American Classics - Griffes: Complete Piano Works Vol 2

Regular price $19.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
March 1, 2000
Format
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    Featuring
    • COMPOSER
      GRIFFES
    • PERFORMER
      Janice, Michael, Weber, Lewin
    Product Details
    • RELEASE DATE
      March 01, 2000
    • UPC
      636943904626
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8559046
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
    Works
    1. Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan, Op. 8

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    2. Preludes (3) for Piano

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    3. Piece for Piano in E major

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    4. Dance for Piano in A minor

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    5. Fantasy Pieces (3) for Piano, Op. 6

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    6. Piece for Piano in D minor

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    7. Piece for Piano in B flat major

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano)

    8. Hansel and Gretel Overture (Humperdinck) for 2 Pianos

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano), Janice Weber (Piano)

    9. Symphonische Phantasie for 2 Pianos

      Composer: Charles Tomlinson Griffes

      Performer: Michael Lewin (Piano), Janice Weber (Piano)


Charles Tomlinson Griffes only lived 35 years; his death in 1920 cut short one of the most promising careers in American music. During his short life span he created a collection of short, rhapsodic works that are full of color and romantic adventure. The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla-Khan is best known in its orchestrated version, expanded and altered somewhat from the original piano composition. It is a lush, lyrical, and dramatic work whose exotic melodies exude Middle-Eastern and Oriental influences. Of the other compositions, the Piece in D minor, from 1915, stands out. Elegant, impassioned impressionism reigns in this engaging work, and it certainly deserves wider recognition. Though the rest of the pieces on the CD are all worth hearing, the early transcription for two pianos of the Hansel and Gretel overture is most impressive. Griffes had gone to Europe to study with Humperdinck, and no doubt intended his masterful arrangement as a tribute. As performed here, it is one of the most charming duo-piano pieces in the repertoire. Michael Lewin plays the rest of the program with passion and precision, though his interpretations lack that last measure of urgency given by James Tocco on Gasparo. The latter, however did not record all of this music, so at the low Naxos price, no one should mind duplicating a few of these works. The recorded sound is exemplary, using 24-bit technology for the highest resolution. --Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com