Written as a doctoral thesis for the MusDoc degree at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, is based on Poe’s poem THE RAVEN (1845). An interplay of three quintets (woodwind-, brass-, and string-), harpsichord and harp, over a dark and threatening background of muted strings and percussion, creates an intimate, introvert, chamber atmosphere, developing material based on rhythm and natural melodic line of Poe’s verse. The tense, stifling atmosphere is heightened by the use of “second” instruments in the woodwind quintet (alto flute, english horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon), as well as by contemporary playing technics and vocalizations from the orchestra.