Legend in F Sharp Minor is a short solo piano piece that Charles Griffes wrote in two days of June 1915. On June 14th, he wrote in his diary, "Got some ideas for a 'Legend' in F# minor, which I sketched out this evening." Two days later, he wrote, "Finished up pretty well my 'Legend.'" As with many of Griffes songs and pieces, Legend was not first performed until much later—in May 1964. And it was finally published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1972. Unfortunately, for many years, this exemplary composer had been either forgotten or neglected by general society, and even musical society. The fact that the piece was finally played and published five decades after it was written is a boon for twentieth-century music.

Legend begins with a left-hand ostinato that is played off and on throughout the piece. The same melodic line begins the piece, and then repeats itself in the third section, since it is composed in ABA form. It is written in F sharp minor, but modulates to A major in the middle. Legend is somewhat of a sad, poignant waltz, since it is written in 3/4 time; but the middle section surprises by changing back and forth from 3/4 to duple meter, and also employs a whole-tone scale. The piece is less than three minutes long, but seems longer, especially since there is a blank pause two-thirds of the way through the music where it appears as if the piece is over, and then the piano quietly starts up again. Legend sounds wistful and nostalgic, and ends with the piano keys flying upward, but still softly.

In Legend, Griffes wrote a piece which is basically tonal, but flirts with whole-tone scales; is basically rhythmic, but employs places of relative freedom. Griffes, in the middle of his career, was switching back and forth between what he had been musically as a composer and what was to come. Legend is a beautiful, touching piece that, short as it is, deservedly belongs within the piano repertoire.

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