Charles T. Griffes: A Life in Music

Anderson, a professor of music history at the State University of New York, here covers the life of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) in exhaustive detail. She follows his musical training in Elmira, N.Y., and his study of piano and composition in Berlin. He became music director at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y., while participating in the early-20th-century musical life of New York City. Anderson also examines his personal life and his homosexuality. While some sections, e.g., historical surveys of Tarrytown and the Hackley School, seem unnecessary, chapters about Griffes's music and reputation illuminate his move from reliance on romantic and impressionistic devices to the development of an individual and complex artistic language. Included are a discography and lists of Griffes's works arranged both chronologically and by medium. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Mar.)