# Where to start with Hovhaness?



## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

ARGH! As if I need to be spending any more money... Out of curiosity I was just listening to bits of Hovhaness on YouTube. The only thing I've heard if Hovhaness' (aside from bits and pieces in Carl Sagan's _Cosmos_) has been a *Sonata for Harp*. Other than that I really have no familiarity with him, sad to say.

I imagine a great place to start would be the symphonies. My question is which ones-- or any other pieces (orchestral or chamber) that might be a good place to start exploring?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

His most famous symphony is the second "Mysterious Mountain." Delos has a few double cd sets, at budget price (two for one). One of them includes this work, as well as other symphonies, tone poems and even a string quartet. One of my favourite works there is his _Symphony No. 50 Mount St. Helen's_ - a sonic picture of the eruption, the finale has these drum beats which sound quite Japanese. Quite spectacular, it'll give your hi-fi a real workout!

Naxos has about 5 seperate cd's out of Hovhaness' music. Two of them are symphonies for wind band. The other three are various symphonies and concertos, probably a good place to start as any. I have the one with _Symphony No. 22 "City of Light_," which has this amazing fugal ending, based on an American hymn. He loved using fugues as endings. This is a great symphony to have, as it is conducted by the composer. Also on the cd is the rare _Cello Concerto_ of 1936, one of the few works he saved from the trash bin (sadly, he destroyed most of his early works). This is a very lyrical work, in a slow-fast-slow format, with themes that hint at Oriental and Arabic influences. One of the other Naxos cd's has the _"Loon Lake" symphony_, a guitar concerto and a tone poem called _Fanfare for the new Atlantis_ (which has an amazing crescendo at the end, it conjures up images of the city rising from the waves). All works on that disc are world premiere recordings.

It may be surprising for some around here, but I really like Hovhaness. His music combines a rigorous sense of craftsmanship from the past, with an interest in C20th techniques & ideas (some of the tone poems on one of those Delos 2 cd sets sounds pretty close to Lutoslawski, using chance techniques and quite a bit of dissonance to boot). Because he was rather contemptuous of the "establishment," people in some quarters still dismiss his music as lightweight or lacking merit (perhaps his prolific output is a reason for this). But I think that, basically, he composed some very good music. Decades before the minimalists, he was writing non-goal oriented music, which was often centred on the power of nature. He was also interested in other cultures, and travelled widely (to Japan & Armenia in particular, the latter is where one of his parents came from). His music has a Romantic vision, but tempered by ancient techniques, both Western and non-Western. In short, he was quite an interesting composer...


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The most spectacular works I´ve heard are the "And God Created Great Whales" for orchestra and electronically recorded whale songs, the "Fra Angelico" orchestral poem, and the "St.Vartan Symphony". His music can be quite repetitive with not so much interesting stuff going on, but those pieces are varied and really ear-catching, I think. Also, the "Concerto for Orchestra No.7" is quite good and original.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

Earthling said:


> I imagine a great place to start would be the symphonies. My question is which ones


This Telarc CD comes highly recommended; read this:

*http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=6355*

I don't have that (not available in the UK), but I've got all five of the Naxos recordings that Andre mentioned. You can't go too far wrong with any of them, especially at the budget price, but personally I would opt for the Loon Lake and City of Light symphonies.


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

Fsharpmajor said:


> This Telarc CD comes highly recommended; read this:
> 
> *http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=6355*
> 
> I don't have that (not available in the UK), but I've got all five of the Naxos recordings that Andre mentioned. You can't go too far wrong with any of them, especially at the budget price, but personally I would opt for the Loon Lake and City of Light symphonies.


Sold! 

I will also put the Loon Lake and City of Light symphonies next on my list. Just listening to samples of all this sounds so intriguing!

I heard a snippet of the Mt. St. Helens symphony and it really sounds startling!


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

Oh to hell with it! -- grabbing the City of Light/Cello Concerto Naxos album as well! LOL I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot more of his stuff over the next several months...


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## Ian Elliott (Nov 15, 2010)

Mysterious Mountain, Fra Angelico. A lot more, but you'll have to explore. Lousadzak is regarded as a milestone. I may not be spelling it right.


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## schwartzy (Feb 2, 2010)

Well Earthling, looks like you may get to hear quite a bit more Hovhaness in 2011 as it is his centenary year! There is even a dedicated Alan Hovhaness Centennial web site beginning to list any centenary related information.

Not that many of our great American composers usually get their dues when their centennial comes around. I don't recall any real appreciation of William Shcuman in 2010, surely one of America's finest symphonists?


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## schwartzy (Feb 2, 2010)

Oops, I forgot to mention above my own Hovhaness favorites. You can't go wrong with the mysterious Fra Angelico or the grandeur of Symphonies No.4 and No.11. Given that he wrote so many symphonies, it's good that they are very different from each other. More so even than Shostakovich or Sibelius.

The Hovhaness website has a page of recommended Hovhaness recordings many of which are conducted by the composer.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Andre said:


> His most famous symphony is the second "Mysterious Mountain." Delos has a few double cd sets, at budget price (two for one). One of them includes this work, as well as other symphonies, tone poems and even a string quartet. One of my favourite works there is his _Symphony No. 50 Mount St. Helen's_ - a sonic picture of the eruption, the finale has these drum beats which sound quite Japanese. Quite spectacular, it'll give your hi-fi a real workout!.


The Naxos CD's are great as introduction, but Symphony 50 is by far my favourite Hovhaness composition. Totally awesome.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I know I will be considered out-of-step with many in this forum, but I have tried with Hovhaness, I really have. However, I can't see what all the fuss is about. I find his music colourful (admittedly), but meandering, lacking in invention, substance, technical mastery or a grasp of structure. The man's compositional ability was simply not equal to the vast the amount of music he produced, nor even to the scale of the individual compositions.

One to miss for me!


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

Delicious Manager said:


> I find his music colourful (admittedly), but meandering, lacking in invention, substance, technical mastery or a grasp of structure.


I know what you mean. His two guitar concertos certainly do strike me that way. I think with Hovhaness "grasp of structure" isn't really the point. The symphonies are really more like amorphous tone poems than symphonies. Really what I personally like about Hovhaness is his exotic sound.

He's my kid brother's favourite (along with Villa-Lobos, a composer I dare say could be accused of some of the same failings). I'll pass along your remarks and see if he can offer a more robust defence than I can.


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)




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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

That piece is reminiscent of Lou Harrison:


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## schwartzy (Feb 2, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> I know I will be considered out-of-step with many in this forum, but I have tried with Hovhaness, I really have. However, I can't see what all the fuss is about. I find his music colourful (admittedly), but meandering, lacking in invention, substance, technical mastery or a grasp of structure. The man's compositional ability was simply not equal to the vast the amount of music he produced, nor even to the scale of the individual compositions.
> 
> One to miss for me!


Well DM, some critics do indeed find later Hovhaness "meandering", but they do single out the earlier music as not being so. I can attest to that. Listen to Symphonies 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15 - they don't go on for 50 mins like the later stuff (often found on Naxos), have less "Hollywood soundstage" colour, and have tightly wrought musical argument.

After getting to know the earlier symphonies first, the later ones were a comparative disappointment. Perhaps not a composer who got better as he aged, but too important to neglect the early stuff.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

schwartzy said:


> Well DM, some critics do indeed find later Hovhaness "meandering", but they do single out the earlier music as not being so. I can attest to that. Listen to Symphonies 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15


Fair enough. I often blow my own trumpet about being open-minded and open-eared. I doubt I have heard all those early symphonies you mention. I shall go away and post again when I've done some listening. Thanks for the recommendation!


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

schwartzy said:


> Listen to Symphonies 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15 - they don't go on for 50 mins like the later stuff (often found on Naxos), have less "Hollywood soundstage" colour, and have tightly wrought musical argument.
> 
> After getting to know the earlier symphonies first, the later ones were a comparative disappointment. Perhaps not a composer who got better as he aged, but too important to neglect the early stuff.


OK, I tried, I really did. The Second Symphony _Mysterious Mountain_ was one of the first pieces by Hovhaness I heard and I'm afraid the rot set in almost immediately. I listened to what I could find online of the other symphonies you listed, but found the whole experience as tedious and uninspiring as ever, sorry to say. Hovhaness an important composer? I really think not. If he had never existed, I doubt music would have reflected any difference at all.

Thanks for trying to convert me, though.


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