Alan Hovhaness was born in 1911 in Somerville, Massacussetts which is a suburb of Boston.
He was the child of an Armenian father and mother of Scottish background. His father, Haroutian Hovanes Chakmakjian was from Adana,Armenia. That region is now part of present day Turkey. Alan always had an affinity for music showing his love for it at an early age. Eventually he started to compose and produced various operas during his young years. His father, who was a college professor at Tufts College, at first was not sure if music should be the way to a career for young Alan but eventually realized that his son had a superb gift. He supported his son through his life ,helping him where he could in times of uncertainty and depression. Alan played the violin and also the piano,which he learned with help from a local teacher. he eventually went on to study with Heinrich Gebhard and Adelaide Proctor.
After graduating high school in 1928, he went to the New England Conservatory of Music and studied with Frederick Converse. He also won , in 1932, the award of the Conservatory's Endicott prize for composition. He then traveled to Finland in 1934 and met Jean Sibelius,whom he delighted to meet.
The 1930's were a decade of change for Hovhaness as his interest in other types of music started to influence his works. The music of India had a profound effect on the young Hovhaness and he took up the study fervently. Eventually,however, he received criticism form various circles regarding his works and their influence,notably from Roger Sessions.
Alan burned over 500 of his works in an effort at a new start of his own "voice".
After that, Hovhaness became much more interested in his family background and the Armenian culture. This proved to be a lifelong passion, with Alan visiting the country many times.He even went back to learning more about Indian music. he learned to play the sitar and collaborated with other musicians in performing Indian music.
It was then that Hovhaness started to compose with "aleatoric music", or a technique of composition that involves a "carpet or cloud" of sounds that envelops the listener.This would be a trade mark of Hovhaness for many years to come.
Eventually Alan would move back to New York and composed until his big break came with the performance of his Symphony #2 "Mysterious Mountain". This was premiered by Stokowski in 1955 and put him on the classical map. It was later recorded by famous conductors such as Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony and also by the conductor himself. Subsequent symphonies include Symphony #6 "Celestial Gate", Symphony #25"Odysseus ", and popular works such as Prayer of St Gregory,Lousadzak,and two guitar concertos along with "And God Created Great Whales", the first work to include actual whale song. These works brought him honors among some in the music community. But he still did not have the recognition he deserved.
As he grew older,Hovhaness started to explore more in the fields of Eastern music and to also incorporate it into his own works.He studied Japanese gagaku music and learned what he could about the instruments used in Eastern ensembles.
He later married the coloratura soprano Hinako Fujihara, who helped him with his work and was devoted to spreading the word about her husband and his music. Alan lived his last years in the pacific northwest in the Seattle area.
Alan Hovhaness composed up to his last days, always writing things down on scrap paper before moving on to other themes. He incorporated these into works that proved his love for the Eastern instruments such as the gamelan,sitar and marimba. But he also composed for traditional instruments such as the guitar and brass sections.
He passed away in the year 2000. Fortunately,his legacy is being preserved and remembered in The Alan Hovhaness International Research Center in Yerevan,Armenia.
http://cristoforifund.tripod.com/alanhovhaness1.html
The world renown pianist Martin Berkofsky is a tireless advocate of Hovhaness and worked with him extensively during his lifetime,recording many of his works and even giving World Premiers. His website above is a prime source for information on Hovhaness and his works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Berkofsky
There is also a Yahoo group dedicated to Hovhaness at:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/hovhaness
Recordings of Hovhaness are available from various companies the prime sources being Crystal Records and various other labels such as Delos and Koch.
Alan Hovhaness was a very prolific composer and many of his works remain unrecorded. But this is slowly changing as many start to explore the works of this delightful composer.
Jim Ross
Vancouver,Washington
