Hovhaness: Chamber Symphony 'Mountains and Rivers Without End'; Prayer of St. Gregory for trumpet and string orchestra; Symphony No. 6 'Celestial Gate'; Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Symphony 'Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places'

Alan Hovhaness (Composer), Richard Auldon Clark (Conductor), Manhattan Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Christopher Gekker (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Christopher Gekker
• Orchestra: Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Richard Auldon Clark
• Composer: Alan Hovhaness
• Audio CD (January 4, 1994)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Int'l Classics
• ASIN: B000001SGT
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #315,089 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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

  #18 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( M ) > Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
  #83 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( H ) > Hovhaness, Alan

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Alan Hovhaness (b. 1911) is an Armenian-American composer who has probably done more experimenting with modes, styles, and instruments in his music than any composer in this country. Mountains and Rivers Without End (1968) was inspired by the Korean landscape and opens with extended sliding passages for the trombone. His music has often been described as being mystical and you'll find that here, especially in Prayer of St. Gregory (1946) and the Aria from Haroutiun (1948) that also make extensive use of the trumpet. His Symphony 6 Celestial Gate (1955) is about as mystical as you can get and as good as you can get. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gekker is fabulous, June 8, 2000

By	Scott Taylor (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews

What a great showcase for the amazing sound of Chris Gekker and his trumpet. His playing is nothing short of breathtaking. My only wish is that he was the trumpet soloist on "Mountains And Rivers Without End" too. At any rate, this disc has great recordings of an extraordinary musician. Hovhaness's music is as magical and mystical as ever.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounds and Melodies without End, January 30, 2005

By	P. Alvarez "vivaldi116" (Killeen, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First of all, Alan Hovhaness was not Armenian-American.
Hovhaness was an American composer of Armenian
ancestry born in Somerville,Massachusetts to Armenian
and Scottish immigrants. Hovhaness is my most
favorite of all American composers. In this
recording we listen to some of his most and
less recorded works. From the "Prayer of St. Gregory"
to a less known Trumpet Concerto(Return and Rebuild
the Desolate Places). "Mountains and Rivers Without End"
is in one movement, and what the composer calls a chamber
symphony and is score for flute, oboe, trumpet, trombone
clarinet, timpani, harp and percussion. On this chamber
symphony the trombone opens the work with a melody
that repeats all over the work. The Trumpet Concerto
"Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places" was written
in two movements for trumpet and band(there are several
pieces by Hovhaness for a solo instrument and band, a
usual practice of this composer)composed originally
in 1944 and later arranged in 1965. The opening movement
the trumpet plays, against tone clusters; the second was
influenced by an Armenian painting. Hovhaness is a composer
whose music one has to listen to, to realize that
one has found music by a genius in an age of
"musical opportunists" and false atonal music.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great CD, December 27, 2001

By A Customer

I would highly recommend this CD to any music lover