66th Symphony (Hovhaness)
The 66th Symphony, Op. 428, by Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000), an American composer with Armenian-Scottish roots, was commissioned in 1991 and premiered the following year. It bears the subtitle " Hymn to Glacier Peak ".
Origin and premiere
Alan Hovhaness had been based in Seattle since the early 1970s . After 1991 by the Seattle Youth Symphony was commissioned on the occasion of its 50th founding anniversary with the composition of a symphony, he knew the work subtitled " Hymn to Glacier Peak ," one of his apartment in the visible, 3,213 m high stratovolcano in the Cascade chain . The first performance of the 66th Symphony by Hovhaness (the composer's penultimate) took place on May 10, 1992.
Cast and characterization
The score requires a large orchestra with the following scoring: 3 flutes , 2 oboes (also English horn), 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 3 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion , harp and strings .
The performance lasts just under 20 minutes. The three movements of the 66th Symphony are headed as follows:
- Andante maestoso
- Love Song - Andante espressivo
- Prelude and Fugue - Largo maestoso
The symphony belongs to the last creative phase of the composer, in which East Asian influences take a back seat to the structures of the Western European musical tradition. Japanese elements are most likely retained during this phase, which can also be explained by the fact that Hovhaness had been married to the Japanese soprano Hinako Fujihara since 1977 .
Its comparatively simple structure makes the 66th Symphony easy to perform even for youth orchestras. Motivic work and significant developments in modal harmony are dispensed with in favor of clear melodies and orchestral colors.
construction
The first movement begins with a hymn performed by the strings in 7/4 time, which is later joined by solo trumpet, trombone and cor anglais. An orchestral crescendo and recapitulation of the hymn is followed by an initially dance-like, then calming episode of the 3 canonically guided flutes over drum beats, before the hymn returns again.
The short 2nd movement " Love Song " can be recognized in the handwritten score by the addition " to Hinako " as a clear dedication to Hovhaness' wife. Solo coloraturas by flute and oboe sound over string pizzicati .
The beginning of the 3rd movement contains reminiscences of the hymn of the 1st and the string introduction of the 2nd movement. Dissonant sounds of glockenspiel and flute lead to a fugue (Allegretto molto), which ends in a canon, before the work closes in a triumphant and solemn increase.
literature
- Commentary by Hinako Fujihara-Hovhaness. In: CD booklet Alan Hovhaness “Mysterious Mountains”: Symphonies 2, 50, 66 ao Gerard Schwarz, Royal Liverpool PO. Telarc CD-80604, 2003.