Five favourite works by Howard Hanson (one symphony allowed)

[PerfectWagnerite]

I have it conducted by Schwarz (and the CD also contains the wonderful Oboe Pastorale):




Sarge

No kidding ! I have that recording - as well as all the other ones in the series.  I don't even remember it since Schwarz is such a big bore !

The cover art doesn't even say the Serenade or the Pastorale if you can believe it. Maybe because they are not performed by the Seattle SO....very strange. If they just make the font smaller they could have fit all the titles in like this:

[Ghost Sonata]

I know that he had some run ins with David Diamond...

Some of that - though not all - was homophobia, plain and ugly. Now both composers are united in need of greater love and appreciation!  (Barry Paris (author of bios on Garbo, Hepburn, Louise Brooks, et al) is at work on one about David Diamond I'm looking forward to).

[vandermolen]

Some of that - though not all - was homophobia, plain and ugly. Now both composers are united in need of greater love and appreciation!  (Barry Paris (author of bios on Garbo, Hepburn, Louise Brooks, et al) is at work on one about David Diamond I'm looking forward to).

Well, that doesn't reflect very well on HH. I'd love to read a biography of Diamond whose music I greatly enjoy.

[Heck148]

I believe Hanson is the victim of a kind of double whammy : his bad rep as the tyrannical administrator of the Eastman School and the composer of the "saccharine" Romantic Symphony, for better or worse his most programmed work (at least on radio).

The "Romantic" Sym #2, of Hanson is his best known, but not his best. both Syms 1 & 3 surpass it, IMO...structurally tighter...better organized...Romantic can be a bit episodic. I played this piece at Eastman, with Hanson conducting...it certainly has its striking moments for sure...but for me, the flow is better in #3, a fine work, and #1 also.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The "Romantic" Sym #2, of Hanson is his best known, but not his best. both Syms 1 & 3 surpass it, IMO...structurally tighter...better organized...Romantic can be a bit episodic. I played this piece at Eastman, with Hanson conducting...it certainly has its striking moments for sure...but for me, the flow is better in #3, a fine work, and #1 also.

I agree - both the "Nordic" and #3 are superior. I'm a bit puzzled by their neglect, as I think both would go down well with an audience that likes Sibelius and other Nordic composers. (I think of Hanson as basically the American version of Atterberg.) #2 is OK, but as some have mentioned, too "Hollywoody."

The 6th Symphony is an intriguing work - mainstream modernist in sound, innovative in structure. I have it on an old LP by some NY-area suburban orchestra. I suspect there's a great recording of it just waiting to be made. I haven't heard Schwarz's later version, so I can't compare them.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I agree - both the "Nordic" and #3 are superior. I'm a bit puzzled by their neglect,

Ugh, I do not think the Nordic suffers from neglect at all. It is a very popular work, just as popular as the Romantic.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Ugh, I do not think the Nordic suffers from neglect at all. It is a very popular work, just as popular as the Romantic.

I don't think any Hanson symphony is popular nowadays. The "Romantic" used to be, but performances seem to be few and far between now. I can't recall ever seeing the "Nordic" on any concert program.

[Ghost Sonata]

The "Romantic" Sym #2, of Hanson is his best known, but not his best. both Syms 1 & 3 surpass it, IMO...structurally tighter...better organized...Romantic can be a bit episodic. I played this piece at Eastman, with Hanson conducting...it certainly has its striking moments for sure...but for me, the flow is better in #3, a fine work, and #1 also.

I think you are right, Heck - except that mon coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point. Also, episodic is arguably part and parcel of Romantic music, literature and painting...hence the title.  Do you have any anecdotes or memories of HH you could share, fond or otherwise?

[PerfectWagnerite]

I don't think any Hanson symphony is popular nowadays. The "Romantic" used to be, but performances seem to be few and far between now. I can't recall ever seeing the "Nordic" on any concert program.

American composers whose works don't sound particularly "American" whatever that means are going to have a hard time. This includes Chadwick, J.K. Paine, G.T. Strong etc..

[Karl Henning]

I don't think any Hanson symphony is popular nowadays. The "Romantic" used to be, but performances seem to be few and far between now. I can't recall ever seeing the "Nordic" on any concert program.

I think your assessment of the present situation, is fair.

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[Karl Henning]

American composers whose works don't sound particularly "American" whatever that means are going to have a hard time. This includes Chadwick, J.K. Paine, G.T. Strong etc..

Well, I think that in the case of Chadwick and Paine (I am drawing a blank viz. Strong), there are not many conductors who feel that their work reaches the level of quite a number of other under-represented American composers.

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[Heck148]

Do you have any anecdotes or memories of HH you could share, fond or otherwise?

I remember that Hanson was quite definite about what he wanted..his stick technique was not to precise, but once you saw how it worked, it wasn't too difficult to follow him...He liked lots of sound - in fact he 2bled the brass for the Romantic...but he also wanted the soft end of the dynamics as well...the famous 2nd mvt theme was played very quietly, with the flutes carrying the well known melody...it is quite heavily scored, so it is up to the conductor to quiet the ensemble to allow the flutes to sound the melody, dolce, softly, gently...Hanson also liked to have the inner rhythmic parts played out, with accents placed accordingly - ie - the bassoon/cello 8th note figures in the finale [prior to the brass fanfares] - this is straight 8th notes in 4/4 time - but the rhythm pattern is 3 against 4:  >--> / -->- / ->-- / >--> / -->- / ,3,, o. Hanson wanted those cross-rhythm accents punched out with gusto.

Interestingly enough, I performed this symphony with two other orchestras during my professional career - with the first orchestra, the conductor was delighted that one of his musicians had performed the work with the composer, and we talked quite a bit about how Hanson conducted it...at pre-concert talks, this conductor most enthusiastically told his concert-going audiences that an orchestra member had played the Romantic with Hanson. It was a good performance and the orchestra acquitted itself well.
with orchestra #2 - different scene entirely - conductor was a fat-assed phony, very insecure, and it somehow rankled him terribly that one of his musicians actually had experience far beyond his own meager  musical endeavors...he never once asked me about it, nor did he ever mention anything about it in his pre-concert talks....it was very strange indeed....needless to say, that performance was considerably short of an acceptable goal of performance...this guy was quite clueless...and obviously wished to remain so...

[Heck148]

I have it conducted by Schwarz (and the CD also contains the wonderful Oboe Pastorale):

Schwarz/Seattle give a fine performance of "Merrymount" Suite. it is different but equal to Hanson's recording with Eastman-Rochester...

[Heck148]

I agree - both the "Nordic" and #3 are superior. I'm a bit puzzled by their neglect, as I think both would go down well with an audience that likes Sibelius and other Nordic composers. (I think of Hanson as basically the American version of Atterberg.)

I subconsciously classify Sibelius, Nielsen and Hanson together, as "Scandinavian" School..Hanson is obviously American - but his sonorities, the big tunes, the big brassy, craggy climaxes are reminiscent of Sibelius and Nielsen, at least for me.

[vandermolen]

I remember that Hanson was quite definite about what he wanted..his stick technique was not to precise, but once you saw how it worked, it wasn't too difficult to follow him...He liked lots of sound - in fact he 2bled the brass for the Romantic...but he also wanted the soft end of the dynamics as well...the famous 2nd mvt theme was played very quietly, with the flutes carrying the well known melody...it is quite heavily scored, so it is up to the conductor to quiet the ensemble to allow the flutes to sound the melody, dolce, softly, gently...Hanson also liked to have the inner rhythmic parts played out, with accents placed accordingly - ie - the bassoon/cello 8th note figures in the finale [prior to the brass fanfares] - this is straight 8th notes in 4/4 time - but the rhythm pattern is 3 against 4:  >--> / -->- / ->-- / >--> / -->- / ,3,, o. Hanson wanted those cross-rhythm accents punched out with gusto.

Interestingly enough, I performed this symphony with two other orchestras during my professional career - with the first orchestra, the conductor was delighted that one of his musicians had performed the work with the composer, and we talked quite a bit about how Hanson conducted it...at pre-concert talks, this conductor most enthusiastically told his concert-going audiences that an orchestra member had played the Romantic with Hanson. It was a good performance and the orchestra acquitted itself well.
with orchestra #2 - different scene entirely - conductor was a fat-assed phony, very insecure, and it somehow rankled him terribly that one of his musicians actually had experience far beyond his own meager  musical endeavors...he never once asked me about it, nor did he ever mention anything about it in his pre-concert talks....it was very strange indeed....needless to say, that performance was considerably short of an acceptable goal of performance...this guy was quite clueless...and obviously wished to remain so...

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this with us.  I also agree with your categorisation of Hanson with the 'Scandinavian school' with the post above this one. Many British and American composers of that period were influenced by the great Finn including Vaughan Williams (Symphony 5) and Roy Harris (Symphony 3/7) as examples perhaps.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this with us.  I also agree with your categorisation of Hanson with the 'Scandinavian school' with the post above this one. Many British and American composers of that period were influenced by the great Finn including Vaughan Williams (Symphony 5) and Roy Harris (Symphony 3/7) as examples perhaps.

That's partially the reason HH has sort of fallen out of fashion. It is not cool to be of Scandanavian school when you are American. The same goes for J. K. Paine. Edward McDowell etc. who really weren't much of pioneers in creating the so-called "American" sound.

[Ghost Sonata]

I remember that Hanson was quite definite about what he wanted...

Thank you, Heck, for your fascinating and informative recollection!! Among his influences, don't forget Respighi, with whom he studied orchestration.

[Heck148]

Thank you, Heck, for your fascinating and informative recollection!! Among his influences, don't forget Respighi, with whom he studied orchestration.

Yes, Hanson is quite a good orchestrator, IMO - he makes good use of the colors available - again, to me, the sound is similar to Sibelius and Nielsen. Gawd, he wanted it plenty loud, too!!

Another composer that visited us was Khatchaturian - we did several programs of his works, all the chestnuts, plus Sym #2...
Now - he wanted volume - tons of it!!  he asked for all the winds and brass to be 2bled, and string sections increased..
of course, we soon learned that his hearing was failing, he was having trouble hearing the music...and....he had just come from a visit to Chicago, where there was some sort of Khatchaturian Festival, complete with concerts and recordings by the CSO....
his decreased hearing capacity had no doubt been adequately filled by the thunderously loud capabilities of the CSO...We had plenty of great players at school, and we could pump out alot of sound...but not in that league!! 

[vandermolen]

Yes, Hanson is quite a good orchestrator, IMO - he makes good use of the colors available - again, to me, the sound is similar to Sibelius and Nielsen. Gawd, he wanted it plenty loud, too!!

Another composer that visited us was Khatchaturian - we did several programs of his works, all the chestnuts, plus Sym #2...
Now - he wanted volume - tons of it!!  he asked for all the winds and brass to be 2bled, and string sections increased..
of course, we soon learned that his hearing was failing, he was having trouble hearing the music...and....he had just come from a visit to Chicago, where there was some sort of Khatchaturian Festival, complete with concerts and recordings by the CSO....
his decreased hearing capacity had no doubt been adequately filled by the thunderously loud capabilities of the CSO...We had plenty of great players at school, and we could pump out alot of sound...but not in that league!! 

Very interesting anecdotes. Thanks for sharing. I like Khachaturian's music as well.

[kyjo]

I love Hanson's music Going by the adjusted rule of two symphonies allowed, here's my list:

Symphony no. 2 "Romantic"
Symphony no. 3
Piano Concerto
Merry Mount Suite
Mosaics