Hovhaness recommendations please!

[Alan Howe]

Since I am not yet a convert, perhaps members could recommend three CDs of Hovhaness' music for me to start my investigation of this composers' output...

[BFerrell]

Magnificat, Mysterious Mountain, Mount St. Helen's Symphony. Great stuff!!

[DennisS]

In addition to symphony no 2 "Mysterious Mountain" and symphony no 50 "Mount St. Helens", I would also recommend Crystal Records CD811 "Hovhaness Treasures" : a cd of the composer's favourite works,  includes symphony no 31, Starry Night, Celestial Canticle and symphony no 49 "Christmas Symphony.

cheers
Dennis

[TerraEpon]

Mysterious Mountain is as obvious as it gets.
I too love the Mount St Helens symphony as well.
My favorite piece of his though is perhaps a short piece for trumpet and strings called "Prayer of St Gregory". It's just beautiful.

I do love a lot of music by the composer though. One simple start would be to get the two Hovhaness collections on Delos, each of which are two discs.
Supplement it with a couple of the Naxos releases, perhaps the two that have the guitar concerti, or the one with Symphony #4 (which also has #53 and the Prayer on the Delos collections, granted....)

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Aaaargghh, the brickbats start flying. But my advice, Alan, is to remain unconverted. We are, alas, on this earth for a short time and there are so many glorious things out there awaiting exploration to justify placing Hovhaness to one side. I'm not saying he is a 'bad' or 'inferior' composer, whatever those labels might mean. Only that there are so many others who are far more rewarding. I've tried with Hovhaness, but after umpteen symphonies that to my ears all sound pretty much the same and which time after time go through the same motions, I came to the conclusion that there isn't much to 'try at' since there's not much there of genuine musical substance.

There - I've had my say, and Hovhaness enthusiasts (all, in my experience, men with big hi fi systems) can shun me off the planet.

[BFerrell]

The three works I have mentioned will tell you if you should go any further. I love those three and a few of the strings only pieces, but am luke warm to the rest. The man wrote way too much! But, do give those a sample.

[Alan Howe]

OK, thanks! I get the picture and will report back in due course...

[suffolkcoastal]

I enjoy Hovhaness's music a lot, there are some impressive works like the 'Vishnu' Symphony as well as some rather weak works like the 'Christmas Symphony'. Generally the later symphonies are less interesting than the earlier ones (c pre No 25), with a few exceptions (Mount St Helens Symphony).

PS I am not a hi-fi enthusiast and don't own an impressive hi-fi system either!

[JimL]

I believe our departed (but not deceased!) friend Avrohom said it best on the old Raff Forum when he said (more or less) that the best work by Hovanhess was the one you just heard.

[mbhaub]

...after umpteen symphonies that to my ears all sound pretty much the same and which time after time go through the same motions, I came to the conclusion that there isn't much to 'try at' since there's not much there of genuine musical substance.

Agreed. Get Mysterious Mountain (Reiner/Chicago is as good as it will ever get) and you've heard all you need of Hovhannes. I can't stand Mt. St Helens. For all I know he was a very serious man, but his music is just so over blown, pretentious...a bunch of humbug. I'm sure that he has his fans. But why spend my time & money on this composer when there's still so much Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius and others that I haven't gotten to!

[Greg K]

I'd add Symphony No.6 "Celestial Gate" to the "short list" of previous recs, - but believe Reiner's
recording of Mysterious Mountain is all one really needs to gain a fair appreciation of this composer
(in agreement with mbhaub).

[semloh]

OK, thanks! I get the picture and will report back in due course...

Hovhaness has an amazing talent for creating atmospheres ranging from dark and dramatic (e.g. St Helens)through to delicate and beautiful (e.g. Harp Concerto), and I could make recommendations (I can't help but mention his Guitar Concerto) ...... but I'll wait for your report, Alan! 

[semloh]

...after umpteen symphonies that to my ears all sound pretty much the same and which time after time go through the same motions, I came to the conclusion that there isn't much to 'try at' since there's not much there of genuine musical substance.

Agreed. Get Mysterious Mountain (Reiner/Chicago is as good as it will ever get) and you've heard all you need of Hovhannes. I can't stand Mt. St Helens. For all I know he was a very serious man, but his music is just so over blown, pretentious...a bunch of humbug. I'm sure that he has his fans. But why spend my time & money on this composer when there's still so much Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius and others that I haven't gotten to!

Hovhaness has a very distinctive sound, but the sheer variety of musical genres in his opus list calls into question the claim that once you've heard Mysterious Mountain "you've heard all you need of Hovhaness".  A single symphony can hardly represent the rest of his symphonies, his choral works, concertos, and chamber music and so on - which you apparently think are not worth listening to.

I am a lifelong "Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius" fan, but we are talking here about Unsung Composers, and among these Hovhaness is a significant figure who deserves to be remembered for more than a single symphony from an output amounting to over 400 very diverse compositions.

[Dundonnell]

I have been out all evening and therefore unable to reply until now.

I would concur with a lot of what has already been said I find Hovhaness a very strange composer to assess or rate. Clearly he was fanatical about/obsessed with the history, traditions, religion of Armenia (his father's 'country') and the sad fate of the Armenians in the early 20th century meant so much to him that the understandable desire to celebrate those traditions underpins so much of his music. So too, of course, in later life, did the musical traditions he imbibed from Japan, Korea, and India. It is often easy to mock the spiritual convictions which Hovhaness espoused but I have no reason to doubt the man's sincerity.

Whether this makes, however, for "good music" is another matter. At the last count I had 27 of Hovhaness's 67 symphonies on disc. And, frankly, trying to differentiate between them is not at all easy. There is, as has been said, an essential 'sameness' about so many of his compositions. "Heard one, heard'em all" may be somewhat unfair but there is more than a grain of truth in the assertion.

At the same time, I must confess that to sit back, late at night, and bathe in the warm glow of the Hovhaness string sound and those grand brass chorales is definitely a pleasurable experience. The issue is that I could pluck blindfold any Hovhaness cd off my shelves and be guaranteed to get that effect.

There is certainly a case to be made for the Symphony No.2 "Mysterious Mountain" (the most recorded Hovhaness symphony) and the spectacular eruptions of Symphony No.50 "Mount St. Helens or indeed most of those already mentioned. Were I in your position, looking to dip my toes into the warm bath which is the Hovhaness sound world  , I would go for the cheapest option and try the three Naxos cds-Symphony No.22 "City of Light"/Cello Concerto; Symphony No.60 "To the Appalachian Mountains"/Guitar Concerto No.1; Symphony No.63 "Loon Lake"/Guitar Concerto No.2....but that would give you two guitar concertos (which may not be to your taste) and two of the later symphonies (which, as has been correctly stated, are not perhaps quite as effective as some of the earlier ones).

Sorry, that probably wasn't much help

[Dundonnell]

OK, thanks! I get the picture and will report back in due course...

Hovhaness has an amazing talent for creating atmospheres ranging from dark and dramatic (e.g. St Helens)through to delicate and beautiful (e.g. Harp Concerto), and I could make recommendations (I can't help but mention his Guitar Concerto) ...... but I'll wait for your report, Alan! 

Sorry, Colin.....the "Harp Concerto"

I don't seem to have it in my recently posted catalogue   Does it go by another name