Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Naxos

American Classics - Hovhaness Symphonies 4, 20, 53 / Brion, Et Al

$19.99

Details

Composer
HOVHANESS
Artist
Brion, Rsamb
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Nov 15, 2005
Catalog #
8559207
UPC
636943920725

About


Three of Alan Hovhaness' six symphonies for wind ensemble are included on this Naxos release. After hearing these, I'm eagerly waiting for the label to get to the other three. All of the ensemble playing is flawless, the many solos are ravishingly beautiful, and conductor Keith Brion's grasp of the music results in performances I can't imagine being bettered, surpassing even the classic Mercury Living Presence recording by the late Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble.


The symphonies are separated by two of the composer's works for trumpet and band, the solo part played by Scotland's great trumpeter John Wallace. He soars ecstatically above his colleagues in the Prayer of Saint Gregory, and his more varied part in Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places (the most aggressive music on the disc) achieves a threatening quality without ever losing beauty of tone.


Hovhaness' style is so distinctive, and his oeuvre so vast, that it's easy to tag him as having written the same piece over and over. And it is true that these works share many of the same elements: long, arching modal melodies, rich triadic harmonies laced with non-harmonic chiming notes, "spirit murmurs", and fluent, noble fugues. But there is enough difference in the inspiration of these works, and enough stylistic development, that you don't really get an impression of sameness. And there are many passages that haunt the memory: the flowing oboe and harp duet at the heart of the Fourth Symphony; the crossing trombone portamentos in the same work; the gorgeous fugue for all of the bell-like instruments in "Star Dawn"; the emergence from the frightening eruption that represents the "Desolate Places".


The recording was made in a church in Paisley, Scotland, and the venue contributes just the right mixture of spaciousness and intimacy to suit the music. If you are the sort of record collector who keeps alert for good new releases of unusual repertoire, this is a disc with the musical values and production quality that you always are hoping for. [1/4/2006]
--Joseph Stevenson, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 11 tracks

  1. 1 I. Andante 08:18
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Andante
    Duration
    08:18
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  2. 2 II. Allegro 04:02
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    04:02
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  3. 3 III. Andante espressivo 07:22
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Andante espressivo
    Duration
    07:22
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  4. 4 Andante 02:36
    Track
    4
    Title
    Andante
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
  5. 5 Adagio 06:20
    Track
    5
    Title
    Adagio
    Duration
    06:20
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
  6. 6 I. Andante espressivo 08:50
    Track
    6
    Title
    I. Andante espressivo
    Duration
    08:50
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  7. 7 II. Allegro moderato 04:51
    Track
    7
    Title
    II. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    04:51
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  8. 8 III. Andante maestoso 06:51
    Track
    8
    Title
    III. Andante maestoso
    Duration
    06:51
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
    Ensemble
    Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra
    Conductor
    Keith Brion
  9. 9 Prayer of Saint Gregory, Op. 62b (version for trumpet and wind band) 03:30
    Track
    9
    Title
    Prayer of Saint Gregory, Op. 62b (version for trumpet and wind band)
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
  10. 10 I. Maestoso sostenuto 08:52
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Maestoso sostenuto
    Duration
    08:52
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness
  11. 11 II. Moderato sostenuto con molta espressione 04:30
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Moderato sostenuto con molta espressione
    Duration
    04:30
    Composer
    Alan Hovhaness