Letter G: Charled Tomlinson Griffes
MaestroDJS
began last May. At my present rate I have only another year to go.
Among the notable composers are a number who died at an early age. Franz
Schubert, Wolfgang Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn and Frédéric Chopin all died in
their 30s, leaving tantalizing hints of what they might yet have written had
they lived normal lifespans. In the United States, Charles Tomlinson Griffes
was just reaching full creative maturity when he died at age 35, but in his
short creative career he produced numerous works of lasting worth.
Griffes began modestly. Born September 17, 1884 he did not show true interest
in music until he was about 10 years old. He began to study with Mary Selena
Broughton, a colorful professor of piano at Elmira College who was originally
from New Zealand and had studied in Berlin. Griffes made such progress that in
1903 she arranged for him also to study in Germany to become a concert pianist.
He enrolled at Stern Conservatory at in Berlin, but soon became more
interested in composition than in performance. He left the conservatory in
1905 and began private lessons in compositions with Engelbert Humperdinck.
In 1907 Griffes returned to the United States as an instructor of music at the
Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. His duties were drudgery and the pay
was small but dependable. Fortunately, he was only an hour by train from New
York City, and would go there as often as he could to try to interest
publishers and performers in his works. However, he could not interest
publishers in much of his music until Ferruccio Busoni personally intervened in
1915. Edgard Varèse supported his work and turned pages for him at a piano
run-through of a dance drama score. Serge Prokofiev appeared with him on a
program in which both composers accompanied their own songs.
Griffes's first distinctive works were heavily influenced by German
Romanticism, but he became more and more interested in French Impressionism and
Oriental music. In 1916 he achieved some measure of success with his _Roman
Sketches_ for piano, a series of 4 pieces entitled "The White Peacock",
"Nightfall", "The Fountain of the Acqua Paola", and "Clouds". These
descriptive pieces show his fine melodic and harmonic gifts and his exquisite
workmanship. His songs were noted for their sensitivity and effective
accompaniments, and he broke new harmonic ground in his _Piano Sonata_ of 1918.
His orchestral music also began to attract attention. His _Poem for Flute and
Orchestra_ and _The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan_ were enthusiastically received
and led to a number of commissions. However, he expended his last energies
copying the orchestral parts himself for lack of money. He collapsed within a
few months of his first successes and died of empyema on April 8, 1920.
Despite his short career, his importance in the development of American music
cannot be overstressed. Virgil Thomson wrote: "Griffes's music is first-class
all through and can be played anywhere. His death at 35 seems somehow unfair."
Personal notes:
Every so often I hear a new work of music which makes me sit up and take
notice. One of these was _The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan_ by Griffes, which I
first heard on the radio performed by Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. Its exotic harmonies and tone colors immediately caught my
attention, and the work has an underlying logic and momentum which are
exquisite. It still sounds as fresh as the first time I heard it 20 years ago.
In September 1984 while we lived in Maryland, the Library of Congress presented
a concert of songs and piano works to mark the 100th anniversary of Griffes'
birth. Pianist James Tocco and soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson presented a
splendid program. Luckily for me, the concert was later broadcast and I
audiotaped it too, so I still have a permanent record of that memorable
evening.
During a business trip to White Plains, New York, I visited the Hackley School
in Tarrytown. Atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River, I personally visited
the majestic stone buildings where Griffes taught by day and composed by night.
David Stybr, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Recordings in my collection:
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920), United States:
Collected Piano Music. 4 Roman Sketches; 3 Préludes; Fantasy Pieces; De
Profundis; Sonata; 3 Tone-Pictures. Denver Oldham. New World Records NW
310/311 (2 LPs) (United States).
Collected Songs. 3 Poems of Fiona Macleod; Five Poems of Ancient China and
Japan; Four Impressions; etc. Faith Esham, Soprano; Irene Gubrud, Soprano;
Jan Opalach, Baritone; Lucy Shelton, Soprano; Margo Garrett, Jeffrey Goldberg,
Thomas Muraco, Piano. Musical Heritage Society MHS 824678M (2 LPs) (United
States).
The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan; The White Peacock; Clouds; Bacchanale.
Eastman-Rochester Orchestra / Howard Hanson. Mercury SRI 75090 (United
States). + Loeffler: Memories of my Childhood; Poem for Orchestra.
Poem for Flute and Orchestra. Joseph Mariano, Flute; Eastman-Rochester
Orchestra / Howard Hanson. Mercury SRI 75020 (United States). + Mennin:
Symphony No. 5; Schuman: New England Triptych.
3 Poems of Fiona MacLeod; 4 German Songs; 4 Impressions; Song of the Dagger;
The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan; 3 Tone Pictures. Phyllis Bryn-Julson,
Soprano; Sherrill Milnes, Baritone; Olivia Stapp, Mezzo-Soprano; Boston
Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa. New World Records NW 273 (United States).