Alan Hovhaness - Symphony No. 50 (3/3) Mount St. Helens

Alan Hovhaness (Armenian: Ալան Յովհաննէս) (March 8, 1911 - June 21, 2000) was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish ancestry.

Symphony No. 50, Op. 360 "Mount St. Helens" (1983)

3. Volcano; Adagio - Allegro

Seattle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alan Hovhaness

His music is accessible to the lay listener and often evokes a mood of mystery or contemplation. The Boston Globe music critic Richard Buell wrote: "Although he has been stereotyped as a self-consciously Armenian composer (rather as Ernest Bloch is seen as a Jewish composer), his output assimilates the music of many cultures. What may be most American about all of it is the way it turns its materials into a kind of exoticism. The atmosphere is hushed, reverential, mystical, nostalgic."

He was among the most prolific of 20th century composers, his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and 434 opus numbers. However, the true tally is well over 500 surviving works since many opus numbers comprise two or more distinct works.

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[Wackythepirate]

2:50 the word "trombone" has gained new meaning....

[shoeprich2012]

@iamkwk Yeah and at about 9:56, he goes into a double fugue like in Mysterious Mountain.

[mljbct89]

they should make it a revised soundtrack to a volcano movie like Dante's Peak.

[mljbct89]

my favorite symphony. I listen to it all the time and still it gives me a good jump at 1:44.

[k7kbn]

My mistake on the earlier post. The Bremerton Symphony's first performance was in 1985.

[k7kbn]

The Bremerton (WA) Symphony actually performed this in 1981, just a year after the first eruption. Then ten years later (and in a much better venue), we did a reprise. I was timpanist both times, and it was a real ride! The week AFTER we did it the second time, the Seattle Symphony performed what they called "the Pacific Northwest Premiere".  Maestro Hovhannes announced that this was actually the "SSO Premiere", not the PNW.

[gabrieru1983]

MY FAVOURITE HOVHANESS´ SYMPHONY....POWERFUL...THANKS!­!

[rjpugh]

I've always liked the percussion line from 3:00 through 8:23. It conveys of sense of raw, nervous, uncontrolled, and relentless power.  Mother Earth unleashed.

[jgesselberty]

What an amazing composer. The tone painting of the romantic era combined with the voice of the modernist.

[MallardTDrake]

I heard the Seattle Symphony play this piece last Saturday night. Outstanding music. In the 3rd movement, when the bass drum was hit, the guy next to me nearly jumped out of his seat. It was awesome.