Symphony No.1 "Exile" - Alan Hovhaness

[@rosssteel1556]

I'm sure I will listen to Alan Hovhaness music for the rest of my life. Thanks so much for posting his incredible music.

[@michel-jeantailleur]

One down, 66 to go!

[@williamphillips6247]

Thank god for youtube. My CD with this on it became cracked and unplayable. Thank you for posting Mr. Hovhaness's repertoire!

[@LoFiSweetie]

Beauty!

[@DressedForDrowning]

Wow, Hovhaness is quite a discovery!! 😀

[@jamesrbutler1]

Thank you for posting 41 of Hovhaness' symphonies! This is a treasure.

[@SergioCánovasCM]

It has been a pleasure of mine to travel through Hovhaness' Symphonies!

[@EmilianoManna]

03:07 a transfigured version of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream Overture? Thank you for all your Hovhaness uploads! (and many other gems)

[@notmyworld44]

I am extremely impressed with the finale of this symphony!

[@b.bailey8244]

Hello; I'm here based on your upload of symphony 11 - a beautiful piece! One commenter had noted that symphonies 27 and 28 were some of his finest and I noticed they were missing. I wonder if you would shed some light on this. I'm here to hear more of his music. Thank you so much for uploading these symphonies. I don't know too much about classical, being a jazz buff - but a friend with impeccable taste in all types of music and a lot of knowledge about Classical, uploaded number 11 to facebook, and i was led to you here on youtube. I live in WA and love that he wrote a symphony to the Walla Walla River, to mountains, to Nature. I wish more composers wrote symphonies to rivers. I'm listening to this piece now - and am so grateful to my friend who led me here. I find his works moving and feel great affinity for them so far.

[@SergioCánovasCM]

Hello, unfortunatelly I didn't manage to find a recording of those symphonies

[@marcelolasta385]

Muy buen cd,viene con la fenomenal 50´´St.Helens´´ de complemento,explota todo al finale!!

[@FernandoMartinez-eo6zh]

Muy buena, potente!

[@fulviopolce9785]

I primi due movimenti potevano essere maggiormente "ampliati" .Il terzo mi è rimasto favorevolmente molto impresso. Un ottimo inizio di un compositore per me sconosciuto ma che imparerò ad apprezzare.Ottimo post e cordiale saluto.

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

Por fin! Llevo meses tratando de recordar el nombre de este autor y su obra estaba aquí! Muchísimas gracias! (Ahora tengo el mismo problema con un compositor sueco de principios del XX... y no doy con él).

[@SergioCánovasCM]

De nada ¿Te refieres al compositor Hugo Alfvren, Kurt Atterberg o Wilhelm Stenhammar?

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

@@SergioCánovasCM No, es uno más austero que tuvo una vida muy difícil. Pérez de Arteaga le dedicó una larga serie en Radio Clásica, debían de ser discos de su propiedad, porque yo nunca he visto ni un disco de este autor. Lo conocí precisamente por esa serie de Arteaga. En algún momento me acordaré.

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

@@SergioCánovasCM Allan Pettersson! Según parece, su discografía es amplia, pero Wikipedia no indica el sello. Veo que tú mismo has publicado varias cosas suyas. Muchas gracias.

[@SergioCánovasCM]

En cuanto has dicho que se trataba de un compositor austero que tuvo una vida muy difícil ya sabía que era Pettersson. Es un buen compositor, aunque difícil de escuchar sin que te entre depresión.

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

@@SergioCánovasCM Cierto que hay que estar con el ánimo dispuesto, pero es un compositor, en mi opinión, muy interesante. Gracias.

[@jean-lucbernhardt8545]

Thank you. Gratitude for this discovery 🙏. To when an integral of his symphonies, or downright his work ❓

[@sneezyserena]

A beautiful work and a very impressive symphonic debut. (Or was it a debut? I remember hearing that Hovhaness later destroyed some earlier, unnumbered symphonies). Many thanks for posting it and for your very helpful notes.

[@eottoe2001]

Is this the piece that Bernstein and Copland trashed at Tanglewood? It didn't deserve it. It is a find thing.

[@SergioCánovasCM]

Yep, Bernstein apparently called the piece "ghetto music". Goes to show that even the best people are wrong sometimes.

[@vanhouten64]

i don't know where to start with hovhaness, too much options.

[@jakew520]

what key is this in? is it in a key? I don't know anything about music theory, if someone could explain

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Hi Jake. Prolific composer as he was Hovhaness' music can clearly be defined in four different sections. This dates from the first period 1930-1943. It is difficult to study because he destroyed hundreds of works written at this time. Generally, although there are no key signatures necessarily indicated on his scores, Hovhaness wrote mainly in minor tonics. He incorporated a lot of ancient folk music into his music and these pieces had been written before key signatures had been identified. Without getting too technical, I hope this helps.

[@jakew520]

Thank you David! very informative

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@jakew520 Great pleasure. It's a hard question to answer without getting too technical. Hovhaness' music sounds fairly simple but it's actually quite complicated. You might to listen to his "Fra Angelico" I personally think that this is one of his finest compositions. Good luck. David A.

[@paulybarr]

Although his music is frequently modal, the first section has a strong feeling of d minor- both because of the accompanying figure in the lower strings, but also the solo clarinet melody, despite its chromaticism.

[@jakew520]

@@paulybarr thanks

[@hansschonfelder735]

"I can't stand this cheap ghetto music." (Leonard Bernstein about this Symphony)

[@SergioCánovasCM]

Yeah, a pretty unfortunate comment.

[@hansschonfelder735]

@@SergioCánovasCM That's true. But they - Copland and Bernstein - hated him and his music.

[@SergioCánovasCM]

I know, I had read Hovhaness' biography in preparation for the videos and read about the Tanglewood incident. Quite sad the incomprehension the composer had to face.

[@jgesselberty]

Just goes to show you that even Lenny and Aaron were wrong sometimes.

[@paulwagner688]

A JEW calling something "ghetto music"? For shame, Lenny, for shame.