Celebrate Creativity

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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity– This is the House of Imagination. My name is George Bartley, and this episode has the night watchman talking to Edgar Allan Poe about his creativity. In future episodes, Mr. Poe will talk specifically about a few of his most famous works.

Hello Mr. Poe - I'm going to get directly to the point and ask you why you are considered by many to be extremely creative. In other words, I'd like to take a deep dive into your creative genius.

Mr. Bartley, Many discriminating individuals would say that my creativity stems from my ability to innovate within literary forms, explore the darkest corners of the human psyche, and masterfully craft an atmosphere that lingers long after the story ends. I sincerely believe that I was a pioneer in many ways, essentially inventing the detective fiction genre and pushing the boundaries of what was considered "gothic" literature.

So Mr. Poe, I assume that you basically had developed a talent for writing engaging stories.

Ah, Mr. Bartley - you must be aware, that I did not solely write stories; I invented new ways to tell them. My creation of detective fiction with stories such as "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a prime example. I introduced a brilliant, eccentric protagonist, a loyal but somewhat less intelligent narrator, and a focus on logical deduction.

And Mr. Poe, you might find it interesting that your formula became the blueprint for countless detective stories that followed, from Sherlock Holmes to modern-day crime dramas.

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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity– My name is George Bartley and here I'd like to talk with Mr. Poe about the most influential person in his life– And buy influential, I don't necessarily mean that in a good way.

Now, many scholars have claimed that the most crucial element of Poe’s life is the fact that at a very early age his life was placed in the hands of a man who just didn’t care and had significant emotional problems.  OK - the task - and it WOULD be a task - of raising an unusual and even difficult child such as the young Edgar Poe would be a challenge for most people.  Some scholars have even admitted that the young Poe could bring out the worst in a parent or guardian.  And it turned out that John Allan was a largely unsympathetic human being - and possibly one of the worse choices imaginable to take charge of Poe’s upbringing.

Excuse me, here is the wax figure of Mr. Poe himself. Could you tell us a little bit about John ALLAN?

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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and the Hall of Imagination. Today I would like to talk about a man who played a crucial role in the family fortune surrounding Edgar Allan Poe.  This wealthy individual was known as William Galt, and he was a wealthy businessman in Richmond, Virginia. Galt was known as "Uncle" William to the Allans, though he wasn't actually John Allan's uncle. At the time of his death in 1825, Galt was considered the wealthiest man in Virginia.  His assets included extensive real estate in Richmond and Lynchburg, plantations throughout Virginia, sawmills, bank stocks, and hundreds of slaves.

I have here a copy of his  will, and I'm asking you, Mr. Poe, to read from the document.

Certainly, Mr BartleyI, WILLIAM GALT, of the City of Richmond, State of Virginia, bearing always in mind, and admonished by the circumstances of my present state, as well as by the word of truth, recorded in Sacred Scripture, which I cherish as the foundation of my firm faith and the anchor of my hope for happiness in an eternal state, how uncertain is the tenure of human life, as it now exists, and being desirous, while it is permitted me, to dispose of my temporal means and estate, the result, under Divine Providence, of my own, I trust, honest exertions, as it becometh my duty and my relations to God  and man, do make this my last will and testament, which it is my desire should bear witness to my firm faith in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the source of all my existing hope and consolation.

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Welcome to celebrate creativity and the Hall of imagination– This episode is called Mommy Issues. It begins with a conversation between Mr. Poe, and myself, the night watchman.

Now Mr. Poe, we want you to be comfortable here, and I spoke with the museum supervisor and we agree that it might be best to start with a conversation about someone who you probably loved very much, your mother– There are those who say that you might have had. “Mommy issues”

Mr. Bartley—“Sir, my mother died when I was scarcely three. Your modern terminology leaves something to be desired.”

Mr. Poe, be there as it may, take back to the year of 1810. In Europe, Napoleon reached the zenith of his power.   And you were only one year of age.

Yes Mr. Bartley, I remember that during 1810,my mother’s fame as an actress increased - and I feel that her creative passion - in this case the theatre - was passed on to me.

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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and the Hall of Imagination. You know, I have been thinking a great deal about the wax figure of Edgar Allan Poe education was one of Jefferson's constant preoccupations and this is where Edgar Allan Poe comes in. And the supervisor of the museum suggested that I talk with the writer about a period in his life when he did not experience the struggles of poverty.

First I'd like to take a pre-look at some of the complexities of the early University of Virginia.

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In a few nights, the clock would strike midnight.
The museum would become still.
Those dark eyes would open.
And I would have to find a gentle way to tell Edgar Allan Poe that death had not silenced him.

It had only kept him from hearing the applause. Mr. Poe, you famously wrote this poem about the fact that you always felt alone–

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From ev’ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the red cliff of the mountain—
From the sun that ’round me roll’d
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass’d me flying by—
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—

Mr. Poe, I would like you to think that you are not alone anymore.

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Welcome to celebrate creativity and the hall of imagination– This is the second episode regarding Edgar Allan Poe for the month of October. And the proceeding episode, the night watchmen had been called to the office of the supervisor for the wax museum. We begin with the night watchmen speaking–

Sir, are you calling me in here because I did something wrong?

No. In fact, I called you here because I need your help.

He stood and walked toward the tall wooden crate.

We are about to open our October exhibition.

He brushed a little packing dust from the lid.

Edgar Allan Poe will be its central figure

Edgar Allan Poe.

Poet. Critic. Editor. Author of tales of terror, mystery, guilt, madness, premature burial, and several other subjects the gift shop believes will look attractive on coffee mugs.

I know who he is.

The question is whether he knows who he is.

I do not understand.

You know the museum’s rule. A figure awakens with the knowledge and memories available during that person’s earthly life. Nothing more.

Yes. They know what happened to them. They do not automatically know what happened after them.

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Welcome to *Celebrate Creativity*.

I am the Night Watchman here at the Hall of Imagination—the finest wax museum in the whole world, at least during the hours when respectable people are awake. After midnight, it may still be the finest wax museum in the world. But it is not always respectable.

I had just reported for work when the little red light began blinking on the telephone in the security office. I picked up the receiver.

Security office. Night Watchman speaking.

Could you come to my office, please?

Right now?

That is generally what people mean when they say, “Could you come to my office?”

Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Be right there.

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Welcome to the  what should be the second of two episodes looking at Fallingwater from a musical perspective– and this episode is Fallingwater Dreams. Part two This podcast episode begins with the night watchmen– Roughly pattern after yours truly–talking to the wax figure of Frank Lloyd Wright, about a CD of music that I wrote when I was a guide at Fallingwater. And yes, this the recording is an actual thing, with the obvious exception of the talking wax figure of Mr. Wright.

Now Mr. Wright, let us use music to go to the second floor. And to represent the guest bedroom to your, I used by PASPIED VIEJO– A traditional Mexican song. You see, this room and to represent the guest bedroom to you I used past period Viejo contains a drawing by the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera.

PASPIED VIEJO

And then the spacious Master Bedroom-also on the second floor-has a fireplace made of stone accommodating the sculpture of a 15th century Madonna and Child. And Edgar Kaufman Senior's study shows how cantilever construction can result in a simple but powerful room.

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Welcome to the  what should be the first of two episodes looking at Fallingwater and the house  from a musical perspective– and this episode is Fallingwater Dreams. Part one This podcast episode begins with Mr. George Bartley talking to the wax figure of Frank Lloyd Wright, about a CD of music that Mr. Bartley wrote when he was a guide at Fallingwater. And yes, this is based on a real record recording which you will hear during this episode. Yes, the recording is an actual thing, with the obvious exception is the talking wax figure of Mr. Wright.

Before we start, I want say a little bit about how this and the following episodes were structured in my audio program.  I wanted to make it simple, so I have the spoken dialogue–me and Mr. Wright– On track one.Then I would havethe music on track t two beneath it. That way I could work with the music without messing the whole thing up. In other words,The spoken dialogue and music are not assembled like separate mechanical pieces; each musical passage grows naturally from the conversation, and then the next conversation grows from the music. You might say the process is the audio equivalent of Wright’s organic architecture: every element belongs to and depends upon the whole.

And now Fallingwater Dreams –Part OneWell hello Mr. WRIGHT, this should be an especially exciting night at the wax museum because I brought the recording that I mentioned to you and something to play it on.

That is wonderful Mr. Bartley– I'm glad you were able to do that because I never could find the Victrola that I thought this museum had.

Oh that is not necessary, Mr. Wright. Now as you will know, Fallingwater eventually became a place visited by people from throughout the world—and years later,  I worked as a guide for the house and created an album that was sold in the Fallingwater gift shop. I would like to think that I not only guided people through through the house, but also used music to help interpret its meaning by performing the music, composing the title piece, and creating something that was actually sold there. 

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