Charles Griffes

American Classical Composer and Pianist

Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884–1920) was an American composer who played a significant role in the development of early 20th-century American classical music. He is not known for producing albums, as his career predated the album era, but rather for his compositions which often blended impressionist and romantic elements. Griffes' most famous works include "The White Peacock," part of his piano suite "Roman Sketches," and the tone poem "The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan," based on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His style evolved over his short career, showing influences from French impressionism and exoticism, to eventually incorporating modernist elements. Unfortunately, Griffes' life was cut short by influenza at the age of 35, but despite his brief career, he left a lasting impact on American classical music with his distinctive compositional voice. The albums mentioned do not correspond to his body of work as he did not produce albums in the contemporary sense; recordings of his compositions would have been made posthumously.