Alan Hovhaness

Alan Hovhaness (born March 8, 1911 as Alan Vaness Chakmakjian in Somerville , Massachusetts , † June 21, 2000 in Seattle ) was an American composer of Armenian - Scottish descent.

Life

Hovhaness was christened Alan Vaness Chakmakjian. His parents were Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian, of Armenian descent, a chemistry professor at Tufts College , and Madeleine Scott, an American of Scottish ancestry. From 1931 he used the surname "Hovaness" in memory of his paternal grandfather and officially changed it around 1940 to "Hovhaness". The young Alan showed an early musical interest and began to compose at the age of seven. In the early 1930s he studied at the New England Conservatory of Music with Heinrich Gebhard (piano) and Frederick Converse (composition). In 1934 he visited Jean Sibelius in Finland, whom he admired and who a little later would become his daughter's godfather.

From around 1940 he dealt intensively with Armenian culture and music; at that time he worked as organist at the St. James Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown (Massachusetts) . During this time he destroyed a large number of compositions that had been created up to that point. In 1942 he won a scholarship for Bohuslav Martinů's master class in Tanglewood . However, Martinů had a serious accident shortly before that made it impossible for him to fulfill his teaching duties. Instead, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein led the composition seminar. During a recording of Hovhaness' Symphony No. 1 ( Exile Symphony ), Copland was chatting loudly, and after the recording was over, Bernstein remarked, I can't stand this cheap ghetto music . ( I can't stand this cheap ghetto music ). Hovhaness was frustrated and left Tanglewood while on his scholarship. In the following years he devoted himself more and more to Armenian topics, especially the modes typical for Armenian music . He received support from John Cage and Martha Graham , while he continued to work as a church organist.

Lou Harrison judged a concert in 1945 that also included Hovhaness' Lousadzak Piano Concerto :

“There is almost nothing occurring most of the time but unison melodies and very lengthy drone basses, which is all very Armenian. It is also very modern indeed in its elegant simplicity and adamant modal integrity, being, in effect, as tight and strong in its way as a twelve-tone work of the Austrian type. There is no harmony either, and the brilliance and excitement of parts of the piano concerto were due entirely to vigor of idea. It really takes a sound musicality to invent a succession of stimulating ideas within the bounds of an unaltered mode and without shifting the home-tone. "

“Most of the time, almost nothing happens, apart from unison melodies over very long, monotonous bass, which seems very Armenian. At the same time, it is very modern in its elegant simplicity and immovable modal unity and in its way just as convincing as a twelve-tone composition in the style of the Viennese school. There are no harmonic events and the brilliance and sometimes violent eruptions of the piano concerto are in perfect harmony with the expressiveness of the idea. In fact, it takes a sound musicality to develop a stimulating sequence of ideas within the boundaries of an unchanged mode and this without changing the basic key. "

However, there were still critical voices:

“The serialists were all there. And so were the Americanists, both Aaron Copland's group and Virgil's. And here was something that had come out of Boston that none of us had ever heard of and was completely different from either. There was nearly a riot in the foyer [during intermission] - everybody shouting. A real whoop-dee-doo. "

“All the serialists were there. And of course the Americanists, the supporters of Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson . And then there was something else that had come from Boston that none of us had ever heard of, and that was completely different from anything else. There was almost a riot in the foyer (during the break), everyone was screaming. A real hubbub. "

- Miller and Lieberman, 1998

From 1948, Hovhaness taught at the Boston Conservatory for three years . From 1951 he devoted himself almost entirely to composition. In 1954 he wrote the score for the Broadway play The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets , and then two scores for NBC documentaries.

Memorial stone in Arlington, Massachusetts

His greatest success to date was the world premiere of his 2nd symphony Mysterious Mountain , which Leopold Stokowski had commissioned, by the Houston Symphony in 1955 . In the same year, MGM Records released recordings of several of his works. From 1956 to 1958, Hovhaness taught composition at the Eastman School of Music .

From 1959 to 1963, Hovhaness undertook a series of research trips to India, Hawaii, Japan and South Korea to learn about the musical traditions of these countries. In the early 1970s, he finally moved to Seattle , after he had already been composer-in-residence of the Seattle Symphony in 1966/67 . The eruption of Mount St. Helens inspired him to write a symphony of the same name (No. 50, one of his better-known works).

In 1977 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

plant

Alan Hovhaness' music is also accessible to the unprepared listener and unfolds its effect particularly through an often contemplative-mystical basic attitude, a high proportion of repetitive elements and chorale-like, solemn culminations. It integrates the music of many cultures and, in addition to European influences (which are expressed in the use of church modes or fugal passages), for example, Armenian modes and elements of Asian musical cultures. Despite occasional atonal or occasionally dodecaphonic experiments, Hovhaness felt obliged to tonality.

His catalog of works includes over 500 compositions, including 67 symphonies. The most important works include:

Piano works

• Ghazal No. 1 op. 36 No. 1
• Komachi op.240
• Piano Sonata Prospect Hill op.346
• Shalimar op.177

Chamber music

• Firdausi op. 252, for clarinet, harp and percussion
• Sonata for 2 Bassoons (or Violoncello and Bassoon) op.266
• Sonata for Oboe and Bassoon op. 302
• Sonata for Harp, Op. 127
• Sonata for Harp and Guitar Spirit of Trees op.374
• Sonata for Viola solo op.423
• String Quartet No. 1 op.8
• String Quartet No. 2
• String Quartet No. 3
• String Quartet No. 4 The Ancient Tree
• Suite for English Horn and Bassoon op.21
• Suite for Oboe and Bassoon op.23
• Suite for Violoncello and Piano op.193
• Tumburu op. 264 No. 1, for piano trio
• Upon Enchanted Ground op. 90 No. 1, for flute, violoncello, gigantic tam-tam and harp
• Varuna op. 264 No. 2, for piano trio
• Yakamochi op. 193 No. 2, for cello solo
• Chahagir op.56a , for solo viola

Works for orchestra

• And God Created Great Whales op.229 (1970)
• Armenian Rhapsody No. 1 op.45
• Armenian Rhapsody No. 2 op. 51
• Armenian Rhapsody No. 3 op.189
• Concerto for Cello and Orchestra op.17 (1936)
• Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra op.325
• Concerto for Harp and Strings, Op. 267
• Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra No. 2 op. 89 (1957)
• Concerto No. 10 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings op.413
• Fantasy on Japanese Wood Prints op. 211, for xylophone and orchestra
• Fra Angelico op.220 (1967)
• Khrymian Hairing op. 49, for trumpet and orchestra
• Kohar op. 66 No. 1
• Symphony No. 2 Mysterious Mountain op.132 (1955)
• Symphony No. 5 op. 170 (1953; rev. 1963)
• Symphony No. 6 Celestial Gate
• Symphony No. 9 St. Vartan op. 180 (1949–50)
• Symphony No. 15 Silver Pilgrimage op.199 (1962)
• Symphony No. 22 City of Light op.236 (1970)
• Symphony No. 24 Letters In The Sand op.273 (1973)
• Symphony No. 38 op. 314, for orchestra with coloratura soprano and solo flute
• Symphony No. 50 Mount St. Helens op.360 (1982)
• Symphony No. 66 Hymn To Glacier Peak op.428
• Tzaikerk op.53, for violin, flute, percussions and strings (1945)

Works for wind orchestra

• 3 Improvisations for Band op.248 No. 2 (1952)
  1. Impromptu On A Bansri Tune
  2. Impromptu On A Bengal Tune (My Boat Is On Land)
  3. Impromptu On A Pakistan Lute Tune
• 5 Fantasies for Brass Choir op.70 (1967)
• Canzona And Fugue for Brass op.72 (1967)
• Concerto No. 3 Diran, the Religious Singer , for euphonium (1948)
• Hymn To Yerevan op. 83, for symphonic wind orchestra
• Requiem And Resurrection for Brass Ensemble op.224 (1968)
• Return And Rebuild The Desolate Places - Concerto for Trumpet and Symphonic Wind Orchestra (1959)
• Sharagan and Fugue for Brass Choir op.58 , for 2 trumpets, horn in F, baritone, tuba (1947)
• Suite for Band op.15, for wind orchestra (1948)
• Tapor (processional) op.14 , for wind orchestra (1948)
• Tower Music (suite) , for 9 wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba) (1955)
• Symphony No. 4 op.165, for symphonic wind orchestra (1958)
  1. Andante (hymn & fugue)
  2. Allegro (dance-trio-dance).
  3. Andante espressivo (hymn & fugue)
• Symphony No. 7 Nanga Parvat op.178 , for symphonic wind orchestra (1959)
  1. Con ferocita
  2. March
  3. Sunset
• Symphony No. 14 Ararat op.194, for symphonic wind orchestra (1960)
• Symphony No. 17 for Metal Instruments op.203, for 6 flutes, 3 trombones and 5 percussions (1963)
• Symphony No. 20 Three Journeys To A Holy Mountain op.223, for symphonic wind orchestra (1968)
• Symphony No. 23 Ani op.249, for symphonic wind orchestra (1972)
• Symphony No. 53 Star Dawn op.377, for symphonic wind orchestra (1983)

Hovhaness also composed numerous sacred works, including Magnificat op. 157 (1958). Played more often, e.g. Partly in progress, will also be Prayer of St. Gregory op. 62b (1946), for trumpet and strings (interlude from the opera Etchmiadzin ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Lou Harrison, "Alan Hovhaness Offers Original Compositions," New York Herald Tribune (June 18, 1945), 11.
2. ^ Leta E. Miller and Frederic Lieberman, Lou Harrison: Composing a World , Oxford / New York, Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511022-6
3. ^ Members: Alan Hovhaness. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 4, 2019 . 

literature

• Martin Torp: Pioneer of Transculturalism - A portrait of the composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) for his 100th birthday. Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 2/2011, pp. 50–54.
• Michael Saffle / Nathan Broder: Lexicon article Alan Hovhaness , in: MGG 2 , Kassel / Stuttgart 2003.
• Arnold Rosner / Vance Wolverton: Lexicon article Alan Hovhaness , in: New Grove , Oxford University Press 2001.
• Gagne, Cole (1993). Soundpieces 2: Interviews with American Composers . Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810827107 .
• Harrison, Lou. Alan Hovhaness Offers Original Compositions. New York Herald Tribune , June 18, 1945, p. 11.
• Howard, Richard (1983). The Works of Alan Hovhaness: A Catalog, Opus 1-Opus 360 . Pro Am Music Resources. ISBN 0912483008 .
• Miller, Leta E. and Lieberman, Frederic (1998). Lou Harrison: Composing a World . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195110226 .

Web links

• Works by and about Alan Hovhaness in the catalog of the German National Library
• Catalog raisonné by Alan Hovhaness
• Alan Hovhaness website
• Alan Hovhaness centenary ( Memento from November 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
• Alan Hovhaness Center, Yerevan