Charles T. Griffes
jp winter
Griffes (1884-1920)?
I just found a lp with some of his piano music performed by Dutch
pianist Alwin Bär (1986). The liner notes don't give many factual
information.
The shorter pieces are on first hearing influenced by Debussy, but
after listening for a while a very original composer emerges. The
Sonata is surprisingly original throughout. A very strong work.
As far as I can hear the pieces are performed superbly, but I'm am
curious to know if there exist other recordings of Griffes's music.
I'm also wondering if there ever was an audience for his music.
Thanks in advance, jan winter
PS After checking Deja News in between I found that his piano music is
being issued on Naxos, and that he was gay. But is this all there is
to say about Griffes?
Chris Hunt
jp winter wrote:
> Anyone here able to give me some info on American composer Charles
> Griffes (1884-1920)?
Griffes was German-trained, which seems odd as his so much of his music is
Debussy-ish, but such are the paradoxes of life.
Chris
Hamilton Canada
Charles Eggen
>Anyone here able to give me some info on American composer Charles
>Griffes (1884-1920)?
>I just found a lp with some of his piano music performed by Dutch
>pianist Alwin Bär (1986). The liner notes don't give many factual
>information.
>The shorter pieces are on first hearing influenced by Debussy, but
>after listening for a while a very original composer emerges. The
>Sonata is surprisingly original throughout. A very strong work.
>As far as I can hear the pieces are performed superbly, but I'm am
>curious to know if there exist other recordings of Griffes's music.
>I'm also wondering if there ever was an audience for his music.
>
>Thanks in advance, jan winter
>
>PS After checking Deja News in between I found that his piano music is
>being issued on Naxos, and that he was gay. But is this all there is
>to say about Griffes?
If you will do a 'Griffes' search at amazon.com, within the classical
music catagory, you will find numerous CDs containing his music.
As for finding some bio background, I would suggest a trip to your
librarys' music section. You might find more there, than on the net.
The CDs containing his music will, of course, have some helpful info.
Chuck
Chuck
Jon Bell
>Anyone here able to give me some info on American composer Charles
>Griffes (1884-1920)?
From John Warthen Struble's "The History of American Classical Music":
> ... Charles Tomlinson Griffes was the most important American composer
> of this period whose works were professionally published and performed
> during his own creative lifetime. But these achievements did not
> descend upon Griffes as a result merely of his genius. He worked hard
> and relentlessly at promoting his music and getting it into the hands of
> the right people. At his death in 1920, _Musical America_ ran an
> obituary bemoaning the relative neglect afforded Griffes by the
> classical music mainstream in America, and letters of condolence arrived
> from figures as important as Prokofiev, Leopold Stokowski and Pierre
> Monteux.
He died suddenly of a lung illness at the age of 36, just when he was
starting to gain serious recognition with performances of some of his
orchestral pieces.
In addition to the disc of piano music on Naxos, there is another one on
New World. Delos has a disc with some of his orchestral music, including
the best-known one, "The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan". He didn't write
any symphonies (or concertos, I think).
--
Jon Bell <jtb...@presby.edu> Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA
[ Information about newsgroups for beginners: ]
[ http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/6882/ ]
piper
[snip]
>In addition to the disc of piano music on Naxos, there is another one on
>New World. Delos has a disc with some of his orchestral music, including
>the best-known one, "The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan". He didn't write
>any symphonies (or concertos, I think).
You're right, but there is the beautiful Poem for Flute and Orchestra.
Michael
To reply by email, please eliminate "NOSPAM" from my address. Personal messages only! If you send a commercial solicitation, I will boycott the product.
schi...@lightlink.com
trained composers- Alban Berg, for instance (3 orchestral pieces, op. 6)...
so, not so strange as all that.
By the way, as to Griffes, he wrote an excellent piano sonata towards the
end of his life. I had always been under the impression for some reason
that it was in f# minor (so I had been told), and that there were two
piano sonatas, both an early, rarely-played one and the late masterpiece.
Now out comes this Dover score of Griffes piano works (seems very worth
getting, by the by) and it contains the sonata, and it very clearly
begins and ends in d/D. Strange...
Still a great piece, of course.
-Eric Schissel
Charles Blandy
and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Paul Freeman conducting.
Here's the whole program:
AMERICAN WORKS FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA
Grier: Renascence (Concertino for Flute and Orchestra) (1996)
Griffes: Poem for Flute and Orchestra (1918)
Thomson: Concerto for Flute, Strings, Harp and Percussion (1954)
Kennan: Night Soliloquy for Flute, Strings and Piano (1936)
Siegmeister: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1960)
(TT: 61:00)
Taken from the liner notes by Ted Hatmaker, re: Griffes:
"...Completed in 1996, Grier’s is the most recent work on this recording. The earliest, by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, dates from 1918. Poem for Flute and
Orchestra was a late work for Griffes, completed two years before his untimely death from pleurisy at age 35. With a life cut short at its most promising
point, one can only wonder what such a gifted composer might have produced. Born to a happy middle-class family in Elmira, New York, Griffes turned to
composition while studying piano at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, Germany. A subsequent position as Director of Music at the Hackley School in
Tarreytown, New York, allowed him not only time to compose, but also access to New York City and all the contacts necessary to promote his music. Although
his works showed masterful ability, he suffered biases both as an American composer and as a modernist. Important breakthroughs in the form of premieres by
major symphony orchestras in the autumn of 1919 offered hope for Griffes's career, but his health was already in decline, exacerbated by the rigors of work
necessitated by the premieres’ deadlines. Poem was one of these works, first performed by the New York Symphony Orchestra and its principal flutist,
Georges Barrère, for whom it was written. At various times, Griffes's music displayed influences of late German romanticism, French impressionism, and Far
Eastern and Native American musics. Poem’s opening theme, with its natural minor modality, betrays the influence of the latter. A gently undulating flute
line draws it toward more impressionistic sonorities and weaves together contrasting airs of mystery and lilting folklike dances."
Hope this is helpful --
Charley
piper wrote:
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aa136...@my-deja.com
Chris Hunt <hu...@mail.mohawkc.on.ca> wrote:
>
>
> jp winter wrote:
>
> > Anyone here able to give me some info on American composer Charles
> > Griffes (1884-1920)?
>
music is
> Debussy-ish, but such are the paradoxes of life.
>
> Chris
> Hamilton Canada
details. Some facts, however, do stand out. He apparently was a frail
individual; he was gay, and lived and composed in New York State, I
believe. He studied in Germany, but much of his music is couched in the
style of French impressionism. His piano music is highly modal and
gossimer. His "Vale of Dreams' and "Night Winds" are lovely.
S. Alan Schweitzer
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Michael Fine
International Classics: his Poem for Flute and Orchestra (Alexa Still),
solo piano works with Garah Landes and most intriguing, his Kairn of
Koridwen. Though I was the producer for all three CDs, these are recordings
and music that I can genuinely endorse.
--
Michael Fine
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mfine
jp winter <win...@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:376bfec8...@news.xs4all.nl...
> Anyone here able to give me some info on American composer Charles
> Griffes (1884-1920)?