| Summary: | 碩士 === 東吳大學 === 音樂學系 === 100 === As an American composer, Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920), although passing away at an age of 36, possessed independent, mature and all-embracing styles
in his compositions. His works are combined with the traditional cultures of American music and strict training in composing from Germany, his influence by French
Impressionists, his yearning for Oriental music and his preference for a highsensitivity to both nature and literature, all of which lead to a great diversity in
Griffes’s compositions and hence his status in contemporary American music.
This thesis focuses on Griffes’s Piano Sonata, written between 1917 and 1918 and revised in 1919. In opposition to Griffes’s previous musical Impressionism, not only is this work filled with dissonant tones, but is also presented in the form of absolute music, free from any illustrations and descriptive themes. Moreover,
Griffes’s works for piano had been mostly in single movements and short pieces, while this one was written in longer pieces, having an approximately 15-minute
length of performance. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to investigate what caused such a great variation in the length and style of Griffes’s compositions.
In this thesis, based on the book by Donna K. Anderson, Charles T. Griffes: A Life in Music, the author separates Griffes’s life into three periods and introduces in detail their backgrounds, and summarizes the progression of Griffes’s composing style throughout these periods in Section 2. Chapter 3 describes the writing of Piano Sonata and comments from contemporary musicians, and analyzes this song according to its structure and application of melodies in the following chapter. Finally, Chapter 5, in combination with the analysis in the last chapter as a basis, provides a good interpretation for Griffes’s change in his composing style reflected by Piano Sonata.
Program:
J.S.Bach: Partita No. 4, BWV 828
L.v. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110
J. Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 9
R. Muczynski: Toccata, Op. 15
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