Dracula – Bite Size
An original adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker
John Iles (narrator)
Sarah Watts (contrabass clarinet, basset horn and bass clarinet)
rec. 30 October 2022, Hybrid 3 Studios, Sheffield, UK.
Reviewed as an MP3 download.
Cuillin Sound Music CUILL1008 [54]

Dracula – Bite Size is an intriguing project by a creative partnership that has already brought us Feed the Hound (review), while the intrepid bass clarinet specialist Sarah Watts has numerous recordings on her Cuillin Sound label, including a disc representing British composers (review). John Iles is a highly respected actor who some readers might remember as DC Mike Dashwood in The Bill, but whose further IMDB list is substantial. Iles’ vocal flexibility is perfect for Bram Stoker’s atmospheric text, giving plenty of weight to the character of Count Dracula without resorting to farcical stereotype, while giving plenty of life and animation to the put-upon John Harker, Dracula’s understandably reluctant guest.

The low clarinets emphasise the chilling nature of the text, delivering aural texture to the creaking decay of the castle setting, and adding drama to the events that unfold. Low rumblings and a variety of effects emerge, with lyrical moments for contrast and multiphonics for emphasis. The effect is a relatively understated backdrop to the text – present in the mix, but not a distraction. It’s not all darkness however. Lucy Westenra’s letter to Harker’s fiancée Mina Murray is greeted with jaunty phrases; the opportunity to reflect birdsong is by no means missed, nor is the stormy sea at Whitby.

Dracula – Bite Size has been performed live and no doubt works superbly as a theatrical event, larger in life than its compact format would seem to suggest. It is also both memorable and absorbing as a recording, with the text divided into sixteen chapters framed by a dark musical introduction, and a brief epilogue in which that doleful presence is absent. You can approach this as an audio book, but the memory recalls it as a heightened experience, and you might subsequently find yourself reading the original with a moody soundtrack of deep reeds flitting between your ears.

Dominy Clements