The Music of Erich Zann

Infobox short story |
name = The Music of Erich Zann
title_orig =
translator =
author = H. P. Lovecraft
country = U.S.A.
language = English
series =
genre = Horror
published_in =
publication_type =
publisher = The National Amateur
media_type = Magazine
pub_date = March, 1922
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Music of Erich Zann" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written December 1921, it was first published in "National Amateur", March 1922. [cite book | last = Straub | first = Peter | title = Lovecraft: Tales | publisher = The Library of America | date = 2005 | pages = p. 823 | isbn = 1-931082-72-3 ]

ynopsis

A university student is forced, by his lack of funds, to take the only lodging he can afford. In a strange part of the city he had never seen before, on a street named "Rue d'Auseil", he finds an apartment in an almost empty building. One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the viol with a local orchestra. He lives on the top floor and when alone at night, plays strange melodies never heard before. Over time, the student gains Zann's trust, and eventually learns of his secret, that the old man has discovered melodies and rhythms of sound of an almost otherworldly nature. Zann plays these sounds to keep back unknown and unseen creatures from Zann's window, which is said to look out into a black abyss, most likely another dimension.

etting

The setting of the story is presumably Paris, though the city is never named. "Auseil" is not a French word, but it has been suggested that Lovecraft derived it from the phrase "au seuil", meaning "at the threshold". [Joshi and Schultz, p. 178.]

Reaction

Lovecraft considered "The Music of Erich Zann" one of his best stories, in part because it avoided the overexplicitness that he saw as a major flaw in some of his other work. "An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia" notes that it "might, however, be said that HPL erred on the side of "under"explicitness in the very nebulous horror to be seen through Zann's garret window." [Joshi and Schultz, p. 177.]

The story was frequently anthologized even during Lovecraft's lifetime, including in Dashiell Hammett's 1931 collection "Creeps by Night". [Joshi and Schultz, p. 178.]

Connections

James Wade wrote a sequel to the story, "The Silence of Erika Zann", first published in "The Disciples of Cthulhu" (1976).

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. [http://www.cloudsandclocks.net/interviews/DDenis_interview00.html]

German Metal band Mekong Delta has an album titled The Music Of Erich Zann.

German Ambient band Forma Tadre has an album titled 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.

Finnish Goth Rock band HIM has an remix of their Soul on Fire song titled Soul On Fire (Erich Zann's Supernatural Remix).

References

*cite book|chapter=The Music of Erich Zann|first=Howard P.|origyear=1925|last=Lovecraft|year=1984|title=The Dunwich Horror and Others|editor=S. T. Joshi (ed.) |edition=9th corrected printing|publisher=Arkham House|location=Sauk City, WI|id=ISBN 0-87054-037-8 Definitive version.

*S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, "An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lurkerfilms.com "The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Vol. 3: Out of Mind"] contains an excellent film adaptation by John Strysik released by Lurker Films

* [http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/mez.asp "H. P. Lovecraft's 'The Music of Erich Zann'"] , The H. P. Lovecraft Archive; publication history

* [http://www.trickfilmnoir.de/ "DIE MUSIK DES ERICH ZANN"] , An adaptation of the story done in stop-motion animation by Anna Gawrilows.