Howard Hanson (1896-1981)

[vandermolen]

Forgot to mention that the Naxos CD above also includes the very fine 'Dies Natalis' showing Hanson's affection for Lutheran chorales. It's a great work, a little in the spirit of 'Lament for Beowulf' but not choral. 'Dies Natalis' was not included in the Delos boxed set but was issued on a separate single CD with other shorter orchestral works.

[jowcol]

. I increasingly think that Symphony No 4 'Requiem' is the finest, certainly most moving, of the symphonies. 

I would have to agree-- after getting the entire cycle,  I find myself listening to the 4th more than the others combined.  I should probably devote more time to the 5th and 6th.

[snyprrr]

Naxos are reissuing the old Delos/Schwarz cycle. This is a particularly fine release. I increasingly think that Symphony No 4 'Requiem' is the finest, certainly most moving, of the symphonies.  The Elegy for Koussevitsky (also on the CD below but not mentioned on the cover) is also a very powerful and deeply felt tribute (Koussevitsky's recording of Hanson's Third Symphony is as much revelation IMHO as Beecham's recording of Sibelius's 4th Symphony).
[asin]B005YD11NS[/asin]

I HATE HANSON!!

Now that I have your attention: surely I heard the 'Romantic' from the library (maybe they had a second Delos also) waaay back in the day, but I believe I totally dismissed him.

I currently have the String Quartet (VoxBox) and the 6th Symphony & Piano Concerto (on some budget label). I popped on the 6th, ready to dismiss, and was heartened by the darker opening. I still didn't go too much farther. I also seem to have no interest in checking him out on YT. My prejudice is that he's just plain boring to these ears, so, I have trouble even wanting to try.

QUESTION: Is there a single piece, even a single Movement, that may redeem Hanson for me?

[cilgwyn]

Forgot to mention that the Naxos CD above also includes the very fine 'Dies Natalis' showing Hanson's affection for Lutheran chorales. It's a great work, a little in the spirit of 'Lament for Beowulf' but not choral. 'Dies Natalis' was not included in the Delos boxed set but was issued on a separate single CD with other shorter orchestral works.

I LOVE HIS MUSIC!

Quite frankly,either you like his music or you don't! If you don't even like No 6 snyprrr I don't think you're going to find anything else by Hanson that won't bore you out of your head!

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I HATE HANSON!!

Now that I have your attention: surely I heard the 'Romantic' from the library (maybe they had a second Delos also) waaay back in the day, but I believe I totally dismissed him.

I recently listened to the "Romantic" for the first time in ages and was rather pleasantly surprised. He's basically an American version of Atterberg or Franz Schmidt: a 20th century composer who writes as though the 20th century never happened. There's a certain integrity to that.

[snyprrr]

I recently listened to the "Romantic" for the first time in ages and was rather pleasantly surprised. He's basically an American version of Atterberg or Franz Schmidt: a 20th century composer who writes as though the 20th century never happened. There's a certain integrity to that.

I LOVE HIS MUSIC!

Quite frankly,either you like his music or you don't! If you don't even like No 6 snyprrr I don't think you're going to find anything else by Hanson that won't bore you out of your head!

So, is the 6th the way to go? I said that it showed promise for me. I'll make a concerted effort here.

[snyprrr]

I'm into the String Quartet Op.23. He certainly sounds a bit Nordic/Teutonic, a slight bit of Sibelius. Even though there is certainly a generous amount of melody, I'm just missing the last ounce of visionary angst/repose. Perhaps I'd like Myaskovsky more if he sounded just a tad more like this (not 'developing' all the time). Still, I'd like this Hanson more if it had some of that Myaskovskian nostalgia,... even though, here, Hanson has his own brand of 'long-ago-and-far-away' (it's a bit removed,... perhaps the recording (VoxBox) could use an operatic acoustic?). I'd like to hear another recording (though, this one is really very good).

Perhaps one could compare this with Randall Thompson's(sic?) 2 SQs?

[Karl Henning]

At the outset, I realize that the impression is nothing like lasting justice for the composer;  but it's my experience, and I cannot separate myself from it.  In a community band, we rehearsed a transcription of some movement or other from a Hanson symphony, and it was quite the least interesting piece of music I ever remember playing, in my life.

My question, then, for the assembled brethren is: suppose a fellow may not be inclined to enthusiasm for Hanson's music overall. Is there some single work which is somehow atypical, and yet a good work, which you would recommend to such a listener.

Not me; I have a friend . . . .

TIA

[vandermolen]

I'd try Dies Natalis or the Elegy for Koussevitsky.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, Jeffrey! I see that there was a Schwarz/Seattle recording of the Dies natalis (with, strange coincidence, Jas Earl Jones reciting Whitman's The Mystic Trumpeter, a text I am in the midst of setting, myself), but I don't find it currently available.

[vandermolen]

Thanks, Jeffrey! I see that there was a Schwarz/Seattle recording of the Dies natalis (with, strange coincidence, Jas Earl Jones reciting Whitman's The Mystic Trumpeter, a text I am in the midst of setting, myself), but I don't find it currently available.

Hi Karl,

I'd be inclined to get this CD. Although it doesn't mention the works on the CD cover the disc includes both 'Dies Natalis' and 'Elegy for Koussevitsky'. If someone wanted just one Hanson CD in their collection I feel that this would be as good as any.
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[Karl Henning]

Thanks for pointing that out, Jeffrey! By a curious chance, I bookmarked that CD out of curiosity in the symphonies.

[Karl Henning]

Must say that the sound samples have whetted my appetite, and this CD is high on my wish list queue.

[snyprrr]

I'd try Dies Natalis or the Elegy for Koussevitsky.

Symphony No.6: though very conservative, sounding Pastoral-Nordic, Hanson's concision wins the day for me. It's short and varied.

Symphony No.5 'Sacra': listening now. I'm enjoying the 'Perry Mason/ early Hitchcock' feel of this one. It's only 15mins. long?

Perhaps I was comparing Hanson to Shosty, in the excitement category, and so, naturally, Hanson lost out, back in the day. It's fine, he can be conservative for all I care. I'm liking No.5.

[Karl Henning]

Perhaps I was comparing Hanson to Shosty, in the excitement category, and so, naturally, Hanson lost out, back in the day.

This, I can understand completely; and I've reached a point, too, where my ears can take Hanson on his own terms.

GMG has fulfilled its mission yet again . . . .

[vandermolen]

I also like his Organ Concerto. There is a warmth about Hanson's music which I find both unique and appealing, despite the relative conservatism of the idiom.

[mszczuj]

I was listening to some Hanson works last month and found this music boringly beautiful. I cheked what exactly track was played in the moment only once. And yes, it was Elegy for Koussevitsky.

[snyprrr]

I was listening to some Hanson works last month and found this music boringly baeutiful. I cheked what exactly track was played in the moment only once. And yes, it was Elegy for Koussevitsky.

Ahh,... between boredom and bombast lies Perfection!

It's amazing how so many mid-century Composers excelled in writing that 'Anonymous Grey Music' that always sounds 'cool' but is hardly ever 'memorable' (because of its 'grayness'). Furtwangler, Pijper, perhaps some Malipiero, and others elevated the mundane to High Drama,... take me loose, I'm speaking broadly,...

but I l can like this stuff,... and yes, that's what I hear in Hanson. I also hear in in the Myaskovsky-Without-the-Big-Tune. One ALWAYS needs a minor-second to hold on to,... doesn't one?, haha!


QUESTION:

What's the most 'Nordic' American Symphony? And, if you said Piston No.2, do you think Piston's evocation of Sibelian seriousness is greater than all of Hanson,... or?,... I'm saying I think Piston has 'Melody' hands down when compared with Hanson (as, all others who's Melodies are not as 'anonymous'). Does Hanson have a 'motto'? (remember, Denisov has a very 'Grey' motto)

Hanson sounds like what I may have hoped Rangstrom or some of the other CPO Scandanavian(sic) Symphonists, but, that's only saying they all sound like 20th-Century-Brahms, which, sorry, even Myaskovsky leaves me mostly wanting.

That brings us to the Topic of 'Nostalgia' in Music during the Period in which the Musical Language developed its Modern-Psychological-Profile (Schoenberg=Angry/Myaskovsky=Nostalgic/Hindemith=Businesslike/Finzi=Yearning). The Language-of-Nostalgia matured in the 20th Century.

Don't we all begin to cringe when the Music becomes just a shade too OverRipe? That Mystical Point Just BEFORE Manipulation? What IS It?

[mszczuj]

Well, I wrote "boringly beautiful", not "boringly attempting to be beautiful". The difference is that I found it beautiful, which is of course not bad. Nevertheless it lacks something to be really interesting. Probably revelation. Beauty should perhaps explode in revelation. Here we have comfortable luxurious beauty which works so perfectly in its own circle, that we - me at least - want to ask: so what?

[snyprrr]

Well, I wrote "boringly beautiful", not "boringly attempting to be beautiful". The difference is that I found it beautiful, which is of course not bad. Nevertheless it lacks something to be really interesting. Probably revelation. Beauty should perhaps explode in revelation. Here we have comfortable luxurious beauty which works so perfectly in its own circle, that we - me at least - want to ask: so what?

No, I agree with you.