Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness)

Hovhaness (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Delos Records
• ASIN: B00000071K
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,978 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Prayer Of St. Gregory

2. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: I. Allegro moderato

3. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: II. Angel Of Light (Largo)

4. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: III. Allegretto grazioso

5. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: IV. Finale (Largo maestoso)

6. Bagatelle No. 1, Op. 30 No. 1

7. Bagatelle No. 2, Op. 30, No. 2

8. Bagatelle No. 3, Op. 30, No. 3

9. Bagatelle No. 4, Op. 30, No. 4

10. Fantasy On Japanese Woodprints, Op. 211

Disc: 2

1. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Overture

2. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Lifting Of Voices

3. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Building The Ark

4. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Intermezzo

5. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Rain

6. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Love Song

7. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Sun And Moon

8. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Rainbow Hymn

9. Exile Symphony (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No. 2: I. Andante espressivo; Allegro

10. Exile Symphony (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No. 2: II. Grazioso

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start, June 22, 2000

By 

Michael W. Freeman "cyderman" (coatsburg, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness) (Audio CD)

This is a great way to savour the delights of Hovhaness' work. He died today (6/22/00), so there will hopefully be plenty of tribute programs coming soon and this 2 disc set from Delos will give you a good idea why he was so much admired.

Delos recordings are always crystal clear and, despite the Seattle Symphony and Ohio State University Concert Band being not quite as well known as the Berlin Philharmonic, the performances are pretty good too.

He probably suffered from too much success too young (Stokowski conducted the premiere of his second symphony to rave reviews from the press), that and the fact that his compositions weren't as atonal and fragmented as the music critics of the 50's and sixties liked.

Mysterious Mountain, the second Symphony is probably his most well known piece and included here, but all the pieces are well written and not too demanding to listen to. Star Dawn Symphony and Celestial Fantasy give a good idea of his fascination with the bigger picture and the almost whimsical And God Created Whales show he had at least as good an ability to mimic nature as Prokofiev or any other composer before him. Religion and spirituality was always a big part og his life and you get a constant feeling of awe and joy from all his writing.

In conclusion, buy this disc and experience a great writer, incredibly prolific despite his lack of critical acclaim, you won't regret it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful compilation from an underrated composer, January 6, 2003

By 

Joshua Kaufman (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness) (Audio CD)

Hovhaness wasn't the typical American composer, so his music isn't all that well known beyond Mysterious Mountain. However, he wrote a wealth of music, including almost 60 symphonies.

Delos is the label that has recorded more music of his than any other label, much of it with the composer conducting, and this is the first of two double-CD compilations of those recordings. The only reason I say this is the better one is that it's more diverse, and contains two of my absolute favorites. Prayer of St. Gregory is a geogeous piece for trumpet and strings, and I simply have not heard very much music that betters it. Beyond that, A Rose Tree Blossoms is a beautiful a capella chourus piece that is unfortunetly too short.

The rest of the compilation contains some very interesting music. The flowering Peach is incidental music for a play, for symphonic band, that is probably the most "modern"/"contemporary" music that I've heard from Hovhanness, along with Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints. The later is a very colorful piece containing many references to Japanese folk music.

The Symphony #22 "City of Light" is a piece that seems to look forward to the later Mount St. Helens Symphony in viciousness, and the Bagatelles are short little pleasent pieces for string quartet.

If you haven't heard Hovhanness's music, this is an exilent place to start, and if you like it, get volume 2 as well.