Die Tischtuchtolle (The Tablecloth Lunatic) is the second 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 Tablecloth Lunatic “is dazzling white and breathes in linen. Her fingers are strict, her eyes angular.” However, when she happens upon a spot in the linens she obsessively inspects, “she turns dangerous, like a poisonous snake. Now she opens her mouth and shows dreadful fangs. Now she hisses before striking, the tiny spot takes its life into its hands.”

Die Tischtuchtolle was composed in October of 1997 and was first performed by violinist Nagina Stoyanova in Sofia, Bulgaria on 17 November 2001. It is included on the album Improbable Encounters (innova 873, 2014).