Hovhaness :Mysterious Mountain & Lousadzak / Lou Harrison:Elegiac Symphony (Music Masters)

Lou Harrison (Composer), Alan Hovhaness (Composer), Dennis Russell Davies (Conductor), Lou Harrison (Conductor), Elegiac Symphony (Performer), American Composers Orchestra (Orchestra), Keith Jarrett (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Elegiac Symphony, Keith Jarrett
• Orchestra: American Composers Orchestra
• Conductor: Dennis Russell Davies, Lou Harrison
• Composer: Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness
• Audio CD (April 16, 1995)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Music Masters
• ASIN: B000000FMX
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,549 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #30 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( A ) > American Composers Orchestra
  #40 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( H ) > Harrison, Lou
  #91 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( H ) > Hovhaness, Alan

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Harrison is a true American original. During his long life, he's worked as a journalist, florist, calligrapher, dancer, and much else besides. He's one of several California based composers who looked to Oriental music for inspiration, and he's studied both Japanese and Korean traditional music. His symphony shows all of these inspirations, as well as his love of beautiful sounds, plangent melodies, exotic percussion sonorities, and structural simplicity. If you don't know his music, then you should acquire this disc, the Piano Concerto (also performed by Keith Jarrett), and the ballet Solstice without delay. You're in for a major treat. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Performance of Some Underheard Music, January 16, 2002

By	Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although the music of Hovhaness is becoming more available, it is still relatively rare, and the music of Lou Harrison is very rare. On this disc, "The Mysterious Mountain" is the best known work, having been recorded now two other times that I know of. The other two works I had never heard. While buying music "in the dark", so to speak, can often lead to buyer's remorse, this CD has proved to be very satisfying over a period of years, despite a certain lack of warmth and spaciousness in the recording itself.

The "Mysterious Mountain" sounds very much like its title suggests, with modal oriental harmonies and melodic lines that may occasionally remind you of Biblical epics. At its heart though, is a monumental double fugue which routinely leaves me breathless and keeps thoughts of Hollywood shlock far away. "Lousadzak", with Keith Jarrett plying the piano keys at his virtuousic, improvisatory best, both seems to flow directly out of the symphony that precedes it, as well as from the unconscious. Harrison's symphony displays Asian influences as well, but a little more broadly than Hovhaness's work, running from the middle east all the way to Bali, at the same time, sounding thoroughly American. The three pieces work together very well, and all the music is very well played.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hovaness-ok:The Great Lou Harrison, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This is an interesting album by two perhaps lesser known American 20th Century composers, as opposed to Copland, Bernstein, or even Cage. The performance is quite good on all accounts. "Mysterious Mountain" sounds just like it probably should, new age. Which is not to say it is bad, but it does lack depth, avoiding great leaps in emotional output. More interesting is "Lousadzak" which almost takes on a perpetual motion character-it is very busy! Finest on this album is the "Elegiac" symphony of Lou Harrison, who is sure to still be standing when the rubble of 20th Century experimentalism is swept away. His symphony shows grace, breadth, and beauty, all of which is served justly by Davies and the orchestra.