An American original who lived just long enough to leave an impression with the public, yet not long enough to establish himself as a master, Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) wrote almost everything we have of his music in less than fifteen years. In that extremely short time, he experimented with both German post-Romanticism and French impressionism, yet quickly discovered a rich style wholly his own. His “late” music, such as the Piano Sonata, The White Peacock, and The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan, shimmer with richly inventive colors and harmonies, and suggest the fantastic heights Griffes could have reached, had he not died prematurely of pneumonia at the Mozartian age of 35.

Play some of the samples below to hear Griffes at his best.
 
The Lake at Evening, for piano
Piano Sonata
A Winter Landscape, for piano
De Profundis, for piano
The Fountain of the Acqua Paola, for piano
The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan, for piano
The White Peacock, for orchestra
Poem, for flute and orchestra
Bacchanale, for orchestra
Clouds, for orchestra
The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan, for orchestra