"The walls of Usher" 1/4 _ (211104)

More about "The walls of Usher" 1/4 _ (211104)

(title by Tonny Rod)
"The Fall of The House of Usher" series 4/7

source: illustration from the album "The Fall of The House of Usher" (Deconstructed & Rebuilt) - artwork by Paul Ridout (Ridart)
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The Fall of the House of Usher is an opera by two of the co-founders of Van der Graaf Generator (band): Peter Hammill (music) and Chris Judge Smith (libretto). It is based on the 1839 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.
They worked sporadically on the opera from 1973 until the first album was released in November 1991.
In 1999, Hammill revised the piece. He re-recorded some of his own vocals, removed the percussion, added more electric guitars and remixed the entire recording. The result was a second album: "The Fall of the House of Usher (Deconstructed & Rebuilt)"

*Line-up:
- Peter Hammill: vocals ("Roderick Usher", "The Voices of the House"), guitars, keyboards, percussions (only on 1991 recording), arranger & producer
- Andy Bell: vocals "Montresor"
- Lene Lovich: vocals "Madeleine Usher"
- Herbert Grönemeyer: vocals "The Herbalist"
- Sarah-Jane Morris: vocals "The Chorus"
- Stuart Gordon: violins (only on 1999 re-recording)

*Note:
Smith's libretto takes certain liberties with Poe's source text. The House itself becomes a vocal part, to be sung by the same performer who sings the role of Roderick Usher. The narrator, unnamed in the story, is given the name Montresor (the name of the narrator of another tale by Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado"), and a romantic attachment between Montresor and Madeline Usher is hinted at.