Three Poems of Fiona MacLeod, Griffes

Charles Tomlinson Griffes began his musical studies as a young child by taking piano lessons from his older sister Katharine, only to then work with her teacher, Mary Selena Broughton. In 1903, Griffes made the move across the Atlantic to study at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, a pilgrimage many American composers made in the late Romantic Era to further their music education. 

Griffes was also well known for his interest in photography. 

Fiona MacLeod is the pseudonym for the Irish lyric poet, William Sharp. Sharp was a part of a notable group of writers during the nineteenth century including W.B. Yeats. Sharp’s poetry wasn’t receiving much attention, so he hatched up a scheme with his sister. After finishing a poem, Sharp would send the piece to his sister who would in turn copy the poem in her handwriting and then submit it under the name, Fiona MacLeod. The plot was successful as Yeats is recorded saying he preferred Fiona MacLeod’s writings to William Sharp’s. 

Griffes has combined an almost folk-style of singing with thick, rich orchestration in the piano.