Customer Reviews

Hovhaness: Symphony Nos. 22 "City of Light Symphony" & 50 "Mount St. Helens Symphony"

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Alan Hovhaness (who passed away just a few weeks ago as of this writing) was an amazingly prolific composer, with literally hundreds of works to his credit. Some have unfairly complained that much of his music sounds alike, but I believe that it simply reflects his ultra-distinctive style, in which many thematic and stylistic elements return again and again. Any serious study of his work reveals an amazing variety from piece to piece, while all are linked by a comon reverence for the natural world.

In that sense, ST HELENS SYMPHONY makes a wonderful "bookend" to his career with his other great "nature painting", MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAIN (check out the classic Reiner-CSO recording of that one). While the two works have much in common (even to the point of including some of the same sounds), there is a feeling of appropriateness since both describe a mystical mountain setting in its many moods.

The difference, of course, is that this one includes an eruption at the end. As far as I know, this is the only piece of classical music ever written to commemorate a single real-life natural event (the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980). After two movements of "setting the mood", the third movement "volcano" bursts on the scene in a truly frightening (and sonically very satisying) rush of energy. It is an overwhelming listen, especially when the aural image of the mountain's restored dignity is asserted at the piece's end.

Someday, future generations will remmeber the Mt. St. Helens eruption through this piece, and look back in wonder and awe. Thank you, Alan Hovhaness.

Alan Hovhaness was one of America's great cultural treasures and will be greatly missed. His Symphony No. 50 (opus 360, yes this is not a typo!) commemorates the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. While others may enjoy the aural spectacle of the bombastic third movement during which the volcano sonically erupts, I was particularly drawn to the two luminous movements preceding it...a striding, haunting memento in sound to the majesty of the mountain BEFORE the eruption and the sparkling allegro movement about neighboring Spirit Lake. The accompanying Symphony No. 22 (City of Light) has many memorable features, too. The symphonies are wonderfully played by the Seattle Symphony, the former under the direction of Gerard Schwarz and the latter by the composer himself. The "Mount St. Helens Symphony" has recently been re-issued in a Delos "Double" collection of Hovhaness's works (as "Hovhaness, Vol. 2"), which includes the "Mysterious Mountain" symphony and several other of the composer's greatest works performed mainly by the Seattle Symphony under Schwarz, all for the price of a single CD. This may be a better bargain for those wishing to sample a larger portion of this composer's glorious output.

What makes Hovhaness great? Certain patterns linger in the mind -the repeating phrases, over and over again (often in elegiac, minor keys) until the music flows into a kind of major chord bloom, where all the pieces come together and then 'morph' into something completely new. The skillful use of bass lines, always weaving. And, often, a lone trumpet. I think there is a lot of the loner in Hovhaness' music. (He himself was a loner on the American music scene, and proud of it. In an answer to a biographical survey for the American Music Center in 1949, he wrote in his own hand "It is best that no mention be made of my scholarships or education because my direction is completely away from the approved path of any of my teachers - thus the responsibility will be inflicted one no one but myself"). Above and beyond this is the magic, mystery and majesty of the natural world in Hovhaness' music. No where is this more true than in this CD.

When I heard for the very first time this symphony my cat ran out of my house, running like hell, when the volcano percussions burst out of the two loudspeakers. This is the first real narrative volcano eruption heard through music. This is, what I call : rhapsodic music ! Thank you Mr Hovhaness.

As a survivor of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines I found this disc rekindling many emotions. It is a powerful example of how music can effect you. Even my 2 year old says volcano every time he hears it. The rumbling sounds are similar to my experience and the sounds of debris falling are great. If you like the timpani effects you will love this recording.

As a fan of classical and orcehstral music, I have always loved musical pieces which depicts a natural or mystical setting, since they are easy for me to close my eyes, and visualize the very scene. Out of the countless pieces and opii (or opuses), Hovhaness's "Mount St. Helens" Symphony, in my opinion, is by far one of the greatest piece reflecting nature. Based on the volcanic eruption of the mountain on May 18, 1980 which destroyed nature, and later be restored, I believe that this piece is a perfect epitome of a musical storybook reminding the natural background, comprising each different act and feeling. There is a scene of introduction and praise in the first movement, placidity and peace minutes away from chaos in the second movement, and finally the climatic desturction and the resolution of the tale in the third movement.

Before I got the chance to enexpectedly encounter this CD for the first time at a used audio store, I had no idea about this sensational American composer's existence, but when I heard it for the very first time it was incredibly fasciniting. I was incredibly moved by the piece, and I felt very blessed listening to this magnificent music about the infamous mountain which had caused as inescapable huge damage to the natural playground.

From the very first note in the first movement, you can visualize the magnificent blue mountain surrounded by belts of trees, before the violent eruption, and the beautiful trinkling cascades and a the surrounding flora and fauna in the second. And while listening to the climatic third movement, you can feel the sudden volcanic eruption, the looming grey smoke growing like a massive titan, and the shower of buring rocks zipping past by, while the ground continues to shake withing the rumbling sounds brought by drums (and I love percussion). At the end of the piece you can visualize nature being restored again to, what Hovhaness had stated, "the life-giving power that builds mountains, rising majestically, piercing the clouds of heaven."

This is a definite piece to be recommended to people who appreciate music on nature as much as I do. Another feature on the CD, the "City of Light" symphony is very visualizing too. Despite living through a culture which pop, rock, rap, and other conptemporary music seems to endanger the existence of classical or orchestral music, I hope Hovhaness's legacy would radiate like thriving nature, explaining how wonderful and glorious his volcanic symphony can ever be in millions of listeners who love nature.

If you're reading this, regardless of what music you like, "Mount St. Helens" symphony is something to listen, and imagine that you're there. Don't hesitate to buy it either. It can reason out how wonderful orcehstral sounds can really be in the scene of nature.

Hovaness at his best! The Seattle Symphony does a splendid job of performing both pieces -- especially Mt St Helens. The CD, which is what we really must evaluate, is excellent. I listen to this with a Bose sound-cancelling head set. The widly ranging volume is excellent in this CD.

A shame this CD is out of issue; it's a treasure. I got into Alan Hovhaness two decades ago when I first heard his Symphony #2 (Mysterious Mountain), (literally) a revelation for me. Steeped in Asian philosophy and music (including Indonesian gamelan), Hovhaness was inspired by a mountain's peak, and based more than one program symphony on that theme. The twist in the Mount Saint Helens symphony, of course, is the shattering of a quiet spring day by the earthquake on May 18, 1980. The first movements of the symphony have the sublimity typical of his work. Then all hell breaks loose. Words can't express the tonal shift that occurs. You have to hear it to believe it -- it's one of a kind. The City of Light symphony is also well worth hearing, but it's the mountain symphony that makes this disc a must.