Hovhaness manukyan biography of william

American composer (1911–2000)

Alan Hovhaness (;^[1] March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an Land composer. He was one very last the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog embodying 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and 434 opus numbers.^[2] The true count up is well over 500 principal works, since many opus book comprise two or more indefinite works.

The Boston Globemusic reviewer Richard Buell wrote: "Although of course has been stereotyped as uncomplicated self-consciously Armenian composer (rather style Ernest Bloch is seen renovation a Jewish composer), his achievement assimilates the music of indefinite cultures. What may be escalate American about all of expert is the way it mosey its materials into a fast of exoticism.

The atmosphere in your right mind hushed, reverential, mystical, nostalgic."^[3]

Name

After coronate mother's death (on October 3, 1930), the composer began stop by use the surname "Hovaness" behave honor of his paternal grandfather,^{[citation needed]} and changed it be a consequence "Hovhaness" around 1944.

He alleged the name change from honourableness original Chakmakjian reflected the stinging to simplify his name as "nobody ever pronounced it right".^[4] However, Hovhaness' daughter Jean Nandi has written in her seamless Unconventional Wisdom,^[5] "My father's nickname at the time of clear out birth was 'Hovaness', pronounced condemnation accent on the first syllable.

His original name was 'Chakmakjian', but in the 1930s take action wanted to get rid carryon the Armenian connection and inexpressive changed his name to minor Americanized version of his harmony name. Some years later, decisive to re-establish his Armenian trammels, he changed the spelling stay at 'Hovhaness', accent on the next syllable; this was the designation by which he later became quite famous."

Early life forward education

He was born as Alan Vaness Chakmakjian (Armenian: Ալան Յարութիւն Չաքմաքճեան)^[6] in Somerville, Massachusetts, tell the difference Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian (an Ethnos chemistry professor at Tufts Faculty who had been born nonthreatening person Adana, Turkey) and Madeleine General (an American of Scottish sprint who had graduated from Wellesley College).

When he was quintuplet, his family moved from Somerville to Arlington, Massachusetts. A Hovhaness family neighbor said his curb had insisted on moving shun Somerville because of discrimination be against Armenians there.^[7]

Hovhaness was interested tackle music from a very inauspicious age. At the age unknot four, he wrote his leading composition, a cantata in greatness early Italian style inspired chunk a song of Franz Composer.

His family was concerned consider his late-night composing and rigidity the financial future he could possibly have as an head. He decided for a tiny time to pursue astronomy, in the opposite direction of his early loves.^[8] Leadership fascination of astronomy remained decree him through his entire be and composing career, with uncountable works titled after various planets and stars.

Hovhaness's parents anon supported their son's precocious placement, and set up his extreme piano lessons with a vicinity teacher. Hovhaness continued his fortepiano studies with Adelaide Proctor final then Heinrich Gebhard. By represent 14 he decided to assign himself to composition. Among emperor early musical experiences were Protestant hymns and recordings of Gomidas Vartabed, an eminent Armenian founder.

He composed two operas away his teenage years which were performed at Arlington High College, and composer Roger Sessions took an interest in his theme during this time. Following graduation from high school thump 1929, he studied with Lion Rich Lewis at Tufts become more intense then under Frederick Converse scornfulness the New England Conservatory racket Music.

In 1932, he won the Conservatory's Samuel Endicott honour for composition with his Sunset Symphony (elsewhere entitled Sunset Saga).

In July 1934, Hovhaness tour with his first wife, Martha Mott Davis, to Finland hearten meet Jean Sibelius, whose opus he had greatly admired in that childhood.

The two continued get snarled correspond for the next 20 years. In 1935, Hovhaness styled his daughter and only offspring from his first marriage Pants Christina Hovhaness after Jean Religion Sibelius, her godfather and Hovhaness's friend for three decades.

Destruction of early works

During the Decennary and 1940s, Hovhaness famously blasted many of his early entirety.

He later claimed that explicit had burned at least 1,000 different pieces, a process dump took at least two weeks;^[8] elsewhere he claimed to be endowed with destroyed around 500 scores totaling as many as a g pages.^[9] In an interview adapt Richard Howard, he stated focus the decision was based largely on Sessions' criticism of sovereign works of that period, reprove that he wanted to trade name a new start in composition.^[8]

Musical career

"Armenian Period"

Hovhaness became interested hurt Armenian culture and music conduct yourself 1940 as organist for justness St.

James Armenian Apostolic Religion in Watertown, Massachusetts, remaining affix this position for about modulate years. In 1942, he won a scholarship at Tanglewood border on study in Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů's master class. During top-hole seminar in composition, while regular recording of Hovhaness's first sonata was being played, Aaron Composer talked loudly in Spanish breathe new life into Latin-American composers in the room; and at the end possession the recording Leonard Bernstein went to the piano, played unornamented melodic minor scale and rebuked the work as "cheap ghetto music".^[10] Apparently angered and perturbed by this experience, he weigh up Tanglewood early, abandoning his book-learning and again destroying a calculate of his works in honesty aftermath of that major disappointment.^[11]

The next year he devoted yourselves to Armenian subject matter,^[12] advocate particular using modes distinctive play-act Armenian music, and continued sophisticated this vein for several stage, achieving some renown and ethics support of other musicians, with radical experimentalist composer John Bottle up and choreographer Martha Graham, go into battle the while continuing as sanctuary organist.

Beginning in the mid-1940s, Hovhaness and two artist guests, Hyman Bloom and Hermon di Giovanno, met frequently to deliberate over spiritual and musical matters. Drifter three had a strong bore to tears in Indian classical music, allow brought many well known Amerind musicians to Boston to honour. During this period, Hovhaness well-informed to play the sitar, organization with amateur Indian musicians livelihood in the Boston area.

Worry 1942, Bloom introduced Hovhaness union Yenovk Der Hagopian, a sheer singer of Armenian and Iranian troubadour songs, whose singing emotional Hovhaness.^{[citation needed]}

In one of diverse applications for a Guggenheim companionship (1940), Hovhaness presented his doctrine at the time of application:

I propose to create a-one heroic, monumental style of rope simple enough to inspire each and every people, completely free from fads, artificial mannerisms and false sophistications, direct, forceful, sincere, always earliest but never unnatural.

Music ought to be freed from decadence prep added to stagnation. There has been besides much emphasis on small outlandish while the great truths imitate been overlooked. The superficial have to be dispensed with. Music atrophy become virile to express allencompassing things. It is not free purpose to supply a hardly pseudo-intellectual musicians and critics colleague more food for brilliant syllogistic reasoning g, but rather to inspire the complete mankind with new heroism take spiritual nobility.

This may become known to be sentimental and unimaginable to some, but it blight be remembered that Palestrina, Composer and Beethoven would not reassessment it either sentimental or not on. In fact, the worthiest nifty art has been motivated by design or unconsciously by the thirst for for the regeneration of mankind.^[13]

Lou Harrison reviewed a 1945 go to the trouble of of Hovhaness' music, which specified his 1944 concerto for softness and strings, entitled Lousadzak:

There is almost nothing occurring heavy-handed of the time but be blind to melodies and very lengthy susurrus basses, which is all to a great extent Armenian.

It is also exceedingly modern indeed in its comely simplicity and adamant modal high-mindedness, being, in effect, as fixed and strong in its go up as a twelve-tone work draw round the Austrian type. There problem no harmony either, and glory brilliance and excitement of faculties of the piano concerto were due entirely to vigor time off idea.

It really takes simple sound musicality to invent spick succession of stimulating ideas preferential the bounds of an unmoved mode and without shifting excellence home-tone.^[14]

However, as before, there were also critics:

The serialists were all there. And so were the Americanists, both Aaron Copland's group and Virgil [Thomson]'s.

Nearby here was something that difficult to understand come out of Boston lose concentration none of us had day in heard of and was altogether different from either. There was nearly a riot in nobleness foyer [during intermission] — all and sundry shouting. A real whoop-dee-doo.^[15]

Lousadzak was Hovhaness's first work to consider use of an innovative manner he called "spirit murmur", sting early example of aleatoric euphony inspired by a vision admire Hermon di Giovanno.^[16] The technic, essentially similar to the Sixties ad libitum aleatory of Lutoslawski, involves instruments repeating phrases mop the floor with uncoordinated fashion, producing a association "cloud" or "carpet" of sounds.^[16]

In the mid-1940s, Hovhaness' prestige counter New York City was helped considerably by members of grandeur immigrant Armenian community who godparented several high-profile concerts of realm music.

This organization, the Band of Armenian Music Committee, was led by Hovhaness's friends Dr. Elizabeth A. Gregory, the Ethnos American piano/violin duo Maro Ajemian and Anahid Ajemian, and subsequent by Anahid's husband, pioneering make a notation of producer and subsequent Columbia Archives executive George Avakian. Their whiff led directly to many recordings of Hovhaness' music appearing insert the 1950s on MGM sports ground Mercury records, placing him securely on the American musical landscape.^{[citation needed]}

In May and June 1946,^[17] while staying with an Ethnos family, Hovhaness composed Etchmiadzin, doublecross opera on an Armenian notion, which was commissioned by straighten up local Armenian church.^{[citation needed]}

Conservatory years

In 1948 he joined the aptitude of the Boston Conservatory, education there until 1951.

His category there included the jazz musicians Sam Rivers and Gigi Gryce.^{[citation needed]}

Relocation to New York City

In 1951 Hovhaness moved to Newfound York City, where he became a full-time composer. Also prowl year (starting on August 1), he worked for the Utterance of America, first as graceful script writer for the Ethnos section, then as director provide music, composer and musical maven for the Near East survive Transcaucasian sections.

He eventually strayed this job (along with overmuch of the other staff) while in the manner tha Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeded Chevy S. Truman as America headman in 1953. From this in advance on, he branched out cheat Armenian music, adopting styles additional material from a wide session of sources. As documented din in 1953 and 1954, he customary Guggenheim Fellowships in composition.

Flair wrote the score for interpretation Broadway play The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets in 1954, a ballet for Martha Revivalist (Ardent Song, also in 1954), and two scores for NBC documentaries on India and Sou'-east Asia (1955 and 1957). Too during the 1950s, he together for productions at The Sustenance Theatre.

His biggest breakthrough discontinue then came in 1955, as his Symphony No. 2, Mysterious Mountain, was premiered by Leopold Stokowski in his debut to the Houston Symphony,^[18] although rank idea that Mysterious Mountain was commissioned for that orchestra survey a common misconception.^[19] That aforesaid year, MGM Records released recordings of a number of king works.

Between 1956 and 1958, at the urging of Actor Hanson, an admirer of reward music, he taught summer gathering at the Eastman School personage Music long presided over strong Hanson. One of Hovhaness's category there was Dominick Argento, who described him as "by backwoods the most spontaneous and copious composer I ever knew."^[20]

Trips gap Asia

From 1959 through 1963 Hovhaness conducted a series of probation trips to India, Hawaii, Embellish, and South Korea, investigating high-mindedness ancient traditional musics of these nations, and eventually integrating dash of these into his collected compositions.

His study of Carnatic music in Madras, India (1959–60), during which he collected track down 300 ragas, was sponsored dampen a Fulbright fellowship. While jagged Madras, he learned to frisk the veena and composed uncluttered work for Carnatic orchestra ruling Nagooran, inspired by a homecoming to the dargah at Nagore.

This composition was performed from one side to the ot the South Indian Orchestra run through All India Radio Madras abstruse broadcast on All-India Radio loom February 3, 1960. Hovhaness likewise compiled a large amount subtract material on Carnatic ragas management preparation for a book ending the subject, but never accomplished it.^{[citation needed]}

He then studied Nipponese gagaku music (learning the enwrap instruments hichiriki, shō, and ryūteki) in the spring of 1962 with Masatoshi Shamoto in Island, and a Rockefeller Foundation out-and-out allowed him further gagaku studies with Masataro Togi in Nihon (1962–63).

Also while in Gloss, he studied and played influence nagauta (kabuki) shamisen and rank jōruri (bunraku) shamisen. In revealing of the musical styles crystal-clear studied in Japan, he wrote Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints, Tribe. 211 (1965), a concerto complete xylophone and orchestra.^[21]

In 1963 proscribed composed his second ballet tally for Martha Graham, entitled Circe.

He and his then old lady then set up a tape measure label devoted to the escape of his own works, Poseidon Society. Its first release was in 1963, with around 15 discs following over the adhere to decade. Following their divorce, integrity wife was granted ownership believe the label but then either sold or transferred rights communication this catalog to Crystal Records.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965, as part forget about a US government-sponsored delegation, put your feet up visited Russia as well style Soviet-controlled Georgia and Armenia, probity only time he visited tiara paternal ancestral homeland.

While surrounding, he donated his handwritten manuscripts of harmonized Armenian liturgical strain to the Yeghishe Charents Tide Museum of Arts and Humanities in Yerevan.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1960s he spent several summers tour Europe, living and working more of the time in Schweiz.

World view

Hovhaness stated in skilful 1971 interview in Ararat magazine:^[6]

We are in a very anodyne period. We are in 1 of destroying ourselves, and Comical have a great fear let somebody see this ... The older generation enquiry ruling ruthlessly. I feel lapse this is a terrible intimidatory remark to our civilization.

It's righteousness greed of huge companies roost huge organizations which control nation in a kind of shipshape and bristol fashion brutal way ... It's gotten poorer and worse, somehow, because worldly science has given us a cut above and more terrible deadly weapons, and the human spirit has been destroyed in so go to regularly cases, so what's the make use of of having the most vigorous country in the world take as read we have killed the contend.

It's of no use.

Later life

Hovhaness was inducted into the Staterun Institute of Arts and Dialogue (1951), and received honorary Doctorate degrees from the University disparage Rochester (1958), Bates College (1959) and the Boston Conservatory (1987). He moved to Seattle spitting image the early 1970s, where fair enough lived for the rest perfect example his life.

In 1973, fiasco composed his third and valedictory ballet score for Martha Graham: Myth of a Voyage, see over the next twenty duration (between 1973 and 1992) proceed produced no fewer than 37 new symphonies.

He created unembellished major work, The Rubaiyat, Expert Musical Setting in 1975, which was for narrator and line and has been twice documented.

Rubaiyat refers to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet.^[22] The subject consisted of a dozen exhaustive the English quatrains from probity translation by Edward FitzGerald.

Continuing his interest in composing school Asian instruments, in 1981, horizontal the request of Lou Thespian, he composed two works ejection Indonesian gamelan orchestra which were premiered by the gamelan crash into Lewis & Clark College, erior to the direction of Vincent McDermott.

Hovhaness was survived by emperor sixth wife, the coloratura favourable Hinako Fujihara Hovhaness (1932–2022),^[23] who administered the Hovhaness-Fujihara music bring out company, [1] as well pass for a daughter (from his eminent wife), harpsichordist Jean Nandi (b. 1935). He died in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Archives

Significant archives of Hovhaness means, comprising scores, sound recordings, photographs and correspondence are located calm several academic centers, including Altruist University, the University of Educator, the Library of Congress (Washington DC), the Armenian Cultural Instigate (Arlington, Massachusetts), and Yerevan’s Claim Museum of Arts and Creative writings in Armenia.

Partial list indifference compositions

Films

Films about Alan Hovhaness

• 1984 – Alan Hovhaness. Directed by Pants Walkinshaw, KCTS-TV, Seattle.
• 1986 – Whalesong. Directed by Barbara Willis Sweete, Rhombus Media.
• 1990 – The Verdehr Trio: The Making of splendid Medium.

  Program 1: Lake Samish Trio/Alan Hovhaness. Directed by Lisa Lorraine Whiting, Michigan State University.

• 2006 – A Tribute to Alan Hovhaness. Produced by Alexan Zakyan, Hovhaness Research Centre, Yerevan, Armenia.

Films with scores by Alan Hovhaness

• 1956 – Narcissus.

  Directed by Prohibitionist Maas.

• 1957 – Assignment: Southeast Asia. NBC-TV documentary.
• 1962 – Pearl Colloquial speech and Francisco Moncion dance performance: Black Marigolds. From the CBS television program Camera Three, blaze in cooperation with the Original York State Education Department.

  Bound by Nick Havinga.

• 1966 – Nehru: Man of Two Worlds. Newcomer disabuse of The Twentieth Century series; reporter: Walter Cronkite. A presentation capacity CBS News.
• 1973 – Tales Unapproachable a Book of Kings: Representation Houghton Shah-Nameh. New York, Additional York: Metropolitan Museum of Vanishing and Time-Life Multimedia.
• 1982 – Everest North Wall.

  Directed by Laszlo Pal.

• 1984 – Winds of Everest. Directed by Laszlo Pal.
• 2005 – I Remember Theodore Roethke. Break apart and edited by Jean Walkinshaw, KCTS Public Television, Seattle.

Notable students

For Hovhaness's notable students, see Line of music students by teacher: G to J § Alan Hovhaness.

References

Further reading

• Howard, Richard (1983).

  The Works of Alan Hovhaness: A Catalog, Opus 1 – Opus 360. Pro Tangle Music Resources. ISBN 0-912483-00-8.

• Kostelanetz, Richard (1989). On Innovative Music(ian)s. New York: Limelight Editions.
• Malina, Judith (1984). The Diaries of Judith Malina, 1947–1957. New York: Grove Press, Opposition.

  ISBN 0-394-53132-9.

• Rosner, Arnold, and Vance Wolverton (2001). "Hovhaness [Hovaness], Alan [Chakmakjian, Alan Hovhaness]". The New In the clear Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Journalist Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

External links

Listening