International Man of Mysticism: The Life and Works of Alan Hovhaness

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0:00 Introduction and Early Life
5:05 The Tanglewood Incident
10:08 The “Armenian Period”
15:42 South Indian Techniques
19:11 Hovhaness the Anti-Modernist
25:13 Hovhaness and Mode
28:06 Rise to Fame
36:40 The West Coast
This was requested by mobius drummer, tkeezy1, Michael Owens, UCDrumline77, Jake W, Liam Cawley, Carson Clegg, Parsa Mostaghim, M Edward Borasky, and Janneck Christiansen. See all requests at lentovivace.com/classicalnerd....
📚 Sources/further reading:
“The Music of Alan Hovhaness” by Niccolo Davis Athens (DMA dissertation, Cornell University, 2016): ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstrea...
“An Analytical Survey of the Music of Alan Hovhaness” by Arnold Rosner (PhD dissertation, University at Buffalo, 1972): www.arnoldrosnermusic.com/wp-c...
“Alan Hovhaness and the Creation of the ‘Modern Free Noh Play’” by Tyler Kinnear (MA thesis, University of Oregon, 2009): citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc...
“A Historical and Theoretical Look at the Percussion Ensemble Work ‘October Mountain’ by Alan Hovhaness” by Joe W. Moore III (DMA dissertation, Louisiana State University, 2014): www.pas.org/docs/default-sour...
bmop.org/sites/default/files/...
hovhaness.com
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Classical Nerd is a video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Alan Hovhaness: Sonata for Harp and Guitar “The Spirit of the Trees,” Op. 374, performed by Yolanda Kondonassis and David Leisner [original upload: nG_gAMwGG-Q]
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
- Alan Hovhaness: The Flowering Peach, Op. 125, performed by the MGM Chamber Ensemble conducted by Alan Hovhaness [original upload: fHuQmK0dq2o]
- Alan Hovhaness: Lousadzak, Op. 48, performed by Maro Ajemian, conducted by Carlos Surinach [original upload: lqFu2DVzQ_0]
- Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain,” Op. 132, performers unknown [original upload: ufbOIe1GuhI]
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
Facebook:
/ classicalnerd
Instagram:
/ the_classical_nerd
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@johnzielinski9951]

This was an exceedingly good synopsis of Alan Hovahaness' life and career. Thank you for the work you put into it, subscribed! I grew up in Seattle during Alan's "last period" and had the opportunity to meet him several times. I knew him as.a gentle, humble person that was always ready to encourage young musicians. He invited me to his home once (this was in the late 1980's) and I played his "Visionary Landscapes" for him. Curiously, he had no advice to give me - he said he enjoyed my interpretation and that I should simply "play it as I heard it." He also showed me an orchestral score he was working on, a recent commission. It was all written out by hand of course - music publishing software hadn't been developed yet, but what struck me was that he didn't even use printed manuscript paper. He wrote out all the staff lines by hand with a special pen that inscribed five parallel lines. Talk about old school! Later that year I organized a concert of his music at the Nippon Kan Theater in Seattle (now converted into an office building). My brief acquaintance with this great soul and his music still resonates strongly with me 35 years later.

[@StevensMusic]

His wife still runs his self-publishing entity, Fujihara Music, so I would encourage people to inquire about his music before it gets lost in the estate! I was able to get some of his obscure saxophone chamber works, and love being able to carry on his legacy through performing and bringing awareness to his music. Some are great chamber pieces for students as well!

[@arvpreenja3090]

"Spirit of trees" is just the perfect background music you have chosen.

[@rodterrell304]

Oh finally someone acknowledges this composer. Thank you so much. I love his music especially the Celestial Gate . He was a fantastic composer.

[@williamrubinstein3442]

One of the greatest modern composers and one of the greatest American composers. Let's hope he becomes far better known than he is. His music is something like Vaughan Williams's.

[@derfreischutz4380]

Thank you! For me, Alan Hovhaness is one of the greatest composers in History. He deserves a higher status, he and other composers as Caplet, Röntgen, Cyril Scott, Onslow, etc.

[@shawncasey7533]

Hovhaness is underrated. I think he's a great entry point for people interested in getting into classical music. He was the first composer I ever really got into. I've always thought "Prayer of St Gregory" would sound great on electric guitar.

[@hoangkimviet8545]

I can't believe that a modern composers could compose many symphonies like him.

[@unnamed_boi]

and then there's leif segerstam

[@dbadagna]

Hovhaness taught at the Boston Conservatory (not the New England Conservatory) from 1948 to 1951. When I interviewed his former student Sam Rivers about this in 2005 (the transcript of which is available online in the Sam Rivers Sessionography), he corrected me when I said the name of the wrong conservatory.

[@keithcooper6715]

Always enjoyed Hovhaness - Now I understand him on a deeper level - THANK YOU Mr Classical Nerd -

[@musicalintentions]

Thank you, as always, for sharing these stories and your insights with us.

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

This was an exceptional piece of work; thank you Classical Nerd !

[@zdschmitz]

Holy cow! This is amazing. I love your channel please keep it up

[@oldbrassman2157]

Glad I found your channel. Will check out your other videos.

[@onlykarlhenning]

Very nicely done!

[@WBradJazz]

excellent as usual. i wasn't really aware of him until your video. thanks

[@alwhitaker1925]

Your channel is an incredible source for music. I am really impressed.

[@tonybernardi9701]

Bravo, very informative! Extremely well researched. I truly enjoyed and learned a lot. Bravo again…

[@CharlesAustin]

I saw Hovhaness sometime in the early 1960’s in Vancouver at a piano festival. He conducted one of his chamber pieces ? I think. It was relatively a close view. Impression: Very nice man very gracious and delighted to hear and conduct his own music. I didn’t know who he was but never forgot him. Thanks for all your reveals !!

[@scartabellomusic]

I appreciate the work you put into this presentation. Nice work! Interesting stuff!

[@jcrouse7461]

Another excellent and fascinating biography, as always 👏👏👏

[@jaeboogie2786]

Great video. Bravo 👏

[@TRUTHorDie]

Blessed and honored to be in Alan Hovhaness's home listening to Prayer of St. Gregory right now with Alan's wife Hinako and family. It's his posthumous birthday TODAY, March 8 2022. He would have been 111 years old. His ashes are here on the table next to us while we celebrate his life and it couldn't be more surreal! Thank you for the well researched and presented information on this genius musician and his exceptional life.

[@Poeme340]

I adore AH! Excellent lecture-I appreciate it!👍👍

[@cousinclub01]

The saxophone solo sounds like something you’d hear on a Mulatu Astakte, Hailu Mergia, or Getachew Mekuria record. So cool! Great video thanks!

[@jbarrichello]

Thank you!

[@brucebaldy]

I really like your videos. Good work.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Great choice, a wonderful insight into this man of mystery. Who wrote so much music he once didn't recognise his own work. Only you can make this so interesting. Inspiring, as always.

[@alexiusa.pereira9956]

Thank you.

[@dill_peanuts_]

Hi. The quote about Wagner and the sho is no joke something I’ve thought about and I have never heard any of this before. I’m also into mysticism and I feel like I have consumed lots of the same musical content that Hovhaness did but yet, I have never heard any of his music. There must be something there that words cant fully describe… Thanks for making this video!!

[@thomascampbell127]

Great video. Interesting composer and person.

[@classicalmusic3334]

For me this video has spurred some new interest in Hovhaness' works. I decided to give And God Created Great Whales a listen today, and it's really intriguing! Could this be the first (or perhaps only?) classical piece which features whale sounds?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I would doubt that it's the only, if only because of how immensely popular the idea of writing about whales/whalesong was at the time (consider that Tavener's _The Whale_ and Crumb's _Vox Balaenae_ come from this same span of time).

[@kaloarepo288]

The Italian master Ottorino Respighi included an actual recording of a nightingale in his tone poem "Pines of Rome" circa 1920 -it created a sensation when it premiered-an earlier example of using animal sounds in music but of course the baroque composers frequently used music inspired by animals and birds in their compositions -novelist Donna Leon explores this theme in her book and C.D. called "Handel's bestiary" which explores that great composers use of animal inspirations in his operas and oratorios.

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Maestro 🌹🌹🌹

[@giuseppepino3440]

Thank you for your very accurate presentation, I was fortunate many years ago to discover it by chance buying a second-hand cd, for me, it was a pleasant revelation. The composition of this CD is played by the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, which I consider one of the best recordings. You did a good job, thanks again.

[@PeterLunowPL]

Mr. Nerd , as always you are a delight to listen to , including the silly jokes. But let me be very clear: your knowledge , intelligence and passion are a great support to me personally as a musician. Dont ever stop making your videos ! greetings from The Netherlands, Peter

[@grantveebeejay535]

This is great work Thomas. It is enhanced by the side glance delivery and farm shirt weaponry. Brilliant!

[@ClassicalNerd]

The weird thing is that there's nothing special about where I'm glancing (my script is just behind the camera), just that I find it _really_ weird to look at the same direction for too long while lecturing.

[@clearonhow]

I pasted little cutout pictures of a girl, a guy and an owl around the camera. I just talk to them!

[@carts2]

Thank you for a very enlightening look at a favorite composer of mine. Just read that Arnold Rosner admired both Hovhaness and Vaughan Williams (another favorite). I have been listening to Rosner's compositions lately and like them tremendously. Please consider a video on Arnold Rosner.

[@BenCantrell]

The level of research and reporting is really quite inspiring! Thank you so much for all your hard work in sharing so many important composers over the years. I would love to see a video over Joachim Raff or Sergei Taneyev. Both are incredibly interesting composers with some seriously wonderful music.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you! Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@pseudotonal]

I once attended a John Cage concert with one of the performers who was the organizer of the event at the French Embassy. Afterwards she and her husband and Cage and I went to her friend's art studio for a get together. John Cage proved to be a self-centered jerk. Here I was, a composer, talking to the world's most revered composer and he couldn't have cared less that I existed. Furthermore, during the Q and A time, he severely blasted Handel's Messiah and Christianity. So, I don't doubt that Hovhaness experienced the same thing at the hands of these so-called "great" composers.

[@chrisjarvis1822]

Lol sounds like you weren't Cage's type. Blasting Christianity seems like exactly what one would come to expect from him; don't know what you were expecting. That would be like me expecting Brian Bowman, legendary euphoniumist, to have a beer with me after our masterclass (he's a devout Mormon).

[@pseudotonal]

@@chrisjarvis1822 Hahahaha! The whole time at the party he talked about his doctor and his macro-biotic diet.

[@chrisjarvis1822]

@@pseudotonal Haha he must not have been in his mushroom foraging phase at that time!

[@pseudotonal]

@@chrisjarvis1822 Hahahaha

[@finneganlindsay]

Why were you ever at a John Cage concert in the first place? 😆😂

[@annakimborahpa]

Could one say that Alan's praise worthy mountain inspired compositions are examples of 'Hovhaness in the highest'?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I wish I'd thought of this.

[@annakimborahpa]

@@ClassicalNerd Maybe just call it a paraphrase of the Jerusalem crowd chanting in Matthew 21:9.

[@michaelowens5394]

Thank you! I really wanted to understand this composer and his highly unusual music. You saved me the time studying. :-)

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKnFqHeao7p7hac here is my HOVHANESS PLAYLIST / most-recent uploads listed first it's too large to be conveniently useful

[@personofinternet682]

Great work! You introduce me to so many composers I would never run into otherwise. Thank you!

[@de31.8]

Hi Thomas, Thanks for all your amazing videos :) Would you please make more “Great Composer” videos about Verdi and Puccini? I LOVE those guys 😍

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@zacharydetrick7428]

omg YES!!!!! an american legend. can't wait to watch, miss ya

[@zacharydetrick7428]

watching this on hovhaness' birthday! (march 8th)

[@sjambler]

Wonderful video. I learned so much. Had no idea that Sibelius was an early hero, or that they actually met. It's funny how, no matter which "period" it's from, his music still sounds so much like ... Hovhaness.

[@neilwalsh3977]

Absolutely fascinating - Lousadzak! (cool word) - ps. that is an amazing bookshelf, esp Elgar near Scriabin. Very refined tastes there!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you! I have gone through many permutations over the years, and am currently on one that puts my clearly historical volumes in chronological order.

[@abbasalchemist]

Thank you for bringing attention to this Armenian-American composer! Shaht lahv!

[@MissMX]

Not Armenian - American. Born and raised near Boston, MA. Never spoke (or wanted to speak) Armenian either.

[@EGGrun]

Hello, love these videos, super educational and fun 🙂❤️. Can we have a video on Eugen Suchoň? I feel like nobody talks about art from Slovakia.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I did-but many years ago, when my standards were not nearly as high. I remember having to add important clarification/correction by linking to an article in that video's description.

[@MartyMusic777]

I LOVE this series, and after hearing Takemitsu's name at the end, I would love to see that video. Or Britten - he's a fun one.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I see Takemitsu requested a lot despite the fact that I have, in fact, done a video on him (although it is very old and thus not nearly as comprehensive as, say, this one). Britten has been duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@ClassicalNerd]

*ASSORTED NOTES/CLARIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS:* 3:25 - Uday Shankar’s dance troupe came to down, accompanied by the music of Vishnudass Shirali, whose ensemble included a young Ravi Shankar. 5:20 - One source listed Hovhaness’ income from 1940-47 as $40 per day, although I could neither corroborate this nor tell if this was $40 in _1940s_ currency, or if some adjustment for inflation had been applied. If this were true, then I can’t imagine that he would be stuck in a studio apartment on the equivalent of what is almost $800/day today. 6:01 - This scale likely consisted of many minor and augmented seconds, which could be anything from double harmonic minor to a hexatonic collection. 10:08 - “Armenian” is in quotes because Hovhaness is often pigeonholed as an exclusively Armenian composer, while this second period of his career made use of other influences, as I discuss. 12:12 - See his opera _The Leper King_ as an example. 16:05 - Inherent melodic _characteristics,_ not “characteristic.” 28:18 - According to dbadagna (see elsewhere in the comments), Hovhaness taught at the Boston Conservatory. 32:54 - At least one source claimed that he received a Guggenheim in _1958_ in lieu of one of those other years, but this is easily debunked. 33:49 - I could find very little information on his wives; some, I was lucky if I found so much as a single name. 35:37 - See the “Vishnu” Symphony for an example of free rhythmic writing carrying a piece. 35:42 - Modes with _fewer_ than seven notes, not “less.” 40:19 - The playing of notes “around” a blue note is one of the practical uses of the major-minor chord discussed earlier. 40:41 - I’m missing an Oxford comma in the lower third. 41:06 - I’m missing a comma here as well.

[@smguy7]

Thank you very much for this! I enjoyed Hovhaness's music for a number of years now. This video was superb and inspiring. I will explore his music further. A request, if I may be so bold. Would you please do a video on Toru Takemitsu some time?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I did a Takemitsu video many years ago. So don't expect the in-depthness of something I'd make today, but he's out there.

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

@@smguy7 - I recall Alan Hovhaness in 1974 enthusing very keenly on some younger Japanese composers & Takemitsu in particular, especially some biwa & shakuhachi film music (Taidun? or somesuch which was then on LP - poss. a full side of folkish (non-Western music) on an LP side? (20' ?). Excellent music indeed, by TT. Hovhaness also mentioned November Steps (I) a sort of concertante work also for biwa & shackuhatchi but with full orchestra also by TT. I got the impression AH approved of TT's success synthesizing East & West ingredients (to use strictly mucicological terminology )! Significantly he kept mentioning Messiaen whose Turrangalila Sym (c1948) filled 3 sides of 2LP (NS-1 being 4th side). So Hovhaness (AH) was probably influenced by OM when composing 24 movs in his St Vartan Sym (1949-1950). ***PS - I reckon Hovhaness got the idea of a series of numbered concertos from Vagn Holmboe (1948, 1-12 in Holmboe's case)... Hovhaness Concertos 1-10+ (1950-4) in AH's case. This ***PS is a sort of supplement for Classical Nerd ! Other composers (eg Hindemith) might have had a series of unrelated numbered (Cha.)Concs.... but Vagn Holmboe (alphabetically close!) had his Concerto No.11 on an MGM LP around 1955 Hovhaness had many MGM LPs to his credit.....

[@smguy7]

@@ClassicalNerd maybe make a new one? Some time?

[@smguy7]

@@ClassicalNerd Tan Dun is also interesting.

[@cuvieradaptations]

Wow! That is one extreme composer.

[@kenm.3512]

Very interesting. I have four CD's of his music. It's nice stuff, though I admit that it's been a long time since I listened to any of it. This clip has re-sparked my interest. I remember reading of Leonard Bernstein's blatant disregard of Hovhaness's music. Perhaps there was too much far-out mystycism. Bernstein was an aesthetic animal. Hovahness must have seemed like a clueless spiritual adventurer to Lenny. In that regard, the exotic interests of Hovahness are somewhat akin with Bruckner, who also faced harsh criticism from some peers because of his deeply spiritial/religous disposition and inspiration. As Brahms would often regard, as Bruckner's repetitive and meandering symphonies. As usual Thomas, well done and thank you!

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

Ah ha! "Thomas" - can this be the unveiling of "Classical Nerd"? !

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

Ken M. - I'm malingering over that "M" as well..... Webtastic ?

[@FelipevonMontfort]

I really enjoy your essays on composers. Are you interested in Max Reger? Plan on a video about him?

[@ClassicalNerd]

lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@teatedpuddle1299]

As always, love the content! Would it be possible to make “the works and the life of…” videos for great virtuoso violinists such as Sarasate, Wieniawski, Ernst, Vieuxtemps, Bazzini, Tartini, Ricci, Joachim, Ysaÿe or Kreisler? Or perhaps also virtuoso guitarists, i.e., Tárrega, Leo Brouwer, Manuel Barrueco, etc. That would be awesome!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Due to the overwhelming onslaught of requests I receive, I can only take up to five from any one person. My policies are laid out on lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@niccoloathens7692]

I am flattered you read my dissertation so closely.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you for writing it! It was very illuminating.

[@leslieackerman4189]

If you think Milhaud was prolific, try Hovhaness! Very comprehensive lecture. Thanks.

[@sudabdjadjgasdajdk3120]

I've listened to hovhaness for years by suggestion from robbie basho. It's great music for hikes.

[@dogbiscuituk]

Hey man, any chance of a few words about Léo Delibes?

[@ClassicalNerd]

At this rate, sure ... in 20-25 years: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Thank you for mentioning his operas and oratorio, I must try and hear them. However, I was disappointed that you didn't mention Fra Angelico. In my opinion one of his greatest orchestral works.

[@ClassicalNerd]

With 434 opus numbers, there's a lot that had to hit the cutting room floor-especially with his operatic works and his strong connections to Noh theater. (Fortunately, those topics are covered in great detail in my sources.) With this script, I prioritized mentioning/excerpting pieces that were strong representative samples of the techniques mentioned.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@ClassicalNerd You don't have to explain, it was the first work I'd ever heard by him and opened a door. You did a fantastic job. I learnt so much. Thank you so much for replying. That lunch at Simpson's in London is still on !!

[@charly71]

could anyone propose a selection of his best symphonies - 2, 11, and 50 seem to be mentioned here and there ?

[@richardhoward6377]

Yes. Try No.6 'Celestial Gate'. Beautiful.

[@lawsonj39]

As someone who was introduced to Eastern music by the Beatles, I have a tough time not resenting Hovhaness's hatred of them; on the other hand, I find his music and assorted enthusiasms revealing in much the same way that I found the Beatles'.

[@coreylapinas1000]

Would you consider doing a video on Luigi Dallapiccola?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@dellaroux]

I'm guessing a comparative study of the notation systems shown vis-a-vis pre-Gregorian notation (staffless neumes, etc.) has been done? Or not?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I don't pretend to be an expert on either subject, but neumes at least _look_ like the shape of their gesture, where as the Armenian _khaz_ system doesn't have that correlation (much like, aside from exceptions like "O," letters in the alphabet don't look like the shape of one's mouth).

[@dellaroux]

@@ClassicalNerd I'm not an expert but I do some medieval research; I was thinking of a talk given in Feb/2019 by Susan Rankin, who tracked the neumes back to inflectional signs in verbal texts, which I believe she took back to Greek diacriticals. I realize Armenian and Greek constructions could be vastly different, but thought they might have been close enough in some ways to be potentially related. In any case, interesting presentation (from one who lived on Winter Hill at one point).

[@oliverwelles5366]

Can you cover Elgar?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted!

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

Dear Mr. Nurd: If you are out there, I'm curious about what microphone you use for your voice on these videos, and if you add in the voice later, or do you just record it all at once. (also, thank you for bringing Alan Hovhaness to my attention!) ----- the acoustic rabbit-hole

[@ClassicalNerd]

I have a lav mic that I got on Amazon a few years ago, which I route through a small Zoom mic into my laptop. Very occasionally, I'll do a little bit of ADR (I did with Bohuslav Martinů's name in this video, actually) but the rest is live.

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

@@ClassicalNerd Ah, so i've a lav. Ok, but what is the name of the model of lav mic? Just curious about how your voice sounds on my end in my recording studio (based on the mic you are using.) Your voice sounds quite clear to me on your shows, though, if it's an ordinary lav, you could add some extra depth and presence to your speaking-voice with an upgrade. A lav mic is a good way to go because it doesn't add echoy room-noise off the walls. I've learned so much from your show, thanks! - The Acoustic Rabbit Hole

[@ClassicalNerd]

@@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole It's a simple Rode SmartLav+. Nothing too fancy, but an upgrade from the cheapest Zoom mic that I used for videos produced before August 2019. I'm more interested in upgrading my camera and lighting setup (a derelict Nikon Coolpix and a bunch of lamps) than I am my audio right now.

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

@@ClassicalNerd Nah, i'd say SmartLav+ is perfect for your needs. Sounds good on my monitor speakers here. (Honestly i was just making sure if you were using a $15 lav mic or not! Ha!) By the way, the books behind you make a great buffer for echos. It's actually an old recording-studio trick! Cheers from Bent, New Mexico!

[@Cryseris]

Mind if I add Carl Czerney to your list of suggestions?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@jakew520]

a genius for sure

[@peeew]

I would love for you to cover Mel Bonis.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@gurusoft1]

Hovhannes is a stupendous musical poet and mystic, who will increasingly be appreciated as time goes on. Some of my favorite Hovhannes pieces are concerto #8, celestial gate, mysterious mountains, loon lake, and psalm and fugue. This is a very partial list!

[@kingconcerto5860]

Do Erik Chisholm please.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@rogerantonybennett5272]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqjVdKmlpbyHa5o - Deep Jalaao Kalpana - 1948 - Udai Shankar - Sumitranandan Pant -- Vishnudas Shirali ( 3:25 - Uday Shankar’s dance troupe came to down, accompanied by the music of Vishnudass Shirali, whose ensemble included a young Ravi Shankar. )

[@jesseboy303]

adam driver should play him in a bio-pic, ya?

[@carrieann1640]

ya!

[@jasonquidoz3452]

Your videos are excellent and very informative. Hovhaness is a very interesting composer indeed. However, I believe your videos would gain from including more musical extracts, or at least refer to « key pieces » your audience could listen to if they wanted to know more about the composer.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Musical extracts run afoul of KZbin's voracious algorithm at the drop of a hat. It's flagged pieces that _I wrote_ as being some Chopin recording. I have to track down recordings that don't trip up the algorithm, which is difficult to impossible. Plus, there are so many resources to find recordings of pieces, whereas I'm doing something quite a bit different with my channel.

[@dbadagna]

Are you sure that Frederick Converse introduced Hovhaness to Indian classical music?

[@ClassicalNerd]

My sources are listed in the description, if you'd like to check my work.

[@dbadagna]

@@ClassicalNerd Whatever the case, I don't think it's accurate. Everything else in your video is spot on, though.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I don't doubt that there is still plenty of research and clarification to be done in this field-the lack of a comprehensive, published Hovhaness biography is lamentable-but nonetheless, I had no reason to doubt that assertion when I came across it (unlike, for instance, claims of Hovhaness's income and employment throughout the 1940s).

[@dbadagna]

@@ClassicalNerd Someone who visited him at home (maybe in the late '40s or early '50s) said there was no furniture at all, just some boxes or packing crates that he would use as tables to write his music on.

[@luigipalumbo3294]

👍

[@dbadagna]

Something else happened at Tanglewood, according to Alan Hovhaness's close family friend Betty Gregory: ====== Interview: Dr. Elizabeth A. Gregory (1917-2012) Interview by Martin Berkofsky (1943-2013), 21 and 22 May 2005, at Gregory's home (Crosslands retirement community) in the town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania EG: All right. The Jeremiah Symphony story. I'm giving you scattered stories. MB: That's fine. [ ... ] EG: When Alan went to Tanglewood, that summer of 1942, where Lukas Foss was, and Aaron Copland was, and Leonard Bernstein, and all that New York... MB: ...the gang. EG: Alan called "the gang," too he said they were all... MB: Yeah--we know. [Laughs.] EG: We all know. Among the exercises they had they mapped out symphonies that they were going to write. And Alan told them about a symphony that he was going to write, which he was going to call the Jeremiah Symphony. And there was going to be a main speaker...thing, Jeremiah,... MB: Mm-hmm. EG: ...and then this symphony. He hadn't gotten around to writing it when all of a sudden, years...this is years later, who comes out with a symphony... MB: ...called Jeremiah. EG: ...called Jeremiah symphony...but Leonard Bernstein. With a contralto, a mezzo soprano soloist doing the female thing, and a beautiful... It was a very nice symphony. It was perfectly put together; it was a lovely symphony. But Alan was very down...crestfallen. He said, "He stole that idea from me. I told him this whole thing exactly the way he's done it." And...well, I...since no recordings were made of that conversation,... MB: Mm-hmm. EG: ...nobody can prove it, but I believe Alan. I believe Alan. Yeah. That's the Jeremiah Symphony story. MB: That's... [Laughs.] EG: I was in Pittsburgh as an intern when the first performance of the Jeremiah Symphony was ever given. And Jennie Tourel was the soloist, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played it. And it was a marvelous performance. I can still remember her coming in with a tangerine velvet solid dress with a train, and she...like a queen she marched onto the stage, and she did her thing. Years later,...just...no, one year later, the Boston Symphony Orchestra did it, and I went again to hear it, and wanted to see if it sounded the same to me as it did the first time I heard it, and I went, and it was very funny, because the piece...it wasn't Jennie Tourel; it was somebody else; and the program said "world's first performance." MB: Oh, my God. EG: But that's Boston for you! allow Pittsburgh to have the first performance I heard Pittsburgh first. Okay?

[@dbadagna]

That was an excellent and comprehensive presentation. I'd like to add that Hovhaness's early interest in Indian music, which was shared by his friends Hyman Bloom and Hermon di Giovanno, probably focused in the 1940s more on the Hindustani (North Indian) than Carnatic (South Indian), and they also had great enthusiasm for other musical traditions sharing a lot in common with Armenian music, such as Kurdish, Turkish, Greek, Macedonian, etc., which they heard both on 78-rpm record and in live performances in the expatriate communities of the U.S. Northeast. One of the most important influences for Hovhaness was the Armenian troubadour Yenovk Der Hagopian (1900-1966), who performed songs in many of these styles. His music can be heard in this playlist: playlist?list=PLxjBJRjRpZJBASvNJr1ongdTfYxF94bKb

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you for your insightful additions. It's unfortunate that a lot of sources on Hovhaness merely mention his interest in "Indian music" without explicating what about Hindustani music in particular may have been an influence. The dissertations that formed the backbone of my script focused almost entirely on the Carnatic tradition.

[@dbadagna]

@@ClassicalNerd Uday Shankar's troupe was North Indian (though they may have included some South Indian material in their sets), and I think most of the Indian music that was available and known to Americans in the 1940s was North Indian rather than South Indian. During this period Hovhaness (probably along with Bloom and di Giovanno) attended all the concerts by visiting Indian musicians he could, and, I think, learned to play a bit of sitar. To share a few words about two other Bostonians who shared this interest: Brian Q. Silver, a sitar/surbahar player who first heard Indian music in the 1950s, met Hyman Bloom in the early 1960s, and studied sitar in India from 1964 to 1966. Between 1974 and 1983, Silver used to meet with Bloom almost every week, often in the company of James A. Rubin, who had met Bloom in the mid-1950s. Rubin went on to study Carnatic music in India, founded Boston's Pan Orient Arts Foundation, and eventually donated his James A. Rubin Collection of South Indian Classical Music, 1957-1989 (the bulk of which comprises nearly 400 reels of tape that he recorded on 18 trips to South India between 1964 and 1987) to the Harvard Library Archive of World Music. Silver, who may be the only one of these individuals still living, has also donated his own much smaller collection of recordings (dating from 1950 to 2000) to Harvard.

[@dbadagna]

@@ClassicalNerd I found this additional relevant oral history in the Betty Gregory interview; it's so lucky that Martin Berkofsky was able to meet her to do this, as she had knowledge no one else had. I apologize that it seems I did not edit this text well enough, but at least it gives you some background that isn't available elsewhere. ====== Interview: Dr. Elizabeth A. Gregory (1917-2012) Interview by Martin Berkofsky (1943-2013), 21 and 22 May 2005, at Gregory's home (Crosslands retirement community) in the town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania EG: I encouraged him definitely no question about that part he did applied. And he subsequently got more than one Guggenheim; he ended up in the East Coast as a fellow the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for a season, he just stayed, because Schwarz some of the people out there became as interested in his music as the rest of us were, and then he got awards and went to Japan, and he went to Korea, and he went to India. And he introduced me to Indian music, and I made friends among the Indian community. And we began listening to Indian music all the time. And we...Hyman had a friend, Jim Rubin, who arranged these Indian companies to come to the United States--Ravi Shankar and his associates, and Inayat Khan, and Vilayat Khan, and Bismillah Khan played the shahnai that played... Well, anyway used to come here we'd go to Symphony Hall to hear them play go over to Jim Rubin's house sit on the floor, and stay there until three or four o'clock in the morning, and they would play for us privately. Sometimes one raga. You know what raga is MB: Yes. EG: Okay, you know. One raga would last three or four hours. The alap alone an hour. MB: Hmm. EG: Now sometimes Americanize them to the point fifteen or twenty minutes and the alap is all over. MB: [Chuckles.] EG: I remember when Ravi Shankar came the first time, he had a musician whose name was Chatur Lal who's a wonderful drummer. And then after that he had Alla Rakha, he had many, many years, and there was another one I can't remember his name--just don't remember.

[@russellhenrybieber6620]

Can we get a Beefheart or a CAN video?

[@ClassicalNerd]

CAN?

[@russellhenrybieber6620]

​@@ClassicalNerd Yeah German group that studied under Stockhausen, In my opinion they're the only other avant rock band that go tit for tat with Zappa in terms of compositional scope (besides Beefy boy).

[@archerycraft1866]

You should do liszt

[@rewindcat7927]

Hov!

[@kaloarepo288]

One of the great composers with Armenian connections -the other being Aram Khatchaturian.

[@kristinehegarty3412]

My great Aunt Serafina was married to him.

[@avaonalee]

"Jean Sibelius, pictured here on a bad hair day" 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[@jefolson6989]

Very prolific. Most know only hid " whale" piece, if they know him at all. Most of it is beautiful, if a bit nebulous.

[@coltonjones9850]

Oh my Lord that Jeffrey Epstein joke had me rolling lol

[@ClassicalNerd]

It was between that and a joke about a Michael Vick dog-sitting company, which I scrapped because if there's one thing I've learned about classical musicians, it's that the overlap with sports fans isn't very big.

[@fanyeyuan]

Love your content! But just a small complaint: your background music is VERY DISTRACTING.. As a music student I am always drawn to the background music you choose and I literately can't focus on your speaking for more than ten seconds. Those pieces aren't supposed to be "background music". It's like playing Symphony Fantastique in a café.. Nevertheless I always watch your videos repeatedly just to make sure to get everything. Appreciate your effort!

[@ClassicalNerd]

I'm sorry you feel that way, but it is a very minority opinion. Due to KZbin's copyright-enforcement algorithms, this is sometimes the only way I can get the music of a composer into a video without said video being demonetized or outright blocked-plus it helps to obscure the constant hum of background noise that comes with living in an apartment.