A short list of great composers who died in their mid-thirties would include Bizet, Chopin, Gershwin, Mozart, Purcell, Schubert, Weber … and Charles Griffes.

Despite a short life, Griffes purchased his immortality by leaving a fair amount of music behind. His compositions stand out in early 20th-century American Art Music because of his French impressionist flavor (most composers at this time were modeling German styles), and his taste for the exotic scales and sounds(very much related to impressionism.)

His Poem for Flute and Orchestra is just beautiful; perhaps it is an homage to Debussy‘s Afternoon of a Faun. I think its success is due to 1) the use of the low register of the flute, which gives the piece a dark, mysterious color and 2) the aforementioned impressionist harmonies that keep us suspended over ever-changing tonal centers. What else is there to say?