Alan Hovhaness — Where to begin?

[Zeus]

Here's an interesting question – which of Hovhaness' works sounds least like his typical sound? 

I think there are probably some Hovhaness outliers out there that are worth exploring.

Off the top of my head, two albums come to mind:

Hovhaness: Janabar, Talin, Shambala


Hovhaness: Ode to the Temple of Sound, etc


I'm curious to hear what relatively exotic works by Hovhaness people have heard.  Anything not recognizable?

By the way, the Shambala is a sitar concerto – that's fairly exotic instrumentation at least.

[vandermolen]

Here's an interesting question – which of Hovhaness' works sounds least like his typical sound? 

I think there are probably some Hovhaness outliers out there that are worth exploring.

Off the top of my head, two albums come to mind:

Hovhaness: Janabar, Talin, Shambala


Hovhaness: Ode to the Temple of Sound, etc


I'm curious to hear what relatively exotic works by Hovhaness people have heard.  Anything not recognizable?

By the way, the Shambala is a sitar concerto – that's fairly exotic instrumentation at least.

The ending of 'Meditation on Orpheus', presumably depicting the decapitation of Orpheus is uncharacteristically violent for Hovhaness (notwithstanding the musical depiction of the eruption of Mount St Helens in Symphony 50). Those are two of my favourite Hovhaness compositions.

[Mirror Image]

The ending of 'Meditation on Orpheus', presumably depicting the decapitation of Orpheus is uncharacteristically violent for Hovhaness (notwithstanding the musical depiction of the eruption of Mount St Helens in Symphony 50). Those are two of my favourite Hovhaness compositions.

Mine too, Jeffrey, although I do still love Symphony No. 2, "Mysterious Mountain".

[Zeus]

Nice ending! Thanks for the tip.

I'm gonna state for the record that AFAIK Shambala is his most unique composition.  It's quite long for one thing (45 minutes), and with the sitar there are moments when it almost, almost, doesn't sound like Hovhaness.

[vandermolen]

Here's an interesting question – which of Hovhaness' works sounds least like his typical sound? 

I think there are probably some Hovhaness outliers out there that are worth exploring.

Off the top of my head, two albums come to mind:

Hovhaness: Janabar, Talin, Shambala


Hovhaness: Ode to the Temple of Sound, etc


I'm curious to hear what relatively exotic works by Hovhaness people have heard.  Anything not recognizable?

By the way, the Shambala is a sitar concerto – that's fairly exotic instrumentation at least.

I think that Symphony 25 'Odysseus' is a rather 'spikier' work than some although it has characteristic moments and an affirmative sense of home-coming towards the end. It's companion Symphony 6 'Celestial Gate' is one I especially like and often play.

[asin]B000003J78[/asin]

[vandermolen]

A recommendation for Symphony 29 for Trombone and Band on this very appealing Hovhaness compilation. I'm sorry that the poetic and eloquent Meditation on Orpheus is missing as it originally was coupled with Omar Khayyam on an earlier Delos release utilising the same cover image of Michael York:

[Karl Henning]

A recommendation for Symphony 29 for Trombone and Band

That must be a nice piece.

[vandermolen]

Mine too, Jeffrey, although I do still love Symphony No. 2, "Mysterious Mountain".

Me too John, especially in Reiner's recording but others as well.

[vandermolen]

That must be a nice piece.

I thought of you Karl when I was listening to it and thought it would probably be your cup of tea (or glass of root beer  )
Certainly a very enjoyable piece.

[aukhawk]

Fra Angelico (the original LP sleeve)

[vandermolen]

Fra Angelico (the original LP sleeve)

Very nice. Symphony 11 'All Men are Brothers' is one of my favourites.

[SymphonicAddict]

It's always fascinating when finding videos of composers talking about their lifes or other topics. This is a short documentary cut in 3 parts (when YouTube only allowed videos of 10 minutes long, I guess) about Hovhaness. Needless to say it was very very interesting. Now I want to share it with you:

http://www.youtube.com/v/zt29-ZcFaEI

http://www.youtube.com/v/NWC5Nvw3dI8

http://www.youtube.com/v/hKYnIvy3P1E

[vandermolen]

It's always fascinating when finding videos of composers talking about their lifes or other topics. This is a short documentary cut in 3 parts (when YouTube only allowed videos of 10 minutes long, I guess) about Hovhaness. Needless to say it was very very interesting. Now I want to share it with you:

http://www.youtube.com/v/zt29-ZcFaEI

http://www.youtube.com/v/NWC5Nvw3dI8

http://www.youtube.com/v/hKYnIvy3P1E

Thank you Cesar for posting this. What a fascinating insight into Hovhaness's life and work. I'd never heard him talk before. He comes across as a very endearing and self-effacing man and I loved the story of his writing a score in a lorry drivers cafe with some difficulty. His wife Hinako seems equally charming and the seem very happy together. I'm inclined to agree with him that Symphony 50 'Mount St Helens' might be his finest symphony. I also liked the extract from Symphony 28, dedicated to his Armenian grandmother, which I'd never recalled hearing before. Also his comments on Stravinsky and Sibelius are of great interest as are his spiritual views. Really enjoyed watching this 

[Mirror Image]

It's always fascinating when finding videos of composers talking about their lifes or other topics. This is a short documentary cut in 3 parts (when YouTube only allowed videos of 10 minutes long, I guess) about Hovhaness. Needless to say it was very very interesting. Now I want to share it with you:

http://www.youtube.com/v/zt29-ZcFaEI

http://www.youtube.com/v/NWC5Nvw3dI8

http://www.youtube.com/v/hKYnIvy3P1E

For some odd reason, I'm not seeing any of these videos.

[André]

For some odd reason, I'm not seeing any of these videos.

They seem to work fine. Will listen to them later this week 

[schnittkease]

Here are the raw links, if that helps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt29-ZcFaEI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWC5Nvw3dI8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKYnIvy3P1E

[Roasted Swan]

I'm no Hovhaness expert or particular fan but I did enjoy "Mysterious Mountain" in this collection

[asin]B000003D2N[/asin]

[SymphonicAddict]

Hovhaness is the spiritual and esoteric hippie uncle of the family 

[kyjo]

Hovhaness is the spiritual and esoteric hippie uncle of the family 

No argument from me on that one!

[Karl Henning]

Hovhaness is the spiritual and esoteric hippie uncle of the family 

Of the best sort!