Hovhaness Collection - Essential Hovhaness

Title Tracks for Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness)

1. Prayer Of St. Gregory
2. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: I. Allegro moderato
3. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: II. Angel Of Light (Largo)
4. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: III. Allegretto grazioso
5. Symphony No. 22 'City Of Light' Op. 236: IV. Finale (Largo maestoso)
6. Bagatelle No. 1, Op. 30 No. 1
7. Bagatelle No. 2, Op. 30, No. 2
8. Bagatelle No. 3, Op. 30, No. 3
9. Bagatelle No. 4, Op. 30, No. 4
10. Fantasy On Japanese Woodprints, Op. 211
11. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Overture
12. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Lifting Of Voices
13. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Building The Ark
14. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Intermezzo
15. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Rain
16. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Love Song
17. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Sun And Moon
18. The Flowering Peach, Op. 125: Rainbow Hymn
19. Exile Symphony (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No. 2: I. Andante espressivo; Allegro
20. Exile Symphony (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No. 2: II. Grazioso
21. Exile Symphony (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No. 2: III. Finale: Andante; Presto
22. A Rose Tree Blossoms, Op. 246, No. 4
23. Quartet No. 4, Op. 208 No. 2 'The Ancient Tree' (Under The Ancient Maple Tree): I. Adagio ma non troppo
24. Quartet No. 4, Op. 208 No. 2 'The Ancient Tree' (Under The Ancient Maple Tree): II. Fugue
25. Quartet No. 4, Op. 208 No. 2 'The Ancient Tree' (Under The Ancient Maple Tree): III. Adagio; Andante con moto; Allegro

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(2 customer reviews)

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

A good place to start, June 22, 2000

Michael W. Freeman "cyderman" (coatsburg, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness) (Audio CD)

This is a great way to savour the delights of Hovhaness' work. He died today (6/22/00), so there will hopefully be plenty of tribute programs coming soon and this 2 disc set from Delos will give you a good idea why he was so much admired.Delos recordings are always crystal clear and, despite the Seattle Symphony and Ohio State University Concert Band being not quite as well known as the Berlin Philharmonic, the performances are pretty good too. He probably suffered from too much success too young (Stokowski conducted the premiere of his second symphony to rave reviews from the press), that and the fact that his compositions weren't as atonal and fragmented as the music critics of the 50's and sixties liked. Mysterious Mountain, the second Symphony is probably his most well known piece and included here, but all the pieces are well written and not too demanding to listen to. Star Dawn Symphony and Celestial Fantasy give a good idea of his fascination with the bigger...Read more

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

A wonderful compilation from an underrated composer, January 6, 2003

Joshua Kaufman (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hovhaness Collection (Essential Hovhaness) (Audio CD)

Hovhaness wasn't the typical American composer, so his music isn't all that well known beyond Mysterious Mountain. However, he wrote a wealth of music, including almost 60 symphonies.

Delos is the label that has recorded more music of his than any other label, much of it with the composer conducting, and this is the first of two double-CD compilations of those recordings. The only reason I say this is the better one is that it's more diverse, and contains two of my absolute favorites. Prayer of St. Gregory is a geogeous piece for trumpet and strings, and I simply have not heard very much music that betters it. Beyond that, A Rose Tree Blossoms is a beautiful a capella chourus piece that is unfortunetly too short.
The rest of the compilation contains some very interesting music. The flowering Peach is incidental music for a play, for symphonic band, that is probably the most "modern"/"contemporary" music that I've heard from Hovhanness, along with...Read more