o#d

wish to gae from this window, the on#y window in the ue

d!"usei# from which one might see the s#ope %eyond the wa##,

and the city outspread %eneath. &t was very dar', %ut the city!s

#ights a#ways %urned, and & expected to see them there amidst

the rain and wind. ;et when & #oo'ed from that highest of a##

ga%#e windows, #oo'ed whi#e the cand#es sputtered and the

insane vio# how#ed with the night-wind, & saw no city spread

%e#ow, and no friend#y #ights g#eamed from remem%ered

streets, %ut on#y the %#ac'ness of space i##imita%#e

unimagined space a#ive with motion and music, and having

no sem%#ance of anything on earth. "nd as & stood there

#oo'ing in terror, the wind %#ew out %oth the cand#es in that

ancient pea'ed garret, #eaving me in savage and impenetra%#e

dar'ness with chaos and pandemonium %efore me, and the

demon madness of that night-%aying vio# %ehind me.



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& staggered %ac' in the dar', without the means of stri'ing

a #ight, crashing against the ta%#e, overturning a chair, and

fina##y groping my way to the p#ace where the %#ac'ness

screamed with shoc'ing music. $o save myse#f and *rich

+ann & cou#d at #east try, whatever the powers opposed to me.

/nce & thought some chi## thing %rushed me, and & screamed,

%ut my scream cou#d not %e heard a%ove that hideous vio#.

3udden#y out of the %#ac'ness the mad#y sawing %ow struc'

me, and & 'new & was c#ose to the p#ayer. & fe#t ahead, touched

the %ac' of +ann!s chair, and then found and shoo' his

shou#der in an effort to %ring him to his senses.

He did not respond, and sti## the vio# shrie'ed on without

s#ac'ening. & moved my hand to his head, whose mechanica#

nodding & was a%#e to stop, and shouted in his ear that we

must %oth f#ee from the un'nown things of the night. ut he

neither answered me nor a%ated the freny of his unuttera%#e

music, whi#e a## through the garret strange currents of wind

seemed to dance in the dar'ness and %a%e#. 8hen my hand

touched his ear & shuddered, though & 'new not why5'new

not why ti## & fe#t the sti## face the ice-co#d, stiffened,

un%reathing face whose g#assy eyes %u#ged use#ess#y into the

void. "nd then, %y some mirac#e, finding the door and the

#arge wooden %o#t, & p#unged wi#d#y away from that g#assy-

eyed thing in the dar', and from the ghou#ish how#ing of that

accursed vio# whose fury increased even as & p#unged.

Leaping, f#oating, f#ying down those end#ess stairs through

the dar' house racing mind#ess#y out into the narrow, steep,

and ancient street of steps and tottering houses c#attering

down steps and over co%%#es to the #ower streets and the

putrid canyon-wa##ed river panting across the great dar'

%ridge to the %roader, hea#thier streets and %ou#evards we

'now a## these are terri%#e impressions that #inger with me.

"nd & reca## that there was no wind, and that the moon was



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out, and that a## the #ights of the city twin'#ed.

<espite my most carefu# searches and investigations, & have

never since %een a%#e to find the ue d!"usei#. ut & am not

who##y sorry either for this or for the #oss in undreama%#e

a%ysses of the c#ose#y-written sheets which a#one cou#d have

exp#ained the music of *rich +ann.



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H. P. Lovecraft - The Music of Erich Zann

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