Symphony No. 60 (Hovhaness)

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The Symphony No. 60, Op. 396, To the Appalachian Mountains is a symphony for orchestra in four movements written by the American composer Alan Hovhaness. The work was commissioned August 6, 1985 by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for "Homecoming '86", an event celebrating the cultural heritage of Tennessee. It was composed in November and December 1985 and commemorates the geography and heritage of the Appalachian Mountains region. [1] [2] [3]

Symphony extended musical composition

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often written by composers for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are scored for strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30–100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. A small number of symphonies also contain vocal parts.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which mixes instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, each grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments.

Alan Hovhaness Armenian-American composer

Alan Hovhaness was an American composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies and 434 opus numbers. The true tally is well over 500 surviving works since many opus numbers comprise two or more distinct works.

Contents

Composition

A performance of the symphony lasts approximately 33 minutes. It is composed in four movements:

  1. Adagio doloroso
  2. Allegro
  3. Senza misura: Adagio
  4. Finale: Andante – Allegro

The third movement quotes passages from the traditional song "Parting Friends". [1] On composing To the Appalachian Mountains, Hovhaness wrote in the program notes:

The music was composed during November and December of 1985. While composing this symphony I studied many Appalachian songs, but did not quote any of the melodies except in the third movement. However, I tried to put myself into the spirit and moods of the Appalachian idioms and culture, the spiritual life, the religious singing from shaped-notes under the oak trees, and the Appalachian ballads and their tales of love and death. I studied the structures of motives and scales in the Appalachian music and tried to create my own melodies within the boundaries of the modes which employ altered major scales and minor pentatonic (black-key) scales. [4]

Reception

The music critic Donald Rosenberg praised Hovhaness for his "mystical serenity and unabashed love for folk and nature-inflected material" and said of the symphony, "The writing is tonal and richly hued, imbued with a grandeur that emanates from another era." [2] AllMusic wrote of the work, "Its general mood appears to reflect the smoky majesty of the Appalachians themselves and does not devolve into imitations of the music associated with that region (i.e., bluegrass and old-timey mountain music); although some lip service is paid to Native American cultures that once inhabited this region during the second movement Allegro." [3]

Donald Rosenberg is an American musician, music critic and journalist.

AllMusic online music database

AllMusic is an online music database. It catalogs more than 3 million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musical artists and bands. It launched in 1991, predating the World Wide Web.

Appalachian Mountains mountain range in the eastern United States and Canada

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Hovhaness, Hinako Fujihara (2006). Hovhaness: Khrimian Hairig, Guitar Concerto, Symphony No. 60 'To the Appalachian Mountains' (CD liner). Naxos Records . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Rosenberg, Donald (August 29, 2013). "Finding Nature, Rage And Humor In Modern American Symphonies". Deceptive Cadence. NPR . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Lewis, Uncle Dave. "Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 60; Guitar Concerto; Khrimian Hairig". AllMusic . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Alan Hovhaness Symphonies - Part 5 : Overview of Late Symphonies". The Alan Hovhaness Website. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
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