RUSSELL GIFFEN
Composer
It is my experience that in working with other musicians, artists and writers, the finest moments occur when true collaboration is taking place. That’s when you’ll find truth speaking to the heart. - R.
SELECTED WORKS
Recent Releases
THE VAMPYRE
The Vampyre is a theatrical work based upon the tale written by John William Polidori on a rainy weekend in 1816 at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva. This is not a scene by scene interpretation but impressions taken from phrases and ideas within the story that struck a certain color and contrast with me. A full original score.
MUSIC FOR THE BALLET
In Music for the Ballet, my purpose was to capture the graceful and the delicate. These pieces were meant to reach inside; to give one space to lay down the incessant noise and pace of daily life and drift in the dance of our nature; to move with the tides; to turn with the Sun and to curve under the fire of the winter Moon.
SORROWS OF A MAIDEN TOLD
Sorrows of a Maiden Told is based upon my love of the literary works of Thomas Hardy. It is a musical narrative moved by the incredibly descriptive scenes that run throughout Hardy's novels. The character of Annie in my story is a composite character I created who stands as the center point around which all the differing musical pieces revolve.
