Music : Hovhaness: Mysterious Mountain/And God Created Great Whales
from: Delos Records
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0013491315720
Label: Delos Records
Manufacturer: Delos Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Delos Records
Release Date: April 12, 1994
Sales Rank: 34176
Studio: Delos Records
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Rating:  -
This is a brilliant work combining the compositional artistry of Alan Hovhaness with the music from the orchestra of the sea, the great whales themselves. To be listened to over and over again as there are always some new nuances that won't have been heard on previous visits.
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Of the two pieces I care most about on this recording, my ears received them very differently.
On a positive note, the performance of St. Gregory's Prayer is transcendentally beautiful... liquid joy... outstanding.
I'm less enthusiastic about the Seattle Symphony's reproduction of the Mysterious Mountain here. Perhaps I am biased in favor of Fritz Reiner's Chicago interpretation, having heard that many times first. Regardless, I think a lot of listeners would have to agree that this Seattle production truly rushes through the suite, barely sampling the incredible potential of the composition. They simply move through it much too fast. So much of the power of Mysterious Mountain is intimately linked to its cadence, and to rush a piece like this is to drain it of most of its glory. The rendition excels technically, but the spirit comes out flat.
St. Gregory's Prayer is worth the purchase of this disc, but for a better Mountain, get the Chicago recording.
As for Great Whales, there's something good in hearing a symphony with the Pacific Ocean at its doorstep waxing Cetacean. Unfortunately this poetic justice does not suffice to make this piece worth frequent listening. It does succeed as a curiosity and a nice jog of the ear if you've fallen into a rut.
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Like other reviewers here, I flipped on the radio one night & caught the tail-end of "Mysterious Mountain" and was thunderstruck by the beauty pouring out of my speakers. I strained to catch the name of the composition and the composer: Alan Hovhaness...Mysterious Mountain. That night was a revelation to me and the beginning of my explorations into the musical realm of Mr. Hovhaness. Several CD's later, I still return to this one. All of the selections here are wonderful with the possible exception of the composition, "And God Created The Great Whales"... I have never been able to latch onto that one, but that is just me. Otherwise, this CD is absolutely superb; the music is richly textured and satisfying. Highly recommended.
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Boy, it's amazing how different sets of ears hear things differently! I was just musing on the purity of sound that the Seattle strings are able to produce on this disc, nimble and without the heaviness that some more famous string bodies under certain conductors (say, Philadelphia under Ormandy or Sawallisch) would proffer. And I was further thinking that Delos' clean, clear recording was a big help, especially in the "Prayer to Saint Anthony," where the lonely sound of solo trumpet is etched against the accompanying strings. Then I read the comments by others on this page and am amazed to read that some think the sound on this disc "tinny...muddy." Obviously, I don't agree.
As to the performances, Schwarz seems to me a master Hovhaness interpreter, as other performances from Seattle and elsewhere have proved. I, too, recall the classic recording of "Mysterious Mountain" with Reiner, and I think Schwarz yields nothing to Reiner in terms of depth of feeling or any other musical criteria. Schwarz's is a lovely performance, with all the required mystery and majesty of this seminal piece intact.
In other hands than Hovhaness's, "God Created Great Whales" could have emerged as a one-trick pony of a piece. I happen to think that Rautavaara's "Cantus Arcticus," mentioned by at least one other reviewer, comes far closer to this downfall. I find that Rautavaara's music is no more or less interesting than, nor does it shed special light on, the recorded bird ... Read More
Rating: -
Alan Hovhaness is probably one of the most underrated, unappreciated composers this country has ever produced. How unappreciated? I've been a passionate lover of classical music for fifteen years, took a few courses in my undergrad years on music theory and the history of music in the West, have been a season ticket holder in more than one city's philharmonic/orchestras, and it was not until about five years ago that I heard of Hovhaness--and even then it was only because I so happen to listen to his Symphony No. 2 (`Mysterious Mountain') on a local public radio station during classical music hour.
The first time I heard `Mysterious Mountain,' I almost mistook it for Dvorak or Smetana. Hovhaness might have lived in the 20th century, but his compositional approach and philosophy was very much in the mold of the 19th century romantics. It is grandiose in style, haunting and yet beautifully majestic in sound, and it never ceases to amaze me every time I listen to it.
The remaining pieces of music, particularly the Prayer of St. Gregory and Alleluia and Fugue, betray Hovhaness's earlier work as a composer of music (and organist) for the Armenian Church. It surprises me still that more of his music is not played, although he is best known for Mysterious Mountain (a symphony that was composed and premiered in 1955). This CD itself is an excellent addition to any classical music collection and a must for anyone wanting to discover more about American ... Read More
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