Shalimar

Alan Hovhaness (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Alan Hovhaness
• Audio CD (October 16, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fortuna Records
• ASIN: B0000007UG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,286 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Franck: Ave Verum Corpus, Alan Hovhaness (Composer), May 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Shalimar (Audio CD)

As an amateur pianist, I was awed by the feeling of absolute freedom of spirit this music evoked in me. It is breathtakingly lovely in its haunting simplicity. The music draws you into itself, soaring into heights of joy and falling into hushed depths of winsome poignancy. What a gift Alan Hovhaness has for speaking for and to the human spirit of all that is lovely and delicate and magnificent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hovhaness Plays Hovhaness, October 7, 2011

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shalimar (Audio CD)

Alan Hovhaness (1911 -- 2000) was a prolific American composer best-known for composing nearly 70 symphonies. During Hovhaness' life, his music tended to be snubbed by critics, but it has continued to be played and to grow in stature. I have become fascinated by Hovhaness' piano music and am trying to learn to play some of it. Some highly gifted pianists including Marvin Rosen and Wayne Johnson have made recordings of Hovhaness' music. I particularly enjoy, however, this recording by the composer himself. It consists of six pieces taken from various periods of the composer's large output. Initially issued on LP, the recorded sound is somewhat thin. But Hovhaness' interpretation of his own music is, of course, definitive.

Hovhaness music derives from many influences, including folk, Eastern, and romantic. His work tends to be programmatic and to deal with themes from nature and with spirituality. The music makes a great deal of use of repeated phrases and notes. It is melodic and accessible but modernistic in its use of modal, chromatic, or Eastern based scales. Most of the piano music tends to be short. Even the sonatas are a collection of miniature sections.

The earliest piece on this CD is a short Ghazal, op. 36 composed in 1936 as part of a collection of two pieces and revised many years later. A ghazal is a Persian love poem. This composition is slow, simple, and lyrical with a flourish towards the close.

Among Hovhaness' best-known piano pieces is the Suite, Shalimar, composed in the 1950s after a visit to Kashmir. Recordings of this work are readily accessible. It consists of a lengthy introductory fantasy using repeated, rhythmic notes and scale patterns followed by a series of short interludes and Eastern based song forms called jhalas. This is a deliberately exotic, perfumy composition.

The next work on the CD, Komachi, op.240, dates from 1971 and is also in an Eastern style. In its ten-minute scope it consists of 7 brief tone poems of mostly meditative character.

The piano works Hovhaness composed beginning in the mid-70's continue to use modes and Eastern music. However this music is more overtly romantic than some of Hovhaness' earlier works and also draws on early Baroque influences. Hovhaness described his three-movement piano sonata, "Prospect Hill" opus 346 as follows: "Prospect Hill is a high pyramid-like hill southeast of Lake Winnipesaukee. I used to climb this Hill many times to see one of the most wonderful views of the world, looking at the Belknap Mountains, Lake Winnipesaukee, the Osippe Mountains and the White Mountains." The work is reflective and nostalgic, with an upbeat rhythmic conclusion. It has a duration of only about eight minutes.

Two short late works conclude the CD. The "Love Song Vanishing into Sounds of Crickets", is a small, beautiful work of about 3 minutes that Hovhaness composed as a Valentine's Day gift to his wife. The piece has a lyrical opening chordal theme, followed by a singing, modal section over triplets. The music slowly fades away towards the end over changing chords and the sound of crickets in the distance. This is a lovely piece worth knowing.

The final work on the CD is called "To Hiroshige's Cat", first movement, op. 366. In spite of the whimsical title, this is a slow, serious work, with a sadly lyrical extended theme. Perhaps the music works better without knowing the specific story of the cat.

I have been enjoying Hovhaness' piano music and trying to learn the "Love Song" and the "Prospect Hill" sonata on the strength of the recordings on this CD. Listeners who know Hovhaness' orchestral works or who wish to explore 20th Century American piano music will be interested in hearing this CD of Hovhannes performing his own compositions. The CD also is available as an MP3 download.

Total time: 42:15

Robin Friedman