Set of parts for Dreamland (2010) for Soprano Clarinet and String Quartet.Text by Edgar Allan Poe 1844. Score: WH31171Preface / Programme Note When looking for an interpretation on the internet of Edgar Allan Poe´s DREAMLAND it turns out that there are as many interpretations as there are interpreters. Some believe it is the mad hallucinations of a drug addict (could be Poe himself) others see it as Poe´s equivalent of Dante´s INFERNO – a tale from the Underworld.One thing is certain though. DREAMLAND is a ”fantasy” the vision of a dreamvoyagerarriving at and staying in a mythical location beyond and between space and time a place of strange majesty and surreal spectacles such as: “Mountains toppling evermore into seas without a shore”. At the same time it is a “peaceful soothing region” – a mystical ”wonderland” not unlike the fabled Eldorado whichis mentioned in the poem.Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn called it “one of Poe´s finest creations” with each phrase contributing to one effect: a human traveler wandering betweenlife and death.DREAMLAND first appeared in print in America in the June 1844 issue of Graham´s Magazine and was subsequently published in a June 1845 edition of The Broadway Journal. Poul Ruders July 2010
