"The Abbot and the Abattoir" was composed between the 19th and the 26th of April 2016. It is a work for solo piano and it is modeled after a dream I had some years previous. The composition is a programmatic arrangement of vignettes that depicts a story about an anonymous abbot's day, beginning with an afternoon walk coupled with pensive reflection, followed by his obligatory meditations and prayers. As the tale progresses into the evening, he grows weary and drifts into a deep sleep. He begins to dream, and the dreams quickly transform into graphic nightmares involving visions of an horrific extermination and the merciless slaughter of many in a large, ghastly gothic tower and adjoining edifice presided over by shadowy supernatural beings. The actions of the malevolent forces cause the tortured souls' screams to incessantly rent and infect the cold damp air. The abbot startlingly awakens to a beautiful morning and realizes that the previous night's distressing dreams were merely that. He gratefully proceeds into a restorative and miraculous new day. The visions however were so troublingly vivid that the abbot still harbors some trepidation involving them, but swiftly comes to the understanding that warnings and prophecies though beneficial, may or may not circumvent some imminent future events; only time will tell. He reverently acknowledges the tenet that without divine intervention and assistance, humankind left to its own devices frequently renders poor decisions, and shall inevitably inherit the fitting fruits of its labors. - Scott Lyle