Der Hinterbringer (The Tattletale) is the twelfth in a series of short works for solo instrument based upon characters in Der Ohrenzeuge: Fünfzig Charaktere (Earwitness: Fifty Characters), written in 1974 by the Bulgarian-born British-Austrian novelist Elias Canetti (1905-1994). Canetti’s distinctive studies incorporate poetic imagery, singular insights, and unabashed wordplay to create fifty ironic paradigms of human behavior. This collection, begun in 1997, was inspired by the vividly surreal depictions of Canetti’s characters, and comprises twenty-two solo works to date—composed for familiar instruments such as violin, guitar, piano, and trombone, as well as less common instruments such as ocarina, cimbalom, glass harmonica, and carillon.  In Canetti’s depiction of this character, The Tattletale “won’t keep anything to himself if it could hurt someone’s feelings. He hurries and gets a steal on other tattletales… [he] will overlook no insult uttered in anger, and he makes sure that it teaches the insultee.”

Der Hinterbringer was composed between February and April of 2013 for flutist Elizabeth McNutt, who premiered the work at the University of North Texas on March 18, 2014. It is included on the album Improbable Encounters (innova 873, 2014).