Zartonk Posted October 1, 2005 Report Share Posted October 1, 2005 (edited) A man of undeniable genius, this son of a Scott mother and Armenian father is one of the foremost pioneers of post-neo-classical Avant-garde Mimimalism. The secret and charm of Hovhaness' work springs from his Armenian musical heritage and an ongoing love for Asian inspirations. He had a unique and solid comprehension of the magic that is the balance of the Eastern melody. http://www.frankperry.co.uk/images/Hov.jpg http://www.eroica.com/crystal/images/jdt807.jpg Alan Hovhaness at Wikipedia Hovhaness.com http://cristoforifund.tripod.com/hovhaness_95.jpg Edited April 16, 2010 by Zartonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arvestaked Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Alan Hovaness is great. He has this one whale symphony that's very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoushik Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 A couple of months ago Clavier magazine had two articles about him. The first is a biography and an introduction to his works; the second is about his piano music. The following month Clavier published the Thank-You letter from Alan Hovhannes' center in Yerevan. His music is very beautiful. His melodies are inspired and based on Armenian folk and sacred music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z'areh Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 (edited) "And God Created Great Whales" It's great, it incorporates recorded whale songs and trombones immitating the voices of whales. Gerard Schwarz, the conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, is a believer of Hovhanness's greatness and has recorded numerous works with his orchestra, and other orchestras like the Roual Liverpool and the London Symphony Orchestras. I saw a PBS documentary of a recording session with Seattle of Hovhaness's work "Mysterious Mountains" and no doubt this guy loves his music. My all-time favorite is "Talin" a piece written for the clarinet and the string orchestra... I also like "Avak the healer" for Trumpet and Orchestra...a beautiful, most soulfull piece one can find, and "St Vartan" Symphony" and "Armenian Rhapsody" will be a good selection of "Must" of Hovhaness's pieces. The most entertaining piece of all must be his "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam". There is a great recording of it conducted by the legendary Andre Kostelanetz and narrated by equally legendary Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The music is woven in the background of Fairbanks's recitation of Omar Khaiyam's poertry...it's great stuff!!! I have it on vinyl but there must be a CD version of it. It is a CBS Columbia recording, 1977. I strongly recommand it not just for lovers of Hovhaness's music but lovers of music in general. Edited October 23, 2005 by Z'areh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted October 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 (edited) I am really anxious to hear the compositions from his "Armenian period." Hovhaness: Ommar Khayyam on CD Edited April 16, 2010 by Zartonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arvestaked Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 I've heard some dances he composed and they're beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted October 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 Alan Hovhaness Museum in Yerevan-Press Release Topics Usanogh Staff::Monday July 11, 2005 08:04PM ANNOUNCEMENT -- ALAN HOVHANESS MUSEUM PROJECT Following the success of the 20th anniversary concert of Yerevan's Alan Hovhaness Chamber Orchestra (November 2004), there is an ambitious plan to build an Alan Hovhaness Museum here in Yerevan, Armenia -- land of Hovhaness's paternal ancestors. The city already has a magnificent Khachaturian museum. Hovhaness himself bequeathed scores to the State Museum of Literature and Art of Armenia when he visited us here in 1965. In 1940 Hovhaness became organist at St. James Armenian Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, and began to thoroughly assimilate the spirit of Armenian liturgical music into his own works. Although this is well known with regard to his 1940s ‘Armenian period’, this influence never fully receded throughout the ensuing decades. The people of Yerevan have identified with this music and, as the recent concert success showed, revere him almost as one of their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vartan Mamigonian Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Great composer, indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Error 404 Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 The one I liked much is "the prayer of saint Gregory" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moushegh Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Alan Hovhaness (03/08/1910 - 06/20/2000) If you're not already familiar with Hovhaness, I'd like to introduce you to an extraordinarily prolific Armenian-American composer with nearly 70 symphonies and nearly 500 opus numbers in his repertoire. Music lovers of all styles and genres are sure to enjoy the wonderful compositions of Alan. Hovhaness was born Alan Vaness Chakmakjian in the affluent Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts on March 8, 1911. His Armenian father, Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian, came from Adana (now in Turkey) and was a chemistry professor at Tufts College. His mother Madeleine Scott, was of Scottish ancestry, and did not especially approve of young Alan's learning about Armenian culture from his father. She ensured he was known simply as Alan Scott Vaness, which is the name seen on his earliest music. After her death in 1931, the composer used the surname Hovaness (after his paternal grandfather) later adding an 'h' around 1942, and so becoming Hovhaness. Without parental encouragement, Hovhaness was drawn to music by the age of 4. He apparently first composed using his own notation, but could read music at the age of 7. He once said that he never "wanted to become" a composer, but that the act of composing just seemed natural to him. Certainly it would seem that Hovhaness, who had no siblings, was born with a creative streak, as he also pursued writing and painting. Another boyhood interest was astronomy. By age 14 however, he had firmly decided on a musical path. In conjunction with a high school librettist, Hovhaness penned his earliest operas Lotus Blossom, Bluebeard and Daniel. Throughout his teens he apparently composed secretly, which usually meant at night. "My family thought writing music was abnormal, so they would confiscate my music if they caught me in the act. I used to compose in the bathroom and hide the manuscripts under the bathtub." This nocturnal creativity was maintained throughout his life. As a boy, he acquired a love of mountains through long walks and apparent metaphysical experiences in the hills of New England. Such landscapes were the frequent subjects of his paintings and drawings. Mountains always remained important to him, determining the locales in which he chose to live, such as Lucerne in Switzerland and Seattle on the Pacific Coast, and would prove to be a lifelong inspiration for many evocatively-titled works, such as Mountain of Prophecy and Vision From High Rock. Hovhaness' collegiate education began at Tufts College and his musical training was in the normal academic fashion. Although his upbringing seems to have been a relatively conventional one for a Bostonian, Hovhaness early on possessed a keen interest in matters of a spiritual nature. Read more about the life and music of Alan Hovhaness here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt29-ZcFaEI&feature=fvwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWC5Nvw3dI8&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moushegh Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKYnIvy3P1E&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioL44VcIjvU&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moushegh Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzSWGPmjwjA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HZZzdJiQhk&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted April 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 (edited) Thank you for the videos Mushegh. Edited April 16, 2010 by Zartonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moushegh Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Thank you for the videos Mushegh. My pleasure. And thank YOU for introducing Alan to everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted April 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 The pleasure is all mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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