Image by Bruce Gerlach
Edward Gorey
“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil assaulted by bears …” Thus begins “The Gashlycrumb Tinies,” one of several “volumes of moral instruction” penned by Edward Gorey. The 20th century American writer-artist cultivated an eccentric oeuvre of gaslit Edwardian manners and mores. An illustrated poem depicting an alphabetical array of childhood perils, the mordant humor of “The Gashlycrumb Tinies” is laced with pathos (“ … Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin”).
Carla Kihlstedt’s song cycle inspired by “Gashlycrumb,” “26 Little Deaths,” receives its world premiere this month from Milwaukee’s Present Music. “She’s a one-of-a-kind talent, singing/playing and writing” says PM’s Co-Artistic Director Eric Segnitz. “She’s had some pretty big bands in the past (Tin Hat Trio, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) that cover a lot of ground stylistically. I particularly love the album Tin Hat did of e.e. cummings works—so good.”
Segnitz’s partner-in-programming, Co-Artistic Director David Bloom, adds, “As we’ve done for each of our commissions this season, we went to Carla and asked her what she most wanted to create and how we could support that. We wanted to bring passion projects to life with each of our commissions, and that’s what Carla has made for us.”
Segnitz’s familiarity with Gorey was limited to the animated illustrations from his work that introduce PBS’s “Mystery” series. “Carla is the big fan, she lives about 10 miles from the Gorey House on Cape Cod and was already working on a solo version of this project when we contacted her,” he says. “26 Little Deaths” was one of five commissions composed for PM’s 40th anniversary season. “We'll be performing it with the original 26 Gorey images and captions projected above us and will be recording the piece afterwards for commercial release,” Segnitz continues.
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An engaging performer, Kihlstedt is—much like Present Music—an experimenter who is both accessible and enjoyable. Her often scintillating, melodic music is drawn just beyond the lines in colors hard to find in any Crayola box. At the PM concert, Kihlstedt will sing and play violin, accompanied by a 12-piece ensemble of strings, woodwinds, piano, brass and a large battery of percussion. “She is not using the original text and has written songs using the sardonic implications of each illustration as a jumping-off point,” Segnitz says. “She sent 14 pages of original lyrics and describes some of them as ‘Randy Newman-esque.’ I expect a wide array of character studies, with some very entertaining and colorful effects.”
Along with “26 Little Deaths,” the evening’s program will also include “Omie Wise” by Bryce Dessner of the rock band The National; “Bladed Stance” by Brazilian composer Marcos Balter; and an early Present Music commission, “Cheating, Lying, Stealing.” by David Lang.
Usually, PM’s seasons conclude in May, but this year finds them preparing “26 Little Deaths” for late June. “Coming out of the pandemic, some of our favorite venues have been very booked-up—It’ll be a thinking-person’s option for summer programming fare,” Segnitz explains.
June 23-24 at Jan Serr Studio, 2155 N. Prospect Ave. For ticket information, visit presentmusic.org or call the UWM Peck School of the Arts box office at 414-229-4308. There will also be a livestream option available on June 24.
