Pros: Some of these are really gorgeous to listen to.
Cons: It takes a while to get used to Hovhaness' music. Be patient.
The Bottom Line: A very unusual selection of Alan Hovhaness's compositions. While not the best that I've heard, certainly one of the more unusual ones out there.
telynor's Full Review: Hovhaness: The Rubaiyat / York, Schwarz, Seattle S...
For some years now I've been exploring the works of Alan Hovhaness (full name: Alan Hovhaness Chakmakjian), an American composer of Armenian descent who sadly, passed away in 2000. He produced a tremendous body of work, including sixty symphonies, concerti, and individual works. All of them have touches of the exotic, but unlike most classical music composed in the twentieth century, these tend to lack the dissonance and raucous tones that I tend to find unpleasant.
In this diverse collection, a wide selection of Hovhaness' styles are put together, giving if not cohesive, then a wide variety to introduce the listener to.
Symphony No. 29 For Trombone and Band, Op. 289
Soloist Christian Lindberg joins Keith Brion and the Ohio State University Band for this very unique symphony. Trombone? I thought, yeah, right. A trombone soloist. And then I winced, thinking that this was going to be lousy. Let's just say that I was really surprised by the time that the symphony came to an end.
Andante religioso
I do like this section. The trombone, with backup from everyone else, creates a solid, rather sweeping base to build the rest of the symphony from. While it is rather stately in measure, it does move quite nicely along, and as I was listening to it, I could very easy see mountains in the distance.
Adagio espressivo
It starts off rather faint, with the trombone overpowering the woodwinds -- especially the flute -- quite a bit. Sadly, this particular section left me cold, it was so distant and leaden that it was rather difficult to pay attention, much less actually listen to.
Lento - Allegro moderato - Presto
Here the trombone virtuosity takes off in long warbles, ably backed up by some really good percussion. There's a long repetitive motif that really soars, and with the addition of gongs and the percussion, does get to be very flamboyant. I like it, and it more than makes up for the previous section.
Finale: Maestoso
Here the trumpets sound, and I kept thinking of some sort of majestic medieval coronation, bells and all, there at the begining. It slows down a little at the middle, but soon picks up again, and as through the symphony, the brass section gets to have a real workout. All in all, this symphony works for me.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Op. 282 (1975)
Veteran British actor Michael York reads some of this lovely Arabic poems to the joys of longing and love. Providing breaks, and sometimes giving a background to the spoken words, is Diane Schmidt soloing on the accordion, with Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony. I never thought of the accordion as really being an instrument that's listenable (save for perhaps, some Argentine tango music) but once again, I had my preconceptions broken up. The music here is sensual and very mid-eastern in style. While I don't much care for listening to York's recital -- it's a bit over the top and too plummy to listen to -- the musical portions more than make up for it. And when it comes to interpeting Hovhaness, Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony are still the best -- must be all those gorgeous mountains nearby.
Prayer of St. Gregory
Here Charlies Butler is the trumpet soloist, and once again Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony. From the liner notes I learnt that St. Gregory the Illuminator helped to bring Christianity to Armenia. This is a very simple, very beautiful piece, the trumpet's notes piercing the strings as they rise ever higher.
Celestial Fantasy
Again it's Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony here. Again the music is mystical as before, and there is such an ache and longing to the piece. The entire piece has a very mid-eastern feel, and the strings have this low, throbbing intensity to them that slowly build ever higher through the composition.
Magnificat, Op 157 - part XII, Gloria Patri
I'm not much of one for either choral music, nor for ecclesiastical music at all, so I was prepared not to be very interested in this one at all. It's not very long at all, but once it gets rolling, it just soars and soars, backed up by the St. John's Episcopal Choir, along with their Boys and Girls Choir, and the Festival Orchestra. Donald Pearson, who also solos on the organ, is the conductor.
Bagatelles, Op. 30
These are four small pieces, performed by the Shanghai String Quartet. Each one is just a few minutes long, and very simple in style, and just sparkle brightly. So it fits the term of what a bagatelle is perfectly.
One thing that I really enjoyed with this collection was that the liner notes are very complete and thorough. A mini-biography of Alan Hovhaness is given, and thoughts and ideas about the various compositions and soloists are included as well. Namely, this is exactly what I want in the liner notes of any music, something that is going to help me understand what the music is about.
While it did take me some time to get used to this collection, a few listen-throughs had me nicely settled in and really enjoying the musical landscape that Hovhaness has created. Yes, Hovhaness isn't for everyone, but for some, he's just right. This will probably never be my favourite composition -- that still belongs to his Mount St. Helens Symphony -- but this one is still better than most.
Four stars overall, recommended.
Hovhaness Collection -- Trombone Symphony, The Rubaiyat
Various
2005; Delos International, Ltd.
DE 3352
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