Customer Reviews

Hovhaness: Visions-The Musical World of Alan Hovhaness

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must admit that I enjoyed this sampler CD introduction to the musical world of Alan Hovhaness more than the other reviewer. These are peaceful and lovely recordings and renditions of these works. It was refreshing to hear a more varied collection of Hovhaness' sound than the repetitiveness that he is often criticized for. One of the criticisms of Hovhaness was that he was trying to be like Vaughan Williams in every piece (which is not true). He had a specific spiritual "vision" that lent a characteristic sound to his music like many other composers.

My one problem with this affordable disc is that the track listing is incorrect for the pieces: Mountain Idyll and Sonata Fred the Cat (both solo piano works). They are listed as having multiple tracks (#5-7) and (#9-12) when in actuality they are on the CD in single one track movements, so the CD comes out actually having 8 tracks (1 per work sampled). For a while I thought I had the wrong CD or it was defective. Then I figured it out by putting it in my CD Rom and it displayed the actual track listing with titles through Windows Media Player.

If that glitch doesn't bother you too much, this is a nice and afforable intro to Hovhaness' music. - - Max Stoltenberg, LPC

I was very dissapointed when I heard this album. The sound is tinny, strident, and unbalanced. I can imagine how hard it is for unfunded orchestras to make recordings, but this sounds like a scraggly bunch of pickup players who play with no soul. Hovhaness demands a fuller, burnished tone. Even worse than the poor sound quality and sketchy intonation is the lack of a sense of flexibility and nuance. The hollowness of the playing would not be so offensive if there were a feeling of expansiveness, languidness, or generousity. I can't help thinking the composer would be very saddened by this effort. I hope Mr. Clark's realizes someday that music is not something that can be hammered out like a wall street stock deal. The kind of crassness on display here is better suited to commerce or (lamentably), politics.