R’lyeh
a tone poem

for Large Orchestra (3.3.3.3 4.4.3.1 4 Perc 12.12.8.8.4)
optional reduced version
Duration: ca. 14′

by Edward Caine
after H.P. Lovecraft

R’lyeh is a tone-poem based on the third section of H.P. Lovecraft’s novelette The Call of Cthulhu. It follows the story of the ship Alert as it crosses the south pacific and discovers the re-emerged continent of R’lyeh.

The piece opens with the ringing of the ship’s bell – a large spectral chord sweeping across the string section