Do you remember the days when one had to scour various obscure
record shops in London and sometimes elsewhere in the vain hope
of finding an LP that might have one work by this then elusive
composer? With the advent of the CD gradually more of his works
became available. I collected them at first whenever they appeared.
It seems extraordinary that Hovhaness’s music is now available
easily at the cost of an average bottle of wine and this is
not the first in the unfolding Naxos series. In fact, I make
this disc number six of his works in their American Classics
series.
Gerard Schwarz who has recorded so many American works is not
a stranger to this music although Naxos is not using the same
ensembles for each CD.
When I had prised from this disc from its cellophane I realized
that I already owned two of these works on older CDs. Schwarz
recorded the Mount St. Helens symphony (Delos DE3137)
in a stunning recording but different coupling from 1992 and
it’s this version which reappears now. The Fantasy on Japanese
Woodprints was originally recorded in 1990 on the Etcetera
label (KTC1085) with the American Robert van Sice playing the
marimba. This new version is a little more spacious but marginally
less exciting. Nevertheless Ron Johnson is superb and very atmospheric
in the slower sections.
My own fascination with Hovhaness was not only triggered by
his unique sound world but by meeting him. He came to the old
Guildhall School of Music in 1974 when I was student there and
for a couple of hours a small group of us sat by him and chatted.
I was gripped by his quietly spoken, guru-like demeanour and
wanted to hear as much of his music as possible. He was a distinctively
spiritual man. Unfortunately I have found in recent years that
a little Hovhaness goes a long way and some symphonies I found
just dull and uninteresting. But we’ll move on.
The Symphony No. 1 was new to me but its curious opus number
of 17 no. 2 makes me wonder if there is a pre-1st
Symphony, say, even a number 0.
Basically Hovhaness writes simply. His works are full of generally
modal melodies often treated canonically or fugally. He writes
more often for strings and utilises pedal points. The orchestration
frequently sounds as if it’s from the organ loft. He is careful
with his modulations. He uses oriental scales and sometimes,
as in the Japanese Woodcuts, deploy aleatoric - controlled improvisation
- techniques. Anyway this deeply moving symphony displays many
of the above trademarks. Armenia is never very far away and
is very evocatively landscaped throughout. Indeed the work,
subtitled Exile, commemorates those Armenians forced
to flee their homeland by the Ottoman Turks after World War
1. Don’t think that this is all slow and rather meditative;
the finale, after an imposing chorale opening, suddenly embarks
on a galloping allegro that comes twice. The middle movement
is an alluring and easy-going song-like Grazioso.
This Symphony was first issued in this recording on Delos DE
3168.
The Symphony No. 50 commemorates the eruption of Mount St. Helens
in 1980 which I can still recall as I was in America at the
time. It encapsulates power and mystery all at once and demonstrates
another of the composer’s fascinations, that is any and all
mountains. He climbed a great deal as a young man and some readers
may know his Symphony No. 2 Op. 137 subtitled Mysterious
Mountain.
No 50 begins in a calm manner and is in the form of a Prelude
and Fugue. It depicts the mountain and its landscape before
nature took a hand. There are lovely melodies, in the horn at
first, and later taken up by the oboe and clarinet over lush
string harmonies.
Before the explosion, at the base of the mountain, was the ‘Spirit
Lake’. This is depicted in the delicate second movement which
is a good example of Hovhaness’s awareness of the language of
Asian melodies. We hear gentle scoring for pitched percussion.
With movement three we move to the specific event. May 18th,
the day of the eruption, starts with a beatific hymn to the
beauty of early daylight. The Volcano is marked at first with
chaotic drum-rolls and strikes from the gongs. Hovhaness’s favourite
braying trombone glissandi - also heard in the Japanese
Woodprints – are in evidence. From this quickly develops
a curious march - all on a singly pedal point. I can’t think
of another passage in Hovhaness quite like this. The hymn returns
with its now seraphic colours. Then follows a final joyous fugue
symbolic of renewal of the earth’s vitality to build, destroy
and re-build.
So this is a work, as are the others recorded here, well worth
the modest investment. These represent good Hovhaness and in
addition are superbly played and recorded.
Gary Higginson
See also review
by Steve Arloff
Reviews of alternative recordings of Symphony
No. 1
Stokowski
(historical) Guild
BMOP
Rose 1; BMOP
Rose 2
Reviews of alternative recordings of Symphony No. 50
RLPO/Schwarz
1; RLPO/Schwarz
2; RLPO/Schwarz
3
Ron Johnson (marimba)