Griffes, Charles Tomlinson
Griffes, Charles Tomlinson
Griffes, Charles Tomlinson, outstanding American composer; b. Elmira, N.Y., Sept. 17, 1884; d. N.Y., April 8, 1920. He began piano lessons at an early age with his sister; about 1899 he became a piano student of Mary Selena Broughton, an instructor at Elmira Coll. Thanks to Broughton’s financial assistance, Griffes was able to go to Berlin in 1903 to pursue his training at the Stern Cons, with Ernst Jedliczka and Gottfried Galston (piano), Philippe Rufer and Humperdinck (composition), and Max Lowengard and Klatte (counterpoint). After private composition lessons with Humperdinck (1905-06), he again studied piano with Galston (1906-07). Upon his return to the U.S. in 1907, he was made director of music at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y.Until about 1911 Griffes7 works followed along the path of German Romanticism. He then pursued his fascination with impressionism in a number of piano pieces and songs. His subsequent interest in the potentialities of the oriental scale resulted in such scores as his Japanese pantomime Sho-jo (1917) and the orch. version of his remarkable piano piece The PleasureDome ofKubla Khan (1917). In his last works, such as his Piano Sonata (1917-18), he revealed a strong individual style tending toward extreme dissonance.
Works
Dramatic: The Kairn of Koridwen, dance drama (1916; N.Y., Feb. 10, 1917); Sho-jo, Japanese pantomime (Atlantic City, N.J., Aug. 5, 1917); The White Peacock, ballet (N.Y, June 22, 1919; arrangement of the piano piece, 1915); Salut au monde, festival drama (1919; NY., April 22, 1922). ORCH .: Overture (c. 1905); Symphonische Phantasie (1907); The Pleasure-Dome ofKubla Khan (1917; Boston, Nov. 28, 1919; arrangement of the piano piece, 1912); Notturnofur Orchester (c. 1918; Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1919); Poem for Flute and Orch. (1918; N.Y, Nov. 16, 1919); Bacchanale (Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1919; arrangement of the Scherzo for Piano, 1913); Clouds (Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1919; arrangement of the piano piece, 1916); The White Peacock (Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1919; arrangement of the piano piece, 1915); Nocturne (1919; arrangement of the 2nd movement of the Piano Sonata, 1917-18). CHAMBER : Movement for String Quartet (1903); 3 Tone-Pictures: The Lake at Evening, The Vale of Dreams, and The Night Winds for Woodwind and Harp (1915; also for Wind Quintet, String Quintet, and Piano, 1919; arrangements of the piano pieces, 1910-12); Vivace (Allegro assai quasi presto) for String Quartet (1917); 2 Sketches Based on Indian Themes: Lento e mesto and Allegro giocoso for String Quartet (1918-19); Allegro energico ma maestoso for String Quartet (1919). P i a n o : 6 Variations (1898); Mazurka (1898-1900);4 Preludes (1899-1900); 5 sonatas (c. 1904; c. 1910; c. 1911; c. 1912; 1917-18, N.Y, Feb. 26, 1918, 2nd movement orchestrated as Nocturne, 1919); 3 Tone-Pictures (1910-12); (8) Fantasy Pieces (1912-15), including Scherzo (1913; orchestrated as Bacchanale, 1919); (4) Roman Sketches: The White Peacock (1915; orchestrated 1919), Nightfall (1916), The Fountain of the Acqua Paola (1916), and Clouds (1916; orchestrated 1919); 3 Preludes (1919). VOCAL :(3) Tone-Images (1912-14); 2 Rondels (c. 1914); 4 Impressions (1914-16); 3 Poems (1916); 5 Poems of Ancient China and Japan (1916-17; N.Y., Nov. 1, 1917); 2 Poems (1917-18); 3 Poems of Fiona MacLeod (1918; N.Y., March 22, 1919; orchestrated 1918; Wilmington, Del, March 24, 1919).
Bibliography
J. Howard, C.T. G. (N.Y., 1923); E. Maisel, C.T. G.: The Life of an American Composer (N.Y., 1943); G. Conrey, The Published Songs of C.T. G.: A Stylistic Examination (diss., Chicago Musical Coll., 1955); D. Boda, The Music of C. G. (diss., Fla. State Univ., 1962); H. Pratt, The Complete Piano Works of C.T. G. (diss., Boston Univ., 1975); D. Anderson, C.T. G.: An Annotated Bibliography-Discography (Detroit, 1977); idem, The Works of C.T. G.: A Descriptive Catalogue (Ann Arbor, 1984); idem, C.T. G.: A Life in Music (Washington, D.C., 1993).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire