Debussy did about 30 minutes of an opera for House of Usher but didn't finish it.

I saw a Philip Glass Ensemble show back in the 80s where he did two really cool pieces - Fall of the House of Usher and Descent into the Maelstrom. As far as I know, he never actually recorded either, which is too bad - I thought they were both awesome.

Nobody's yet mentioned The Masque of Red Death? (That's the only book we read in ninth grade English that I managed to like despite the idiotic teacher.)

For Frost, there's also Peck of Gold. I'm not sure it's goth, but it's something. And I love it.

Dust always blowing about the town,
Except when sea-fog laid it down,
And I was one of the children told
Some of the blowing dust was gold.

All the dust the wind blew high
Appeared like god in the sunset sky,
But I was one of the children told
Some of the dust was really gold.

Such was life in the Golden Gate:
Gold dusted all we drank and ate,
And I was one of the children told,
'We all must eat our peck of gold.'

I am the proud owner of Poe For Moderns which includes beatnik inspired readings over jazz backing, as well as the most jaw-dropping jazz vocal ensemble version of "The Raven" you probably don't want to hear.

What do you think is Coleridge's gothiest?

Kubla Khan? Dejection: An Ode? Frost at Midnight?

Speaking of Coleridge, it's very funny looking at all the allusions to "Person From Porlock" which occurs in everything from Sandman to Nabokov to Arthur Conan Doyle to Douglas Adams.

Also, it's being broadcast for free tonight at the Giants ballpark. People are bringing blankets and snacks and bedding down on the playing field. If I thought there was a chance in hell Emmett would tolerate opera, I'd've been pimping this outing approximately nine times a minute for the past two weeks.

JZ, do you like opera in general? Like, if I got tickets, would you be interested in going along? Also, the symphony is doing a semi-staged Iolanthe in late spring--any interest?

I am the proud owner of Poe For Moderns which includes beatnik inspired readings over jazz backing, as well as the most jaw-dropping jazz vocal ensemble version of "The Raven" you probably don't want to hear.

Was one of these on a buffistarawk Halloween mix?

t /music talk

This calls to mind that I've been enjoying "The Classic Tales" podcast quite a bit. It's mostly short stories, but has also done "The Highwayman" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". And I'm sure some Poe before I started listening. Sadly, only the most recent episodes are available free.

Was one of these on a buffistarawk Halloween mix?

Yep, "Ulalume."

Help us with the French decadents, megan. Baudelaire and Rimbaud and Verlaine surely have something goth to offer us.

Hey, there's a whole wikipedia subsection on Coleridge and the influence of the Gothic.

Love this tidbit:

Mary Shelley later recalled hiding behind the sofa and hearing [Coleridge's] voice chanting The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Mary Shelley, high spirited scamp.

What do you think is Coleridge's gothiest?

The writings that inspired Argento's Three Mothers trilogy (from Confessions of an Opium Eater, I believe).

Didn't someone already mention "Le Vampire"? That's what comes to mind for Baudelaire. I don't know Rimbaud or Verlaine very well off hand.

"Le Vampire"
Toi qui, comme un coup de couteau,
Dans mon coeur plaintif es entrée;
Toi qui, forte comme un troupeau
De démons, vins, folle et parée,

De mon esprit humilié
Faire ton lit et ton domaine;
— Infâme à qui je suis lié
Comme le forçat à la chaîne,

Comme au jeu le joueur têtu,
Comme à la bouteille l'ivrogne,
Comme aux vermines la charogne
— Maudite, maudite sois-tu!

J'ai prié le glaive rapide
De conquérir ma liberté,
Et j'ai dit au poison perfide
De secourir ma lâcheté.

Hélas! le poison et le glaive
M'ont pris en dédain et m'ont dit:
«Tu n'es pas digne qu'on t'enlève
À ton esclavage maudit,

Imbécile! — de son empire
Si nos efforts te délivraient,
Tes baisers ressusciteraient
Le cadavre de ton vampire!»

— Charles Baudelaire