Charles Tomlinson Griffes — The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan | Live Performance

Описание: Charles Tomlinson Griffes — The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan (1912-1915)
Performed by Ampai Buranaprapuk (อำไพ บูรณประพฤกษ์) on 10 November 2004.

Griffes was born in Elmira, New York. He was sent to study music in Germany between 1903 and 1907. His works during his life in Germany and for a few years after his return to the USA were strongly influenced by German Romanticism. However, he began to experiment with new techniques and was interested in Oriental material. The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan is one of his “Oriental” works, which he began in 1912. He worked on the piece, changing it again and again, as he often mentioned in his diary. The piano version of this work was probably finished in 1915. Later, between 1916 and 1917, he revised the piece into an orchestral version. The inspiration for Griffes to write this music was the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which describes the stately pleasure-dome: “the sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice,” “the miracle of rare device.” He named the work The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan rather than Kubla Khan in order to liberate his imagination in the description of this strange palace.

The exposition and recapitulation of sonata form are found in this work, while in the middle, new ideas are presented and extended using variation techniques. The new materials are, perhaps, like an adventure in the palace — unexpected things that happen during the journey.

Program notes written by Ampai Buranaprapuk for the 2004 recital.