The King in Yellow is a fictitious play that
featured in the short stories of Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933). In the
stories, the play, written by an unknown French author in the late 1800s,
drives its readers to despair and madness upon reading the second act.
No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged. It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain nor thrive on words in which the essence of purest poison lurked. The very banality and innocence of the first act only allowed the blow to fall afterwards with more awful effect. (From Chamber’s short story, The Repairer of Reputations)
Any author’s effort to recreate the play would automatically fail. There is no author so
talented as to write a play that would drive its reader insane, but I have been
impressed with two attempts. James Blish attempted to create the play in his
short story, More Light, and Lin Carter followed his lead in his own short
story, The King In Yellow: A Tragedy in Verse building on Blish’s attempt.
In 1996, author Thom Ryng released his own
interpretation of The King in Yellow and in 1999 produced the play at
the Capital Theater in Olympia, Washington.
I would have dearly loved to see this play,
especially to see how Ryng adapted some
of his stage commands such as the slow melting of the palace colonnades in Act
1 as well as describing the voice of the Phantom of Truth (His voice is
insistent and grating, almost buzzing like the sound of insects in the night).
And as a script to be read and enjoyed, Ryng does
a good job. Though not as ethereal and mystical as the attempts by Blish and
Carter, the appearance of the Stranger and the final appearance of the King in
Yellow carry with them a clear sense of otherworldliness and the play
communicates clearly the message implied by Robert Chamber though I confess finishing the second act did not drive me into madness and despair. Or at least I do not think it did.
It would be interesting to see how the H. P.Lovecraft Historical Society would interpret Ryng’s play, but it is my opinion
it would fail as a film. Possibly an audiobook
that left the scenery and cast appearances
to the imagination of the listener would be far more effective, but I genuinely
believe Ryng’s play would be best suited for anime. The animators would be able
to capture all the stage commands visually and Japanese anime has always been effective
in portraying atmospheres that are horrific and foreboding.
Until then, we will be content with Ryng’s script and hope for bigger things.
You can purchase The King in Yellow, by Thom Ryng here.
You can read Chambers' series of short stories legally here (they are in the public domain).
You can purchase The King in Yellow, by Thom Ryng here.
You can read Chambers' series of short stories legally here (they are in the public domain).
So someone did the King in Yellow. I suppose we can look forward to a concert based on the work of Erik Zann next.
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American composer Raymond Wilding-White created a piece in 1980 by the same title for violin and electronics, with Eugene Gratovich of DePaul University in the role of the university student.
Univers Zéro's album Ceux du dehors (1981) includes a track titled "La musique d'Erich Zann". According to drummer and bandleader Daniel Denis, all members read the short story in the studio and promptly improvised the piece.
German technical thrash metal band Mekong Delta titled their 1988 second album The Music of Erich Zann after the story.
British Anarcho-punk band Rudimentary Peni featured a depiction of Eric Zann on the original cover of their 1988 album Cacophony.
Hungarian Metal band Without Face has a song called "The Violin of Erich Zann" on the 2002 album Astronomicon.
German ambient band Forma Tadre titled their 2008 album The Music of Erich Zann.
Greek death metal band Septic Flesh references the story in the song "Lovecraft's Death" on their 2008 album Communion.
American thrash metal band Revocation song "Madness Opus" off their 2014 album Deathless is based off of The Music of Erich Zann.
Eric Zann is a pseudonym of Jim Jupp, who has released an album on the Ghost Box Music record label.
French composer Claude Ballif wrote stage music of the same title.
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' 2017 album The Dukes of Alhazred included a track titled Erich Zann.
I Monster's 2017 album A Dollop of HP illustrated four of Lovecraft's short stories including The Music of Erich Zann, narrated by David Yates.
British band Abigail's Party wrote a song of the same title.
Singer/songwriter Jon Baade wrote a song titled "The Music Erich Zann" as a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft's story. It was recorded on Seelie Court's album, Rising in the North (2002) and on the Water Street Bridge album, Filker's Handbook (2018.)