The pastoral in Charles Griffes's music : aesthetic of ambivalence /

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Includes bibliographical references (pages 341-356) and index.Preface -- Part I : Preliminaries. Biography and style ; Philosophical prelude and interpretative method ; Pastoral and lament cues -- Part II : Commentaries and analyses. "The dreamy lake" and the unfolding tale of "The white peacock" ; The Pleasure-dome, paradox in Paradise ; Songs of lament and spiritual yearning ; "Tears" and "Symphony in yellow" ; Lake, Vale, and Bacchanale ; Prelude #3, irony goes Wilde ; Pastoral postlude."Charles Tomlinson Griffes was a visionary American composer who at the turn of the twentieth century synthesized highly diverse elements from other musical traditions into his own distinct artistic voice. As American as he was exotic, Griffes was an aesthetic polyglot, combining elements of literature, visual arts, exotic folk melodies, and contemporary European art music into a new musical language. The breadth of his sources of inspiration is breathtaking, including the sensual harmonies of fin-de-siècle French music, the British Aesthetic Movement, exotic folk music drawn from Arabia and Java as well as a wide range of poets including William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Sharp. The Pastoral in Charles Griffes's Music explores his music and the rich historical context from which it grew to enrich our understanding of the composer's artistic contribution and reveal new intersections and contradictions in European and American culture during the early twentieth century. Taylor A. Greer critiques the philosophical foundation of topic theory and its relationship to the pastoral in Griffes's music to reflect on the end of the nineteenth century and clarify these artistic influences. With Griffes's conception of the pastoral, he transformed the siciliana-based tradition he inherited from the eighteenth century into a new and vibrant genre that preserved the usual associations of simplicity and tranquility and introduced new elements of conflict to the pastoral ideal including exoticism, paradox, and occasionally aggression."--"At the turn of the century, visionary composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes synthesized highly diverse elements from other musical traditions into his distinct artistic voice. As American as he was far ranging in his interests, Griffes was an aesthetic polyglot, combining elements of literature, visual arts, global folk melodies, and contemporary European art music into a new musical language. The breadth of his sources of inspiration are breathtaking, including the sensual harmonies of fin-de-siècle French music, the British Aesthetic Movement, folk music drawn from the Middle East and Java, and a wide range of poets, including William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Sharp. The Pastoral in Charles Griffes's Music explores both his music and the rich historical context from which it grew to enrich our understanding of the composer's artistic contribution and reveal new intersections and contradictions in European and American culture during the early twentieth century. Taylor A. Greer also critiques the philosophical foundation of topic theory and its relationship to the pastoral in Griffes's music to reflect on the end of the nineteenth century and clarify our understanding of his artistic influences. With Griffes's conception of the pastoral, he transformed the siciliana-based tradition he inherited from the eighteenth century into a new and vibrant genre that preserved the usual associations of simplicity and tranquility and introduced new elements of tension into the pastoral ideal, including global voices, paradox, and occasional conflict."--