H.P. Lovecraft and "Ex Oblivione"

Theater festival paperwork looms as my libretto progresses. In the meantime, a little about why I chose this story...

As mentioned previously, my opera is based on the short story "Ex Oblivione" (full text), first published in 1921. The author, H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), is a major and rather well-known writer of "weird fiction" - now called science fiction, fantasy, or horror. While I am not an avid reader of the genre, there are many aspects to the style and content of this particular story that really get my creative gears turning.

First, the story is light on plot and heavily biased toward the landscapes of dreams, all but mandating an abstract and adventurous brand of storytelling. This is a welcome change after my most recent stage work, The Eden Diaries (2007), a playful yet undeniably conventional musical that predates even this blog!

The text is quite brief, and very little physically happens. A man suffers through an illness then dies; meanwhile, he has vivid, symbolic dreams that lead him to an internal epiphany. Brief indeed! This leaves the music plenty of room to breathe, developing at its own pace.

Despite his brevity, Lovecraft concerns himself with a deeply important human topic - the process of death and our struggles with and against it - without tying himself to any particular ideology. While atheistic or mystical elements are easy to infer from this text, neither are explicit. Because the story deals largely with the basic, earthly elements of existence (as opposed to Lovecraft's later "Cthulhu Mythos" writings), "Ex Oblivione" is compatible with a wide range of personal belief. This is important to me, as this piece is meant as a work of art and not as a statement of faith.

That said, I do find in this narrative an interesting correlation in Buddhist philosophy, which has recently caught my interest. Although certain doctrines are troublesome, there is something beautiful yet inherently practical in the tradition's notion of acceptance. Discussed alongside right mindfulness, acceptance involves observing all experiences clearly without judgment.

This is the small enlightenment that Howard gradually attains. Like the 121 daily haiku I completed recently on this blog, this revelation delivers dense meaning in modest packaging.

In short, Oblivion is an opera about nothing. It is just about a man who dies. And it is about learning to acknowledge the temporariness of being human. This last subject is, I think, suitably grand for opera.

Oblivion - The Story of a New Opera

Welcome! For those new to my blog, I am a composer, educator, and doctoral candidate in Music Composition at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. For the next few months, this blog will trace the development of my new opera, Oblivion, from early drafts to the premiere and beyond. Relevant links and downloads will soon be available through my website:

www.kylegullings.com/oblivion

The opera is a largely plotless meditation on acceptance, based on the short story "Ex Oblivione" by H.P. Lovecraft. (Learn more about this early science fiction pioneer at the H.P. Lovecraft Archive.) It also incorporates poetry by William Carlos Williams, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, myself, and others. Tracing the spiritual landscape of life's periphery, the story navigates clinical tedium, dreamworld surreality, and the threshold between existence and whatever follows.

And now the big news: Oblivion was recently accepted into a DC-area theater festival, and will premiere in July! (More details to come.)

My current progress includes much of a libretto, a few snippets of music, and a healthy dose of excitement and terror. I will post frequently, so check back often. Better yet, subscribe to this blog's RSS Feed (orange button on the top right of the page) so you can keep track of updates automatically! Looking forward to everyone's feedback.

Peace,
Kyle

P.S. - If you've a hankerin' to be a part of some new opera in the next 4-5 months, the time to say hello is now!

Oblivion announcement

My one-act opera Oblivion was recently accepted for performance at a DC-area theater festival in July 2010 (more details to follow). It's based on the short story "Ex Oblivione" by H.P. Lovecraft. For more info on him, check out the H.P. Lovecraft Archive.

The work also incorporates poems by William Carlos Williams, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, myself, and others. This essentially plotless "meditation on acceptance" spends a lot of time in various dreamscapes.

I will be posting often on this work in progress, and I hope everyone will check it out every so often and give some feedback. Perhaps an entirely new blog is in order! More word later.

Peace,
Kyle